Eagles Look to Avenge Conference Opening Loss at Ball State

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - After dropping just its third home game of the season, 70-62, at the hands of the University of Akron, Feb. 13, the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team will hit the road for a Mid-American Conference West Division matchup with Ball State University Saturday, Feb. 16. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at James E. Worthen Arena. BSU topped Eastern, 60-58, in the Eagles' first MAC game of the season.
     Eastern is now 11-13 on the 2012-13 campaign and 4-6 in conference play, holding down the number three spot in the West Division. Senior guard Derek Thompson is leading the way offensively, posting 10.7 points per game. On the boards junior center Da'Shonte Riley is pulling down six rebounds per game. Other notables this season have been transfers Glenn Bryant and Daylen Harrison. Bryant is posting 10.2 points per contest, while Harrison has been averaging 9.7 points and five rebounds per game in his first season competing for EMU. Freshman Jalen Ross is dishing out a team-high 2.9 assists per game.
    The Cardinals come into the contest with a 4-7 record in MAC games, while going 10-13 overall. The Cardinals have seen significant production from Juwan Scaife and Jesse Berry. Scaife is posting 14.4 points per game, while Berry has been good for 12.4.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: The Eagles' contest with the Cardinals will be broadcast on WEMU (89.1 FM). Veteran play-by-play voice Chad Bush will be on the call from James E. Worthen Arena in Muncie, Ind. Pre-game coverage of the matchup will begin at 1:50 p.m.

ALL-TIME VERSUS BALL STATE: Saturday afternoon's contest will mark the 95th all-time meeting between the Cardinals and Eagles. Eastern is 38-56 in the all-time series against Ball State. They first got together back when the Cardinals topped the then-Hurons, 73-32, Feb. 9, 1947. BSU took the first eight contests until Dec. 14, 1960, when EMU defeated Ball State, 86-81.
     The last time these two teams met on the hardwood was earlier this season when the Eagles hosted BSU in the first MAC game of the 2012-13 campaign. Eastern was knocked off, 60-58, when Chris Bond converted two free throws with 0.6 seconds left to give the Cardinals a two point win.
     Derek Thompson led the Eagles in scoring, bringing in 16 points and sinking 8-of-9 shots from the charity stripe. J.R. Sims tied his season high with 12 points as the Eagles' bench outscored the Cardinals' bench, 28-2. The two MAC rivals were impressive from the floor all night long. EMU forced 19 turnovers while only giving up 11, but it was not enough as the Green and White dropped to 7-8 on the season and 0-1 in MAC play. With the victory, Ball State improved to 7-6 and 1-0 in the conference.

HARRISON NAMED MAC SCHOLAR ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Daylen Harrison was named the Mid-American Conference Male Scholar Athlete of the Week by the league office today, Feb. 14, for the week, Feb. 4-10. The award is the first weekly conference award of Harrison's career.
     Harrison led the Eagles to a 1-1 split last week in MAC play. The Akron, Ohio native posted 14 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, while picking up his first career double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds) in a 60-52 loss to Toledo, Feb. 9. The redshirt junior's 19 points were a career-high and he shot 6-of-15 (40 percent) from the floor, while registering three steals, a pair of blocks and two assists at Savage Arena. Harrison averaged 31 minutes per game while shooting 10-for-27 (37 percent) from the field and hit 6-of-7 (85.7 percent) from the free throw line this week. EMU used nine points and five rebounds from Harrison to defeat Buffalo, 65-46, Feb. 6, including four field goals from the Akron, Ohio native.
     Harrison boasts a 3.53 grade point average as a Chemistry major. The MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week award is given to MAC male and female student-athlete who has a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better and performs well during the week's competition.

STRICK SHINES BRIGHT: Redshirt junior Anthony Strickland posted a season-best game in EMU's 70-62 loss to Akron. “Strick” posted 10 points, four rebounds and four assists. His four assists were a career-best, while he also went a 8-for-8 from the free throw line, which marks his best performance from the charity stripe.

