Eagles and Huskies Square Off at Convocation Center, Jan. 26

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - After dropping a road contest to Western Michigan, 63-59, the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team will return to the Convocation Center Saturday, Jan. 26. The Eagles welcome the Huskies of Northern Illinois University for a 2:04 p.m. tip time.
     Eastern is now 9-10 on the campaign and 2-3 in conference play after falling on the road. Senior guard Derek Thompson is leading the way offensively, posting 11.5 points per game. Leading the Eagles in rebounding is junior center Da'Shonte Riley who is pulling down 6.2 rebounds per game. Other notables this season have been transfers Glenn Bryant and Daylen Harrison. Bryant is posting 9.9 points per contest, while Harrison has been averaging 9.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in his first season competing for EMU. Freshman Jalen Ross is dishing out a team-high 3.2 assists per game.
    The Huskies come into the contest struggling with a 4-13 record, going 2-3 in MAC games this season. Abdel Nader is leading the Huskies with 13.9 points per game this season, while also pulling down 4.6 rebounds, which is tops for NIU.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: The Eagles' contest with the Huskies will be broadcast on WEMU (89.1 FM). Veteran play-by-play voice Chad Bush will be on the call from Convocation Center alongside EMU Assistant Athletics Director Greg Steiner as the analyst.
     In addition to the WEMU broadcast, fans are encouraged to check out Eagle All-Access where they can not only listen to Chad and Greg's broadcast but watch a live stream of Saturday's game and all home games for the 2012-13 season. Eagle All-Access is a subscription-based service, starting as low as $6.95.

ALL-TIME VERSUS NORTHERN ILLINOIS: Saturday afternoon's matchup will mark the 82nd all-time meeting between the Huskies and Eagles. Nothern Illinois holds the all-time series edge, 50-31. EMU and NIU first met during the 1926-27 campaign when 1976 E-Club Hall of Fame inductee Elton J. Rynearson was serving as the team's head coach. It was the second of four stints for Rynearson as the EMU Head Men's Basketball Coach. That team was downed in a home contest, 39-35, Feb. 5, 1927.
    Last season, Eastern won a pair of games against the Huskies, but fell in the campaign's finale. First, the Eagles traveled to NIU, Jan. 7, 2012, and saw a 47-40 win in the Green and White's Mid-American Conference opener. The second matchup with the Huskies came within the friendly confines of the Convocation Center. Eastern came away victorious, 48-45, Feb. 22, 2012, after using a 15-0 run in the second half. In the final bout between these teams last season, the Eagles fell, 55-52, to NIU in the opening round of the 2012 FirstEnergy MAC Tournament, March 5, 2012.

DROPPING A LEAD: The Eagles had a lead as large as 10 points in the contest with Western Michigan, Jan. 23, but were unable to hold off the Broncos. Eastern was holding a 10 point lead with 7:10 left in the first half, but was outscored, 13-3, by WMU in the final six minutes of the first half which led to a tie game at the half.
    The last time Eastern dropped a double-digit lead and lost a game was during the 2011-12 campaign. EMU had a lead as large as 11, Feb. 1, 2012, when they traveled to Oxford, Ohio and fell to Miami in a 62-57 overtime loss.

TIME TO RETURN THE FAVOR: Eastern Michigan was left with a sickly taste in its mouth after being the highest seed without a bye in last season's FirstEnery Mid-American Conference basketball tournament. On top of not receiving a bye after winning the MAC West Division, the Eagles dropped a home contest, 55-52, to the lowest seed in the tournament, Northern Illinois. EMU is looking to hand the Huskies their 14th loss and get back to .500 in conference play with a victory at the Convocation Center.

SHORTENING THE BENCH: EMU has used an average of 8.6 players per game in conference play this season, while its opponents have used 9.8 players per game.

EMU'S CAREER DIVISIONAL RECORD: The Mid-American Conference has had West-East Divisional competition since 1997-98. A complete list of divisional play is listed below.

EMU IN MAC DIVISIONAL PLAY

Year	MAC Record	Overall Record	Divisional Place
1997-98	13-5	20-10	3rd-West
1998-99	5-13	5-20	5th-West
1999-00	9-9	15-13	3rd-West
2000-01	1-17	3-25	6th-West
2001-02	2-16	6-24	6th-West
2002-03	8-10	14-14	T-4th-West
2003-04	7-11	13-15	5th-West
2004-05	5-13	12-18	6th-West
2005-06	3-15	7-21	5th-West
2006-07	6-10	13-19	4th-West
2007-08	8-8	14-17	T-2nd-West
2008-09	6-10	8-24	4th-West
2009-10	8-8	17-15	T-2nd-West
2010-11	5-11	9-22	T-4th-West
2011-12	9-7	14-18	1st-West
2012-13	2-3	9-10	T-2nd-West

RILEY MAKING HISTORY: After 19 games this season Da'Shonte Riley has posted 41 blocked shots, which rank as the ninth most in a single season at Eastern Michigan. He is averaging 2.2 blocks per game and is on pace to stuff 70 shots this season which would be the fifth-most blocks in a single season at EMU. Theron Wilson (1992-93) holds the record for the most blocks in a single season with 96.

BLOCKING HIS WAY INTO THE RECORD BOOKS: Eastern Michigan senior forward, Jamell Harris, posted 40 blocks last season which ranks as the 10th-most in EMU laurels and his 72 blocks in 2009-10 ranks as fourth in the record book. The Euclid, Ohio native trails former EMU defensive great Theron Wilson (1992-96) by 97 blocks. Harris sits second in the record books with 158 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 484 career rebounds, he is 24th all-time. Kennedy McIntosh (1967-71) has the most with 1,426.

IN THE NATIONAL RANKS: As of the last NCAA statistical update (Jan. 21), EMU ranks 16th in the NCAA in blocked shots per game (5.6).
    Da'Shonte Riley is tied for 39th in the nation for blocked shots per game (2.28).

BENCH PRODUCTION: Despite posting a losing record through its first five MAC contests of the 2012-13 campaign, the Eagles have seen a lot of production from its non-starters in those games.. In MAC games, EMU's bench is outscoring its opponents' bench, 97-57.
    Overall this season, Eastern is outscoring its opponents benches by 85 points, 388-309.

FIGHTING THE ROAD WOES: Eastern Michigan has yet to win a game on the road this season and holds a record of 0-8 away from the Convocation Center. EMU is shooting just 34.3 percent on the road, and hitting just 29.8 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. 30, when they travel to Ohio.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

Eagles and Huskies Square Off at Convocation Center, Jan. 26

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos