Eastern Michigan Athletics
Wednesday, November 29
Jacksonville, Fla.
7 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
at
%20(1).png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
North Florida
Eagles Men's Hoops Finishes Roadtrip at North Florida Wednesday
11/27/2017 12:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Eastern looks to bring home a winning record after splitting the first two games of the trip
| Men's Basketball at North Florida | |
| Date | Wednesday, Nov. 29 | 7 p.m. |
| Venue | Jacksonville, Fla. | UNF Arena (5,800) |
| Preview Info | EMU Notes |
| Live Stats | Fan Stats | Media Stats |
| Watch | ESPN3 |
| Listen | WEMU (89.1 WEMU-FM) | TuneIn Radio |
| @EMUHoops | @EMUAthletics | |
| Tickets | Order Tickets Online |
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team finishes its three-game/eight day road trip with a visit to the University of North Florida at 7 p.m. in the UNF Arena. The Eagles began the road trip with a loss at Indiana, Nov. 24, but bounced back in a big way with a victory at South Florida, Nov. 26. EMU is looking to head back to Ypsilanti with a winning record on the trip and get off to a 6-1 start to the campaign. Fans can catch Friday's game on ESPN3 with Brent Martineau providing play-by-play and Lee Moon Jr. serving as the analyst. The game can also be heard on WEMU 89.1 with Chad Bush on the play-by-play and Kyler Ludlow as analyst.
LAST TIME OUT: Eastern Michigan proved resilient in its fifth win of the season, overcoming an eight-point second half deficit to take down South Florida, 65-47 Sunday, Nov. 26.
The Eagles (5-1) stymied the Bulls (4-3) to a meager 24 percent (6-of-25) from the floor and 0 percent (0-for-10) from beyond the arc in the second half. Meanwhile, EMU shot 44 percent (10-for-23) from the floor and connected on 46 percent (5-for-11) from downtown. Eastern erased the eight-point deficit early in the second half when a Tim Bond (Baltimore, Md.-City College) dunk ignited a 19-2 run that lasted over 11 minutes.
Eastern was led by point guard Paul Jackson (Stone Mountain, Ga.-Martin Luther King Jr (Eastern Kentucky)), who finished with a game-high 15 points in the game. Freshman Malik Ellison (Flint,Mich.-Beecher) had a career-best 11 points thanks to 3-of-5 shooting from the three-point line, and also added three assists with no turnovers.
Adding to the Eagles' impressive performance were James Thompson IV (Baton Rouge, La.-Parkview Baptist), who once again registered a double-double, this time with 11 points and 11 assists, and Bond, who finished the game with 11 points, four rebounds, and three steals. Elijah Minnie (Pittsburgh, Pa.-Lincoln Park (Robert Morris)) tacked on nine points with seven rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and two steals.
WRAPPING UP THE HOOSIER TIPOFF CLASSIC: EMU finished second place in the 2017 Hoosier Tipoff Classic, going 3-1 against the tournament field with wins over Arkansas State, Howard, and South Florida. Tournament-host Indiana University went undefeated on the tournament, while South Florida went 2-2, Arkansas State went 1-3, and Howard was winless at 0-4.
REVERSING THE CURSE: The Green and White faired much better this season that in its recent history of in-season tournaments. Over the last 10 years, EMU has notched a 17-22 record in such contests, most recently encountering problems in the 2016 2K Classic, going 1-3 against Pittsburgh, SMU, and IUPUI, with the team's lone win coming against Gardner-Webb.
ALL-TIME VS NORTH FLORIDA: Wednesday is the second meeting between Eastern Michigan and North Florida. The Ospreys came to Ypsilanti in the 2015-16 season and walked out of the Convocation Center with an 82-77 victory. Overall, playing against teams from the Sunshine State is abnormal for the Eastern, having played just five schools from the state of Florida in its history (Florida A&M, Miami (Fla.), North Florida, South Florida, and Stetson).
MINNIE STAYS HOT: Elijah Minnie has put together a tremendous first six games as a member of the Green and White. The redshirt junior scored 22 points, grabbed four rebounds, dished out three assists, had three blocks, and swiped three steals in his debut against Spring Arbor, and has averaged 16.8 points per game since. The 22 points were the most scored in a debut-game since Willie Mangum IV score 18 in 2015, and the 49 combined points is the most by a new player in the modern statistical era (1998-present).
