Men's Hoops Opens Up the New Year with North Florida, Jan. 2

Men's Basketball vs. North Florida
Date	Saturday, Jan. 2 \| Noon
Venue	Ypsilanti, Mich. \| Convocation Center (8,784)
Game Notes	EMU Notes \| UNF Notes
Live Stats	EMUEagles.com
Watch	ESPN3
Listen	89.1 FM WEMU
Twitter	@EMUHoops \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Following an exciting 15-point, 88-73, victory over the University of Detroit Mercy to close out the 2015 calendar year for the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team, the Eagles (8-4, 0-0 MAC) will open up 2016 with its final non-conference tilt of the regular season Saturday, Jan. 2. Eastern will welcome the University of North Florida to the Convocation Center for a noon matchup. The men's game is the front end of a doubleheader as the EMU women's basketball team opens Mid-American Conference play at 2:30 p.m. when it takes on the University at Buffalo.

The high scoring Ospreys' (10-6, 0-0 ASun) offense comes into Saturday's game leading the country in three-point field goals made per game. Most recently North Florida fell at Virginia Commonwealth University, 80-68 Wednesday, Dec. 30, and has dropped two in a row, also falling to the University of Arkansas, Dec. 22, on the road, 97-72. The Ospreys opened up the season with a 93-81 victory versus Big Ten Conference opponent University of Illinois, Nov. 13.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: The Eastern Michigan versus North Florida matchup will have both audio and video on Saturday. 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 NORTH FLORIDA: Saturday's noon contest will be the first time that the Eagles and Ospreys will meet on the hardwood.

LIKELY LOOK FOR THE OSPREYS...

#	Name	Pos.	Cl.	Ht.	Wt.	ppg	rpg	apg	Hometown-Previous School
2	Beau Beech	G/F	Sr.-Sr.	6-9	215	14.5	5.7	1.9	Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.-Ponte Vedra
11	Trent Mackey	G	Sr.-Sr.	6-3	180	12.9	2.1	2.1	Tampa, Fla.-UL Monroe
12	Nick Malonga	G	So.-So.	6-4	180	3.8	2.2	0.7	Bolingbrook, Ill.-McHenry County
14	Dallas Moore	G	Jr.-Jr.	6-1	180	20.0	5.1	5.7	St. Petersburg, Fla.-Boca Ciega
35	Chris Davenport	F	Jr.-Jr.	6-8	225	12.1	6.6	2.9	Atlanta, Ga.-Eagles Landing

REMEMBER THE TITANS: Eastern Michigan's 88-73 victory over UDM Monday, Dec. 28, was more than just a victory for EMU. The Eagles had not defeated Detroit in its last nine times taking the floor across from the Titans. In fact, the last time the Green and White had knocked off "Detroit's College Team", was during the 1999-2000 season when EMU came away from the Convo with an 82-80 overtime victory.
BRANDON'S BIG DAY: Senior forward Brandon Nazione put together a career day in the Eagles' victory over Detroit, Dec. 28. The Howell, Mich. product went off for his career-best of 23 points, converting on 10-of-14 field goal attempts. In addition, the 6-foot-8 forward grabbed seven rebounds, while picking the Titans' pocket on five separate occasions, which is also a career high for the senior.

A STREAK COMES TO AN END: Eastern Michigan freshman center James Thompson IV had recorded double-doubles in his seven straight games. This was 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.

THE DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: A season ago, senior Brandon Nazione averaged just 3.6 points per game, while pulling down just 3.5 rebounds per contest. In addition, the Howell, Mich. native converted shots at just a 39.6 percent clip. Not even halfway through the regular season, Nazione has recorded more field goal makes than a year ago. In addition, he is hitting shots at a 59 percent clip, while averaging nearly three times as many points per game (10.2) and twice as many rebounds per contest (6.8).

TRAPPING THE TITANS: The Eagles' win over Detroit proved to be one if their most successful defensive games of the season. Although the Titans shot at a 44.1 percent clip, they converted on just 33.3 percent of their three point attempts, nearly 10 percentage points below their average. Eastern forced Detroit into 23 turnovers which are the most versus an NCAA Division I team this season, and the most since the Eagles forced Miami to cough up the ball on 24 occasions a year ago, Feb. 10, 2015.

