Eagles Return Home to Square off with Northern Illinois on Mascot Day

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Eastern Michigan University's men's basketball team has seen its better days. After nearly two weeks of Mid-American Conference play, the Eagles (11-5, 0-3 MAC) have yet to pick up their first victory within conference play. Eastern looks to nab its first MAC win Saturday, Jan. 17, when the Green and White welcomes Northern Illinois University to the Convocation Center for a noon tip. The Huskies (7-7, 1-2 MAC) come into the contest after dropping a road game, 82-63, at Buffalo, Jan. 14.
   Saturday's game will be part of a doubleheader at the Convo. Eastern's women's basketball team will take the court at 2:30 p.m. or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the men's game to square off with Bowling Green State University. The EMU women are also in search of their first MAC win. In addition, it will be 'Mascot Day' at the Convo. Various mascots from around the area will invade the arena for fans to interact on the concourse and the stands.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: The Eastern Michigan versus Northern Illinois contest can be found on both 89.1 FM WEMU and Eagle All-Access. Fans can dial into 89.1 FM or listen over the internet to the smooth sounds of veteran play-by-play voice, Chad Bush. Joining Bush on the call will be analyst Assistant Athletic Media Relations Director Sean Hostetter and on-site producer Assistant Athletics Director for Media Relations Greg Steiner.
    For those who prefer to watch the game, it will be broadcast on Eastern's live webstreaming service Eagle All-Access. Subscriptions for Eagle All-Access start at just $6.95 and can be purchased at EMUEagles.com/watch. The pregame show and analysis will begin at noon on Saturday.

ALL-TIME VERSUS NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Eagles are behind in the series with NIU as Eastern trails by a tally of 37-51. While the Huskies own a 14-game lead in the history of these programs, EMU got the best of the Huskies in recent years. In fact, the Eagles are 7-2 against NIU since Head Coach Rob Murphy took over the reigns of the program. In the last 20 meetings between the programs, the Eagles hold a 13-7 edge over the Huskies.
   Last season, Eastern took two-of-three matchups between the two squads, including a 53-48 win in the second round of the 2014 Mid-American Conference Tournament, March 12, 2014. In that game, EMU overcame an 11-point halftime deficit, outscoring Northern Illinois 29-13 in the final 20 minutes. Trailing by two with just three minutes to go, the Eagles ended the game at Quicken Loans Arena on a 9-2 run due to solid defense and clutch free throw shooting.

LIKELY LOOK FOR NORTHERN ILLINOIS...

#	Name	Pos.	Cl.	Ht.	Wt.	ppg	rpg	apg	Hometown-Previous School
0	Pete Rakocevic	F	Sr.	6-10	245	4.5	3.4	0.4	Chicago, Ill.-Sacramento State
23	Aaric Armstead	G	So.	6-5	190	10.9	4.9	0.6	Chicago, Ill.-La Jolla Prep
33	Anthony Johnson	G	Sr.	6-3	190	10.5	2.6	0.1	Chicago, Ill.-Purdue
52	Jordan Threloff	C	Sr.	6-9	255	9.6	8.1	0.4	DeKalb, Ill.-Illinois State
55	Michael Orris	G	R-So.	6-2	200	4.4	1.4	2.6	Crete, Ill.-Kansas State

A LOOK AT NIU: Northern Illinois enters Saturday's contest with a 7-7 record (1-2 MAC) and is coming off an 18-point setback on the road in Buffalo. NIU struggles on the offensive side of the ball, scoring just 67.2 points per game while shooting 40.6 percent from the floor and 30.4 percent from beyond the arc. Individually, the Huskies have four players who can score for their squad. Darrell Bowie is leading NIU with 12.5 points per game, but has been inactive in all three NIU MAC games. Aaric Armstead, Anthony Johnson and Jordan Threloff each average around 10 points per game, while Threloff is one of the top rebounders in the conference, pulling down 8.1 per game. Although he averages 9.6 points and 8.1 rebounds, the senior has recorded just one double-double in his second season as a Huskie.

TALLEY CLOSING IN ON A MILESTONE: Eastern Michigan senior guard Mike Talley is nearly to the 1,000-point mark for his NCAA career. Although he only has scored 541 points while donning the Green and White, the Detroit, Mich. native started his career at Duquesne, where he spent two seasons. In his first year as a Duke, Talley notched 222 points, averaging 6.9 per game before recording 231 in his sophomore campaign for a total of 453. Add that to his 541 at EMU and he is just six points shy of his 1,000th career point as a collegiate student-athlete.