The Pittsburgh, Pa. native also put on a show at Indiana, Nov. 24, scoring 20 points and burying a career-high five triples in the EMU loss. Minnie was named to the Hoosier Tipoff Classic All-Tournament team, averaging 13 points, six rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal per game.
1,000-POINT CLUB: With his 23-point performance against Arkansas State, Nov. 16, junior James Thompson IV eclipsed the career 1,000-point mark, becoming the 30th EMU student-athlete to reach the milestone in program history. Additionally, the 11 boards he pulled down in the same game moved him up to eighth all-time in career rebounds with 748, surpassing Kory Hallas (743, 1988-92) who played in 54 more games than Thompson . The junior is now just 18 rebounds behind Vince Giles (788, 1981-85) for seventh all-time, and is just the 13th player in EMU history to have both 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in their career.
I'LL TAKE THAT: After leading the Mid-American Conference in steals per game (9.6) last year, Eastern has continued that trend, currently averaging a conference-high 10.5 steals per game through its first four contests. Led by Tim Bond's 16 steals, the Eagles have three players ranked within the conference's top-four in average steals per game, totaling 63 thefts thus far.
OFF TO THE RACES: The four straight wins was the best start to a season since the 2014-15 campaign, which saw the Eagles win seven games before being handed their first loss. In both cases, EMU was stopped by an Archie Miller-led team (Dayton in 2014, Indiana in 2017).
Additionally, the Green and White have only been able to start out 3-0 two other times since the turn of the century (2013-14, 2014-15), both of which fell under the tutelage of Head Coach Rob Murphy.
SLICE AND DICE: Redshirt junior Paul Jackson has upped his scoring to another level of late, turning in 16 points per game during the four-game stretch of the Hoosier Tipoff Classic. Jackson has done most of his scoring off the dribble-drive, shooting 44 percent from the floor in the past four games. The Stone Mountain, Ga. native has also averaged five assists, two steals and two rebounds per game.
BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE: Freshman Malik Ellison had a breakout performance against the University of South Florida Nov. 26, scoring a career-high 11 points thanks to 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the three-point line. The Flint, Mich. native also added three assists and did not commit a turnover in the game.
ON THE HORIZON: After nearly a week off, Eastern returns to the Convocation Center for a pair of home games against Oakland and Central State. The Golden Grizzlies come to Ypsilanti for a 7 p.m. matchup Wednesday, Dec. 6, while the Marauders pay a visit to Michigan Saturday, Dec. 9 at 2 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT: Eastern Michigan proved resilient in its fifth win of the season, overcoming an eight-point second half deficit to take down South Florida, 65-47 Sunday, Nov. 26.
The Eagles (5-1) stymied the Bulls (4-3) to a meager 24 percent (6-of-25) from the floor and 0 percent (0-for-10) from beyond the arc in the second half. Meanwhile, EMU shot 44 percent (10-for-23) from the floor and connected on 46 percent (5-for-11) from downtown. Eastern erased the eight-point deficit early in the second half when a Tim Bond (Baltimore, Md.-City College) dunk ignited a 19-2 run that lasted over 11 minutes.
Eastern was led by point guard Paul Jackson (Stone Mountain, Ga.-Martin Luther King Jr (Eastern Kentucky)), who finished with a game-high 15 points in the game. Freshman Malik Ellison (Flint,Mich.-Beecher) had a career-best 11 points thanks to 3-of-5 shooting from the three-point line, and also added three assists with no turnovers.
Adding to the Eagles' impressive performance were James Thompson IV (Baton Rouge, La.-Parkview Baptist), who once again registered a double-double, this time with 11 points and 11 assists, and Bond, who finished the game with 11 points, four rebounds, and three steals. Elijah Minnie (Pittsburgh, Pa.-Lincoln Park (Robert Morris)) tacked on nine points with seven rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and two steals.
WRAPPING UP THE HOOSIER TIPOFF CLASSIC: EMU finished second place in the 2017 Hoosier Tipoff Classic, going 3-1 against the tournament field with wins over Arkansas State, Howard, and South Florida. Tournament-host Indiana University went undefeated on the tournament, while South Florida went 2-2, Arkansas State went 1-3, and Howard was winless at 0-4.
