Elijah Saunders scored 15 points and Jacob Cofie added a double-double as Virginia cruised to a 62-45 victory over Coppin State on Monday night in Charlottesville, Va.
Cofie, a true freshman, finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds to go along with four steals, three blocks and two assists off the bench. Also scoring in double figures for Virginia (2-0) were Isaac McKneely with 14 points and Dai Dai Ames with 13.
Coach Tony Bennett is retired, but the Cavaliers showed that they can still play strong defense under interim coach Ron Sanchez. Virginia had 11 blocks and seven steals and limited Coppin State to 28 percent shooting from the field, including a 21.1 percent mark (4 of 19) from 3-point distance.
Derrius Ward scored 12 points and Jonathan Dunn had 11 to lead the Eagles (0-4), who have lost 17 consecutive games dating back to last season.
The Cavaliers blew the game open midway through the second half. Cofie’s 3-pointer with 9:09 remaining capped a 13-0 run and gave Virginia a 53-27 lead.
The advantage swelled to 57-29 after Cofie stole the ball and threw down a reverse dunk with 6:14 left.
Virginia shot 40.4 percent from the field, 33.3 percent (9 of 27) from downtown and 91.7 percent (11 of 12) at the free-throw line.
Coppin State’s only lead of the game came at 2-0 on a jumper by Cam’Ron Brown.
It was a competitive first half until Virginia heated up from beyond the 3-point line. McKneely drained three triples during a 12-2 run to put the Cavaliers ahead 32-16 at the break.
Virginia shot 43.8 percent (7 of 16) from behind the arc during the first half. Coppin State missed all seven of its attempts from 3-point range and shot 28 percent overall (7 of 25) for the half.
Coppin State’s last victory was a 58-55 overtime decision against Maryland-Eastern Shore on Jan. 8.
The Cavaliers remain unbeaten (23-0) all time against current Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference members, including a 4-0 record against the Eagles.
–Field Level Media
