Eagles Host Bobcats on Adopt A Pet Saturday

Men's Basketball vs. Ohio
Date	Saturday, Jan. 20\| 2 p.m.
Venue	Ypsilanti, Mich. \| Convocation Center (8,754)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Watch	ESPN3
Listen	WEMU (89.1 WEMU-FM) \| TuneIn Radio
Twitter	@EMUHoops \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team welcomes Ohio University to town Saturday, Jan. 20 for a 2 p.m. battle at the Convocation Center.
   Fans can watch Saturday's game on ESPN3, with Ryan Wooley (play-by-play) and Greg Steiner (analyst) on the call. Chad Bush will handle the broadcast duties for 89.1FM WEMU, with Kyler Ludlow serving as analyst.

SAY HELLO TO YOUR FURRY FRIEND: Saturday's game against Ohio also offers fans a special opportunity, in partnership with Last Day Dog Rescue, to adopt a pet at the Convocation Center. Both dogs and cats will be available to find their forever homes beginning at 11 a.m. and run through the conclusion of the contest.
   During halftime of the Eagles and Bobcats' game, the Dogs Flying Disc Show will entertain fan and pets alike.

HOME COOKIN': EMU's performance in the friendly confines of the Convocation Center this season is one of the best overall in the Rob Murphy era of Eagles basketball. The Green and White are 9-1 at home, scoring 79.6 points per game while allowing just 65.8.
   Most recently, Eastern's lock-down of Akron, Jan. 16, when it allowed just 49 points on .310 percent shooting, was the fewest points allowed to the Zips in the 50 year history of the series.

THOMPSON NAMED TO LOU HENSON MID-SEASON WATCH LIST: The award for Mid-Major Player of the Year will be announced on March 31, 2018 at the CollegeInsider.com Awards Event in San Antonio, site of the men's NCAA Basketball Championship. Thompson comes into this weekend's game averaging 15.3 points and 11.5 rebounds per contest.

ALL TIME VS OHIO: Eastern has struggled against Ohio during the 45-year history of the series, trailing the Bobcats 25-48 all-time. On the flip side, however, the Eagles hold a record of 18-16 in games played in Ypsilanti, including a 6-5 mark in the Convocation Center.
   A season ago, EMU and OU split a home-and-home series between the two, as Eastern won just its fifth game ever in Athens, 53-49, while Ohio took revenge a month later by a 79-71 final.

CLOSING IN ON 1,000: Two Eagles are closing in on coveted thresholds, as junior James Thompson IV is just 83 rebounds away from 1,000, while senior Tim Bond is 97 points away from becoming the 31st player to don the Green and White and join the 1,000 point club.
   Thompson became the 30th Eagle to eclipse the 1,000 point threshold earlier this season, and would become just the third player all-time to join the exclusive 1,000 point, 1,000 rebound club. Only all-time leading scorer Kennedy McIntosh (1967-71) and Brandon Bowdry (2006-11) hold spots in both 1,000 clubs.

LAST TIME OUT: Eastern Michigan got back in the win column with a convincing 63-49 victory over the University of Akron Tuesday, Jan. 16, inside the Convocation Center.
   For the third time this season, EMU had at least two players record 20 or more points in a single game. Redshirt junior Elijah Minnie paced the Eagles with 22 points in addition to five rebounds, four blocks, and a team-high four steals. Redshirt junior Paul Jackson tallied 20 points, eight boards, and a team-best four assists. Junior James Thompson IV added eight points, eight boards, and four blocks, while senior Tim Bond collected five rebounds and led the Green and White with six assists.
   The Eagles were the superior team on offense, shooting 46.7 percent (21-of-45) from the floor compared to Akron's 30.9 percent (17-of-55) clip. On the defensive end, the Eagles out-blocked the Zips by a 10-2 margin and out-rebounded the visitors, 34-32.

#DEFENDTHENEST: Eastern Michigan's defense has been one of the keys components to its success this season, with the Eagles swiping 168 steals and blocking 109 shots (both totals lead the MAC) in the first 18 games. EMU is second in the league in both defensive field goal percentage (.414) and scoring defense (69.3 points per game), and also ranks fourth in the conference with a +2.3 turnover margin.

AMONG THE LEADING LEADERS: Eastern Michigan leads the Mid-American Conference in steals per game (9.3), and blocks per game (6.1). EMU is the only team in the NCAA that is ranked in the top nine in both categories.
   The Eagles are also in the top three in team field goal percentage (2nd - .471) defensive field goal percentage (2nd - .414), scoring defense (2nd - 69.3), and scoring margin (3rd - +5.7).
   Individually, James Thompson IV leads five categories (double-doubles, defensive rebound avg., offensive rebound avg., total rebound avg., and field goal percentage), while also being in the top four in blocks per game. Redshirt junior Elijah Minnie currently ranks fifth in scoring with an average of 17.2 per game, and is first in the MAC in both free throw shooting with a 87.8 percentage, and blocked shots per game with a 1.8 average. Fellow redshirt junior Paul Jackson is second in assists per game (4.6) and 11th in scoring (15.9).

MINNIE STAYS HOT: With his 22-point performance against Akron, Jan. 16, Elijah Minnie has scored double-digits in 15 out of the 18 Eagles' games this season. He currently ranks sixth in the conference in scoring average at 17.2 points per game.
Minnie's 22-point output against the Zips, combined with his 25-point performance in the MAC opener at Ball State, and another 25-point game against Central Michigan, gives the redshirt junior 20-or-more points in nine of the Eagles' 18 games.
Minnie 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 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, Nov. 29, scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 boards.

DISHING IT OUT: Redshirt junior Paul Jackson has established himself as one of the top point guards in the Mid-American Conference, currently sitting in second in the league with a 4.6 assists per game average. The Stone Mountain, Ga. native has had four or more assists in 14 of Eastern's 18 games, has poured in double-digit scoring efforts in 16 of the 18 EMU contests, and is also 11th in the conference with a 15.9 points per game average.

JAMES THOMPSON IV IS GOOD: Junior James Thompson IV, who comes into the game averaging 15.3 points and 11.5 rebounds per contest, picked up his Mid-American Conference-leading 12th double-double of the season with a 15-point, 12-rebound performance in the Eagles' loss at Northern Illinois.
   Thompson IV was named MAC West Division Player of the Week for the period ending Dec. 17 after he registered his ninth double-double in 10 games against Long Beach State, Dec. 16. The Baton Rouge, La. native scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while shooting 9-of-12 (.750) from the floor and adding 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 fifth in rebounds per game (11.5), he's also seventh in double-doubles (12), and is eighth in field goal percentage (67.1).
   The Baton Rouge, La. native is the national leader in rebound average for a career (11.1 rebounds per game), and is fifth in NCAA Division I in career rebounds (917), trailing four seniors.

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 9.3 steals per game through its first 17 contests. Led by Tim Bond's MAC-leading 2.6 steal per game average, the Eagles have three players ranked within the conference's top eight in average steals per game, totaling 168 thefts thus far.

ON THE HORIZON: The Eagles hit the road for a two-game conference swing, starting with a trip to New York to take on Buffalo, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. Eastern will finish their roadtrip with a 3:30 p.m. game at Miami.

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Players Mentioned

Tim Bond

Paul Jackson

Elijah Minnie

James Thompson IV

Eastern Michigan Athletics