Game Notes

NORFOLK, Va. – The Hampton University men's basketball team will take on Coppin State in the quarterfinal round of the 2014 MEAC Tournament Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. in the Norfolk Scope Arena.
 
Hampton is in search of its first MEAC Tournament crown since 2011.
 
The Pirates (18-11) are the No. 2 seed and come in having won their last seven games after ending the regular season this past Thursday with an 89-71 win over North Carolina A&T.
 
Sophomore guard Deron Powers (Williamsburg, Va.) led the Pirates with 20 points, while sophomore guards Dwight Meikle (Baltimore, Md.) and Brian Darden (Hampton, Va.) each add 13 points. Senior forward Du' Vaughn Maxwell (Manhattan, N.Y.), the MEAC Defensive Player of the Year, had 11 points, eight rebounds, and two blocked shots in his final home game.
 
After finishing seventh in the MEAC in the regular season, the Eagles (11-19) opened their MEAC Tournament with a 75-68 first-round win over No. 10 seed Bethune-Cookman – a victory that snapped a five-game losing streak for Coppin State. The Eagles, in their 28th season under head coach Ron "Fang" Mitchell, were picked to finish ninth in the MEAC this season.
 
Senior forward Michael Murray, a First Team All-MEAC selection, leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 14.6 points and 7.0 boards per game, while senior guard Andre Armstrong is averaging 12.7 points a night. Sophomore guard Sterling Smith is third on the team in scoring, averaging 10.9 points per game.
 
Hampton is 16-17 against Coppin State, and Coppin State is one of just two teams in the MEAC against whom the Pirates are under .500 all-time (North Carolina Central is the other). The two teams split last season's meetings, with the Pirates winning 59-53 in Baltimore, Md. after falling 67-65 at home in overtime.
 
Earlier this season, Coppin State defeated the Pirates 71-68 in Hampton, Va., before the Pirates returned the favor in Baltimore, Md. on Feb. 1, winning 79-76 in overtime.
 
Hampton is 220-129 all-time as a Div. I program (since 1995) against teams currently in the MEAC, including an 11-5 mark in the conference last season. The Pirates went 13-3 in the MEAC this season, finishing second in the final regular-season standings.
 
The Pirates went 0-1 on neutral courts last season – a 56-51 loss to Wofford in Wilmington, N.C. – and under head coach Edward Joyner, Jr., Hampton is 16-10 on neutral courts, including an 8-1 mark in 2010-11 (when the Pirates won 24 games and advanced to the NCAA Tournament). So far this season, the Pirates are 1-2 on neutral courts after splitting a pair of games in the Corpus Christi Challenge in Corpus Christi, Texas and falling to James Madison in Richmond, Va. on Dec. 21 in the Governor's Classic.
 
For more information on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.