Eagles Look to Avenge Double Overtime Loss Versus NIU

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan men's basketball team is coming into a Saturday, March 1, contest with Northern Illinois University riding a high after knocking off Central Michigan University in a 22-point, 64-42, lambasting at the Convocation Center. The Eagles (16-12, 8-7 MAC) welcome the Huskies (13-14, 7-8 MAC) to Ypsilanti with revenge on their minds. Eastern was on the wrong side of a 61-59 double overtime decision back on Feb. 20 in DeKalb, Ill. NIU is coming into the game after defeating the University of Toledo at home, 74-66.

EASTERN POURS IT ON CENTRAL MICHIGAN AT THE CONVO: Eastern Michigan saw not only its defense out-do Central Michigan in a 64-42 loss at home, but the offensive attack did not disappoint either. The Eagles shot a blistering 43.1 percent from the floor, which was just their fifth time shooting above 40 percent since starting Mid-American Conference play. In addition to the offensive output, EMU's defense held Central Michigan to just 42 points. CMU came into the contest averaging 74.1 points per contest, and it was just the third time that the Green and White held an NCAA Division I opponent to less than 50 points.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: The Eagles' contest with the Huskies will hit the airwaves of 89.1 FM (WEMU). In addition to the WEMU broadcast, fans can watch the game live on Eastern Michigan's live streaming program, Eagle All-Access. Subscriptions to Eagle All-Access start at just $6.95 and can be purchased at EMUEagles.com/showcase.

Veteran "Voice of the Eagles" Chad Bush will serve as EMU's play-by-play announcer for the WEMU broadcast, while Sean Hostetter will join the broadcast as the analyst.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE HUSKIES: Saturday's contest will mark the 87th all-time meeting between the Huskies and Eagles. Northern Illinois holds the all-time edge, 51-35. 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 time out, Mike Talley led Eastern in the scoring department with 17, while Karrington Ward poured in 13 and Raven Lee added 10. Da'Shonte Riley was again the defensive catalyst for the Eagles, blocking four shots, while pulling down a team-high 13 rebounds and ripping away two steals. As a team, Eastern shot just 27 percent (17-of-63) on the night, while holding Northern Illinois to just a 29 percent (18-of-62) from the floor.

MURPHY VERSUS THE MAC: Third-year Head Men's Basketball Coach Rob Murphy holds a 24-23 all-time record against Mid-American Conference opponents in his third MAC season. The Detroit, Mich. native won the MAC-West Division Title in 2011-12 during his first season as the head man at EMU before going 7-9 last season. Murphy and his squads have seen most of their success against teams from their own division, going 17-10, while they are just 7-13 against the East Division.

WEST COAST SWING: After eight games versus the East Division of the Mid-American Conference and just two against MAC West opponents in the first 10 games of the conference schedule, the Eagles are in the midst of completing the 18-game league schedule with eight-straight contests facing West Division foes.

THE WESTERN WAY: Since Rob Murphy took over as the head coach at Eastern Michigan, he has enjoyed much more success against the Eagles' side of the conference, including a MAC West Championship during the 2011-12 campaign. In contrast, he holds a 7-13 record versus the other side. So far this season, the Green and White maintains a 5-2 record against MAC West opponents, after defeating, Ball State, Central Michigan, Toledo and Western Michigan.

NOT HIM AGAIN: Eastern Michigan struggled holding down NIU big man, Jordan Threloff, in the last meeting, Feb. 20. The DeKalb, Ill. native posted a double-double, notching 27 points and 18 rebounds. On the season, Threloff averages just nine points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

DEFENSE IS THE NAME OF THE GAME: Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois both pride themselves on their defensive prowess. Both teams allow less than 65 points a game with EMU being No. 1 in the MAC at 61.8 points per game, while NIU surrenders just 64.3 points per contest, good for third in the MAC.

QUITE THE UGLY SERIES: Eastern and Northern Illinois have been known to play in some scrappy, defensive battles since both head coaches, Rob Murphy and Mark Montgomery, have taken over the helms of their respective programs.

These teams have met seven times in the last three seasons, during those games; the winner has only scored more that 60 points in one contest which was seen earlier this season. That game needed double overtime for that final; in regulation, it was tied at 47 points apiece. Overall in the last three seasons, EMU owns a 5-2 edge but posts just 49.4 points versus Northern Illinois, while the Huskies average just 44.4 points against EMU in the last three seasons.

