Eastern Hits the Road for Cross-Divisional Contest with Miami

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Following a Mid-American Conference opening 59-60 loss to Ball State University, Jan. 7, the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team looks to right the ship Saturday, Jan. 10, when it travels to Oxford, Ohio to take on Miami University in a MAC cross-divisional showdown. The Eagles (11-3, 0-1 MAC) will square off with the RedHawks (5-9, 0-1 MAC) as each team looks to pick up their first conference victory at John D. Millett Hall. Game time is slated for 5:30 p.m. and will be the second leg of a doubleheader in Oxford. The MU women's hoops team will lead off the doubleheader at 3 p.m. when it squares off with the University at Buffalo.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: The Eastern Michigan versus Miami contest can be found on both 89.1 FM WEMU and Miami 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. The pregame show and analysis will begin at 5:20 p.m. on Saturday evening. The broadcast start time could be pushed back pending the finale of the MU women's basketball game.
For those who prefer to watch the game, it will be broadcast on Miami's live webstreaming service Miami All-Access. Subscriptions for Miami All-Access start at just $10.95 and can be purchased at MURedhawks.com.

ALL-TIME VERSUS MIAMI: The Eagles are behind in the series with Miami as Eastern trails by a tally of 22-47. While the RedHawks own that cushy 25-game lead in the history of these programs, EMU has gotten the best of the RedHawks in the two of the last three times these teams danced on the hardwood. Most recently, Eastern dropped a contest on the road in Oxford, 65-61, last year, Feb. 1, 2014. However, in the season prior, the Eagles first defeated Miami at the Convocation Center, Jan. 19, 2013, by a tally of 65-58, before knocking off the RedHawks in the second round of the 2013 FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, March 11, 2013, 58-47.

LIKELY LOOK FOR MIAMI...

#	Name	Pos.	Cl.	Ht.	Wt.	ppg	rpg	apg	Hometown-Previous School
0	Geovonie McKnight	G	Jr.	6-3	182	10.7	3.0	1.4	Middletown, Ohio-Middletown
3	Will Sullivan	G	Sr.	6-3	190	10.5	3.6	1.4	Elmhurst, Ill.-York
12	L.J. Livingston	C	Jo.	6-10	190	4.9	3.4	0.1	Upper Marlboro, Md.-Pensacola State
22	Willie Moore	G	Jr.	6-3	198	7.6	3.0	0.9	Cincinnati, Ohio-Oregon
33	Eric Washington	G	Jr.	5-10	178	13.0	3.4	5.2	Columbia, S.C.-Presbyterian

A LOOK AT MIAMI: Although they're off to a slow start, the RedHawks have shown they're capable of hanging with just about everyone. In fact, Miami fell, 66-62, to a Dayton team that handed Eastern one of its three losses earlier this season. Eric Washington is the key for Miami. The junior averages 13 points, 5.2 assists and 3.4 rebounds per contest.

NOT AGAIN...: Eastern dropped its home opening Mid-American Conference contest Wednesday, Jan. 7, against Ball State in overtime, 60-59. It was not the first time that Eastern saw a home opening MAC loss at the hands of BSU. It was like deja vu for the Eagles, as they dropped a 60-58 decision back in 2012-13 at the hand of BSU in the Convocation Center.
In the Jan. 9, 2013 loss to the Cardinals, BSU's Chris Bond knocked down a pair of free throws with 0.6 seconds remaining in regulation, while this year, it was Sean Sellers who iced the game for Ball State, connecting on a triple with 15 seconds left to give Ball State the victory.

OFFENSIVE ANEMIA: At times Eastern Michigan has had trouble finding the net on the offensive side, including the Eagles home setback to Ball State when the Green and White shot just 27.9 percent from the floor. It was the second time that Eastern has not connected on at least 30 percent of its attempts. Overall on the season, EMU is shooting 40.5 percent from the floor and has been held underneath 40 percent in seven of its 14 games.

MOVING UP THE LIST: Although its unlikely that an Eagle will catch him anytime soon, Kennedy McIntosh leads the all-time list with 78 double-doubles. Karrington Ward, however, is moving up that list. Ward has eight in his career, four during 2013-14 and four during 2014-15, which is tied for ninth.

MILLETT HALL NIGHTMARE: Historically the Eagles have not fared well when playing at Millett Hall. In fact, the Green and White have not entered Oxford, Ohio and walked away victors in almost 20 years. Eastern's last victory at Miami during came 1995-96 season when the Green and White knocked off the RedHawks, 73-60, Jan. 24, 1996. The 1995-96 Eagles team won the 1996 Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship before knocking off legendary basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski and his Duke Blue Devils in the first round of that season's NCAA Tournament.

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. 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.

ENDING A TREND: Although his squads have yet to win inside Millett Hall, EMU Head Men's Basketball Coach Rob Murphy and his teams have a 2-2 record versus Miami. The impressive part about this feat is that he coached Eastern to its first victory against the Oxford, Ohio-based institution, Jan. 19, 2013, since the 1996-97 season. The Eagles had dropped 16-straight games against Miami until Murphy's 2012-13 squad knocked off the RedHawks, 65-58, at the Convocation Center. That EMU team went on to defeat MU later that season in the MAC Tournament, marking the first time since 1988-89 that the Green and White had beaten Miami twice in one season.

TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE FREE ONES: Eastern Michigan starting point guard Ethan Alvano has been nearly automatic from the charity stripe this season, knocking down 88.2 percent of his free throw attempts. Currently, Alvano is 30-of-34 from the line, and has missed just once in his last 23 free ones. That percentage ranks third in the Mid-American Conference.

MURPHY VERSUS THE MAC: Fourth-year Head Men's Basketball Coach Rob Murphy holds a 26-25 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 7-13 against the East Division which Murphy looks to improve during the 2014-15 season.

LEE AGAINST THE NCAA: Raven Lee has shown that he deserves to play with some of the best in the country. In fact, his numbers are better against NCAA Division I opponents than against non-NCAA Division I foes. Lee is posting 14.8 points per game on the season, but averages 17.2 versus D-I oppositions while shooting 48.7 percent from the floor versus high quality opponents.

41st MAC SEASON: With Eastern's home contest against the Cardinals, EMU began its 41st season for the Eagles in the Mid-American Conference. The first year of MAC play for the Green and White was 1974-75 when the then-Hurons went 12-14 and 4-9 in league play.
Eastern has won three Mid-American Conference championships: 1987-88, 1990-91 and 1995-96. The Green and White captured MAC Tournament crowns in all three of those seasons, in addition to winning the tournament title in 1997-98. In 2011-12, the Eagles captured their first-ever Mid-American Conference West Division title.

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 Dec. 29 poll the Eagles are ranked 14th, the highest in school history.

Eastern Hits the Road for Cross-Divisional Contest with Miami

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Players Mentioned

Ethan Alvano

Ray Lee

Jodan Price

Karrington Ward

Eastern Michigan Athletics

Eastern Hits the Road for Cross-Divisional Contest with Miami

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Players Mentioned

Ethan Alvano

Ray Lee

Jodan Price

Karrington Ward

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