Eastern Tips Off Basketball Season Tuesday Night In the Convo

Eastern Michigan vs Rochester
Date	Tuesday, Nov. 5 \| 6 p.m.
Venue	Ypsilanti, Mich. \| Convocation Center (8,754)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Eastern Michigan
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 opens the 2018-19 season Tuesday, Nov. 6, as the Eagles welcome Rochester College to Ypsilanti. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the Convocation Center.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 with Ryan Wooley on play-by-play and Greg Steiner providing analysis. Additional coverage can be found by following @EMUHoops on Twitter, and through live stats at EMUEagles.com

EAGLES IN SEASON OPENERS: Eastern Michigan has played 120 seasons, compiling a 71-49 record in season openers. Last season, the Eagles ran away with a 92-60 victory over Spring Arbor University in the first Division I game in the country.
   Redshirt junior Elijah Minnie (Pittsburgh, Pa.-Lincoln Park (Robert Morris)) put together a tremendous first game as an Eagle, scoring 22 points and adding four rebounds, three assists, three blocks and three steals. The 22 points were the most scored in a debut-game since Willie Mangum IV score 18 in 2015.

ALL TIME VS ROCHESTER: The Eagles are 10-0 all-time against the Warriors, having played Rochester in each season going back to the 2010-11 campaign. A year ago, EMU hosted RC in the season's home opener, defeating the visitors 67-48 in the Convocation Center.
   Over the course of the series' history, Eastern has hosted eight of the nine contests, with the lone game away from the Convo played as a neutral site battle at Oakland University's O'Rena.

OPENING UP AT HOME: EMU has kicked off the season at home in six of the past seven seasons, posting a 6-0 mark in those games. EMU has outscored opponents 462-341 over that stretch, averaging 77.0 points per game, while holding opponents to 56.8 points per contest.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: Eastern Michigan has won 92 of its 119 home games during the Rob Murphy era of Eagles basketball. The Eagles have racked up a solid home-court advantage inside the friendly confines of the Convocation Center since the doors opened during the 1998-99 campaign, winning 59.7 percent of the contests played in the building, piling up a 185-118 all-time mark.

EMU PICKED TO WIN THE MAC WEST: The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team was selected to finish first in the MAC West Division for the 2018-19 campaign, the Mid-American Conference announced Tuesday, Oct. 27. The Eagles received 183 total points, trailing only Buffalo (210) for the overall conference lead. The Bulls led the way with votes for the MAC Tournament Champion (25), with Eastern (3), and Toledo (3) tying in a distant second place.

STACK UP THE PRESEASON HONORS: Senior James Thompson IV (Baton Rouge, La.-Parkview Baptist) and redshirt senior Elijah Minnie were both named to the preseason All-MAC West Division Team. The conference honors were just a bow on what has been a preseason packed with honors for the frontcourt duo.

PRESEASON WATCH LISTS: EMU is the only Mid-American Conference school to have two players named to Naismith Starting Five teams, as senior James Thompson IV is a candidate for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award and redshirt senior Elijah Minnie is a nominee for the Julius Erving Award.
   In March, five finalists will be presented to Mr. Abdul-Jabbar, Erving, and the Hall of Fame's selection committee. The winner of the 2019 awards will be presented at The College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy's in Los Angeles, Calif. on Friday, April 12, 2019, along with the other members of the Naismith Starting Five.

WHAT A SCHEDULE!: The Eagles are set to take on one of its most daunting non-conference schedules of the Rob Murphy era in 2018-19, traveling to 2018 NCAA Tournament participants Duke, TCU, and Kansas, while also heading east to take on Rutgers and Northeastern.

DOMINATING DEFENSE: Eastern Michigan had the Mid-American Conference's best defense in 2017-18, allowing opponents just 66.8 points per game on the season, and holding them to a conference-best 40.4 shooting percentage. The Eagles have been even better since league play began, allowing just 65.4 points per game while holding opponents to a 40.1 mark from the floor.
    Eastern held opponents to 69 points-or-less in a game 20 times during the season. EMU is 17-3 in those games. The Eagles had a season-low 41 point effort, Feb. 3, against Ball State to go along with impressive performances against Spring Arbor (60), Arkansas State (59), South Florida (47), Rochester (48), Miami (48), and Akron (49).

