Eagles Close Out the Regular Season in the Glass City

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team will head to Toledo, Ohio to square off with the University of Toledo Saturday, March 8, in the Eagles' regular season finale. Eastern lambasted the Rockets, 65-44, in this season's first meeting. EMU (18-12, 10-7 MAC) is coming off of a 72-58 victory versus the Cardinals of Ball State University, while Toledo (25-5, 13-4 MAC) narrowly escaped Central Michigan University, 73-69, in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

EAGLES LEAD FOR ALL BUT THREE MINUTES IN VICTORY: Eastern Michigan swept its season series with Ball State after conquering the Cardinals in a decisive 14-point victory on Senior Night, March 4. The Eagles took their first lead of the game with 17:05 left on the clock in the opening half and never looked back. The Green and White celebrated the careers of six different senior student-athletes prior to its final home regular season contest Tuesday evening, while it picked up its 10th Mid-American Conference victory this season. Eastern guaranteed itself a better than .500 record in MAC play for the second time in three seasons under Head Coach Rob Murphy. EMU won the MAC West Division title in Murphy's first year, going 9-7 in conference tilts.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: The Eagles' contest with the Rockets will hit the airwaves of 89.1 FM (WEMU). In addition to the WEMU broadcast, and can watch the game live on Time Warner Cable Sports. If the channel is unavailable in your area, the Green and White faithful can watch live on ESPN3 or download the WatchESPN app to view on a mobile device. Both ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app are free of charge. In Michigan, the game will be available on Comcast 900.

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. For the television broadcast, Michael Reghi will handle the play-by-play, while his season-long partner, Tony White, will continue his analyst duties for Time Warner Cable Sports.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE ROCKETS: Saturday evening's contest will mark the 92nd all-time meeting between the Rockets and Eagles. Toledo holds the all-time series edge, 48-43. EMU and UT first met during the 1917-18 campaign when Eastern Michigan E-Club Hall of Fame Member Elton J. Rynearson was serving the first season of his first stint as the team's head coach. The Eagles were victorious in a road contest against Toledo, 49-20, Feb. 13, 1918.

Last time out, the Eagles were led by the duo of Mike Talley and Karrington Ward, who poured in 13 points each in the 65-44 victory. Ward also came away with eight rebounds, along with Da'Shonte Riley, who tied his career-high in blocks with seven rejections. The leader on the boards was Daylen Harrison, with a game-high nine rebounds. As a team, the Eagles shot 23-of-53 for a 46.0 percent clip.

MURPHY VERSUS THE MAC: Third-year Head Men's Basketball Coach Rob Murphy holds a 26-23 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 19-10, while they are just 7-13 against the East Division.

FAMILIAR FINALE FOE: Heading into its final game of the regular season the Eagles are in the midst of playing seven-straight games versus MAC West Division opponents. The Green and White will close out its season with a game against Toledo for the fourth straight season. In the three previous contests, Eastern Michigan holds a 1-2 record and Rob Murphy is 0-2 versus the Rockets in regular season finales.

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 7-2 record against MAC West opponents. That mark is tied with Western Michigan for the best of any team in the division.

CAN'T COOL COMBS: Eastern Michigan combo-guard Darell Combs has been on a tear as of late. Combs averages just 7.6 points per game on the season, but has posted 12.5 per contest since EMU's loss versus Western Michigan, Feb. 23. He is also shooting 42.9 percent from the floor, 40.0 percent from the long line and owns an 82.4 percent clip from the charity stripe.

THE MOST WINS IN 16 YEARS: Eastern Michigan's last NCAA Tournament appearance came during the 1997-98 season when the Green and White held a mark of 20-10 for the season. With the 72-58 victory over Ball State, March 4, the Eagles earned their 18th win of the season which is the most since the 97-98 campaign. With the March 4 win, EMU also posted its 10th MAC victory, which is the most since Eastern won 13 in the 1997-98 season.

MURPHY BACK TO .500: Eastern Michigan University has not seen a coach with a winning record since Milton Barnes led the Green and White from 1996-2000. Barnes had a career record of 62-53 good for a .539 winning percentage. Currently Head Coach Rob Murphy owns a record of 48-48. He has not held a record of .500-or-better since the 2012-13 season when his squad opened the year 5-1 to bring his overall record to 19-19.

A 50-MILE MARCH: Saturday's game will be the final regular season game for the Eagles. Eastern will be making the quick 50-mile jaunt down US-23 from the Convocation Center to Savage Arena, March 8.

SAY BYE BYE TO THE BYE: Although Eastern Michigan won its contest with Ball State, March 4, it needed help from Akron to have a shot at earning a bye to Cleveland, Ohio for the 2014 Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament presented by Barbasol. However, Akron defeated Buffalo, 83-71, March 4, to lock Eastern out of the top-four seeds in the tournament.

THE ROCKET SCIENTISTS: After losing three-straight to its nemesis from the south, Toledo, the EMU hoops squad went to work in the lab and came out with a blueprint on how to dismantle a rocket. That blueprint was the 2-3 zone, and the Green and White ran it to perfection, Feb. 15, in a 65-44 win over the highest scoring team in the MAC. The Green and White held a top-10 scoring offense in the nation, who averaged 83.2 points per game coming into the contest, to nearly half that amount. The Rockets also came into the game shooting 48 percent on the season, and EMU held Toledo to an abhorrent 25.9 field goal percentage. The Green and White on the other hand, shot a cool 46 percent from the floor.

SETTING THE DATE: The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball contest with the University of Toledo at the end of the season has been given a definite date. The game will be played Saturday, March 8, and has been chosen as Time Warner Cable's MAC Wildcard Selection, the Mid-American Conference office announced, Feb. 18. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. tip at Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio.

STIFLING DEFENSIVE EFFORT: It is no longer up for debate, according to the statistics, Eastern Michigan is the best defensive team in the Mid-American Conference. In 17 MAC games, the Green and White allow an average of 57.6 points per game and hold teams to a dismal 35.0 shooting percentage. In fact, the Eagles have only allowed MAC opponents to score more than 60 points in regulation on five different occasions. In addition, EMU has held its conference foes to less than 50 points in three games, while also allowing just 37 points to Western Michigan back on Jan. 14.

THE BEST IN HIS TENURE: Head Coach Rob Murphy has quickly shown that he is here to improve the EMU men's basketball program. In his first season, Murphy took over a 9-22 team in 2010-11 and brought a 14-18 finish to Ypsilanti during the 2011-12 season. In year two, that win total jumped by two as the Green and White finished 16-18. With two games left on the regular season schedule, he has guaranteed to have a winning record during the 2013-14 season. With a current record of 18-12, EMU can not finish the year any worse than 18-14 which would be the best record since the 2009-10 campaign when the Eagles went 17-15. The 18 wins is the most in his career as a head coach.

PLAYING FOR THE POSTSEASON: Eastern Michigan has not made a postseason tournament since the 1997-98 season when it won the Mid-American Conference Tournament and played in the NCAA Tournament. With a strong finish to the end of the regular season and a run in the MAC Tournament, the Green and White should have a considerable chance of making it to at least the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. The average win total of teams who played in the tournament in 2013 was 18.5.

IF IT WAS TOURNAMENT TIME: If the 2014 Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament presented by Barbasol were to begin today, the Green and White would sit as the No. 6-seed and would host No. 11-seeded Central Michigan Monday, March 10. For complete seedings, turn to page 12 of these notes.

SHARP-SHOOTING IN THE CONVO: Junior college transfer Karrington Ward has shown that he enjoys playing inside the Convocation Center. The Lockport, Ill. native is averaging 13.4 points per game, while caroming an average of six rebounds in 17 contests at home this season. Even more impressive, Ward is shooting 48.3 percent from the floor, while knocking down 41.1 percent of his three-point shots.

TRYING FOR 20: With the win in the Eagles' game with Ball State, March 4, the Green and White earned its 18th win of the season. If EMU completes the regular season defeating Toledo, March 8, it 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 falls to Toledo in the regular season finale, it would need to make it as far as last season into the tournament quarterfinals to reach the 20 win mark.

2014 MAC TOURNAMENT TICKET INFORMATION: Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio will serve as the site to crown the 2014 Mid-American Conference's men's and women's basketball champions as the FirstEnergy MAC Basketball Tournament makes its return to "The Q" March 12-15.

Tickets are available through the EMU Ticket Office, for all tournament games held at Quicken Loans Arena in which EMU participates, at the following prices: women's basketball: $10 and men's basketball: $34. EMU students can purchase women's tournament tickets for $5 or men's tournament tickets for $10 with a valid student ID. Ticket order reservations may be placed online at EMUTix.com, calling 734.487.2282 or purchased at the EMU table in the main ticket area inside the northeast entrance at Quicken Loans Arena. Pre-ordered tickets will require a valid photo ID for pick-up. Buying tickets for the men's games in advance is the only way to guarantee a spot in the Eastern Michigan fan section.

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 March 3 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 85 blocks this season, which is 11 shy of Theron Wilson's top-mark of 96 set during the 1992-93 season. If Riley stays at his current pace of 2.9 per game, he will fall two 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 March 3, 2014, the Eagles rank 18th in scoring defense, allowing 61.4 ppg, while they're No. 13 in the country in blocks at 6.1 per contest. The Green and White swipes the ball 8.7 times per game, which is the ninth-most steals per game, and holds teams to just a 29.5 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 36.2 field goal percentage. This number ranks as the best in the nation. In addition, the Eagles have the 14th best turnover margin in the country at +3.5.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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