Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Oakland
EMU Hoops Travels to Oakland for Rematch Friday Night
12/20/2017 10:19:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Eastern and Oakland complete their in-season home-and-home at 7 p.m., Dec. 22
| Men's Basketball at Oakland | |
| Date | Friday, Dec. 22 | 7 p.m. |
| Venue | Rochester, Mich. | Athletics Center O'Rena (4,000) |
| Preview Info | EMU Notes |
| Live Stats | Fan Stats |
| Watch | ESPN3 |
| Listen | WEMU (89.1 WEMU-FM) | TuneIn Radio |
| @EMUHoops | @EMUAthletics | |
YPSILANTI, Mich. -- The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team continues its three-game December road trip by completing its in-season home-and-home series with Oakland University Friday, Dec. 22.
After finishing their road swing at Syracuse Dec. 27, the Eagles will wrap up the 2017 portion of their schedule with a home game against Rochester, Dec. 29.
Fans can watch Friday night's game on ESPN3, with the Oakland University simulcast bringing Neal Ruhl as play-by-play and Matt Dery as 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: EMU rallied from nine down for an exciting 85-80 road victory at Long Beach State University, Dec. 16 at the Walter Pyramid.
The game had 11 lead changes and 10 ties in a thrilling 40 minutes of action, as the Eagles withstood a fast and furious final charge from the 49ers to pull out the victory. Eastern is off to its best start to a season in the Rob Murphy era since the 2014-15 campaign when it started 11-2.
Four players finished in double-figures for the Eagles, with Elijah Minnie leading the team with 23 points. Junior James Thompson IV dominated the inside game with 19 points and 11 rebounds, registering his ninth double-double this season, while Paul Jackson tossed in 18 and had a season-high seven assists. Freshman Kevin McAdoo tied a career-high with 10 points off the bench.
THOMPSON IV NAMED MAC WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Junior James Thompson IV was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week for the period ending Dec. 17. It is the first award for the Eagles of the 2017-18 season.
The Baton Rouge, La. native registered his ninth double-double in 10 games against Long Beach State, Dec. 16, when he scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. The junior shot 9-of-12 (.750) from the floor and added two blocks and a steal in the Eagles' 85-80 road victory.
ALL-TIME VS OAKLAND: Friday is the 18th all-time meeting between Eastern Michigan and Oakland. The Eagles and Golden Grizzlies played each other earlier this month, Dec. 6, at the Convocation Center, with EMU pulling out a 95-89 victory.
Eastern was led by a trio of scorers in the contest, as James Thompson IV, Elijah Minnie, and Paul Jackson, each scored 24 points. Thompson was a perfect 11-for-11 from the floor and grabbed 12 rebounds for a double-double, while Minnie added a season-high 12 rebounds for a double-double of his own. Jackson added a then-season-high six assists, plus three steals to his stat line.
With three Eagles scoring 24 points, it marked the first time since 1985 that Eastern had three players score 20-or-more points in a single game against a Division I opponent.
Jan. 30, 1985 saw Eastern travel to Toledo and come away with an 84-78 victory. In that game, Percy Cooper, Vince Giles, and Fred Cofield scored 26, 22, and 20 points, respectively.
TWO SCORE AND FOUR YEARS AGO: Eastern Michigan and Oakland are completing a rare non-conference home-and-home this season, with the Eagles heading to Rochester, Mich. Dec. 22. EMU took the first matchup by a 95-89 final score.
The last time EMU played an in-season home-and-home series with an opponent was in the 1973-74 season against Cleveland State. The Vikings took the matchup in Ypsilanti, 61-55, while the Eagles returned the favor with a win in Cleveland, 72-67.
AMONG THE LEADING LEADERS: Eastern Michigan leads the Mid-American Conference in scoring offense (81.4 points per game), steals per game (10.6), turnover margin (+3.0), and team field goal percentage (.487). The Eagles are also in the top three in scoring margin (2nd - +10.4), turnover margin (2nd - +3.22), defensive field goal percentage (3rd - .418), rebounding margin (3rd - +4.0), scoring offense (3rd - 81.0), and scoring defense (3rd - 71.0).
On the individual side, James Thompson IV leads the MAC in three categories (defensive rebounds per game, offensive rebounds per game, and total rebounds per game), while Tim Bond (steals) and Elijah Minnie (free throw percentage) each lead in one. Minnie, Thompson, and Paul Jackson are all in the top 10 in scoring average at sixth, seventh, and 10th respectively.
RARE AIR: Junior center James Thompson IV is among the upper-echelon of big men in all of college basketball. Not only does he rank second in the country in rebounds per game (12.7), he's also third in double-doubles (9), and is eighth in field goal percentage (69.9 percent).
The Baton Rouge, La. native is the national leader in rebound average for a career (11.2 rebounds per game), and is fifth in NCAA Division I in career rebounds (837), trailing four seniors.
Thompson is also one of just six players in the country averaging over 16 points per game, 10 rebounds per game, and owns a shooting percentage above 60 percent. The others are Deandre Ayton (Arizona), Marvin Bagley (Duke), Devontae Cacok (UNC-Wilmington), Jessie Govan (Georgetown), and Brandon McCoy (UNLV). In addition, just three of those players (Cacok, Govan, and Thompson) are averaging more than 12 rebounds.
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 10.6 average through its first nine contests. The Eagles also rank seventh in NCAA Division I in steals per game. Led by Tim Bond's 3.2 steals average, the Eagles have four players ranked within the conference's top-10 in average steals per game, totaling 106 thefts thus far. Bond's average steals per contest is ranked third in the country.
SLICE AND DICE: Redshirt junior Paul Jackson has been one of the top offensive threats for the Eagles all season long, averaging 16.2 points per game and leading the team in assists per game with a 4.7 mark. The Stone Mountain, Ga. native is currently second in the Mid-American Conference in assists per game, fourth in steals per game (1.8), and 10th in scoring average.
Jackson has done most of his damage inside the three-point line, shooting an impressive 50.4 percent on two-point field goals. The point guard has scored in double-digits in nine of 10 games on the season, reaching the 20-point plateau twice.
MINNIE STAYS HOT: With his 23-point performance at Long Beach State Dec. 16, Elijah Minnie has scored 20-or-more points in six of the Eagles' first 10 games.
The redshirt junior scored 22 points, grabbed four rebounds, dished out three assists, had three blocks, and swiped three steals in his EMU debut against Spring Arbor, and has averaged 17.9 points per game since. The 22 points were the most scored in a debut-game since Willie Mangum IV scored 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 Tip-off Classic All-Tournament team, averaging 13 points, six rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal per game. He also logged his first double-double of the season against North Florida, scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 boards.
ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan finishes its three-game road trip with a journey to Syracuse, Dec. 27 for a 7 p.m. game airing on ESPN2. EMU wraps up the 2017 portion of its schedule as well as its non-conference slate with a Dec. 29 matchup against Rochester College in the Convocation Center at 2 p.m.
