Eagles Host In-State Rival Central Michigan, Jan. 15

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - After falling to 0-2 in Mid-American Conference play with a loss on the road to Bowling Green, Jan. 12, 46-44, the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team returns to Ypsilanti for a pair of home MAC contests. The Eagles open the miniature home stand with Central Michigan University Tuesday, Jan. 15, for a 7 p.m. tip at the Convocation Center.
     Eastern is now 7-9 on the season and 0-2 in conference play with senior guard Derek Thompson leading the way offensively, posting 11.6 points per game. Leading the Eagles in rebounding is junior center Da'Shonte Riley who is posting 6.1 rebounds per game. Other notables this season have been transfers Glenn Bryant and Daylen Harrison. Bryant is posting 9.6 points per contest, while Harrison has been averaging 9.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in his first season competing for EMU.
    The Chippewas come into the contest boasting an 8-7 record, splitting a pair of MAC games this season. Kyle Randall has notched 17.1 points per game this season, while John Simons leads the Chips with 5.3 rebounds a game, and Chris Fowler is posting 5.1 assists per game.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: The Eagles' matchup with the Chippewas will be broadcast on WEMU (89.1 FM). Veteran play-by-play voice Chad Bush will be on the call from the Convocation Center alongside EMU Assistant Athletic Director Greg Steiner as the analyst.
    The contest between EMU and Central Michigan is also available on SportsTime Ohio and ESPN3. Michael Reghi will serve as the play-by-play analyst on the television broadcast with Dave Cecutti at his side as the analyst.

ALL-TIME VERSUS CENTRAL MICHIGAN: Tuesday's game will be the 184th all-time meeting between Central and Eastern. The Chippewas hold the all-time series edge, 97-86. EMU and the Chippewas first met during the 1905-06 campaign when Wilbur P. Bowen was in his third season at the helm. The then-Normalites defeated Central Michigan, 24-19, Feb. 9, 1906. That team went 4-4 on the season.
    In the last meeting between these teams, Eastern fell, 55-52, inside McGuirk Arena in Mount Pleasant, Mich., Feb. 14, 2012. Derek Thompson led the Eagles with 18 points while Jamell Harris added 10 points and seven rebounds. Eastern shot 16-of-39 (41 percent) in field-goal attempts, but the free throw line hurt the Eagles as they made just 16-of-25 (64 percent) charity tosses.

GOT OUR NUMBER: Last season Eastern went 0-2 against CMU. The Chippewas are the only squad that Head Coach Rob Murphy did not beat last season in the Mid-American Conference West Division. The Eagles have lost the last three games against Central, dating back to the 2010-11 campaign when the Eagles knocked off the Chips, 41-38, Jan. 23, 2011.

PULLING DOWN THE BOARDS: Despite the loss to Bowling Green, the Eagles had a pair of athletes pull down double-digit rebounds. Jamell Harris recorded 11 caroms while Da'Shonte Riley had 10 boards. It was the first time since Daylen Harrison notched 12 rebounds and Riley worked for 11 against Texas-Pan American, Nov. 18, in the final game of the 2012 EMU “Ice Man” Classic, that the Eagles had more than one player post double-digit rebounds.
    Prior to the 2012-13 campaign, the Eagles have not seen multiple athletes post double-digit rebounds since the 2009-10 season. Brandon Bowdry and Carlos Medlock each posted 11 rebounds in a 66-60 win against Nothern Illinois, Feb. 27, 2010.

BENCH PRODUCTION: Despite posting a losing record in its first two MAC contests of the 2012-13 campaign, the Eagles have seen a lot of production from its non-starters in those games. First against Ball State, Jan. 9, the Eagles' bench outscored the Cardinals' bench, 28-2. In its loss to Bowling Green, Eastern's bench outscored the Falcons' bench, 19-4. In MAC games, EMU's bench is outscoring its opponents' bench, 47-6.
    Overall this season, Eastern is outscoring its opponents benches by 80 points, 338-258.

NEXT ON THE DOCKET, MIAMI: After playing host to Central Michigan Tuesday, Jan. 15, the Eagles will stay at home for another game before hitting the road. Miami will make the near 240-mile trek Saturday, Jan. 19, for a 2 p.m. tip at the Convocation Center.
    Last season, EMU and Miami took the court once for a cross-divisional matchup in Oxford, Ohio. The Eagles dropped that game, 62-57, in an overtime bout with the RedHawks. Darrell Lampley led the Eagles with 17 while Derek Thompson added 10. Da'Shonte Riley chipped in 11 rebounds to go along with eight points and a block.

BLOCKING HIS WAY INTO THE RECORD BOOKS: Eastern Michigan senior forward, Jamell Harris, posted 40 blocks last season which ranks as the ninth-most in EMU laurels. The Euclid, Ohio native trails former EMU defensive great Theron Wilson (1992-96) by 104 blocks. Harris sits second in the record books with 153 career blocks.
    Harris not only has been a force blocking shots, but he has made a name for himself on the glass as well. With 466 career rebounds, he is 27th all-time. Kennedy McIntosh (1967-71) has the most with 1,426.

FIGHTING THE ROAD WOES: Eastern Michigan has yet to win a game on the road this season and holds a record of 0-7 away from the Convocation Center. EMU is shooting just 34.2 percent on the road, and hitting just 27 percent of its shots from beyond the arc. The Eagles look to turn around their road blues by picking up their first victory on the road Wednesday, Jan. 23, when they travel to Western Michigan.

EARNING HIS KEEP: Junior guard J.R. Sims has seen increased playing time since the   Eagles' loss to Oakland and has upped his production, averaging 7.0 points and 22.4 minutes per game, including a season-best 12 points against both UMass, Jan. 5, and Ball State, Jan. 9. In his first 11 games of the season, Sims was posting just 2.9 points and 13.7 minutes per game.

IN THE NATIONAL RANKS: As of the last NCAA statistical update (Jan. 6), EMU ranks 17th in the NCAA in blocked shots per game (5.6).
   Da'Shonte Riley is tied for 22nd in the nation for blocked shots per game (2.57) and Daylen Harrison is 18th shooting 90.0 percent from the free throw line.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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