Men's Hoops Hosts Northern Illinois on Fan Appreciation Day

Men's Basketball vs. Northern Illinois
Date	Saturday, Feb. 24 \| 12 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 finishes the home portion of its schedule Saturday, Feb. 24, when it welcomes Northern Illinois University to the Convocation Center. The contest begins at 12 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the EMU and NIU women's teams.
   The Eagles (17-11, 8-7 MAC) came from 12 points down against the MAC West's top team in the University of Toledo to win 85-79, Feb. 20, while the Huskies (12-16, 5-10 MAC) suffered a tough road loss to Ball State University, 68-77, Feb. 20.
   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 as part of the campus connection initiative, where Ryan Wooley will have the play-by-play and Greg Steiner will provide the analysis.

SENIOR DAY: As the final home game of the regular season, the Eagles are honoring lone senior Tim Bond with a pregame ceremony. The Baltimore, Md. native celebrates a tremendous career in the Green and White, having accumulated 993 points, 441 rebounds, 341 assists, 219 steals, and 102 blocks. Bond is just two steals away from breaking Earl Boykins' all-time record (220), and is seven points away from 1,000 for his career.
   The senior is a two-time MAC All-Defensive Team member, while also earning MAC West Player of the Week honors, March 5, 2016.
   Upon reaching the 1,000 point plateau, Bond will become the 31st member of the EMU 1,000 point club.

GREEN OUT / FAN APPRECIATION: Saturday, Feb. 24 will also be fan appreciation day and a "Green Out". As part of the day, those attending the contest can purchase tickets for just $5, while all fans are encouraged to wear green-colored clothing to the game. Additionally, upon entrance to the doubleheader, the first 1,500 fans will receive an EMU drawstring backpack.

CALL IT A COMEBACK: After going 3-7 in games when trailing at the half through its first 27 games, Eastern has won back-to-back contests that it trailed at the break. In fact, until erasing a 10-point deficit against Central Michigan, Feb. 17, the largest comeback victory for EMU had been six points. The Eagles followed up their 10-point comeback win with a 12-point come-from-behind triumph over Toledo, Feb. 20.

DARK HORSE DUNKER: Fans have a special opportunity to send senior Tim Bond to the College Slam Dunk Contest, held at the Final Four in San Antonio. Bond made it past his foe from Wagner College in the first round, and now takes on a player from Arkansas Tech.
   Voting can be done once a day from Feb. 21 - Feb. 28 at www.darkhorsedunker.com.

QUALITY CONTROL: EMU turned the ball over just six times in its 85-79 victory over MAC West leading Toledo, Feb. 20, a season-low. It was just the third time this season the Eagles had committed fewer than 10 turnovers, previously doing so against Spring Arbor and South Florida.

ACTION JACKSON AT IT AGAIN: Redshirt junior Paul Jackson recorded his first career double-double in the Eagles' 85-79 win over Toledo, Feb. 20. The Stone Mountain, Ga. native set a career-high in assists with 10, while also notching double-digit points for the 23rd time this season. In addition to his career-best assist effort, the point guard also committed just one turnover and had 18 points.

MAC TOURNAMENT PICTURE: With just three games remaining in the regular season, Eastern currently sits fifth in the conference standings and just one game out of the first round bye. Buffalo and Toledo have already punched their tickets to Cleveland, while the other two byes are up for grabs.
   EMU's record of 8-7 puts it in a tie with Western Michigan. The Eagles and Broncos play round two of their season battle in Kalamazoo, Feb. 27. As the conference currently stands, the Green and White would host Northern Illinois in the first round at the Convocation Center.
   With one Eastern win in its final three games, the Eagles will guarantee itself no worse than hosting a first-round game, March 5.

ALL-TIME VERSUS NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Eagles trail the all-time series against the Huskies with a record of 41-54. Earlier this season, NIU upended EMU in DeKalb by a 72-66 final score, Jan. 13.
   Eastern has won each of the last eight matchups against Northern Illinois at home, including twice in the 2016-17 season by scores of 84-68 (Feb. 25), and in the opening round of the MAC Tournament, 72-69 (March 6). The Eagles are also a perfect 7-0 at home against NIU in the Rob Murphy era.

JAMES THOMPSON IV - MAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Junior James Thompson IV was named Mid-American Conference Player of the Week for the period ending Feb. 18. It was the second time JTIV has won the award this season, and the fourth weekly award in his career.
   Thompson helped lead Eastern Michigan University to its first 2-0 week in conference play with a 14-point, 14-rebound performance in the Eagles' 58-57 win over Miami, where he also added four blocks and a steal. He followed that showing with his sixth 20+ point performance of the season in Eastern's come-from-behind, 72-67, victory at Central Michigan, pouring in 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting, while also grabbing 14 rebounds and swatting four shots.

DOMINATING DEFENSE: Eastern Michigan has the Mid-American Conference's best defense, allowing opponents just 68.0 points per game on the season, and holding them to a conference-best 40.8 shooting percentage. The Eagles have been even better since league play began, allowing just 66.5 points per game while holding opponents to a 40.1 mark from the floor.
   Eastern has held opponents to 69 points-or-less in a game 13 times this season. EMU is 12-1 in those games, having added two more against Miami (58-57 W), and Central Michigan (72-67 W) in its first sweep of the week in MAC play. 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).

WELCOME TO THE BLOCK PARTY: One of the key factors to EMU's tremendous defensive showing this season has been its ability to swat shots. In the Eagles' six-point win over Toledo, Feb. 20, they blocked three shots, one apiece for Elijah Minnie, James Thompson IV, and Tim Bond.
   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 175 also leads the league and is fourth nationally.

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 nationally in offensive rebounds per game (4.32), but he's also third in double-doubles (19), fourth in rebounds per game (12.1), and fifth in field goal percentage (68.1).
   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 (1,044), trailing three seniors.

AMONG THE LEAGUE'S LEADERS: EMU leads the Mid-American Conference in steals per game (8.7) 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 leading the league in defensive field goal percentage (1st - .408), and scoring defense (1st - 68.0).
   Individually, James Thompson IV leads five categories (double-doubles, defensive rebounds, offensive rebounds, total rebounds, and field goal percentage), while also being second in blocks per game (1.78) and sitting 12th in scoring (15.4). Redshirt junior Elijah Minnie currently ranks eighth in scoring with an average of 16.1 per game, third in blocked shots per game with a 1.75 average, and fifth in free throw shooting at 83.5 percent. Fellow redshirt junior Paul Jackson is second in assists per game (4.5) and 19th in scoring (14.6).

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan travels to Kalamazoo, Mich. to take on Western Michigan in an important inter-division rivalry game, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Tim Bond

Paul Jackson

Elijah Minnie

James Thompson IV

Eastern Michigan Athletics