First Round Bye on the Line as Men's Hoops Heads to Western Michigan

Men's Basketball at Western Michigan
Date	Tuesday, Feb. 27 \| 7 p.m.
Venue	Kalamazoo, Mich. \| University Arena (5,421)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Fan 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 plays in a crucial Mid-American Conference West Division bout Tuesday, Feb. 27, as the Eagles travel to Kalamazoo to take on Western Michigan University at 7 p.m.
   EMU (18-11, 9-7 MAC) and WMU (17-12, 9-7 MAC) come into the contest at University Arena with a first round bye in the MAC Tournament on the line. The game's winner will move into sole possession of the fourth and final bye for the 2018 tournament.
   Chad Bush will have the call on WEMU (89.1 FM), with Kyler Ludlow joining as the analyst. Mike Monaco will provide play-by-play and Austin Richie analysis on the Western Michigan ESPN3 production.

THE MILESTONE MAN: Senior Tim Bond became the Eastern Michigan all-time leader in steals AND joined the 1,000 point club on the same play, Saturday, Feb. 24 against Northern Illinois. The Baltimore, Md. native's tip away for steal number 221 started a fast break to the other end, and after a nifty feed from Malik Ellison, Bond flushed a slam to become the 31st member of the 1,000 point club.

WE'LL BE MISSING YOU: Eastern Michigan officially wrapped up the home portion of the 2017-18 regular season, finishing with an outstanding record of 13-3 inside the friendly confines of the Convocation Center.

MAC TOURNAMENT PICTURE: With just two games remaining in the regular season, Eastern currently sits fifth in the conference standings. Buffalo and Toledo have already secured first round byes, while Ball State just needs one win to join the party in Cleveland.
   EMU's record of 9-7 ties it with Western Michigan. The winner of Tuesday's game will be in the driver's seat for the final bye. As the conference currently stands, the Green and White would host Northern Illinois in the first round.

OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION: Heading into its Feb. 17 matchup against Central Michigan, EMU was averaging 64.7 points per game on 44.1 percent shooting in Mid-American Conference play.
   In the three games since, the Eagles have put up 79.7 points per contest on an eye-popping 52.7 field goal percentage. The Green and White have also upped their game at the charity stripe, shooting 78.9 percent in the last three games, compared to their MAC average of 63.6 percent previously.

STREAKING: Redshirt junior Elijah Minnie has hit a hot streak over the last four games, averaging 21.5 points and eight rebounds while shooting 50.8 percent from the floor and 40.6 percent from beyond the three-point line during that stretch. The Pittsburgh, Pa. native added his third double-double of the season with a 13-point, 10-rebound performance against Central Michigan, Feb. 17, and has also averaged two blocks and two steals per game in that timeframe.
   As Minnie's game jumped to another level, the Eagles have played some of their best ball of the season in that same stretch. Eastern is currently on a four-game winning streak, matching its longest of the year, and has won six of its last seven games.

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 first round foe from Wagner, 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

HOW SWEEP IT IS: For the second time in consecutive weeks, Eastern Michigan won both of its MAC matchups in the week, taking down Toledo (Feb. 20) and Northern Illinois (Feb. 24). This is on the heals of the Eagles completing season sweeps of both Miami (Feb. 13) and Central Michigan (Feb. 17).
   The last time EMU had two conference in-season sweeps was in the 2015-16 season under coach Rob Murphy. The Green and White went a perfect 6-0 against Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, and Toledo that season, on its way to winning 18 total games. The Eagles will have a chance to complete a season-sweep of Toledo, Friday, March 2.
   Eastern's last in-season sweep of Miami came in the 1988 season.

DOMINATING DEFENSE: Eastern Michigan has the Mid-American Conference's best defense, allowing opponents just 67.4 points per game on the season, and holding them to a conference-best 40.7 shooting percentage. The Eagles have been even better since league play began, allowing just 65.6 points per game while holding opponents to a 40.0 mark from the floor.
   Eastern has held opponents to 69 points-or-less in a game 14 times this season. EMU is 13-1 in those games, having added three more in its last four games against Miami (W, 58-57), Central Michigan (W, 72-67), and Northern Illinois (W, 82-53). 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).

CALL IT A COMEBACK: After going 3-7 in games when trailing at the half through its first 26 games, Eastern 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 just six points. The Eagles followed up their 10-point comeback win with a 12-point come-from-behind triumph over Toledo, Feb. 20.

WELCOME TO THE BLOCK PARTY: With a slim two-point lead in the waning minutes of Eastern's battle with Central Michigan, senior Tim Bond swatted his second block of the game to reject what would be a go-ahead three. The Eagles lead the conference in swats by a 66-block margin, with the next closest to EMU's 181 sitting at 115.
   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 fifth in Division I, while their block total of 181 also leads the league and is fifth nationally.

AMONG THE LEAGUE's LEADERS: EMU leads the Mid-American Conference in steals per game (8.8) and blocks per game (6.2). Eastern ranks seventh in the NCAA in steals, fifth in blocks, and is the only team in the country ranked in both top sevens. The Eagles are also lead the league in defensive field goal percentage (40.7), and scoring defense (67.4).
   Individually, James Thompson IV leads five categories (double-doubles, defensive rebounds, offensive rebounds, total rebounds, and field goal percentage), while also being tied for second in blocks per game and sitting 12th in scoring (15.4). Redshirt junior Elijah Minnie currently ranks eighth in scoring with an average of 16.4 per game, tied for second in blocked shots per game with a 1.8 average, and sixth in free throw shooting at 83.5 percent. Fellow redshirt junior Paul Jackson is second in assists per game (4.5) and 17th in scoring (14.7).

ALL-TIME VERSUS WESTERN MICHIGAN: The Eagles trail the all-time series against the Broncos with a record of 48-61. Earlier in the 2017-18 season, WMU upended EMU in Ypsilanti by a 71-57 final score, Jan. 30. EMU's last win in Kalamazoo occurred during the 2012 campaign when the Green and White snuck out a 54-53 victory, Feb. 29, 2012.

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 (4.2), but he's fourth in double-doubles (19) and fifth in rebounds per game (11.8) and field goal percentage (68.0).
   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 fifth in career rebounds (1,052), trailing four seniors.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE: Junior James Thompson IV recorded his 58th career double-double with his 22-point, 14-rebound performance against Central Michigan, Feb. 17. Thompson, who is ranked second nationally in active career double-doubles, still trails Kennedy McIntosh by 20 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 8.8 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 256 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.
   The Baltimore, Md. native currently has 69 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.

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.

ON THE HORIZON: EMU closes out the regular season inside Savage Arena Friday, March 2, against the University of Toledo. The game in Toledo, Ohio, will be showcased on the CBS Sports Network beginning at 6 p.m.

First Round Bye on the Line as Men's Hoops Heads to Western Michigan

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Players Mentioned

Tim Bond

Malik Ellison

Paul Jackson

Elijah Minnie

James Thompson IV

Eastern Michigan Athletics