Eagles Set to Host Buffalo in First Home MAC Contest

Men's Basketball vs. Buffalo
Date	Tuesday, Jan. 12 \| 7 p.m.
Venue	Ypsilanti, Mich. \| Convocation Center (8,874)
Game Notes	EMU Notes \| UB Notes
Live Stats	EMUEagles.com
Watch	ESPN3
Listen	89.1 FM WEMU
Twitter	@EMUHoops \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- After playing its first two Mid-American Conference games on the road, the 2015-16 Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team returns to the Convocation Center to square off with the University at Buffalo Tuesday, Jan. 12. The Eagles (9-6, 1-1 MAC) split their first two conference games and will welcome the Bulls (8-7, 1-1 MAC) to Ypsilanti for a 7 p.m. tip. Most recently, the Green and White dropped an 80-63 decision on the road at Northern Illinois University, Jan. 9.

Buffalo comes into Tuesday night's game following its first MAC victory of the young campaign. The Bulls knocked off Kent State University, 76-67, on the road in a Friday night game, Jan. 8. That UB victory came following a home loss to the University of Akron earlier that week, 75-71.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: The Eastern Michigan versus Buffalo 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 BUFFALO: The Eagles are behind in the series with Buffalo by just two games, as they trail by a tally of 12-10. EMU and Buffalo have split their last six meetings, including a MAC Tournament Quarterfinal Round, 69-64, victory for Eastern over the Bulls in 2014. However, Buffalo, the reigning MAC Tournament Champion, got the best of the Green and White last season at the Convocation Center.

In that game, the Eagles fell to the Bulls in a 78-63 decision inside the Convocation Center, being led by the then-reigning MAC West Player of the Week Karrington Ward who posted his third straight double-double, posting 21 points and 11 rebounds while swatting away five of the Bulls' shots. Mike Talley and Raven Lee also put up double-digit scoring figures at 15 and 12 points, respectively.

LIKELY LOOK FOR THE BULLS...

#	Name	Pos.	Cl.	Ht.	Wt.	ppg	rpg	apg	Hometown-Previous School
0	Blake Hamilton	F	Jr.-Jr.	6-6	205	10.6	5.2	2.3	Pasadena, Calif.-Mt. San Antonio
1	Lamonte Beardon	G	So.-So.	6-3	160	13.5	2.2	3.4	Milwaukee, Wis.-Germantown
2	Willie Conner	F	Jr.-Jr.	6-5	200	10.9	2.3	1.4	Chicago, Ill.-Odessa CC
10	Jarryn Skeete	G	Sr.-Sr.	6-3	185	9.0	3.0	1.9	Brampton, Ontario-Bridgton Academy
34	Ikenna Smart	F	So.-Fr.	6-10	225	3.5	4.5	0.2	Greensboro, N.C.-New Garden Friends School

THOMPSON TIES NCAA ALL-TIME RECORD: Despite a loss to Northern Illinois, Jan. 9, the Eagles saw something that just one other student-athlete has completed in NCAA history. Dating back to the Eagles' victory over Detroit, Dec. 28, freshman James Thompson IV had made 26-straight field goal attempts, which tied Bowling Green's Torian Ogelsby for the most consecutive field goals in NCAA history. It took Ogelsby seven games to complete the feat, while Thompson needed less than four total games to record the 26-straight makes.

ROMULUS REUNION: Redshirt junior guard Raven Lee will be having a reunion of sorts in Tuesday's game with Buffalo. The Detroit, Mich. native will square off with his high school head coach, the Bulls' head man Nate Oats. This will be the first time that Lee will take on his old bench boss since he became a head coach in the NCAA. In addition, Buffalo forward Raheem Johnson and guard, Christian Pino each attended Romulus High School and played for Coach Oats as well. Lee is 1-of-6 current NCAA Division I players who competed under Oats at Romulus.

THE COUNTRY'S BEST: Freshman center James Thompson IV has been dominant on the floor for the Eagles, especially on the offensive end. Due in large part to his 26-straight made field goals, Thompson leads the NCAA in field goal percentage. The Baton Rouge, La. native converts on 71.8 percent of his shot attempts, with Belmont's Evan Bradds in second place with a 70.6 field goal percentage. The next closest freshman in the category is Eastern Kentucky's Nick Mayo. Mayo connects on 58.2 of his field goal attempts.

