EMU Hoops Heads to Central for Conference Clash Saturday

Men's Basketball vs. Central Michigan
Date	Saturday, Feb. 17 \| 4:30 p.m.
Venue	Mount Pleasant, Mich. \| McGuirk Arena (5,300)
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) -- Eastern Michigan University hits the road for a single game as it takes on in-state rival Central Michigan University as part of a men's and women's double header Saturday Feb. 17, at McGuirk Arena.
   The Eagles (15-11, 6-7 MAC) are coming off an exciting, 58-57 victory over Miami Tuesday, Feb. 13. On the other side, Central Michigan (16-10, 5-8 MAC) picked up a crucial road win, taking down Northern Illinois on the road by a final of 80-72, Feb. 17,.
   Chad Bush will have the call on WEMU (89.1 FM), with Kyler Ludlow joining as the analyst. The game will also be shown on ESPN3 and broadcasted by Adam Jaksa on play-by-play and Matt DeVries as the analyst.

MILESTONE WATCH: Senior Tim Bond is now just five steals away from breaking Earl Boykins' all-time record (220), and is 31 points away from 1,000 for his career.
   The Baltimore, Md. native will become the 31st member of the EMU 1,000 point club.

DOMINATING DEFENSE: Eastern Michigan has the Mid-American Conference's best defense, allowing opponents just 67.6 points per game on the season, and holding them to a conference-best 40.5 shooting percentage. The Eagles have been even better since league play began, allowing just 65.5 points per game while holding opponents to a 39.5 mark from the floor.
   Eastern has held opponents to 60 points-or-less in a game eight times this season. EMU added 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) to a combined 233 points in those contests.

FIRST HALF FRENZY: EMU has been a dominating team during points of the conference season, and usually because of its performances in the first half of games. Not only do they hold opponents to an average of 27.5 points in the opening stanza, but they limit the shooting of their foes to just 35.1 from the floor and 27.7 from downtown, while also forcing nearly eight turnovers. The offense performs at a high level as well, scoring 30.8 points and shooting 43.8 from the floor and .352 from downtown.

SECOND HALF SWOON: Unfortunately, the Eagles have struggled to keep their first half pace in the second half of MAC games on the campaign. Opponents are averaging 36.5 points in the second stanza, shooting 43.9 from the floor and 39.9 from three, an increase of nine points, 8.8 overall shooting percentage, and an eye-popping 12.2 from beyond the arc. On the other side of the ball, Eastern's scoring output increases to 33.3 points, the shooting percentage goes up to 45.7, and it commits fewer turnovers (84 compared to first half's 92). The only category that's markedly worse in the second half is three-point shooting, which drops to 33.1 percent.

WELCOME TO THE BLOCK PARTY: Eastern's 13-block performance against Ball State, Feb. 3, etched a new place in the EMU record book, tying three other occasions in which the Eagles had 13 rejections. It also catapulted the Green and White into the NCAA elite when it comes to shot blocking. Eastern Michigan's 6.3 blocks per game leads the MAC and ranks fourth in Division I, while their block total of 163 leads the league and is fourth nationally.
   The 163 total is already good for third all-time in the EMU record books, and if the Eagles are able to keep their current pace of 6.3 per game, they'll finish second all-time with 194 blocks.

AMONG THE LEAGUE's LEADERS: EMU leads the Mid-American Conference in steals per game (8.9) and blocks per game (6.3). Eastern ranks eighth in the NCAA in steals, fourth in blocks, and is the only team in the country ranked in both top eights.     The Eagles are also in the top three in defensive field goal percentage (1st - .405), and scoring defense (1st - 67.6).
   Individually, James Thompson IV leads five categories (double-doubles, defensive rebounds, offensive rebounds, total rebounds, and field goal percentage), while also being in the top three in blocks per game and sitting 13th in scoring (14.9). Redshirt junior Elijah Minnie currently ranks eighth in scoring with an average of 16.0 per game, second in blocked shots per game with a 1.8 average, and fifth in free throw shooting at 82.6 percent. Fellow redshirt junior Paul Jackson is third in assists per game (4.3) and 17th in scoring (14.6).

ALL-TIME VERSUS CENTRAL MICHIGAN: Even though Eastern trails all-time to Central by five games, 95-100, it has been all EMU in the recent history of the rivalry. The Eagles have won five straight against the Chippewas, and eight of the last 10.
   The Green and White took the first matchup between the in-state rivals earlier in the season, coming away with a 79-74 victory inside the Convocation Center, Jan. 9.

JAMES THOMPSON IV, MR. 1,000: On Saturday, Feb. 10, junior James Thompson IV became just the third player in Eastern Michigan history to join the 1,000 rebound club. The Baton Rouge, La. native, who joined the 1,000 point club against Arkansas State, Nov. 16, 2017, is just the 17th player in the history of the Mid-American Conference to eclipse the 1,000 mark for both points and rebounds.
   The feat puts him in rare company, as only Kennedy McIntosh (1967-71) and Brandon Bowdry (2006-11) are in the exclusive club in EMU laurels.

THOMPSON IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: Junior James Thompson IV is among the upper-echelon of big men in all of college basketball. Not only does he rank second in double-doubles (18) and offensive rebounds per game (4.3), he's also third nationally in rebounds per game (12.0) and sixth in field goal percentage (67.0).
   The Baton Rouge, La. native is the NCAA Division I active career leader in rebound average at 11.2 caroms per game, while he is fourth in career rebounds (1,023), trailing three seniors.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE: Junior James Thompson IV recorded his 57th career double-double with his 14-rebound and 14-point output against Miami, Feb. 13. Thompson, who is ranked second nationally in active career double-doubles, still trails Kennedy McIntosh by 21 on EMU's all-time list.

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 8.9 steals per game. Led by Tim Bond's 2.4 steal per game average, the Eagles have three players ranked within the conference's top eight in average steals per game, totaling 231 thefts thus far.

ELITE COMPANY FOR MR. BOND: With Tim Bond's first steal against Ohio, Jan. 20, he became just the second player in EMU history to tally 200 steals in their career. Bond, who trails only Earl Boykins, needs just five to pass and become the all-time thefts leaders .
   The Baltimore, Md. native currently has 63 steals on the year with an average of 2.4 per game, which ranks second in the conference. The tally also puts him on pace for 77 in the season, just behind the all-time single-season record of 78, set by Lorenzo Neely, in the 1988-89 season.

HOW SWEEP IT IS: The Eagles completed the season sweep over the RedHawks and have won each of the last six matchups against Miami. The in-season sweep marks the first time for EMU over Miami since the 1988 season.

ON THE HORIZON: EMU returns to the friendly confines of the Convocation Center for its final two home games of the regular season, hosting Toledo, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m., and Northern Illinois, Saturday, Feb. 24 at 12 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Tim Bond

Paul Jackson

Elijah Minnie

James Thompson IV

Eastern Michigan Athletics