TRYING FOR 20: With the win in the Eagles' game with Central Michigan, Feb. 26, the Green and White earned their 16th win of the season. If EMU completes the season without a loss, they would enter the Mid-American Conference Tournament with 19 wins. If Head Coach Rob Murphy's Eagles could win a single tournament game, they would be the recipients of the first 20-win season since Eastern won the MAC Tournament in 1997-98. If EMU goes 2-1 to finish the regular season, they'd need to make it as far as last season into the tournament quarterfinals.

GO AHEAD, TRY AND SHOOT: Eastern Michigan continued its trend of holding its opponents to a low shooting percentage Wednesday, Feb. 26, when Central Michigan shot just 24.5 percent on the Eagles. That percentage is the lowest that EMU has held a team to this season. In fact, that is the lowest field goal percentage allowed since Northern Illinois shot 23.8 percent on the Eagles last season in a 53-41 victory in DeKalb. This year, the Green and White have held seven opponents to a less than 30 percent field goal percentage, while keeping teams under the 40 percent mark in 18 games.

SNIPER IN THE CONVO: Junior college transfer Karrington Ward has shown that he enjoys playing inside the Convocation Center. The Lockport, Ill. native is averaging 14.2 points per game, while caroming 6.1 rebounds in 15 contests at home this season. Even more impressive, Ward is shooting an even 50 percent from the floor, while knocking down 46.9 percent of his three-point shots. If he triples at that pace on the road as well, he would have the fourth best three-point percentage in the country.

TOURNAMENT SCENARIOS: With a victory versus Northern Illinois Saturday, the Eagles would lock up a first round home game in the 2014 FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Basketball Tournament. EMU could not go lower than the seventh seed with a win Saturday afternoon.

Although they would need a lot of help, Eastern does have a chance at getting a bye into the quarterfinal round of the 2014 MAC Tournament. EMU would need to go 3-0 to close the year, while both Akron and Ohio finish the season 1-2, putting Eastern at 11-7 and the Zips and Bobcats each at 10-8. If EMU closes out at 2-1, the Green and White would need Akron and Ohio to finish the season 0-3 to have a shot at the bye. EMU would be 10-8 and both Akron and Ohio would own 9-9 records. Eastern cannot have an even record with OU or UA because both schools own the tiebreaker over the Green and White.

BALL STATE ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan has Ball State as its next opponent on the grueling 18-game MAC schedule, March 4. The Green and White will host BSU for a 7 p.m. evening contest, which will serve as Eastern's Senior Day celebration. The Eagles are looking to sweep the season series after knocking off the Cardinals, 73-62, in Muncie, Ind. earlier this year.

THE BEST AT WHAT WE DO: Eastern Michigan prides itself on its defense. With that being the case, it should come as no surprise that EMU holds teams to one of the lowest shooting percentages in the country. Actually, according to NCAA.com's Feb. 24 update, the Eagles have the best shooting percentage defense in the country. After holding Central Michigan to a sub-25 percent performance, EMU moved continued its dominance at the top of the field goal percentage defense category, posting a 36.2 mark.

THE BLOCK KING: Da'Shonte Riley's seven blocked shots versus Toledo moved him into second all-time in blocks in Eastern Michigan history. In addition to his 179 career blocks, Riley currently has 83 blocks this season, which is 13 shy of Theron Wilson's top-mark of 96 set during the 1992-93 season. If Riley stays at his current pace of three per game, he will fall one shy of Wilson after the first MAC Tournament game in which EMU plays.

DEFENSIVE EXPERTISE: The EMU squad has shown that it is one of the elite defensive units in college basketball this season. According to the NCAA statistics as of Feb. 24, 2014, the Eagles rank 26th in scoring defense, allowing 62.5 ppg, while they're No. 13 in the country in blocks at 6.1 per contest. The Green and White swipes the ball 8.6 times per game, which is the 13th-most steals per game, and holds teams to just a 29.9 percent three point field goal percentage, good for 16th in the country. The Eagles' most impressive stat is that they are holding teams to a 36.6 field goal percentage. This number ranks as the best in the nation.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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