Eagles Set to Host Missouri State in Ramada BracketBusters Event

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - After dropping a road contest to reigning FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Basketball Tournament champions Ohio University, 73-50, the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team will return back to the EMU Convocation Center for a noon game with Missouri State University Saturday, Feb. 23. This non-conference game is part of the 2013 Ramada WorldWide BracketBusters event.
     Eastern is now 12-14 on the 2012-13 campaign and 5-7 in conference play, holding down the number three spot in the West Division. Redshirt junior Glenn Bryant is leading the offensive charge for the Green and White, posting 10.5 points per game, while senior Derek Thompson is putting up 10.2. Daylen Harrison is averaging 9.2 points and 4.8 rebounds, while fellow transfer Da'Shonte Riley has led Eastern on the glass, hauling in 6.1rebounds a game this season. Freshman Jalen Ross has dished out 70 assists, good for 2.7 per game, which tops EMU.
    The Bears come into the contest with a record of 8-20 on the season and 6-10 in Missouri Valley Concerence games. Anthony Downing leads MSU averaging 13.6 points and 2.9 assists per game. Keith Pickens is hauling in a team-best five rebounds per game, while Marcus Marshall is posting 10.9 points per game.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: The Eagles' contest with the Bears 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 Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Greg Steiner, who will serve as the analyst. Pre-game coverage of the matchup will begin at 11:50 a.m.
Along with the WEMU broadcast, the BracketBuster matchup will be aired on Eagle All-Access with live audio and video action. Eagle All-Access is a subscription-based video service provided by EMU. Subscriptions start at just $6.95, visit EMUEagles.com/showcase for more details.

ALL-TIME VERSUS MISSOURI STATE: Saturday's contest will mark just the second all-time meeting between the Bears and Eagles. Missouri State defeated Eastern in the first matchup, 75-61, Nov. 22, 2009, as part of the Hispanic College Fund Challenge in Springfield, Mo.
    Brandon Bowdry notched his second double-double performance of the season and his fourth consecutive double digit scoring effort, going for 15 points on 4-for-8 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds. For his efforts, Bowdry was named to the HCF Challenge All-Tournament Team. Jay Higgins and Justin Dobbins were the only other Eagles to score in double figures, as the two EMU starters finished with 12 and 10, respectively. The Eagles never managed to put the clamps on MSU's offense, as the Bears shot 55.1 percent (27-for-49) from the field in the contest, including 7-for-16 from beyond the arc. MSU put five players in double figures in the contest, as Caleb Patterson and Nafis Ricks paced the Bears with 13 points each.

THESE THREE HAVE BEEN THERE BEFORE: Although the Missouri State and Eastern Michigan have squared off just once prior to Saturday's contest, there were three student-athletes who played in the Nov. 22, 2009, game between MSU and EMU. Seniors Jamell Harris and Matt Balkema each saw time agaisnt the Bears in the 2009-10 season. Harris started and scored two points while pulling down three rebounds in 12 minutes. Balkema saw 14 minutes in the loss and posted three points and three rebounds.
    Keith Pickens of Missouri State saw 15 minutes as a starter for MSU, scoring two points and hauling in three boards.

SHOOT TO WIN: The Eagles dropped a road contest, 73-50, at Ohio, Feb. 20, and shot just 27.6 percent from the floor. That output is the lowest EMU has shot since starting Mid-American Conference play. When shooting less than 35 percent this season, Eastern is 1-5, with its only win coming against Purdue, Dec. 8, when EMU shot 30.9 percent in a 47-44 victory at the Convocation Center.

SIMSANITY!: Since joining the starting lineup against Ball State, J.R. Sims is averaging 15 points per game, while shooting a blistering 11-of-21 (52.4 percent) from the floor and 6-of-10 (60 percent) from three-point land.

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	5-7	12-14	3rd-West

EMU ATHLETICS AND LAFONTAINE PREPARE TO GIVE AWAY CAR: On Feb. 23, one lucky fan will win a GMC Terrain compliments of Eastern Michigan University, LaFontaine Buick GMC of Ann Arbor and Pakmode Media + Marketing. The promotion, “Win This Car” kicked off during football season when fans were given the chance to purchase discounted $5 tickets online at EMUTix.com by using promo code: WINCAR. On top of getting half off tickets, fans are automatically entered to win the Terrain by using the promo code. There is no maximum on the number of tickets each fan can purchase. The winner will win the Terrain with approximately 11,000 miles on it without the current promotional green car wrap on it.
Fans will have until Feb. 21, to purchase tickets to win the GMC Terrain. Finalists will be contacted Friday, Feb. 22 and will be encouraged to attend the game on Feb. 23 (but are not required to be in attendance).

NEXT ON THE DOCKET, NORTHERN ILLINOIS: After taking on Missouri State at home, Eastern will travel to DeKalb, Ill. to square off with Northern Illinois for the second time this season. In their first matchup the Eagles held the Huskies to just 25 points, including a miniscule four points in the first half. That four-point output broke NIU's 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 shot 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. The Huskies started 1-of-2, but went on to miss their next 36 shots over 24:33 of play before making a basket with 14:27 remaining in the game.

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 tying for the sixth-best record in conference play this season, the Eagles would earn the seventh seed due to Toledo being ineligible for postseason play as well as losing the tiebreaker scenarios with Kent State and Bowling Green.

EMU ANNOUNCES TIME CHANGE FOR FEB. 23: The Eastern Michigan University Department of Athletics has announced a change to the game times for the Saturday, Feb. 23, basketball doubleheader at the Convocation Center. The men's team will tipoff the doubleheader at noon against Missouri State University followed by the women's team playing Western Michigan University at 2:30 p.m.

FIRST TIME TO 20: Despite scoring in double-figures on 15 different occasions prior to thecontest at Ball State, first-year Eagle, Glenn Bryant, had not hit the 20-point mark in a single game yet. That changed against the Cardinals as Bryant dropped 20 points on 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) shooting from the floor.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

Eagles Set to Host Missouri State in Ramada BracketBusters Event

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