EMU Makes Quick Return Home to Take On Rochester

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Following a pair of road contests, the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team returns to the Convocation Center Tuesday, Dec. 8, for a 7 p.m. game with National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) opponent Rochester College. The game with the Warriors (8-0) is the final of four matchups for the Eagles (5-3, 0-0 MAC) with NAIA opponents. The Green and White enter the contest following an 81-70 loss at the Bryce Jordan Center Saturday, Dec. 5, versus Penn State University.

Rochester comes into the contest without losing a regular season contest this year. For the Warriors, Saturday's game will be considered an exhibition, while Eastern Michigan will look to grab its sixth win of the season before heading south to take on the University of Louisville Saturday, Dec. 12.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: The Eastern Michigan versus Rochester matchup will have both audio and video on Tuesday. 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 THE WARRIORS: Tuesday's evening contest with the Warriors will be the eighth time that Rochester and Eastern Michigan will square off on the hardwood. The Eagles own a 7-0 edge all-time versus RC and look to remain perfect versus the NAIA foe. The last time these two squads met, the Green and White's defense was on point, holding Rochester to just 35 points in a 68-35 victory at the Convocation Center, Nov. 26, 2014.

The Eagles broke out to an early 16-2 lead in the first six minutes of the game and never looked back. Karrington Ward scored 14 points to pace the Green and White in scoring, while Mike Talley added 11 first-half points off the bench to also reach double figures. Brandon Nazione chipped in with a career-high nine points and pulled down a team-best seven rebounds as Eastern controlled the boards by a 47-38 margin.

LIKELY LOOK FOR THE WARRIORS...

#	Name	Pos.	Cl.	Ht.	Wt.	ppg	rpg	apg	Hometown-Previous School
3	Paris Pereira	G	Jr.-Jr.	5-9	160	14.5	3.1	4.8	Rochester Hills, Mich.-Rochester
11	Nick Tatu	G	Sr.-Sr.	6-1	190	9.5	1.9	0.3	Clarkston, Mich.-Trine University
12	Justin Nafso	G	Fr.-Fr.	5-10	175	13.3	4.6	4.8	Walled Lake, Mich.-Central
15	Jaylen Larry	C	Jr.-Jr.	6-8	230	7.7	3.7	0.0	Flint, Mich.-Kalamazoo Valley C.C.
22	Alex Storm	G	Sr.-Sr.	6-4	190	8.8	7.3	0.5	Marlette, Mich.-Marlette

MURPHY VERSUS NON-DI OPPONENTS: Although it comes as no surprise, EMU Head Men's Basketball Coach Rob Murphy has led the Eagles to a cool 17-0 record in both exhibition and regular season games against non-NCAA Division I opponents during his tenure. Last season, the Eagles went 4-0 in regular season games versus NAIA opponents.

FRESHMAN PHENOM: EMU's James Thompson IV is making waves and 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 at 10th (14.8 ppg), while he is also leading the conference in rebounds (11.8 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 (2.4 bpg) and field goal percentage (65.3 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 12th nationally in field goal percentage, while he ranks ninth in rebounds per game and ninth in total rebounds (94). He is 35th in blocked shots per game and 29th in total blocks (19), while his four double-doubles rank 20th and his 4.75 offensive rebounds per game are good for fifth 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 10.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-8 forward is fifth in the MAC in field goal percentage (58.9 percent), while his rebounding average is good for 11th 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 25.4 points and 19.3 rebounds per game this season. In addition, the duo is grabbing 6.8 offensive rebounds per game between the two of them, allowing for second chance opportunities. In fact, the Green and White have scored 114 of its points on second tries, which is good for 18.0 percent of its offense this season.

DOUBLE VISION: A rare feat at EMU and in college basketball in general, but we're seven games into the season and the Eagles have five student-athletes averaging 10-or-more points per game. Willie Mangum IV leads the way with 15.4 points per contest. Mangum is followed by James Thompson IV (14.3 ppg), Raven Lee (12.5 ppg), Ty Toney (10.8 ppg) and Brandon Nazione (10.6ppg). The Eagles are the only squad in the Mid-American Conference to have more than four student-athletes averaging double-digit scoring.

THOMPSON, ON A TEAR: True freshman center James Thompson IV just needed a few games to get his bearings at the NCAA Division I level. The Baton Rouge, La. native put together four-straight double-double performances, first going for a career-best 32 points and 13 rebounds versus Marygrove, Nov. 25. Following that performance, the 6-foot-10 center notched 23 points and another career-high 15 rebounds. In addition, he scored 16 points, while matching his career-high 15 boards versus Omaha, Dec. 1, before notching 18 points and 14 rebounds against Big Ten foe Penn State, Dec. 5. Overall, through the last four games, Thompson is averaging 22.3 points and 14.3 rebounds per contest, and an astounding 77.3 percent field goal percentage. For the season, Thompson is averaging 14.8 points and 11.8 rebounds per game, while knocking down 65.3 percent of his field goal attempts.

ROAD WARRIORS: The EMU men's basketball team hit the road for just the third time this season, but the first time exiting the state of Michigan when the squad traveled to Nebraska Omaha, Dec. 1. In fact, the Eagles will be flying across the country over the next three weeks, playing four of its next five games away from Ypsilanti. In total, the Green and White will travel 3,930 miles between Monday, Nov. 30 and Monday, Dec. 21, going as far west as Omaha, Neb. and traveling to the east coast to Baltimore, Md.

RETURN OF RAVEN: After serving a suspension for a violation of team rules, redshirt-junior guard Raven Lee made his return to the hardwood for the Eagles Tuesday, Dec. 1, in Eastern's 80-73 victory over Nebraska Omaha. In his first game of the 2015-16 season, Lee showed why he was a preseason All-MAC awardwinner. The 6-foot-3 combo guard went for 17 points, five assists and three rebounds. Despite shooting just 3-of-11 from the floor, the Detroit, Mich. native was successful in driving the lane, drawing contact and getting to the free throw line. Lee went 9-for-10 from the charity stripe on his way to leading the Eagles in scoring in their first road win of the 2015-16 campaign.

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. In fact, No. 3/4 Michigan State and Oakland are the only two squads to keep that number underneath 15. On the year, EMU is forcing 18.9 turnovers per game, while ranking 10th in the NCAA in turnover margin, forcing 5.5 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 11 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. 7. Let's take a look...

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE RANKINGS as of Dec. 7
Player	Category	Rank	Number
Eastern Michigan	Steals per game	1st	11.0 (fourth nationally)
Eastern Michigan	Turnover Margin	1st	+5.5 (10th nationally)
Eastern Michigan	Blocks per game	t-2nd	4.8
Eastern Michigan	Rebounds per game	3rd	42.1 (40th nationally)
Eastern Michigan	Field goal percentage defense	2nd	36.7 (23rd nationally)
James Thompson IV	Double doubles	1st	4 (20th nationally)
James Thompson IV	Blocks per game	1st	2.4 (35th nationally)
James Thompson IV	Rebounds per game	1st	11.8 (ninth nationally)
James Thompson IV	Offensive rebounds per game	1st	4.75 (fifth nationally)
James Thompson IV	Field goal percentage	1st	65.3 (12th nationally)
Willie Mangum IV	Steal per game	t-2nd	2.0 (69th nationally)

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 78 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)	78-68 (.535)

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Players Mentioned

Ray Lee

Willie Mangum IV

Brandon Nazione

Mike Talley

James Thompson IV

Ty Toney

Karrington Ward

Eastern Michigan Athletics