In addition, the Green and White shut down one of the best players in the Horizon League, holding junior Paris Bass to just six points. Bass averaged over 20 points per game entering the contest. Nine of the Titans' 23 turnovers came by way of Bass.

SPREADING THE WEALTH: Eastern Michigan has received contributions from multiple student-athletes on the offensive end throughout the season. Actually, there has yet to be a game where the Eagles haven't had at least two players score in double-figures. The Green and White have had a pair of games with five double-digit scorers, four with four, two with three and four with two this season.

KING OF THIEVES: The Eagles not only lead the Mid-American Conference in steals per game (10.7), but the Green and White are third in the NCAA in that category, while also ranking sixth in total steals (128).

TIC-TAC-TURNOVER: Although Eastern Michigan averages 13.2 turnovers per game, which ranks 176th in the country, EMU is ninth in the nation in turnover margin at a +5.1 difference. The Green and White force the opposition into 18.3 turnovers per contest which ranks as the eighth-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 76 points during this season, totaling 1,086 for his career. That number has moved him ahead of Justin Dobbins in the all-time scoring list, placing him 24th 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-20 in scoring being tied for 10th (14.2 ppg), while he is also leading the conference in rebounds (11.1 rpg) as the only freshman in the top-20 in that category as well. In addition, the Baton Rouge, La. product is second in 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 11th nationally in field goal percentage, while he ranks eighth in rebounds per game and 11th in total rebounds (133). He is 55th in blocked shots per game and 51st in total blocks (24), while his seven double-doubles rank 10th and his 4.5 offensive rebounds per game are good for fourth nationally.

GOTTA GUARD THE LINE: After 12 games this season, the Eagles may have found an Achilles heel in their defense. Although teams are shooting just 31.0 percent overall from beyond the arc this season, the Green and White is just 8-4, 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 22-10 record versus mid-majors in non-conference play. Since the beginning of the 2013-14 season, Murphy has gone 15-1 against mid-major programs in non-conference play.

A LOOK AHEAD: Following the Saturday afternoon contest with North Florida, Jan. 2, the Eagles will hit the road for its first Mid-American Conference game of the 2015-16 season. Eastern opens its 41st Mid-American Conference season Wednesday, Jan. 6, when they travel to Mt. Pleasant, Mich. to square off with Central Michigan at McGuirk Arena.

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. 30. Let's take a look...

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE RANKINGS as of Dec. 30
Player	Category	Rank	Number
Eastern Michigan	Steals per game	1st	10.7 (third nationally)
Eastern Michigan	Turnover Margin	1st	+5.1 (ninth nationally)
Eastern Michigan	Turnovers forces per game	1st	18.3 (eighth nationally)
Eastern Michigan	Total steals	1st	128 (sixth nationally)
James Thompson IV	Double doubles	1st	7 (10th nationally)
James Thompson IV	Blocks per game	t-1st	2.0 (55th nationally)
James Thompson IV	Rebounds per game	1st	11.1 (eighth nationally)
James Thompson IV	Offensive rebounds per game	1st	4.5 (fourth nationally)
James Thompson IV	Field goal percentage	1st	65.7 (11th nationally)
Tim Bond	Steal per game	1st	1.9 (69th nationally)

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 18.3 turnovers per game, while ranking eighth in the NCAA in turnover margin, forcing 5.1 more turnovers per game than its opposition. In addition, the Green and White rank third in the country in steals per game, picking the opponents' pocket 10.7 times per contest.

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 11 occasions in over four seasons. On the flip side, everytime the Green and White have allowed 80-plus, they've ended up on the wrong side of the ledger, including all four losses 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 81 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)	81-69 (.540)

Men's Hoops Opens Up the New Year with North Florida, Jan. 2

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Players Mentioned

Tim Bond

Ray Lee

Brandon Nazione

James Thompson IV

Eastern Michigan Athletics

Men's Hoops Opens Up the New Year with North Florida, Jan. 2

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Ray Lee

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James Thompson IV

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