Central Michigan Faces Coppin State in St. Pete Tournament Showdown

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Central Michigan Chippewas will take on the Coppin State Eagles on Friday morning in the second of three games at the inaugural Showdown in St. Pete Tournament. Central Michigan seeks to recover from a narrow 66-64 loss to South Alabama in their previous game.

Coppin State enters the matchup with an 0-4 record after suffering a 100-50 defeat to South Florida earlier this week. Last season, the Eagles finished seventh in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, posting a 4-10 record in conference play and an overall record of 6-24. Meanwhile, the Chippewas, with a 1-2 record so far this season, ended last year tied for ninth in the Mid-American Conference with a conference record of 7-11 and an overall mark of 14-17.

This will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams. The game is set for 11 a.m. ET at the McArthur Center. The latest odds from SportsLine show Central Michigan as a 9.5-point favorite, while the over/under for total points is set at 144.5.

According to the SportsLine Projection Model, which simulates every college basketball game 10,000 times, the under is favored at 5-5 in the last 10 games for both teams. The model projects that no Coppin State player will score more than an average of 7.8 points, while a single player from Central Michigan is expected to score in double digits, with a projection of 12.7 points.

The projections indicate that the under clears in nearly 70% of simulations, further leaning on one side of the spread hitting in about 70% of simulations as well.

The upcoming game offers an exciting chance for both teams to improve their standings in the tournament, especially coming off tough previous matches.