0-FOR-3: Eastern was handed its third loss in a row to open Mid-American Conference play on Wednesday night, Jan. 14, as Kent State defeated EMU, 65-59. The Eagles are still in search of their first MAC win and are winless through their first three MAC games for the first time since the 2005-06 season, when the Green and White started the conference slate 0-9.

JUST CAN'T FINISH IT: In its first three MAC games, the Green and White is 0-3, being outscored by an average of three points per game. The most disappointing part about the Eagles' early struggles is that EMU has not been able to slam the door on an opponent as it has led by at least nine points in all three contests.
Eastern held its largest lead in the loss at Miami, Jan. 10. EMU led by 25 points at the 5:55 mark in the first half, while they held a 16-point lead over Kent State, Jan. 14. In addition to those setbacks, the Green and White were leading Ball State by nine with just 13 minutes remaining in the contest but fell, 60-59, in overtime.

THE SCHOOL OF REJECTION: Last season the Eagles proved to be one of the best defenses in the country, including their shot blocking ability. Despite losing one of the most prolific shot blockers in EMU history in Da'Shonte Riley, EMU's Karrington Ward has filled in nicely. Last season, Ward blocked a total of 25 blocks last season and this year he has rejected 24 already. Along with Jodan Price (16 blocks) the Eagles lead the MAC at 5.3 blocks per game.

BENCH BATTLE: Eastern has proved itself as a very deep team this season and it shows by the bench production. EMU has been outscored by the opposing bench just four times this season. They lead the bench scoring battle 343-299, scoring 30 percent of the Eagles' offense.

SHARP SHOOTING FROM JODAN PRICE: Adding to the Eagles' depth on the bench, redshirt sophomore Jodan Price has shown that he can provide a spark to the EMU offense courtesy of the long ball. Out of the DePaul transfer's 106 shots made from the floor this season, 80 of them have been from beyond the arc. When Price raises to let off a shot this season, 75.4 percent of the shots he takes are three-point attempts.

MID-MAJOR MADNESS: After starting the season 6-0, the 31-coach panel of mid-major head coaches across the country felt that EMU had earned a spot in the Dec. 1 version of the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. The Eagles came in at No. 20, marking the second time Eastern earned a spot in the poll in the history of the mid-major top 25. Not only is it the second year in a row that the Eagles earned a spot in the poll, but as of the Jan. 12 poll the Eagles are ranked 18th.

MURPHY VERSUS THE MAC: Fourth-year Head Men's Basketball Coach Rob Murphy holds a 26-27 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 in 2012-13. Last season, his squad reached their highest win total of 10, after going 10-8 in MAC play. Murphy and his squads have seen most of their success against teams from their own divisions, going 19-12, while they are just 7-15 against the East Division which Murphy looks to improve during the 2014-15 season.

THE PRICE IS RIGHT: The Eagles struggled out of the game going zero for their first 11 shots in the loss to Ball State, Jan. 7. Head Coach Rob Murphy turned to his bench and checked redshirt-sophomore Jodan Price into the game. Immediately, Price made an impact scoring the first five points for the Green and White's, helping claw the Eagles to within one point, 12-11, after trailing by as many as six. Price finished the game 4-for-9 with 10 points off of the bench.

OVERTIME AGAIN: After not playing in an overtime game through the first 13 games of the 2014-15 campaign, Eastern Michigan has played back-to-back overtime games to begin MAC play, falling on both occasions. The Eagles first were on the wrong end of a 60-59 decision versus Ball State, Jan. 7, before falling 82-81 against Miami, Jan. 10.
The last time that EMU played in back-to-back overtime contests was during the 2001-02 campaign. In similar fashion, Eastern Michigan dropped both of those games in Mid-American Conference play, first falling at Western Michigan in double overtime, 101-94, on Feb. 6, before dropping a 90-85 decision at home against Northern Illinois, Feb. 9.

Eagles Return Home to Square off with Northern Illinois on Mascot Day

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Players Mentioned

Jodan Price

Da'Shonte Riley

Mike Talley

Karrington Ward

Eastern Michigan Athletics

Eagles Return Home to Square off with Northern Illinois on Mascot Day

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Players Mentioned

Jodan Price

Da'Shonte Riley

Mike Talley

Karrington Ward

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