Brimah scores 40 as UConn beats Coppin State 106-85

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) UConn needed a good offensive night after scoring just 44 points in a one-point loss to Yale.

Amida Brimah scored 40 by himself Sunday and the defending national champions snapped a three-game losing streak with a 106-85 rout of Coppin State.

''We just wanted to get a win,'' said head coach Kevin Ollie. ''No matter how we did it, we just wanted to stop the bleeding.''

Connecticut's 7-foot center, whose previous career high was 20, made all 13 of his shots from the field, many of them on lob dunks, and hit 14 of his 16 foul shots. He also had 12 rebounds.

Ryan Boatright added 22 points and Kentan Facey had 15, also a career best for UConn (4-3), which outscored an undersized Coppin State (1-9) 58-22 in the paint. Daniel Hamilton had 11 points and 11 assists, six of them to Brimah.

''The reason I got all those lobs is because (the guards) attacked the paint hard so my man has to help,'' Brimah said. ''When they helped, they just threw me the lobs.''

UConn started the game with an alley-oop pass from Boatright to Brimah and UConn and went on a 13-2 run in the first two minutes of this game.

They led 51-39 at the half, opened the second half on a 10-0 run and stretched the lead from there.

UConn had not won a game since beating Dayton in the second round of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Tourney on Nov. 21.

Arnold Fripp had 25 points and nine rebounds before fouling out to lead Coppin State. Christian Kessee added 22 and the Eagles were in this one for a little while.

Their 3-point shooting cut a 20-point Husky lead to 42-36 in the first half. Fripp hit his first four attempts from 3-point range, and Kessee also had four 3-pointers in the half. The Eagles finished 15 of 32 from behind the arc, but it was not enough.

''I would take our 3s all day over their 2s,'' said Coppin State coach Michael Grant. ''But they had too many 2s.''

UConn shot 57 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Eagles 45-24, leading to 23 second-chance points.

Connecticut came into the game a bit banged up in the backcourt.

Boatright, still recovering from a left ankle sprain suffered in the final seconds of a Nov. 30 loss to Texas, suffered a bruised shin in practice this week during a collision with teammate Terrence Samuel.

Rodney Purvis played, but is still nursing a high-ankle sprain he suffered against West Virginia on Nov. 23.

Omar Calhoun has been cleared to play after suffering a knee injury in October, but he remained on the bench in street clothes.

Coppin State's only win this year came against Division II Goldey-Beacom College, a school in Wilmington, Delaware, with an enrollment of just under 1,200 students.

TIP-INS

UConn: The last time the Huskies dropped four in a row was in January, 2012, during Jim Calhoun's final season as head coach. The Huskies were beaten by Cincinnati, Tennessee, Notre Dame and Georgetown before ending the skid in Hartford against Seton Hall.

Coppin State: The Eagles came in giving up an average of 89 points a game. The team has surrendered 100 points four times this season, in losses to Oregon, Illinois, Notre Dame and Hofstra.

PUTTING UP NUMBERS: Brimah is the 11th player in UConn history to score at least 40 points in a game and the first since Kemba Walker put up 42 in a win over Vermont in November 2010. The 106 points were the most scored by a UConn team since the 127-117, six-overtime loss to Syracuse in the 2009 Big East tournament.

UP NEXT

UConn: The Huskies will meet No. 2 Duke Thursday on a neutral court, the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Coppin State: The Eagles have a week off before visiting Michigan on Dec. 22.