Eastern Set to Square Off with Detroit to Close Out 2015

Men's Basketball vs. Detroit
Date	Monday, Dec. 28 \| 7 p.m.
Venue	Ypsilanti, Mich. \| Convocation Center (8,784)
Game Notes	EMU Notes \| UDM Notes
Live Stats	EMUEagles.com
Watch	ESPN3
Listen	89.1 FM WEMU
Twitter	@EMUHoops \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team returns to the court for the final time in the 2015 calendar year Monday, Dec. 28, when it hosts the University of Detroit Mercy for an in-state battle at 7 p.m. inside the Convocation Center. The Eagles (7-4, 0-0 MAC) are coming off of a 73-62 road victory at Coppin State University last Monday, Dec. 21.

The Titans (6-4, 0-0 Horizon) head into the Monday night contest after dropping a 79-74 decision at Western Kentucky Tuesday, Dec. 22. Prior to the road setback, Detroit had won four-straight games, including wins over Mid-American Conference member schools Toledo and Bowling Green in consecutive games.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: The Eastern Michigan versus Detrout matchup will have both audio and video on Monday night. 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. 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 DETROIT: Monday evening's 7 p.m. contest will be the 80th time that EMU and Detroit meet on the hardwood. Eastern Michigan has dropped its last nine games against the Titans, while only defeating Detroit twice in the last 25 years. The Eagles' last win came during the 1999-2000 season when they topped Detroit, 82-80, in overtime, Dec. 30.

In the last dance with the Titans, Dec. 11, 2010, the Green and White were dispatched, 69-65, in an overtime game at the Convocation Center. A late second-half comeback helped the Eastern Michigan force overtime, but the extra five-minute session went to the Titans. Brandon Bowdry turned in the 28th double-double of his career with a 31-point, 19-rebound effort to lead the Eagles, while Derek Thompson added 12 points for EMU. Eastern hauled down a whopping 62 rebounds in the game while shooting just 30.7 percent, hitting 23-of-75 attempts from the field.

LIKELY LOOK FOR THE TITANS...

#	Name	Pos.	Cl.	Ht.	Wt.	ppg	rpg	apg	Hometown-Previous School
0	Chris Jenkins	G/F	Jr.-Jr.	6-7	190	14.3	6.9	1.6	Detroit, Mich.-U of D Jesuit
1	Anton Wilson	G	Sr.-Sr.	6-5	210	13.7	4.2	2.3	Flint, Mich.-Flora MacDonald (N.C.)
21	Jaleel Hogan	F	So.-So.	6-6	240	9.7	4.7	1.1	Saginaw, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant
23	Josh McFolley	G	Fr.-Fr.	6-0	170	12.8	1.1	1.6	Detroit, Mich.-Western
35	Paris Bass	G/F	Jr.-So.	6-8	200	20.3	4.0	3.3	Birmingham, Mich.-Seaholm

BOND WITH SOME HOMETOWN COOKIN': Eastern Michigan sophomore guard Tim Bond and the rest of the Eagles traveled to his hometown of Baltimore, Md. Monday, Dec. 21, when the Green and White took on Coppin State. At the CSU Physical Education Complex, Bond and his squad took down Coppin State, 73-62, in large part to Bond and the EMU faithful in attendance. Bond finished the game with 13 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block, while hitting 5-of-8 field goal attempts and two triples.

CHASING ONE OF THE GREATS: Eastern Michigan freshman center James Thompson IV has recorded double-doubles in his last seven games. This is a very uncommon feat, in fact the last EMU student-athlete to do so was 44 seaons ago when Eastern Michigan great George Gervin put together 11 double-doubles in a row during the 1971-72 campaign. Gervin's streak of 11 is also the longest recorded streak in EMU history. That season, Gervin averaged EMU records of 29.5 points and 15.3 rebounds per game. Those numbers also translated to the most points (886) and rebounds (458) tallied in a single season by an EMU student-athlete.

INSIDE THE STREAK: James Thompson IV has had seven-straight double-doubles, dating back to the victory over Marygrove, Nov. 25. Overall, through the last seven games, Thompson is averaging 18.7 points and 13.1 rebounds per contest, and an astounding 73.2 percent field goal percentage. For the season, Thompson is averaging 14.5 points and 11.7 rebounds per game, while knocking down 65.7 percent of his field goal attempts.

KING OF THIEVES: The Eagles not only lead the Mid-American Conference in steals per game (10.5), but the Green and White are fourth in the NCAA in that category, while also ranking eighth in total steals (115).

TIC-TAC-TURNOVER: Although Eastern Michigan averages 13.5 turnovers per game, which ranks 197th in the country, EMU is 14th in the nation in turnover margin at a +4.4 difference. The Green and White force the opposition into 17.8 turnovers per contest which ranks as the 10th-most of any defense in the country.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS: EMU redshirt-junior guard Raven Lee continues to make his way up the all-time Eastern Michigan men's basketball scoring chart. Heading into the 2015-16 campaign, Lee had recorded 1,010 career points. The Detroit, Mich. native has accumulated 61 points during this season, totaling 1,071 for his career. That number has moved him ahead of EMU great George Gervin in the all-time scoring list, placing him 25th overall.

