Eastern Looks to Get Back on Track in DeKalb

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - After being knocked off, 57-54, at home by the visiting Bears of Missouri State University, the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team hits the road for a 314-mile trek across the Midwest for a Mid-American Conference West Division tilt Wednesday, Feb. 27, at the Convocation Center on the campus of Northern Illinois University.
     Eastern is now 12-15 on the 2012-13 campaign and 5-7 in conference play, holding down the number three spot in the West Division. Redshirt senior Derek Thompson is leading the offensive charge for the Green and White, posting 10.6 points per game, while redshirt junior Glenn Bryant is putting up 10.2. Daylen Harrison is averaging 8.9 points and 4.8 rebounds, while fellow transfer Da'Shonte Riley has led Eastern on the glass, hauling in 6.0 rebounds a game this season. Freshman Jalen Ross has dished out 70 assists, good for 2.6 per game, which tops EMU.
    The Huskies come into the contest with a record of 5-20 on the season and 3-9 in MAC games. Abdel Nader leads Northern Illinois averaging 13.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Askel Bolin has had some success for the Huskies as well, posting 7.1 points and four rebounds per game, while Darrell Bowie is shooting 45.9 percent from the field after appearing in all 25 games 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 Northern Illinois' Convocation Center. Pre-game coverage of the matchup will begin at 6:50 p.m.

ALL-TIME VERSUS NORTHERN ILLINOIS: Wednesday's contest will mark the 83rd all-time meeting between the Huskies and Eagles. Northern Illinois holds the all-time edge, 50-32. 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.

THE LAST TIME WE MET: Earlier this season, the Eagles dropped the Huskies, 42-25, at home, Jan. 26. For EMU, the game stood as the first time since Dec. 7, 2004 that the team held an opponent to less than 30 points. That feat occurred against Rochester College, 89-29. The 25 points given up were also the lowest points EMU has allowed since Jan. 21, 1943, when Eastern defeated Hillsdale College, 61-21.
     It was a dubious day for the Huskies, who registered 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 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. The Eagles forced NIU to shoot 8-of-61 from the field 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.
    Eastern was led in scoring by Glenn Bryant with 10 points, the only player in double digits for either team. EMU shot 13-of-35 from the field for a 37.1 shooting percentage. At the charity stripe, the Eagles converted 75.0 percent of their attempts, going 12-of-16.

THAT WAS A HEARTBREAKER: EMU held a 13 point lead over Missouri State, Feb. 23, with 6:20 left in the game and an eight point edge, 29-21, at the half inside the Convocation Center. The Eagles were outscored by 11 points, 36-25, in the second half to drop their fourth home contest of the 2012-13 campaign, 57-54. This was the biggest lead that EMU had surrendered all season in a loss. The biggest lead given up previously this season was when Eastern lost a 10-point lead against Western Michigan, Jan. 23, and fell, 63-59.

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	12-15	3rd-West

SIMSANITY!: Since joining the starting lineup against Ball State, Feb. 16, J.R. Sims is averaging 13.7 points per game, while shooting a blistering 14-of-31 (45.2 percent) from the floor and 9-of-18 (50 percent) from three-point land. He is also playing 31.7 minutes per game.
    Prior to joining the starting lineup he saw just 18.7 minutes a game, while posting 4.5 points with a 36.5 shooting percentage.

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.

NEXT ON THE DOCKET, WESTERN MICHIGAN: After traveling to Northern Illinois, Eastern will return home to square off with Western Michigan for the second time this season. In their first matchup the Eagles dropped a game, 63-59, at University Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich. Eastern lost a 10-point lead early in the game and was never able to hold off the Broncos.
    EMU had three student-athletes with double-digit point performances as Daylen Harrison led the offense with 15 points. Glenn Bryant dropped 12 and Jamell Harris poured in 10 for the Eagles. Jalen Ross added nine points of his own. On the glass, Bryant, Harris and Harrison each had six caroms, while Da'Shonte Riley also pulled down six boards.

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. (For complete seeding details flip to page 22 of these notes)

IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: According to the most recent national statistical update (Feb. 24) the Eagles are 35th in the nation in scoring defense, holding opponents to 60 points per game, while ranking 15th in three point field goal percentage defense (29.2 percent)

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.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Fort Wayne, Ind. native, J.R. Sims, showed why he likes the one trip yearly to his home state with a career game against Ball State, Feb. 16. Sims posted career-highs in points (18), field goals made (7) and three-point shots made (4), while tying his career-high in rebounds (4).

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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