Eastern Hoops Takes on Syracuse Wednesday Night

Men's Basketball at Syracuse
Date	Wednesday, Dec. 27 \| 7 p.m.
Venue	Syracuse, N.Y. \| Carrier Dome (35,446)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Watch	ESPN2
Listen	WEMU (89.1 WEMU-FM) \| TuneIn Radio
Twitter	@EMUHoops \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team finishes its three-game road trip with a visit to New York state to take on Syracuse University, Wednesday Dec. 27 at 7 p.m.
   Fans can watch Wednesday's game on ESPN2, with Doug Sherman on play-by-play and Chris Spatola as analyst. It marks the second time this season that the Eagles have been on a national broadcast (also at Indiana, 11/24 on Big Ten Network). Chad Bush will also be on the air for WEMU.

LAST TIME OUT: Eastern Michigan mounted a tremendous comeback effort Friday, Dec. 22 at Oakland University, erasing an 18-point second-half deficit, but ultimately fell short 86-81 at the Blacktop at the O'Rena.
   Trailing by 16 with 4:35 to go in the game, the Eagles cut the deficit to three with just over a minute to go. In the end, the Golden Grizzlies cashed in from the charity stripe, connecting on 14-of-14 from the free throw line in the second half, to put the game on ice.
   Four players notched double-digit scoring efforts in the game, led by a career-high 25 points from Paul Jackson. James Thompson IV added 18 points and nine rebounds, while Tim Bond added 15, and Elijah Minnie had 13.
   For the game, Eastern Michigan was edged in overall shooting percentage, .509 to .493, outrebounded 36 to 29, and attempted 13 fewer free throws. The Golden Grizzlies connected on 91.3 (21-of-23) percent of its trips to the charity stripe, while the Eagles made 80 (8-of-10) of theirs. EMU once again dominated points in the paint, outscoring OU 50-30, while also holding the edge in points off turnovers, 29-15.

JAMES THOMPSON IV IS GOOD: Junior James Thompson IV, who comes into the game averaging 17.7 points and 12.4 rebounds per contest, was named Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week for the period ending Dec. 17.
   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.

LIKE, REALLY, REALLY GOOD: Thompson is among the upper-echelon of big men in all of college basketball. Not only does he rank third in rebounds per game (12.4), he's also third in double-doubles (9), and is sixth in field goal percentage (69.0).
   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 (846), 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 III (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 per contest.

ALL TIME VS SYRACUSE: The Eagles are 1-4 all-time against the Orange, having fallen in each of the past four matchups. A season ago, Syracuse came out on top 105-57, marking the most points Eastern gave up to an opponent all year.
   EMU's lone defeat of 'Cuse came in the 1996-97 season when they defeated the Orange 68-65 as part of the Carrier Classic. The Green and White also defeated Old Dominion in the two-game event.

AMONG THE LEADING LEADERS: Eastern Michigan leads the Mid-American Conference in scoring offense (81.4 points per game), steals per game (10.4), turnovers forced per game (16.45), and team field goal percentage (.488). The Eagles are also in the top three in scoring margin (2nd - +9.0), turnover margin (2nd - + 3.1), and rebounding margin (3rd - +3.0).
   Individually, James Thompson IV leads four categories (defensive rebound avg., offensive rebound avg., total rebound avg., and field goal percentage), while also being in the top six in blocks per game (5th) and scoring (6th). Redshirt junior Elijah Minnie currently ranks fifth in scoring with an average of 18.0 per game, and leads the MAC in free throw shooting with a 91.5 percentage. Fellow redshirt junior Paul Jackson is second in assists per game (4.7) and 10th in scoring (17.0), while lone senior Tim Bond is leading the conference in steals per game (3.0)

MINNIE STAYS HOT: With his 23-point output at Long Beach State Dec. 16, Elijah Minnie has scored 20-or-more points in six of the Eagles' first 11 games.
   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 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, Nov. 29, scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 boards.

SLICE AND DICE: Redshirt junior Paul Jackson has established himself as one of the top point guards in the Mid-American Conference, averaging 17 points per contest as well as leading the team with 4.7 assists per game on the season. The Stone Mountain, Ga. native is currently second in the MAC in assists per game, fourth in steals per game (1.73), and 10th in scoring average.
   Jackson has done most of his damage inside the three-point line, shooting an impressive 53-percent on two-point field goals. The pout guard has scored in double-digits in 10 of 11 games on the season, reaching the 20-point plateau three times.

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 10.4 steals per game through its first four contests. Led by Tim Bond's 3.0 steal per game average, the Eagles have three players ranked within the conference's top five in average steals per game, totaling 114 thefts thus far.

ON THE HORIZON: EMU returns to the friendly confines of the Convocation Center Friday, Dec. 29 when it welcomes Rochester College to Ypsilanti for the final non-conference bout of the 2017-18 campaign at 2 p.m. Eastern then opens up the new year and Mid-American Conference play at Ball State, Jan. 2.

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Players Mentioned

Tim Bond

Paul Jackson

Elijah Minnie

James Thompson IV

Eastern Michigan Athletics