EMU and Siena Heights Set to Square Off Friday Morning

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- After opening up the road portion of its 2015-16 schedule with a 91-81 setback at the hands of Oakland University, the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team returns to the Convocation Center for its second home game of the young season. Siena Heights will be the opponent as the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) foe will come to Ypsilanti for an 11 a.m. contest Friday, Nov. 20.

For the Eagles (1-1, 0-0 MAC), it will be their third contest of the season and their first of four versus a non-NCAA Division I program this season. The Saints (2-3, 1-2 WHAC) come into the game on the heels of their first win in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) competition after defeating fellow EMU opponent, Madonna University, 74-67, in Adrian, Mich. This will be the only time this year that Siena Heights will hit the hardwood against an NCAA Division I institution.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: The Eastern Michigan versus Siena Heights matchup can only be found on ESPN3 this Friday. Normally, fans could 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 this season will be analyst Assistant Athletic Media Relations Director Sean Hostetter. Coverage on 89.1 WEMU will begin 10 minutes prior to the tip of each game this year.

Following the addition of its own brand new mobile television unit, all EMU men's and women's basketball games will be streamed live on ESPN3. Ryan Wooley will provide the play-by-play coverage for the ESPN3 broadcast, while EMU Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Greg Steiner will be alongside Wooley for analysis.

ALL-TIME VERSUS THE SAINTS: Friday morning's matchup with the Siena Heights Saints will be just the second time that SHU and EMU have met in regular season competition. The only previous meeting between the two programs came during the 2012-13 campaign when Eastern Michigan downed Siena Heights, 87-49, at the Convocation Center, Dec. 28, 2012. In the second matchup between these two Michigan-based institutions, there will not be a single student-athlete who participated in the previous game. In fact, there is only one person that was one either team's current roster for that game. Redshirt-junior Raven Lee was a 'true' freshman on the 2012-13 version of the EMU Eagles.

LIKELY LOOK FOR SIENA HEIGHTS...

#	Name	Pos.	Cl.	Ht.	Wt.	ppg	rpg	apg	Hometown-Previous School
10	Josh Winowiecki	G	Fr.-Fr.	6-5	156	2.8	3.4	0.0	Fraser, Mich.-De La Salle
23	George Goodman	G	Sr.-Sr.	5-9	152	15.8	4.8	4.4	Saginaw, Mich.-Buena Vista
24	Alec Myers	G	So.-So.	6-1	180	3.8	1.0	2.0	Flushing, Mich.-Flushing
33	Aaron Cook	F	Jr.-Jr.	6-7	205	9.4	6.4	0.6	Climax, Mich.-Climax-Scotts
42	Jerrell Martin	F	Jr.-Jr.	6-5	200	10.4	6.8	0.0	Detroit, Mich.-Community

TOUGH PILL TO SWALLOW: The Eastern Michigan men's basketball team dropped the second game of its 2015-16 season, when it traveled just over 50 miles away at Oakland. The Eagles fell, 91-81, at the hands of the Golden Grizzlies, allowing a pair of OU student-athletes to record double-doubles.

GIVING IT AWAY: Oakland forced the Eagles into 19 turnovers in the loss at the O'rena. Although there were 19 EMU giveaways, the Golden Grizzlies recorded just three steals in the contest, meaning the Eastern Michigan tunover issues were often caused by unforced errors by the Eagles. The last time EMU had 19-or-more turnovers was when the Green and White defeated Akron, Feb. 14, 2015.

THE THOMPSON EFFECT: In the Eagles' first two contests of the year, freshman center James Thompson IV has found himself in foul trouble during the first half of those games. Against Vermont, Thompson left the first half with 14:50 remaining. From that point on, the Catamounts outscored the Eagles by 11 points to take a lead into the half. In the game versus Oakland, Thompson again exited the first half early with just over eight minutes left to go. The Golden Grizzlies took advantage to the tune of a 23-7 run, allowing OU to regain the lead despite trailing by nine points at the time of Thompson's departure. In all, the Eagles have been outscored by their opponents by 27 points when Thompson exits the first half due to foul trouble.

GETTING CRAFTY: EMU newcomer Ty Toney showed why he was a junior college all-american honorable mention award winner in the Green and White's contest at Oakland. The junior from Alpharetta, Ga. put together an exceptional game, shooting 7-of-13 from the floor for a team-high 18 points, while pulling down seven rebounds and dishing out eight assists. The eight dimes were the most by an Eagle since Mike Talley dropped 10 versus Miami, Jan. 10, 2015.