REVERSING THE CURSE: The Green and White faired much better this season that in its recent history of in-season tournaments. Over the last 10 years, EMU has notched a 17-22 record in such contests, most recently encountering problems in the 2016 2K Classic, going 1-3 against Pittsburgh, SMU, and IUPUI, with the team's lone win coming against Gardner-Webb.
ALL-TIME VS NORTH FLORIDA: Wednesday is the second meeting between Eastern Michigan and North Florida. The Ospreys came to Ypsilanti in the 2015-16 season and walked out of the Convocation Center with an 82-77 victory. Overall, playing against teams from the Sunshine State is abnormal for the Eastern, having played just five schools from the state of Florida in its history (Florida A&M, Miami (Fla.), North Florida, South Florida, and Stetson).
MINNIE STAYS HOT: Elijah Minnie has put together a tremendous first six games as a member of the Green and White. The redshirt junior scored 22 points, grabbed four rebounds, dished out three assists, had three blocks, and swiped three steals in his debut against Spring Arbor, and has averaged 16.8 points per game since. The 22 points were the most scored in a debut-game since Willie Mangum IV score 18 in 2015, and the 49 combined points is the most by a new player in the modern statistical era (1998-present).
The Pittsburgh, Pa. native also put on a show at Indiana, Nov. 24, scoring 20 points and burying a career-high five triples in the EMU loss. Minnie was named to the Hoosier Tipoff Classic All-Tournament team, averaging 13 points, six rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal per game.
1,000-POINT CLUB: With his 23-point performance against Arkansas State, Nov. 16, junior James Thompson IV eclipsed the career 1,000-point mark, becoming the 30th EMU student-athlete to reach the milestone in program history. Additionally, the 11 boards he pulled down in the same game moved him up to eighth all-time in career rebounds with 748, surpassing Kory Hallas (743, 1988-92) who played in 54 more games than Thompson . The junior is now just 18 rebounds behind Vince Giles (788, 1981-85) for seventh all-time, and is just the 13th player in EMU history to have both 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in their career.
I'LL TAKE THAT: After leading the Mid-American Conference in steals per game (9.6) last year, Eastern has continued that trend, currently averaging a conference-high 10.5 steals per game through its first four contests. Led by Tim Bond's 16 steals, the Eagles have three players ranked within the conference's top-four in average steals per game, totaling 63 thefts thus far.
OFF TO THE RACES: The four straight wins was the best start to a season since the 2014-15 campaign, which saw the Eagles win seven games before being handed their first loss. In both cases, EMU was stopped by an Archie Miller-led team (Dayton in 2014, Indiana in 2017).
Additionally, the Green and White have only been able to start out 3-0 two other times since the turn of the century (2013-14, 2014-15), both of which fell under the tutelage of Head Coach Rob Murphy.
SLICE AND DICE: Redshirt junior Paul Jackson has upped his scoring to another level of late, turning in 16 points per game during the four-game stretch of the Hoosier Tipoff Classic. Jackson has done most of his scoring off the dribble-drive, shooting 44 percent from the floor in the past four games. The Stone Mountain, Ga. native has also averaged five assists, two steals and two rebounds per game.
BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE: Freshman Malik Ellison had a breakout performance against the University of South Florida Nov. 26, scoring a career-high 11 points thanks to 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the three-point line. The Flint, Mich. native also added three assists and did not commit a turnover in the game.
ON THE HORIZON: After nearly a week off, Eastern returns to the Convocation Center for a pair of home games against Oakland and Central State. The Golden Grizzlies come to Ypsilanti for a 7 p.m. matchup Wednesday, Dec. 6, while the Marauders pay a visit to Michigan Saturday, Dec. 9 at 2 p.m.
%20(1).png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F/C
/ Men's BasketballThank You from EMU Men's Basketball!
Monday, December 01
Giving Tuesday 2025 - EMU Men's Basketball
Monday, December 01
Giving Tuesday 2025 - Eastern Michigan Men's Basketball
Monday, December 01
2025-26 Field of 68 Men's Basketball Preview: Eastern Michigan Eagles
Tuesday, October 21