Indiana 73, Coppin State 46.

Coppin State, in Bloomington only five hours before tipoff, took advantage of horrendous Hoosier shooting and was within two points, 28-26, at halftime. Box score. The Hoosiers awakened in the second half, making nearly 70 percent of their shots, and won the second half 45-20. Eric Gordon's value as a player was abundantly clear in this game, his worst shooting performance as a Hoosier. Gordon was only 2-13 from the field but still managed to score 15 points thanks to 10-10 from the free throw line. DJ White scored 21 points on nine shots, and Mike White managed 10 points on 4 shots. Jamarcus Ellis continued his everything-but-points excellence, with nine rebounds and 6 assists (although with four turnovers). Although Eli Holman seems to be out indefinitely with a wrist injury, if Ratliff is healthy and Bassett's suspension ends, the Hoosier backcourt could be at full strength next weekend against Chicago State. After that final pushover, the Big Ten season begins at Iowa on January 2.

The Coppin State game.

Coppin State Eagles

Overall record: 3-8

MEAC Record: 0-1

RPI: 189

Sagarin: 299

2006-07 record: 12-20

2006-07 RPI: 248

2006-07 Sagarin: 292

TV: Noon Saturday, Big Ten Network.

Here's an odd detail. Coppin State plays Marquette in Milwaukee tonight at 8:30. The Eagles play in Bloomington at noon tomorrow. This struck me as an obvious error, but the Coppin State official site and other sources support this idea. The Eagles likely will not have been in Bloomington for more than ten hours when they tip-off against the Hoosiers tomorrow. (Also, it looks like Hoosier Scoop mentioned this yesterday).

As the RPI and Sagarin numbers indicate, this opponent should be another pushover. Coppin is 1-8 against Division I opponents this season. Other than Southeast Missouri, only Ohio State among Division I opponents has allowed Coppin within single digits. In his weekly press conference, Sampson raved about Coppin's ability to dictate the pace, and indeed, Coppin's 62 possessions per game ranks 317 our of 340. Still, Coppin is something of a Northwestern of the MEAC. While Coppin doesn't allow many points, they allow lots of points per possession (1.17 points per possession, #336 nationally) and don't score many (.82 offensively). In short, Coppin is one of the least efficient teams in the country, and while IU may not break 100, the Hoosiers should win easily. Xavier, the only team that has defeated IU, scored 98 on Coppin. Xavier shot extremely well, 60 percent for the game, but was able to speed things up to 71 possessions. Coppin slowed Ohio State down to less than 60 possession in that game. This year's Hoosiers like to play fast. A young but talented Big Ten team couldn't do that against Coppin, but the only team that has bettered IU did so. That's the one thing to watch for in what should be a snooze otherwise.