Eagles Set to Take on Reigning MAC Tournament Champions

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- After holding Northern Illinois University to just 25 points at the Eastern Michigan University Convocation Center, the men's basketball team hits the road to take on defending Mid-American Conference Tournament Champion Ohio University Wednesday, Jan. 30, at 7 p.m. inside the Ohio Convocation Center.
     Eastern is now 10-10 on the 2012-13 campaign and 3-3 in conference play after picking up the 42-25 win at home against NIU. Senior guard Derek Thompson is leading the way offensively, posting 11.2 points per game. Leading the Eagles in rebounding is junior center Da'Shonte Riley who is pulling down 6.1 rebounds per game. Other notables this season have been transfers Glenn Bryant and Daylen Harrison. Bryant is posting 10 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 Bobcats come into the contest tied at the top of the MAC East Division with a perfect 6-0 record. Ohio is 15-5 overall and owe that record in large part to the play of senior guard D.J. Cooper who is posting 14.6 points and 8.2 assists per game this season. Also posting big numbers for OU are Reggie Keely and Walter Offutt with 11.5 and 11 points per game, respectively.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: The Eagles' contest with the Bobcats will be broadcast on WEMU (89.1 FM). Veteran play-by-play voice Chad Bush will be on the call from the Ohio Convocation Center.

ALL-TIME VERSUS OHIO: Wednesday evening's contest will mark the 67th all-time meeting between the Bobcats and Eagles. Ohio holds the all-time series edge, 43-23. EMU and Ohio first met during the 1972-73 campaign when Allan Freund was serving his first year as the team's head coach. The then-Hurons dropped a road contest against Ohio, 89-73, Jan. 16, 1973.
    Last season, Eastern and Ohio had just one meeting. The Eagles handed Ohio one of its five conference losses last seasaon. Eastern held the lead throughout the entire game as they won, 68-55, at the EMU Convocation Center. Derek Thompson scored a season-high 23 points to lead the Eagles while senior guard Antonio Green added 13 and junior forward Jamell Harris chipped in 12 to go along with a team-best seven rebounds. Following their loss to the Eagles, the Bobcats dropped just one game throughout the rest of the season before falling, 73-65, to the University of North Carolina, March 23, 2012, in overtime of a Sweet 16 game during the 2012 NCAA Tournament in St. Louis, Mo.

A HALF FOR THE AGES: Eastern showed just how dominant it can be defensively against Northern Illinois, Jan. 26. EMU held the Huskies just one field goal and a pair of free throws in the opening half for a total of four points. That four-point output broke their own record-low of five first-half points from Dec. 1, 2012. It also tied the 2008 Savannah State Tigers for the fewest points scored in any half during the modern era.
    The one NIU basket also tied the NCAA record with Savannah State for fewest field goals made in one half. NIU also shot just 1-of-31 in the first half for a 3.2 percent conversion rate. That mark broke the record previously held by Savannah State, who went 1-of-23 en route to their four-point second half, Jan. 7, 2008.

MAKING MORE HISTORY IN YPSI: The first half with NIU was not the only thing which left the Huskies feeling blue. The Eagles forced NIU to shoot 8-of-61 from the field in the game including 1-of-33 from beyond the arc for a 13.1 shooting percentage making it the lowest field goal percentage in NCAA history since the beginning of the shot clock era in 1986. The previous record occurred, Dec. 29, 2001, when Miami University shot 13.3 percent from the floor, making 8-of-60 shots against Dayton.

NO NEED TO SCORE 44: The Eagles defeated Northern Illinois, 42-25, scoring less than 45 points, which was the first time EMU had completed that feat since Jan. 21, 2012, when it topped Toledo, 41-38. Eastern won, 41-38, when hosting Central Michigan, Jan. 21, 2011.

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	3-3	10-10	T-2nd-West

NEXT ON THE DOCKET, KENT STATE: After traveling to Athens, Ohio for a MAC tilt with the Ohio Bobcats, the Green and White will head back to Ohio Saturday, Feb. 2, for a regionally televised contest Kent State on SportsTime Ohio and ESPN3. The Eagles will square off with the Golden Flashes at 6 p.m. inside the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center.
    Last season, Eastern saw Kent State just once during the campaign. The Eagles hosted Kent State, Feb. 8, 2012. EMU dropped a 62-58 decision as it had three players in double figures with Darrell Lampley leading the way with 18 points, while senior guard Antonio Green added 12 and junior forward Jamell Harris chipped in 10.

RILEY MAKING HISTORY: After 20 games this season Da'Shonte Riley has posted 46 blocked shots, which rank as the eighth most in a single season at Eastern Michigan. He is averaging 2.3 blocks per game and is on pace to stuff 71 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 487 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. 27), EMU ranks 19th in the NCAA in blocked shots per game (5.4).
    Da'Shonte Riley is tied for 43rd in the nation for blocked shots per game (2.16).

BENCH PRODUCTION: Despite an even record through its first six 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, 113-70.
    Overall this season, Eastern is outscoring its opponents benches by 85 points, 404-322.

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

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos