The Road to the MAC Title Commences Monday Night

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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team will host a Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament presented by Barbasol first round game Monday, March 10, at the Convocation Center. This game will begin the Eagles' (18-13, 10-8 MAC) quest for the 2014 MAC Tournament title and an opportunity to compete in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. The Green and White holds the No. 6 seed and will host Central MIchigan University Monday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. following the first leg of a doubleheader as the women's team will square off with Northern Illinois University in a 5 p.m. contest.

Seeded sixth, the Eagles swept the season series with Central Michigan (10-20, 3-15 MAC) by first knocking off the Chips, 72-59, in Mount Pleasant, Jan. 18, before recording a decisive 64-42 victory at the Convocation Center, Feb. 26.

The winner of the game will travel to Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio to tangle with the winner of the No. 7 Northern Illinois/No. 10 Bowling Green State University matchup Wednesday, March 12. Tipoff for that second round game would be 9 p.m. at "The Q" and will be the final game of the four game slate in Cleveland on Wednesday.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: The Eagles' contest with the Chippewas 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 CHIPPEWAS: The Eagles are behind in the series with Central Michigan, 89-98, and CMU is Eastern's most common opponent since starting varsity basketball in 1897-98. Since taking over the EMU basketball program, Rob Murphy has seen Central on six different occasions and owns an even 3-3 mark. Most recently, the Eagles knocked off Central at the Convocation Center, 64-42, back on Feb. 26.

In the last meeting, the Green and White was led by Karrington Ward with 18 points and a team-high three steals. in the 64-42 decision, while Glenn Bryant chipped in an additional 12 points. On the defensive end, Da'Shonte Riley had eight boards to go with two rejections. As a team, the Eagles shot 22-of-51 for a 43.1 percent clip and had 10 steals in the effort to go with an additional five forced Chippewa miscues. Eastern dominated the paint, 24-8, and the EMU bench tallied 30 points on the evening. The squad showed why it leads the nation in defensive shooting percentage, holding Central Michigan to a paltry 24.5 percent success rate on 13-of-53 shooting.

AGAINST MICHIGAN SCHOOLS: In their 117-year history, the Eagles have squared off with all six current NCAA Division I institutions, seeing Central Michigan the most times. Overall, the Green and White hold a 167-275 record against those teams, which include Central Michigan, Detroit, Michigan, Michigan State, Oakland and Western Michigan.

MURPHY IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT: Third-year Head Men's Basketball Coach Rob Murphy holds a 2-2 record all-time in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. After winning the MAC West Division title in 2011-12, the Eagles made an early first round exit after dropping their game with Northern Illinois. Last season, the Green and White snuck past NIU, 45-44, before taking down Miami in round two, 58-47, to advance to the quarterfinals where EMU met Western Michigan. The Eagles were struck down by the Broncos, 70-55, ending their chances at their first MAC Championship since the 1997-98 season.

TOURNAMENT TIME AT THE CONVO: Currently the Eagles have hosted four MAC Tournament games at the EMU Convocation Center. In those four contests, Eastern holds a record of 2-2. The most recent win came last year in a 45-44 victory over Northern Illinois, and before that the Eagles defeated the Huskies in 2010, 65-59. EMU has lost to NIU (2012) and Miami (2000) in home tournament games.

GOING FOR NUMBER FOUR: The Eagles have won four MAC Tournament titles since its inception during the 1979-80 season. The most recent title came during the 1997-98 season when the Eagles went into the MAC Tournament after finishing the regular season as the third place team in the West Division, similar to this season. The Milton Barnes coached squad knocked off Miami in the championship game, 92-77. That team fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

STAT YOU VERY MUCH: For the fifth consecutive season the EMU Athletic Media Relations Office will be called upon to serve as the official statistics crew of the 2014 MAC Tournament. Under the direction of Greg Steiner, the office worked the 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 tournament logging more than 60 hours over a four day span at Quicken Loans Arena. The office has also worked as the stat crew for the past six Marathon MAC Football Championship games and the previous seven MAC Baseball Tournaments. The this year's MAC basketball crew consists of Greg Steiner, Sean Hostetter, Chris Puzzuoli, Adam Kuffner, Megan Samassa, Chloe Smith and Ken Dewey.

DOUBLE DIGIT AFFAIRS: Karrington Ward has proven to be one of the most consistent scorers since putting on the EMU jersey. In 31 games played for the Eagles, the Lockport, Ill. native has scored in double figures on 21 different nights, including four games where he has scored 20-or-more points. The junior set a career-high versus Cleveland State, Nov. 18, 2013, with a 28 point outburst.

FREE STREAK: Point guard Mike Talley has been as hot as someone can be from the charity stripe as of late. The junior has made 19-straight free throws dating back to the Eagles' loss versus Western Michigan, Feb. 23. After making the backend of a pair at University Arena, the Detroit, Mich. native has gone 2-for-2, 7-for-7, 3-for-3 and 6-for-6 in Eastern's last four games. He has also scored in double-digits in three of those games.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE: Senior center Da'Shonte Riley has emerged as one of the best shot blockers in the country, ind addition to the best shot blocker in the Mid-American Conference. The Detroit, Mich. native has a solid chance at being named as the 2014 MAC Defensive Player of the Year. Riley leads the leads the league in blocked shots, while he also averages nearly a steal per game.

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 11.6 per contest since EMU's loss versus Western Michigan, Feb. 23. He is also shooting 39.5 percent, 42.1 percent from the long line and owns an 84.2 percent clip from the charity stripe.

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.

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 87 blocks this season, which is nine shy of Theron Wilson's top mark of 96 set during the 1992-93 season.

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.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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