NC Central vs. Coppin State 3/11/22 - College Basketball Picks & Predictions

The Coppin State Eagles will meet up with the North Carolina Central Eagles Friday night in the semifinals of the MEAC tournament. Coppin State comes into Friday night after a two point win over Howard on Wednesday in the tournament. The Coppin State defense was the difference against Howard as they held the Bison to 29.5% shooting from the floor and forced 23 turnovers leading to the victory. 

Offensively Coppin State was mediocre in the game making only 39.3% of their shots and 34.8% from beyond the arc but scored 59 points in 40 minutes. Kyle Cardaci and Nendah Tarke carried the load for the Coppin State offense posting a team high 15 points each. Jesse Zarzuela added eight points as the second leading scorer for the starters and Justin Steers chipped in eight points and five rebounds to lead the way in 16 minutes off the bench.

The North Carolina Central Eagles finished the regular season in 3rd place in the conference and come into the semis riding a two game win streak after a double digit win over Maryland Eastern Shore on Thursday. Offensively North Carolina Central controlled the game making 45.5% of their shots to score 68 points in the game including 38 in the second half to pull away. 

The North Carolina Central Eagles have been a mediocre offense this year averaging 72.8 points per game on 45.1% shooting from the floor. Justin Wright leads the Eagles offense scoring 13.7 points per game on 50.2% shooting. Randy Miller Jr. is second on the team scoring 10.7 points and Kris Monroe adds 10.5 points in a team high six rebounds per game.