NC State returns to action Tuesday night at historic Reynolds Coliseum.

The Wolfpack (7-2) host Coppin State (4-6) at 7 p.m. on RSN. The Eagles have wins over Mount St. Mary’s, Navy, Tennessee Tech and Loyola (Md.), this season.

Coppin State coach Juan Dixon, a legendary former Maryland guard, lost 95-79 at the Terrapins on Nov. 25. The legendary former Terrapins shooting guard won a national title in 2002 and was a first-round pick by his home area Washington Wizards.

Dixon played in the NBA from 2002-09, and then overseas. He took over Coppin State in 2017-18, and has gone 46-114 overall with the Eagles.

Coppin State returns one starter and a a couple of part-time starters from last year’s 9-23 squad.

Senior point guard Sam Sessoms is second in the country with 23.9 points per game. He has previously played for Binghamton and Penn State. He is joined by returning starter Nendah Tarke on the wing.

Junior wing Alex Rojas, junior forward Kam’Ron Blue and senior center Justin Winston, round out the starters.

Rankings

Coppin State is No. 212 in the NET rankings, and NC State is No. 55.

ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Eagles ranked No. 276 overall, and the Wolfpack are No. 42.

KenPom.com has Coppin State at No. 292, and NCSU checks in at No. 55.

RealtimeRPI.com has NC State ranked No. 76 in the country, and Coppin State is 200.

Shooting

Coppin State is averaging 76.5 points per game, and are shooting 45.3 percent from the field, 35.0 percent on three-pointers and 73.1 percent at the free-throw line.

Rojas has gone 12 of 24 on three-pointers for 50.0 percent to lead the Eagles. Sessoms has gone 23 of 61 from beyond the arc for 37.7 percent.

Rebounding

Coppin State is averaging 31.7 rebounds per game, and are getting out-rebounded by a 10.3 rebounding margin.

Tarke is averaging 5.3 rebounds per game and senior power forward Justin Steers is chipping in five rebounds a contest off the bench.

Defense

The Eagles are allowing 85.6 points per game, and 46.3 percent from the field and 34.9 percent on three-pointers.

The 6-foot-7, 205-pound Steers has nine blocks, and Tarke and Sessoms have a combined 40 steals.

Depth

Coppin State played seven players off the bench against Loyola (Md.), but four logged at least 10 minutes.

Steers is fourth on the team with 7.6 points and 5.0 rebounds in 18.2 minutes a contest.

Sophomore wing Isaiah Gross, senior point guard Mike Hood and junior post player Daniel Titus are also in the rotation. Hood is chipping in 5.6 points in 15.3 minutes per game, and Gross has started three games.

Senior point guard Sam Sessoms is well traveled, but can really score.

The 6-foot, 189-pounder from Philadelphia started his college career at Binghamton for two years. He averaged an impressive 19.4 points per game his sophomore year, along with 5.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists.

Sessoms then made the move to Penn State for the next two years. He averaged 11.6 points and 2.6 rebounds per game for the Nittany Lions in 2021-22, but then coach Pat Chambers was dismissed during that time Oct. 21, 2020.

Sessoms decided to transfer to Coppin State this season. He is shredding the competition with 23.9 points, 5.7 assists and 4.3 rebounds a contest. He’s shooting 53.6 percent from the field and 37.7 percent on three-pointers.

Sessoms had 28 points at Maryland in a 95-79 loss Nov. 25. He is coming off going 15 of 22 from the field for a season-high 35 points in a 74-71 win over Loyola (Md.) on Dec. 3. He’s scored at least 16 points in every game and has two double-doubles for points and assists.

Sessoms has 1,946 career points and has made 207 three-pointers in his five-year career. His sophomore year at Binghamton, he had 40 points in a overtime win over Boston, gad 39 points against UMass-Lowell and 38 points at New Hampshire.

NC State

PG — 1 Jarkel Joiner (6-1, 180, Sr., 15.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.7 spg)

SG — 0 Terquavion Smith (6-4, 165, Soph., 16.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 5.1 apg, 2.0 spg)

G — 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, R-Jr., 14.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.6 spg)

PF — 5 Jack Clark (6-8, 200, R-Jr., 9.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.0 apg, 2.0 spg)

C — 11 Dusan Mahorcic (6-10, 225, R-Sr., 9.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 0.9 apg)

Coppin State

PG — 3 Sam Sessons (6-0, 189, R-Sr., 23.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 5.7 apg, 1.8 spg)

SG — 13 Alex Rojas (6-5, 210, Jr. 4.0 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 0.3 apg)

SF — 4 Nendah Tarke (6-4, 200, Soph., 12.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.4 apg, 2.2 spg)

PF — 10 Kam’Ron Blue (6-7, 205, Jr., 6.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 0.4 apg, 1.0 spg)

C — 35 Justin Winston (6-8, 220, Sr., 9.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 0.4 apg)

5 Place in the MEAC preseason poll Oct. 20.

7 Games Coppin State point guard Sam Sessons has scored at least 30 points during his college career.

2,269 Career points by Coppin State coach Juan Dixon during his playing career at Maryland (1998-2002). He also scored 3,678 points in the NBA.

Third-year sophomore wing Nendah Tarke is second on the team with 12.0 points per game and is a proven scorer for Coppin State. He scored a season-high 20 points in a 83-67 loss at Towson on Nov. 22.

The 6-4, 200-pounder averaged 13.3 points, 6.8 rebound, 2.7 assists and 2.9 steals per game a year ago. He’s a career 29.5 percent shooter from three-point land.

The former Potomac (Md.) Bullis School product played a year of prep school at Convenant College Prep in New Jersey before arriving to Coppin State. He finished his first freshman season strong, with at least 12 points in the final six games of the season in 2020-21.

Tarke was impressively consistent during his second freshman campaign after getting a COVID year. He scored in double figures in every game but seven. He scored a season-high 24 points against Norfolk State on Jan. 22, 2022. Tarke had seven double-doubles for points and rebounds, including going for 10 points, 14 rebounds, eight rebounds and six steals against Maryland-Eastern Shore.

Tarke will likely match up with NC State redshirt junior wing Casey Morsell, who is averaging 14.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. He’s shooting an impressive 52.0 percent from the field.

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