Eastern Hoops Heads to Athens to Take on Ohio Tuesday

Men's Basketball vs. Ohio
Date	Tuesday, Feb. 12 \| 7 p.m.
Venue	Athens, Ohio \| Convocation Center (13,080)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Watch	ESPN+
Listen	WEMU 89.1 FM \| Coach Murphy Podcast Overtime Interview.
Twitter	@EMUHoops \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team hits the road for another cross-division Mid-American Conference showdown, this time traveling to Athens, Ohio to take on Ohio University Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m.
   Eastern (10-13, 4-6 MAC) looks to build on a 57-49 win over Northern Illinois Feb. 9, while Ohio (11-11, 3-7 MAC) is looking to get back on track after losing on the road to arch rival Miami, 79-59.
   The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Marty Bannister on play-by-play and Toni Roesch providing analysis. Eastern fans can also listen to Chad Bush and Kyler Ludlow on WEMU 89.1. Additional coverage can be found by following @EMUHoops on Twitter, and through live stats at EMUEagles.com.

A GAME OF FIRSTS: Eastern Michigan's 57-49 victory over Northern Illinois Feb. 9 marked a number of firsts for the Green and White as a team. It was the first win of the season for the Eagles after trailing at the half, as well as the first taste of victory when being out-rebounded. It also marked the first win of the campaign when shooting less than 45 percent and scoring between 50-59 points.

#MACTION JACKSON: Since the start of conference play, redshirt senior Paul Jackson has upped his play to another level. The Stone Mountain, Ga. native is averaging 15.5 points and 5.7 assists per contest, while only turning the ball over 2.8 times per game.

DEFENSE RISING: The Eastern Michigan defense has been rising up the MAC statistical rankings and now sits in fourth place. The Eagles are holding opponents to 69.9 points per contest.

DOING IT ALL: Redshirt senior Paul Jackson notched his third game of the season scoring 20-or-more points and dishing out six-or-more assists in his 23-point, 8-assist performance against Northern Illinois, Feb. 9.
   The feat has only been reached on 11 occasions during the Rob Murphy era of EMU basketball, with Jackson having done it seven times. Mike Talley accomplished it twice in his career, and Raven Lee and Willie Mangum IV each did it once. Jackson is the only player to have multiple 20+ point and 6+ assist performances in the same season since 2011-12.
   Eastern's all-time leader in 20+ point and 6+ assist games is Earl Boykins, who notched 20 such games in his illustrious EMU career.

ANYTHING BUT FREE: Eastern Michigan shot just 52 percent (13-of-25) from the charity stripe in its win over Northern Illinois, Feb. 9. It was the third-lowest output in any game this season that the Eagles had at least 10 attempts, and the lowest percentage in a win since shooting 46.7 percent (7-of-15) against Ball State, Feb. 3, 2018.

SILVER'S SPOTLIGHT: Redshirt freshman Tariq Silver made his debut in the Eastern Michigan starting lineup Saturday, Feb. 9 against Northern Illinois, and responded well to the spotlight. The Clarksville, Tenn. native not only provided the Eagles with stellar defense, he also led the team in three-pointers made (three), and finished the game with nine points.

MURPHY'S TEN: Eastern Michigan head coach Rob Murphy used his 10th starting lineup of the season in its win over Northern Illinois, Feb. 9. After using the same starters for eight straight games to start MAC play, the Eagles changed things up in each of their last two contests. Senior James Thompson IV re-entered the starting five and redshirt freshman Tariq Silver made his debut as a starter against the Huskies. Redshirt senior Paul Jackson, redshirt junior Boubcar Toure, and redshirt senior Elijah Minnie rounded out the starting five for Eastern.

