Eagles and Rockets Set to Tangle in Toledo

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Currently riding a two-game winning streak for the first time since non-conference play, the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team is slated to travel south to Toledo, Ohio for a Mid-American Conference West Division contest with the University of Toledo Wednesday night, Feb. 4. The Eagles (14-7, 3-5 MAC) and Rockets (13-8, 5-3 MAC) are scheduled to tipoff at 7 p.m. from Savage Arena. Eastern comes into the game after a pair of victories at home versus Ohio, Jan. 27, and against MAC West foe Western Michigan, Jan. 31. Toledo will host its third home game in four attempts, riding a three-game winning streak after wins over Bowling Green and Miami at Savage Arena before traveling to DeKalb, Ill. to take down Northern Illinois.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: The Eastern Michigan versus Toledo contest can be found on 89.1 FM WEMU, Buckeye CableSystems and ESPN3. Fans can 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 will be analyst Assistant Athletic Media Relations Director Sean Hostetter. Coverage of the game on 89.1 will begin at 6:50 p.m.
For those who prefer to watch the game, it will be broadcast on Buckeye CableSystems for those whose coverage carries the channel. Fans with access to ESPN will be able to tune into the game on ESPN3 or the WatchESPN app.

ALL-TIME VERSUS TOLEDO: The Eagles trail in the series with UT as Eastern looks at a tally of 44-50 in favor of the Rockets. Recent history shows that the Green and White typically split the season series with Toledo. In the last 10 meetings, EMU is 5-5 versus the Rockets. However, prior to that stretch the Eagles struggled against Toledo, going just 3-7 in the previous 10 contests.
Last season, Eastern and Toledo squared off three times, including a split of the regular season series. The Eagles took care of business at home, knocking off the Rockets in a convincing, 65-44, victory at the Convocation Center, holding UT to its lowest offensive output of the season. In the return game, Eastern fell, 77-66, at Savage Arena. In their final meeting, the Rockets bested EMU in a MAC Tournament semifinal contest at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The Eagles had won three games in four days to earn a spot but came up shy versus Toledo, 59-44.

LIKELY LOOK FOR THE ROCKETS...

#	Name	Pos.	Cl.	Ht.	Wt.	ppg	rpg	apg	Hometown-Previous School
1	Jonathan Williams	G	So.	6-3	180	10.8	3.5	1.7	Southfield, Mich.-Lathrup
4	Justin Drummond	G/F	Sr.	6-4	200	12.4	4.4	1.8	Washington, D.C.-Loyola (Md.)
20	Julius Brown	G	Sr.	5-10	170	16.0	2.1	4.3	Markham, Ill.-Hillcrest
24	J.D. Weatherspoon	F	Sr.	6-3	185	12.3	7.5	1.2	Columbus, Ohio-Ohio State
53	Nathan Boothe	C	Jr.	6-9	250	9.2	5.7	2.3	Gurnee, Ill.-Warren Twp.

A LOOK AT THE TOLEDO: Toledo comes into Wednesday's game as one of the premiere offenses in the Mid-American Conference. The Rockets average 74.4 points per game, while knocking down 46 percent of their field goal attempts. UT uses all five of its starters to score on the offensive end. Julius Brown, a 2014 first team All-MAC award winner, leads the Rockets at 16.0 points per game, while Justin Drummond and J.D. Weatherspoon are not far behind with 12.4 and 12.3, respectively. In addition to the Rockets top three scorers, they have a pair of student-athletes that contribute significantly to the UT offense. Jonathan Williams adds 10.8 points per game, while Nathan Boothe adds 9.2 The Rockets do not use the bench much, as the Toledo reserves average just 14 points per game, good for just 18.8 percent of their points.

SETS UP NICELY: The Eagles have been stout on the defensive end through MAC play, allowing just 61.9 points per game, but it's their offense which has struggled. On the upside, the Eagles will play the three of the worst defenses in the conference, statistically, over the next three games which will help jump start the EMU offense. Toledo allows the ninth-most points at 69 per contest, while Ohio and Miami each allow 70.3 points per game, which ties for the last in the conference.

TALLEY NAMED MAC WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Eastern Michigan redshirt-senior point guard Mike Talley was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday, Feb. 2. Talley led the Green and White to the sweep of a pair of Mid-American Conference games this weekend. On the back of Talley, the Eagles moved to 3-5 in MAC play after a 76-40 win over Ohio and a 69-63 victory versus Western Michigan. Overall on the week, the point guard averaged 20 points per game, shooting at a 52.2 percent clip, knocking down 4-of-8 three point attempts and missing just one free throw in 13 attempts, good for a 92.3 free throw percentage. In addition, the Detroit, Mich. native averaged 5.5 assists per game, while pulling down two rebounds and stripping the opponent once per game. In the Eagles' win over Western Michigan, Jan. 31, Talley led Eastern with a career-best 24 points, connecting on 6-of-12 from the floor, while knocking down a career-high four three-point baskets.

A 50 MILE MARCH: Wednesday's game will be the shortest traveled game of the MAC season. The Eagles will be making the quick 50-mile jaunt down US-23 from the Convocation Center to Savage Arena.

MILTON TO MURPHY: Eastern Michigan had not seen a coach with a winning record since Milton Barnes led the Green and White from 1996-2000. Barnes had a career record of 62-53 good for a .539 winning percentage. Currently, Head Coach Rob Murphy owns a record of 66-58. He has not held a record of .500-or-better since the 2012-13 season when his squad opened the year 5-1 to bring his overall record to 19-19.

HAPPY AT HOME: The Eagles have enjoyed much success within the doors of the Convocation Center this season. With a 12-1 record, EMU has shot 42.6 percent from the floor, while scoring 74.5 points per contest and holding its opponents to 54.1 points per game. Under Head Coach Rob Murphy, the EMU basketball team has been comfortable inside the friendly confines of the Convocation Center. Throughout the past four seasons since Murphy has taken over the EMU program, Eastern carries a 48-13 record inside the Convocation Center.

TIC-TAC-TURNOVER: Eastern Michigan is forcing the competition into 15 turnovers per game this season. The Eagles have forced their opponents into 20-or-more turnovers on four separate occasions, including when the Green and White forced Longwood into 24, Nov. 23. The Eagles hold a +3.5 in turnover margin, which ranks best in the MAC and 20th nationally. Eastern has been forced into more turnovers than the opposition on just three occasions this season.

A DOMINATING PERFORMANCE: Eastern Michigan never played from behind, leading for 39 of the 40 minutes in a dominating 76-40 victory over Ohio Tuesday night, Jan. 27, at the Convocation Center. It was the largest margin of victory over an NCAA Division I opponent in the Rob Murphy era. In addition, it was the largest conference victory since EMU cruised to a 104-67 decision over Central Michigan University 18 years ago, Jan. 8, 1997, while also marking the largest margin of victory over a Division I opponent since Eastern downed Navy, 99-52, on Jan. 7, 2004. The cherry on top is that the Eagles held Ohio to just a 22.8 shooting percentage, the lowest of any NCAA Division I opponent this season and the best field goal percent defense since the Green and White held NIU to a 13.1 percent clip in the Eagles 42-25 victory back on Jan. 26, 2013.

BENCH BATTLE: Eastern has proved itself as a very deep team this season and it shows by the bench production. EMU has been outscored by the opposing bench just four times this season. They lead the bench scoring battle 440-372, scoring, with the reserves 30.3 percent of the Eagles' offense.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Mike Talley

Eastern Michigan Athletics