There’s not much time left before this afternoon’s game with Coppin State, so we’re going to dispense with the introductions and dive right into a quick and dirty game preview.

The history between these two schools is brief, with the Longhorns last knocking off the Eagles at the Erwin Center in 2004. Prior to that, Coach Fang Mitchell and Coppin State served as a historical footnote when they became the last team that Tom Penders ever beat in an NCAA tournament game. The Eagles were only the third 15-seed in tourney history to knock off a 2-seed when they unseated South Carolina back in March of 1997, but fell just a point short against Penders and the Longhorns in the second round.

Tonight, the Eagles are wrapping up a brutal four-game stretch in which they have also played true road games against UConn, Wisconsin, and Kentucky. Coppin State is hoping the tough schedule will help the team jell in time for MEAC play, as they finished 3-13 in the league last year. The Eagles lost eight of the twelve players on last year’s terrible team, so Coach Mitchell’s JuCo-laden roster should only get better.

Coppin State may be without their leading scorer in this one, as Michael Harper missed Tuesday’s game against Kentucky with the flu. In his absence, the team took nearly eight minutes to score a field goal in Lexington, and shot less than 20% from the field in the first half. If Harper and his 15 points per game won’t be part of the lineup tonight, the Eagles will need 5’11” point guard Tony Gallo to step up.

A typical December “buy” game, this contest shouldn’t ever be in doubt. With that in mind, here are the things we’ll be watching this afternoon:

1) How rusty will the Longhorns be? – The one thing that Coppin State does very well is control the basketball. Their 17.5% turnover rate is 30th in the nation, so to put it simply, they do not waste possessions. Unfortunately, with the holiday layoff, there’s always a bit of rust that shows in these late December games. If the Longhorns sleepwalk through this one and play sloppy basketball, it will only serve to keep the Eagles in the game for longer than they should be.

2) Does Texas dominate the glass? – The Eagles are being outrebounded by an average of eight boards per game so far this season, including a 43-22 shellacking on the glass in their last game against Kentucky.

Looking at the tempo-free numbers, Coppin State is frequently abused in the rebounding battle on both ends of the court. While they don’t turn the ball over, they also hardly ever corral their misses, grabbing just 27.7% of their offensive rebounding chances. That mark is 302nd nationally, and is just a shade better than their 325th-ranked defensive rebounding percentage. Coppin State allows opponents to snag 39% of their misses, leading to a ton of easy putbacks and second-chance points.

With all those numbers in mind, there’s absolutely no reason that the bigger, more athletic Longhorns should not decimate the Eagles on the glass. Look for Tristan Thompson and Gary Johnson to take advantage of Coppin State, and hopefully put up some eye-popping rebounding numbers.

3) Is the transition game still a focus? – The Longhorns made Michigan State pay last week by pushing the ball in transition and getting a ton of easy baskets before the Spartans could ever set up the defense. Coppin State runs at a rather slow pace this season, so we’ll be watching to see if Texas establishes tempo by continuing to push the ball down the floor.