AVENGING A HOME LOSS: The Eagles dropped a 60-58 decision in their MAC opening game earlier this season, Jan. 9. Eastern is looking to return the favor on the road at James. E Worthen Arena Saturday afternoon.
    The last time Ball State completed the sweep of EMU was back in the 2010-11 campaign. Eastern first dropped a contest at the Convocation Center, 60-51, Jan. 19, 2011. In the rematch, the Eagles fell at Worthen Arena, 64-49, Feb. 23, 2011.

IT COULD STILL BE IN THE CARDS: If the EMU men's hoops squad can complete the rest of the 2012-13 campaign without losing a single game, it will end up with a 10-6 record which could prove to be enough to defend its 2011-12 MAC West Division Championship, where they won the division with a 9-7 conference record.

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	4-6	11-13	3rd-West

NEXT ON THE DOCKET, OHIO: After traveling to Ball State, Eastern will remain on the road to take on MAC East foe, Ohio University. Though it will be the EMU men's hoops squad's second trip to Athens, Ohio this season, Feb. 20 will mark the Eagles first contest with the Bobcats. The first scheduled game at Ohio was canceled due to an incident on-campus that caused all activites to be canceled at OU.
     Eastern's last time taking on Ohio was last season, Feb. 11, 2012, when EMU dropped the Bobcats, 68-55, at home. Derek Thompson scored a season-high 23 points to lead the Eagles while guard Antonio Green added 13 and forward Jamell Harris chipped in 12 to go along with a team-best seven rebounds.

ALL ROADS LEAD TO CLEVELAND: With the 2013 FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament approaching, teams are jockeying for position, trying to get the best seed possible in Cleveland, Ohio. Currently, Eastern Michigan would be the No. 7-seed at Quicken Loans Arena. Despite having the eighth-best record in conference play this season, the Eagles would earn the seventh seed because Toledo is ineligible for postseason play due to NCAA sanctions.

HARRISON TURNS IT UP AT TOLEDO: Eastern Michigan redshirt junior Daylen Harrison posted one of his best performances, Feb. 9, at Toledo in the Eagles 60-52 loss to the Rockets. Harrison dropped 19 points and pulled down 10 rebounds while dishing out a pair of assists. It was Harrison's second double-double of the 2012-13 campaign, as well as a career-best for points in a game. His first double-double came in a 10-point, 57-47, victory over Texas-Pan American to sweep the 2012 EMU “Ice Man” Classic, Nov. 18, 2012. Harrison posted 16 points and 12 boards in that win.

REBOUNDING RAMPAGE: The Eagles had their best showing on the glass this season when EMU grabbed 43 rebounds in their loss to Toledo. This season EMU has grabbed 40-or-more rebounds in just four games. The Eagles first pulled 41 down against Madonna University, Nov. 24, then notched 40 boards against the University of Illinois-Chicago, Dec. 15. Finally, Eastern nabbed 42 caroms against Northern Illinois University, Jan. 26. In games where the Eagles grab 40-or-more rebounrds, they are just 2-2.

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 96 blocks. Harris sits second in the record books with 159 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 499 career rebounds, he is 24th all-time. Kennedy McIntosh (1967-71) has the most with 1,426.

RILEY MAKING HISTORY: After 24 games this season Da'Shonte Riley has posted 54 blocked shots, which is the sixth most in a single season at Eastern Michigan. He is averaging 2.25 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.

IN THE NATIONAL RANKS: As of the last NCAA statistical update (Feb. 11), EMU ranks 36th in scoring defense, allowing just 59.6 points per game, while also ranking 23rd in three-point field goal percentage defense at 29.4 percent. The Eagles are also 13th in the NCAA in blocked shots per game with 5.5.
     Da'Shonte Riley is tied for 32nd in the nation for blocked shots per game with 2.35, while Daylen Harrison's 88.1 percent shooting from the charity stripe ranks 21st in the NCAA.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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