THE 80-POINT MARK: Since taking over the EMU men's basketball team, Head Coach Rob Murphy has prided himself on his team's defense and for good reason, considering his squad has only allowed the opposition to score 80-or-more points on nine occasions. On the flip side, everytime the Green and White have allowed 80-plus, they've ended up on the wrong side of the ledger.

FROM DOOOOOWNTOWN: The Eagles game at Oakland saw them jack up 30 three-point tries. In the Rob Murphy era, this was the first time that an EMU squad attempted more than 28 from beyond the arc. Eastern ended up converting on just seven of its triple tries.

THAT DIDN'T TAKE LONG: Head Coach Rob Murphy is in his fifth season at the helm of the Eastern Michigan men's basketball program. Since taking over prior to the 2011-12 season, Murphy has amassed 74 wins which is good for the fifth-most by an EMU coach. Ben Braun set the mark in his 10-plus years, recording 185 as EMU's head man.

ALL-TIME COACHING RECORDS

Rank	Coach	Years	Wins/yr.	Record
1.	Ben Braun	1986-96	16.8/yr	185-132 (.570)
2.	Elton J. Rynearson	1917-21; 1925-32 1935-40; 1944-46	8.8/yr	160-129 (.554)
3.	James D. Dutcher	1966-72	21.2.yr	127-49 (.770)
4.	Jim Boyce	1979-86	14/yr	84-96 (.467)
5.	Rob Murphy	2011-Present	18.3/yr (Four-year total)	74-66 (.528)

A LOOK AT THE CONFERENCE LEADERS: Eastern Michigan has positioned itself near the top of multiple statistical categories in the Mid-American Conference as of Nov. 19. Let's take a look...

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE RANKINGS as of Nov. 19
Player	Category	Rank	Number
Eastern Michigan	Steals per game	1st	12.0 (10th nationally)
Eastern Michigan	Blocks per game	1st	6.5 (38th nationally)
Eastern Michigan	Free throw percentage	2nd	.762 (40th nationally)
Eastern Michigan	Field goal percentage defense	3rd	.366 (77th nationally)
Eastern Michigan	Assists per game	t-3rd	12.5
Eastern Michigan	Turnover margin	2nd	+3.50
James Thompson IV	Blocks per game	1st	3.0 (28th nationally)
Ty Toney	Assists per game	t-1st	6.0 (44th nationally)
Willie Mangum IV	Three-point FG's per game	t-1st	3.5 (54th nationally)

STARTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT: Beginning the 2015-16 season by taking on an NCAA Division I institution for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign, Head Coach Rob Murphy and his squad didn't take a step back against a higher level of competition, defeating Vermont, 70-50, Nov. 13 at the Convocation Center. Trailing by three, 27-30, at halftime, the Eastern offense sparked in the second half, in large part to junior Willie Mangum IV. Shooting at a 51.9 percent clip, the Eagles tamed the Catamounts by a 43-20 margin in the second half, while Mangum grabbed 13 of his 18 points in the second half, 11 of which came in the final nine minutes of the game.

DEFENSE COMING FIRST: As coach Rob Murphy always preaches, 'as long as we play defense, the offense will take care of itself.' That was the case in the Green and White's win over Vermont to open the season. The Eagles forced the Catamounts into 21 turnovers, while notching 15 steals and blocking seven shots. For its defensive efforts, the offense was awarded by scoring 25 points off of turnovers. In addition, the Green and White held UV to a 30.8 field goal percentage, the last time an NCAA Division I team shot lower than that was when Eastern dropped Ohio, 76-40, at the Convocation Center, Jan. 27, 2014. Prior to that, the Eagles managed that feat six times during the 2013-14 campaign.

D-I DEBUTS: Multiple Eagles made their NCAA Division I debuts in the EMU win over Vermont. junior college transfer Willie Mangum IV led the charge with 18 points and four steals, while freshman James Thompson IV put together a solid start to his collegiate career with nine points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. In addition, Jordan Nobles and Blake Brown each saw their first action since participating in the same high school conference (Kensington Lakes Activities Association) two years ago.

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Players Mentioned

Blake Brown

Ray Lee

Willie Mangum IV

Jordan Nobles

Mike Talley

James Thompson IV

Ty Toney

Eastern Michigan Athletics