Men's Basketball Travels to Detroit Mercy

Men's Basketball at Detroit Mercy
Date	Saturday, Dec. 7 \| 1 p.m.
Venue	Detroit, Mich. \| Calihan Hall (7,917)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Watch	ESPN+
Listen	WEMU (89.1 WEMU-FM) \| TuneIn Radio \| Podcast
Twitter	@EMUHoops \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team travels east on I-94 to the University of Detroit Mercy Saturday, Dec. 7, with the action slated to begin at 1 p.m. The Eagles look to avenge a heartbreaking 74-78 loss at the Convocation Center last season.
   Eastern Michigan is coming off a home win against Valparaiso University, 85-79, Dec. 3, bringing its season record to 7-1, and its only loss coming on the road to the University of California Irvine. The Titans enter the contest with a 1-6 record after losing to Kent State University Dec. 3, 92-57, and its only win coming in a 86-74 win over UC Irvine.
   Fans can join the action on ESPN+ or listen to WEMU (89.1) where Chad Bush will have the call. As always, fans can follow along on EMUEagles.com/livestats or on twitter by following @EMUHoops.

FINDERS KEEPERS: The Eagles currently ranks number two in the country with 12 steals per game, and are followed closely by in-state foe Central Michigan (11.5).The Green and White have stolen the ball 96 times this season, including 22 times against Goshen, Nov. 11, which leads the Mid-American Conference for single game performances, and 15 times against UMBC in the Jamaica Classic, tying for the most in Classic history.
   Junior Yeikson Montero is playing with sticky hands, currently snagging 2.1 steals per game, good for fourth in the Mid-American Conference. The Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native is followed closely by his teammate redshirt junior Ty Groce, who is averaging 1.8 steals per game of his own. Five players have double-digit steals on the season, Montero (17), Groce (14), redshirt senior Boubacar Toure (13), and juniors Noah Morgan (13), and Chris Barnes (10).

SHUT 'EM DOWN: The Green and White currently sit at 15th in the nation in scoring defense with an opponent average of 58.1 points per game. That total is also good for first in the Mid-American Conference. The Eagles are fourth in the MAC with a scoring margin of 14.8.

BINELLI IN THE BUILDING: Junior Thomas Binelli made his EMU debut, Dec. 3, against Valparaiso and immediately made his presence known. The Bologna, Italy native went 3-3 on his first three shots, all from deep. Binelli ended the night 4-of-6, all from beyond the arc, and led the bench in scoring with his 12 points in nine minutes of action.

PRESSURE LEADS TO TURNOVERS: Eastern Michigan is currently second in the MAC in turnover margin at 5.75. The Eagles are pressuring their opponents into 20.5 turnovers a game, and are averaging 14.8 themselves.

BOXOUT: Eastern Michigan leads the MAC in rebounding defense, holding opponents to 31 rebounds a game this season. The Eagles are followed closely by Northern Illinois, allowing 33.3.

HEATING UP: The Green and White had hot hands Tuesday, Dec. 3 against Valparaiso as they shot 61 percent from the field in the contest. 61 percent is not only a season-high for the Eagles, but also the highest team field goal percentage in a game this season by any MAC team. The Valpo game also saw the team shoot 56 percent from beyond the arc, which is the second highest in the conference this year.

CHRIS CAN'T MISS: Redshirt junior Chris Barnes has yet to miss a free-throw through eight games this season. The Compton, Calif. native is leading the Mid-American Conference as the only player still at 100 percent from the charity stripe.

THERE IS NO "I" IN TEAM: EMU has no problem sharing the ball as it currently has five players averaging double-digit points. Redshirt junior Ty Groce leads the team with 12.4 points a game, followed by junior Thomas Binelli with 12 ppg. After the Italian sharpshooter is Jamaica Classic MVP junior Noah Morgan, averaging 10.6 ppg. Rounding out the five are redshirt senior Boubacar Toure and junior Yeikson Montero, who are averaging 10.1 and 10 ppg, respectively.

TWO WILL GIVE YOU 20: Two Eagles scored over 20 points to lead the team to a 85-79 victory, Dec. 3 against Valparaiso University. Redshirt junior Ty Groce had a career-best performance to lead the Green and White, scoring 23 points, and hitting 9-of-10 free throws. Junior Noah Morgan was right behind the Ypsilanti, Mich. native, with a career-high of his own, scoring 21 points, and also hitting 9-of-10 from the charity stripe.
   The performances by Groce and Morgan was the first time Eastern had two players score 20+ since last season when Paul Jackson and Kevin McAdoo scored 21 and 20, respectively, at Central Michigan, Jan. 29, 2018.