ALL-TIME VS. OHIO: Eastern Michigan and Ohio have been playing each other since the 1973 season, and its a series that the Bobcats have dominated from the beginning. Eastern trails in the all-time series, 49-25, and has lost six of the last eight matchups.
   Ohio came out on top when the Bobcats and Eagles did battle in Ypsilanti last season, coming away with a 72-66 victory, Jan. 20. EMU led by as many as eight in the first half, but Ohio knocked down eight second-half triples to hand the Eagles the home loss. James Thompson IV led the way with his 13th double-double of the season of 21 points and 14 rebounds, while Ty Groce added 15 points, Paul Jackson had 12, and Tim Bond chipped in 11.

AGAINST OHIO IN THE MURPHY ERA: Since head coach Rob Murphy took over at Eastern Michigan in the 2011-12 season, he has accumulated an overall record of 3-6 against Ohio, including a 1-4 mark in Athens.

STREAKING!: Redshirt senior Paul Jackson is on a 12-game double-digit scoring streak, dating back to a 13-point performance against Siena Heights, Dec. 22. The Stone Mountain, Ga. native has averaged 15.3 over the 12-game stretch, and has also averaged 5.2 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.5 rebounds per contest.
   The streak is two short of Jackson's best of 14 that he rattled off from Nov. 12 to Jan. 6 last season.

MILESTONE WATCH: Senior James Thompson IV is the NCAA's active career rebound leader with 1,339 during his three-plus seasons with Eastern. The Baton Rouge, La. native needs 88 boards to pass all-time EMU record holder Kennedy McIntosh.
   Eastern also has a pair of redshirt seniors trying to become members of the 1,000 point club, as both Paul Jackson and Elijah Minnie are within striking distance of the milestone. Jackson needs 157, or an average of 17.4 over the final nine games, to reach the mark. Minnie has slightly less ground to cover, needing 119 points or an average of 13.2 points per game in that stretch.

TOURE'S TORRID SHOOTING: Redshirt junior Boubacar Toure is leading the Mid-American Conference in shooting percentage at a 68.5 percent clip this season. If able to keep the same pace for the remainder of the year, it would be the highest single-season field goal percentage in Eastern Michigan history.
   The Dakar, Senegal native is also second in the league in offensive rebounding, third in blocked shots, and fifth in overall rebounding.

WELCOME TO THE BLOCK PARTY: After having seven games of nine-or-more blocks in the 2017-18 season, EMU registered its first such game against Northern Illinois Feb. 9 when it swatted nine NIU shot attempts. Elijah Minnie and Boubacar Toure led the way with three blocks each.

CRASHING THE BOARDS: Eastern Michigan has made a living crashing the boards in the 2018-19 season. The Eagles not only lead the Mid-American Conference in offensive rebounds, but their 13.7 boards on the offensive side is 12th-best in the NCAA. Senior James Thompson IV is third in the NCAA in offensive rebounds per game at 4.18.

LEADING THE LEAGUE: Eastern Michigan sits on top of the MAC in offensive rebounds per game (13.7), thanks in large part to senior James Thompson IV. The forward leads the league in offensive rebounding by nearly a full rebound (4.1) over teammate Boubacar Toure (3.2) this season, while also sitting in second in the league in field goal percentage (63.3) and rebounding (10.3). The forward also has the top rebounding mark in MAC-only action, pulling down 10.9 boards per contest.

BENCH POINTS PARITY: The offensive production from Eastern Michigan has been top-heavy all season, but the last five games have shown an even greater disparity in bench points between the Eagles and their opponents. The Green and White have been outscored on average 18.4 to 5.6 over the past five games, with Eastern cracking double-digit bench points just once (13 against Western Michigan, Jan. 26).

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan continues its swing through MAC East competition when it travels to Kent State University Saturday, Feb. 16 for a 7 p.m. contest.
   The Eagles return to the Convocation Center Tuesday, Feb. 19 taking on the University of Toledo at 7 p.m. as part of Glow Night 2.0.

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Players Mentioned

Tim Bond

Ty Groce

Paul Jackson

Elijah Minnie

Tariq Silver

James Thompson IV

Boubacar Toure

Eastern Michigan Athletics