Eagles Head to East Lansing to Take On Nationally Ranked Spartans

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Following a 79-34 drubbing of Siena Heights University Friday, Nov. 20, the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team will hit the road for the second time this season. The Eagles (2-1, 0-0 MAC) will stay in the state of Michigan when they travels to East Lansing for a showdown with the No. 13/13-ranked Michigan State University Spartans.

This will be the first of two matchups with a Big Ten Conference member institution this season for Eastern Michigan. The Spartans (3-0, 0-0 Big Ten) are coming off of a 92-46 win at the Breslin Center over the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Michigan State University earlier defeated the No. 4/4-ranked Jayhawks University of Kansas last week.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: The Eastern Michigan versus Michigan State matchup will air live both on the radio and teleivsion on Monday evening. Fans can dial into 89.1 FM or listen over the internet at WEMU.org to hear 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 and Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Greg Steiner will serve as the producer for the broadcast. Coverage on 89.1 WEMU will begin 10 minutes prior to the tip of each game this year.

In addition to the WEMU broadcast, the Eagles' game at the Breslin Center will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network. The play-by-play man for Monday's action will be Joe Davis, while Shon Morris will breakdown the game alongside Davis. For those who cannot get to the TV set, the game can be streamed live via BTN2Go.com or the BTN2Go app on your mobile devices if you have a television subscription to the Big Ten Network.

ALL-TIME VERSUS THE SPARTANS: Monday's 7 p.m. matchup will be the 34th time that the Eagles and Spartans square off on the hardwood. Eastern has defeated the Spartans just three times, trailing the series, 4-29.

The last time these two squads hit the floor against each other was last year, Dec. 17, at the Breslin Center. EMU found itself on the wrong end of a 66-46 decision. Raven Lee was the Eagles' leading scorer with 12 points, while Anali Okoloji and Karrington Ward each added seven.

LIKELY LOOK FOR THE SPARTANS...

#	Name	Pos.	Cl.	Ht.	Wt.	ppg	rpg	apg	Hometown-Previous School
2	Javon Bess	F	So.-So.	6-5	220	10.3	3.3	1.0	Columbus, Ohio-Gahanna Lincoln
5	Bryn Forbes	G	Sr.-Sr.	6-3	190	15.8	4.8	4.4	Lansing, Mich.-Sexton
10	Matt Costello	F	Sr.-Sr.	6-9	245	3.8	1.0	2.0	Linwood, Mich.-Bay City Western
11	Tum Tum Narins Jr.	G	So.-So.	5-10	175	9.4	6.4	0.6	Nassau, Bahamas-Bel Aire (Kan.)
45	Denzel Valentine	G	Sr.-Sr.	6-5	220	10.4	6.8	0.0	Lansing, Mich.-Sexton

MURPHY VERSUS THE B1G: Head Coach Rob Murphy does not shy away from scheduling top-tier competition, inlcuding a pair of Big Ten Conference opponents this season. In his first four years as the head coach at EMU, Murphy holds a 2-5 record versus Big Ten opponents. Although he is 0-2 against the Spartans, Murphy has led the Eagles to victories over teams such as Michigan and Purdue in recent years, including a 45-42 victory in Ann Arbor versus the Wolverines last season.

MURPH AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS: Ranked teams have been a thorn in the side of EMU and head coach Rob Murphy. Monday's contest with the Spartans will be the ninth time the Green and White square off with a ranked opponent since 2011-12. In their first eight meetings with ranked squads, the Eagles are 0-8, including a 66-46 loss to #25/22 Michigan State a year ago at the Breslin Center.

MANGUM MAKES HISTORY: Willie Mangum IV finished the Eagles' game with Siena Heights with a career-high 29 points on 12-of-15 shooting (80 percent). The hot shooting percentage tied a school record for field-goal percentage in a game, making 10-or-more field goals, with fellow teammate Raven Lee, who also shot 12-of-15 from the field on his way to scoring 38 points vs. UT Arlington, Nov. 23, 2013. The 29 points were also the most scored by an Eagle since Lee's 32 points versus Akron, Feb. 14, 2015.

EMU AND THE BIG TEN: The Big Ten has had the EMU men's basketball team's number throughout the years as teams from the Rosemont, Ill.-based conference hold a 70-11 record over Eastern Michigan. Michigan State is EMU's most common opponent, squaring off with the Green and White 32 times, while the Spartans are the Big Ten team that Eastern Michigan has defeated most frequently, grabbing four wins in the series.

MURPHY AND THE STATE OF MICHIGAN: EMU Head Coach Rob Murphy has had many chances to square off with Michigan-based NCAA Division I institutions in his four-plus seasons in Ypsilanti. The Eagles' boss holds an 11-14 record versus NCAA Division I schools from the state of Michigan. Murphy has squared off with Central Michigan and Western Michigan most frequently, boasting a 3-6 and 5-4 record, respectively.

DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE: Eastern Michigan's men's basketball team prides itself on defense, which it showed during its contest with Siena Heights, Nov. 20. The Eagles held SHU to just 34 points, a number which were the fewest given up by EMU since a 42-25 victory over Northern Illinois, Jan. 26, 2013. In addition, Eastern's defense forced 25 turnovers including 15 steals, scoring 29 points off of them. The 25 turnovers were the most the Green and White have forced since Western Michigan made 26 miscues against the Eagles in a 56-37 win at the Convocation Center, Jan. 14, 2014.

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 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 EERIE NUMBER 80: 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 DOWNTOWN: 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 75 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)	75-66 (.532)

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. 21. Let's take a look...

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE RANKINGS as of Nov. 19
Player	Category	Rank	Number
Eastern Michigan	Steals per game	1st	13.0 (fourth nationally)
Eastern Michigan	Field goal percentage defense	2nd	.315 (13th nationally)
Eastern Michigan	Blocks per game	1st	7.0 (21st nationally)
Eastern Michigan	Scoring defense	2nd	58.3 (29th nationally)
Eastern Michigan	Turnover margin	t-1st	+4.70 (43rd nationally)
James Thompson IV	Blocks per game	1st	3.67 (11th nationally)
Willie Mangum	Steals per game	t-1st	3.0 (25th nationally)
Tim Bond	Steals per game	t-1st	3.0 (25th nationally)
Willie Mangum IV	Points per game	3rd	21.0 (44th nationally)

Eagles Head to East Lansing to Take On Nationally Ranked Spartans

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Players Mentioned

Tim Bond

Ray Lee

Willie Mangum IV

Anali Okoloji

Mike Talley

James Thompson IV

Ty Toney

Karrington Ward

Eastern Michigan Athletics

Eagles Head to East Lansing to Take On Nationally Ranked Spartans

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tim Bond

Ray Lee

Willie Mangum IV

Anali Okoloji

Mike Talley

James Thompson IV

Ty Toney

Karrington Ward

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