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 a 39.6 percent clip. Not even half way through the 2015-16 season, Nazione had recorded more field goal makes than a year ago. In addition, he is hitting shots at a 56.8 percent clip, while averaging nearly three times as many points per game (9.6) and twice as many rebounds per contest (6.5).

SPREADING THE WEALTH: Eastern Michigan has received contributions from multiple student-athletes on the offensive end throughout the season. In fact, 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 game where six score 10-or-more, two games with five double-digit scorers, five with four, two with three and five with two this season.

KING OF THIEVES: The Eagles not only lead the Mid-American Conference in steals per game (10.3), but the Green and White are third in the NCAA in that category, while also ranking seventh in total steals (155).

TIC-TAC-TURNOVER: Although Eastern Michigan averages 13.3 turnovers per game, which ranks 206th in the country, EMU is 15th in the nation in turnover margin at a +3.8 difference. The Green and White force the opposition into 17.1 turnovers per contest which ranks as the 12th-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 136 points during this season, totaling 1,146 for his career. That number has moved him ahead of Ryan Prillman (1999-03) for 23rd on the all-time EMU scoring list. Lee now trails Carl Thomas (1987-91) for the 22nd spot by 33 points.

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 sixth (15.3 ppg), while he is also leading the conference in rebounds (10.9 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 (1.7 bpg) and first in field goal percentage (71.8 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 leading the nation in field goal percentage, while he ranks 10th in rebounds per game and 11th in total rebounds (164). His eight double-doubles rank 14th and his 4.5 offensive rebounds per game are good for third nationally.

A LOOK AHEAD: Following the Tuesday evening contest with Buffalo, Jan. 12, the Eagles will continue the Mid-American Conference campaign at the Convocation Center Saturday, Jan. 16, as the first leg of an EMU basketball doubleheader. The Eagles will host Bowling Green at 2 p.m. with a 4:30 p.m. women's game to follow.

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 Jan. 11. Let's take a look...

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE RANKINGS as of Jan. 11
Player	Category	Rank	Number
Eastern Michigan	Steals per game	1st	10.3 (third nationally)
Eastern Michigan	Turnover Margin	1st	+3.8 (15th nationally)
Eastern Michigan	Turnovers forces per game	1st	17.1 (12th nationally)
Eastern Michigan	Total steals	1st	155 (seventh nationally)
James Thompson IV	Double doubles	1st	8 (14th nationally)
James Thompson IV	Blocks per game	2nd	1.7
James Thompson IV	Rebounds per game	1st	10.9 (10th nationally)
James Thompson IV	Offensive rebounds per game	1st	4.5 (third nationally)
James Thompson IV	Field goal percentage	1st	71.8 (first nationally)
Tim Bond	Steal per game	1st	1.9

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 17.1 turnovers per game, while ranking 15th in the NCAA in turnover margin, forcing 3.8 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 10.3 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 13 occasions in over four seasons. On the flip side, all but one time the Green and White have allowed 80-plus, they've ended up on the wrong side of the ledger, including all six losses this season.

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 24.9 points and 17.4 rebounds per game this season. In addition, the duo is grabbing 6.5 offensive rebounds per game between the two of them, allowing for second chance opportunities. In fact, the Green and White have scored 173 of its points on second tries, which is good for 14.7 percent of its offense this season.

NEW CREW: Despite the absence of EMU's top leading scorer from a season ago through the first six games of the season, Eastern has found some scoring in new places. Of the 1171 points scored this season, 587 have been scored by student-athletes who are new to the EMU men's basketball program. That number is 50.1 percent of the scoring by the 2015-16 Eagles. Leading the charge for the newcomers are junior college transfer guards Willie Mangum IV (14.1 ppg) and Ty Toney (9.3 ppg). In addition, freshman center James Thompson IV is adding a team-best 15.3 points per contest for the Green and White.

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 82 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)	82-71 (.536)

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Players Mentioned

Tim Bond

Ray Lee

Willie Mangum IV

Brandon Nazione

Mike Talley

James Thompson IV

Ty Toney

Karrington Ward

Eastern Michigan Athletics