Brimah was a perfect 13-of-13 from the floor and 14-of-16 from the line and freshman Daniel Hamilton added 11 points, 11 assists, five rebounds and four steals for defending NCAA champion Connecticut (4-3), which had nine days off to stew about consecutive last-second home losses to Texas and cross-state rival Yale. Ryan Boatright scored 22 points and Kentan Facey added a career-high 15 as Connecticut opened the game with a 13-2 run in the first two minutes and scored the first 11 points of the second half.
Arnold Fripp had 25 points and six 3-pointers and Christian Kessee added 22 and five 3-pointers for Coppin State (1-9), which has lost nine games by an average of 30.1 points this season. Daquan Brickhouse scored 16 points for the Eagles, who shot 15-of-32 from the arc but surrendered 100 points for the fifth time.
The Huskies led 22-5 six minutes in and 34-14 midway through the first half before Sterling Smith drained two 3-pointers and Fripp and Kessee added one apiece as the Eagles got within six and trailed 51-39 at the half. Brimah, the 7-foot sophomore, took advantage of the smaller Eagles, shooting 6-of-6 from the floor and draining 6-of-7 free throws in the opening 20 minutes.
UConn started the second half much like the first, as Hamilton fed Facey, Brimah and Facey again for consecutive transition dunks in a 55-second span during an opening 11-0 run. Brimah capped a 14-6 run when he blocked a shot on the defensive end, sprinted the floor and dunked a miss by Rodney Purvis, and then jammed home an alley-oop from Hamilton for an 84-57 lead with 7:46 left.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Brimah, whose previous high was 18, is the 17th player in school history to score 40 points in a game and the first since Kemba Walker against Vermont during the 2010-11 season. ... The 51 first-half points were a season high for the Huskies and just their second halftime lead in seven games this season. … The Eagles shot 8-of-19 from the arc in the first half to hang around.
Coppin St. | Connecticut | |
Arnold Fripp 25 | Scoring | Amida Brimah 40 |
Daquan Brickhouse 7 | Assists | Daniel Hamilton 11 |
Arnold Fripp 9 | Rebounds | Amida Brimah 12 |
Taariq Cephas 4 | Free Throws Made | Amida Brimah 14 |
Daquan Brickhouse 4 | Steals | Daniel Hamilton 4 |
Arnold Fripp 1 | Blocks | Amida Brimah 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Coppin St. | 85 | 45.5 | 15-32 | 10-13 | 18 | 20 | 1 | 8 | 17 |
Connecticut | 106 | 56.9 | 7-18 | 25-33 | 22 | 39 | 4 | 11 | 18 |