LAST TIME AGAINST DETROIT MERCY: The Eagles fell to Detroit Mercy last season, 78-74, Nov. 26, 2018. EMU was led by James Thompson IV's double-double of 24 points on 10-of-11 shooting and 14 rebounds. Then-redshirt junior Boubacar Toure also added a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds.
   The Green and White dominated in the paint, out scoring Detroit Mercy, 44-18, in a game that saw nine lead changes. Eastern trailed by as many as nine in the second half, rallied to recapture the lead, but could not hang on as the Titans dealt EMU its first home loss of the 2018-19 campaign.

CLOSE CONNECTIONS: As EMU heads to Detroit Mercy, they enter the old stomping grounds of Associate Head Coach Kevin Mondro. Mondro graduated from UDM with a degree in communications in 1997 and earned three basketball letters playing for the Titans. After graduating, Mondro joined the Titans staff as the director of basketball operations, before being promoted to a full-time assistant position in 98-99. Mondro was at Detroit Mercy for 11 years, the final five as the associate head coach. During the 2007-18 season , when Perry Watson took a leave of absence, Mondro was the interim head coach for the second half of the season.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: EMU has won 107 of 140 games at home, during the Rob Murphy era, and have started the 2019-20 campaign 4-0 at home.

ALL-TIME VS. DETROIT MERCY: Eastern Michigan has an all-time record of 19-61 against the Detroit Mercy Titans, and a 2-1 record in the Rob Murphy era. The first meeting between the two schools came in 1908 where EMU won 37-21. The last meeting came just last season, in the 2018-19 campaign, where the Eagles fell to the Titans, 78-74.

ALL-TIME VS. THE HORIZON LEAGUE: The Eagles are 88-91 against Horizon League teams all-time. The Green and White have had success against Cleveland State, with a 25-7 record, and boast a 12-7 record when facing Oakland. Eastern also holds winning records against Illinois-Chicago, 4-1, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 7-5, and Youngstown State, 6-4.

"PUT ME IN, COACH": Eastern's bench scoring has out matched that of its opponent in seven of the first eight contests, giving EMU a 36-point bench advantage in 2019, 220-184. In the Eagles' most recent contest against Valparaiso, Dec. 3, junior Thomas Binelli led the Eagles bench with 12 points, and junior Chris Barnes also contributed nine.

WHAT WAS LOST: After losing 1,674 points (75%) and 670 rebounds (89%) of production from the 2018-19 team, EMU is in search of new offensive leaders this season. The top returner in each category from last year's squad is redshirt senior Boubacar Toure (266 points, 243 rebounds), a likely candidate to be a production leader this season. Through seven games, Toure is averaging 10.1 points, and 8.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 68 percent from the floor. The redshirt senior's 8.3 rebounds a game is good for fifth in the MAC.

SPLASH CITY: The Green and White have four players shooting 50%-or-better from the field so far in the 2019-20 season. Leading the way is redshirt senior Boubacar Toure who holds a clip of 68 percent while off junior Jalen King is shooting 61.1 percent off the bench. Junior Thomas Binelli made his season debut and shot 66.7 percent, and fellow junior Chris Barnes is shooting 51 percent.
   As a team, the Eagles are averaging 46.1 percent from the field on the season, good for third in the MAC.

VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE: Eastern Michigan will face off against nine different Division I conferences as a part of its non-conference slate. The Eagles will take on teams from, America East, Big Ten, Big West, Colonial Athletic Association, Conference USA, the Horizon League, Mid-Eastern Athletic, Missouri Valley, and Mountain West conferences, in addition to their Mid-American Conference match ups.

ON THE HORIZON: The Eagles will take a short break for finals and then return to action at the Convocation Center against Northeastern Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. Fans can watch the action on ESPN+, or listen to WEMU (89.1) where Chad Bush will have the call.

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Players Mentioned

Chris Barnes

Thomas Binelli

Ty Groce

Paul Jackson

Jalen King

Kevin McAdoo

Yeikson Montero

Noah Morgan

James Thompson IV

Boubacar Toure

Eastern Michigan Athletics