LEAGUE LEADERS: EMU led the Mid-American Conference in steals per game (8.8) and blocks per game (6.2) in 2017-18, as well as defensive field goal percentage (40.7), and scoring defense (67.2). Eastern ranked third in the NCAA in blocks and seventh in steals per game, the only team in the country ranked in both top sevens.
    Individually, James Thompson IV led five categories (double-doubles, defensive rebounds, offensive rebounds, total rebounds, and field goal percentage), while also finishing second in blocks per game (1.9) and 20th in scoring (15.3). Elijah Minnie ranked fifth in scoring with an average of 16.8 per game, third in blocked shots per game with a 1.9 average, and fourth in free throw shooting at 84.3 percent.

QUARTET HONORED BY MAC: After its best Mid-American Conference season under Head Coach Rob Murphy in 2017-18, the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team was rewarded with three players named to the All-MAC teams, and a pair to the All-Defensive squad, and the league's defensive player of the year.
   After being named to his third All-MAC Defensive team, EMU all-time steals leader Tim Bond was announced as the MAC Defensive Player of the Year. James Thompson IV earned spots on both the All-MAC First Team, as well as All-MAC Defensive Team. Redshirt junior Elijah Minnie was named to the All-MAC Third Team, and fellow redshirt junior Paul Jackson (Stone Mountain, Ga.-Martin Luther King Jr.(Eastern Kentucky)) was named All-MAC Honorable Mention. Jackson was also tabbed All-MAC Tournament team after averaging 20.5 points and 5.0 assists per game during the Eagles' two-game stretch in Cleveland.
Paul Jackson ranked second in assists per game (4.6) and 16th in scoring (14.9).

BREAKING THE GLASS CEILING: Eastern Michigan Director of Basketball Operations (DOBO) Lakita Gantz is one of just five women employed full-time by an NCAA Division I men's basketball team. Gantz is joined by Edniesha Curry (Maine, Assistant Coach), Sarah Judd (Oakland, DOBO), Katherine Palmer (Charlotte, DOBO), and Whitney Robison (Portland, DOBO).

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE: James Thompson IV is the active NCAA leader in career double-doubles, registering 59 in his first three seasons for Eastern Michigan. The Baton Rouge, La. native still trails Eastern legend Kennedy McIntosh by 19 on EMU's all-time list.

THE EASTERN BIG THREE: Eastern Michigan returns its top three scorers from a season ago in Elijah Minnie (16.8 ppg), Paul Jackson (14.9 ppg), and James Thompson IV (14.5 ppg). Those three alone accounted for nearly 65 percent of the scoring from last year's team that went 22-13

MORE FIREPOWER: Being counted on to do some heavy lifting this season will be returners Kevin McAdoo (Pontiac, Mich.-West Bloomfield) (4.7 ppg), Ty Groce (Ypsilanti, Mich.-Lincoln) (3.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg), and Malik Ellison (Flint, Mich.-Beecher) (2.0 ppg), as well as newcomers Boubacar Toure (Dakar, Senegal-Phase One Academy (Grand Canyon)) and Damari Parris (Bowie, Md.-Evelyn Mack Academy (Trinity Valley C.C.).

THE EAGLES ON TV: Eastern Michigan has three nationally televised games during the 2018-19 season, playing on Big Ten Network (vs. Rutgers), CBS Sports Network (vs. Buffalo), and ESPNU (at Buffalo) during the campaign. The Eagles also play on Fox Sports Southwest (at TCU).
   Continuing the partnership with ESPN, the Eagles will be on ESPN+ and live stream every EMU men's and women's basketball home game. The Eagles' men and women's basketball games will all be provided to more than 115 million viewers across the world. Fans will be able to access these games online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and streamed on televisions through Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

45th MAC SEASON: The 2018-19 season will be the 45th for the Eagles in the Mid-American Conference. The first year of MAC play for EMU was 1974-75 when the then-Hurons went 12-14 and 4-9 in league play.
Eastern has added three Mid-American Conference championships to its shelf: 1987-88, 1990-91 and 1995-96. Additionally EMU captured the tournament title in 1997-98.

Eastern Tips Off Basketball Season Tuesday Night In the Convo

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Players Mentioned

Tim Bond

Malik Ellison

Ty Groce

Paul Jackson

Kevin McAdoo

Elijah Minnie

Damari Parris

James Thompson IV

Boubacar Toure

Eastern Michigan Athletics