FRESHMAN PHENOM: EMU's James Thompson IV and is making an early push to be considered the Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year. Thompson is the only freshman in the conference who ranks in the top-15 in scoring being tied for ninth (14.5 ppg), while he is also leading the conference in rebounds (11.7 rpg) as the only freshman in the top-20 in that category as well. In addition, the Baton Rouge, La. product leads the MAC in blocked shots (2.1 bpg) and field goal percentage (65.7 percent). On top of those gaudy numbers, he is the only student-athlete in the MAC to average a double-double. Not only is Thompson making waves in the Mid-American Conference, but his statistics have shown up in the national rankings as well. Currently, Thompson is 10th nationally in field goal percentage, while he ranks ninth in rebounds per game and total rebounds (129). He is 49th in blocked shots per game and 51st in total blocks (23), while his seven double-doubles rank eighth and his 4.7 offensive rebounds per game are good for fourth nationally.

GOTTA GUARD THE LINE: After 10 games this season, the Eagles may have found an Achilles heel in their defense. Although teams are shooting just 30.8 percent overall from beyond the arc this season, the Green and White is just 7-4, due in large part to a few teams' hot shooting from three-point land. In Eastern's losses, the Eagles' opponents have shot 44.5 percent overall and 40.4 percent from the long line.

MID-MAJOR SUCCESS: Since taking over the EMU men's basketball program, head coach Rob Murphy has shown sustained success versus other NCAA Division I mid-major programs. Over the last four seasons, Murphy holds a 21-10 record versus mid-majors in non-conference play. Since the beginning of the 2013-14 season, Murphy has gone 14-1 against mid-major programs in non-conference play.

A LOOK AHEAD: Following the Monday night contest with Detroit, Dec. 28, the Eagles will stay at home for a Saturday, Jan. 2, matchup with Ospreys from the University of North Florida. Game time is slated for noon at the Convocation Center and will be the first leg of a doubleheader as the EMU women's basketball team will square off with the University at Buffalo to open its Mid-American Conference slate.

COUNTDOWN TO MAC PLAY: The Eagles have just two more non-conference games before opening their 41st Mid-American Conference season Wednesday, Jan. 6, when they travel to Mt. Pleasant, Mich. to square off with Central Michigan at McGuirk Arena.

CAUSING HAVOC IN THE ZONE: EMU Head Coach Rob Murphy preaches defense, defense, defense and its evident in the exceptional 2-3 zone run by Eastern. The Eagles have forced each of its 2015-16 opponents into double-digit turnover numbers. On the year, EMU is forcing 17.8 turnovers per game, while ranking 16th in the NCAA in turnover margin, forcing 4.4 more turnovers per game than its opposition. In addition, the Green and White rank fourth in the country in steals per game, picking the opponents' pocket 10.5 times per contest.

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 Dec. 23. Let's take a look...

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE RANKINGS as of Dec. 23
Player	Category	Rank	Number
Eastern Michigan	Steals per game	1st	10.5 (fourth nationally)
Eastern Michigan	Turnover Margin	1st	+4.4 (16th nationally)
Eastern Michigan	Turnovers forces per game	1st	17.8 (11th nationally)
Eastern Michigan	Total steals	1st	115 (eighth nationally)
James Thompson IV	Double doubles	1st	7 (eighth nationally)
James Thompson IV	Blocks per game	t-1st	2.1 (45th nationally)
James Thompson IV	Rebounds per game	1st	11.7 (ninth nationally)
James Thompson IV	Offensive rebounds per game	1st	4.7 (fourth nationally)
James Thompson IV	Field goal percentage	1st	65.7 (10th nationally)
Tim Bond	Steal per game	1st	1.8 (90th nationally)

IN THE SHADOWS: With James Thompson IV flourishing in the early goings of his Eagle career, there has been an unsung hero down low for the Green and White. Senior forward Brandon Nazione has put together a solid season thus far for Eastern Michigan. The Howell, Mich. native is averaging 9.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-8 forward is eighth in the MAC in field goal percentage (56.5 percent), while his rebounding average is good for 12th in the conference.

BECAUSE OF THE BIGS: Despite having quite the guard-heavy roster, the Eagles owe a large part of their success this year to the big boys down low. The starting frontcourt of James Thompson IV and Brandon Nazione are posting 23.5 points and 18.5 rebounds per game this season. In addition, the duo is grabbing 6.7 offensive rebounds per game between the two of them, allowing for second chance opportunities. In fact, the Green and White have scored 147 of its points on second tries, which is good for 17.4 percent of its offense this season.

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 80 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)	80-69 (.537)

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Players Mentioned

Tim Bond

Ray Lee

Brandon Nazione

James Thompson IV

Eastern Michigan Athletics