Men's Hoops Travels to Kent State Saturday

Men's Basketball vs. Kent State
Date	Saturday, Feb. 16 \| 7 p.m.
Venue	Kent, Ohio \| M.A.C. Center (6,327)
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

KENT, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team wraps up its two-game cross-division Mid-American Conference road swing with a battle in Kent, Ohio, taking on Kent State University Saturday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m.
    Eastern (11-13, 5-6 MAC) is coming off a 66-57 victory at Ohio, Feb. 9, marking just its sixth win in Athens in program history. Kent State (18-6, 7-4 MAC), meanwhile, defeated Western Michigan 82-63, Feb. 14, in a make up game from earlier this season.
   The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Ty Linder on play-by-play and Tanner Castora providing analysis. Eastern fans can also listen to Chad Bush and Matt Dery on WEMU 89.1. Additional coverage can be found by following @EMUHoops on Twitter, and through live stats at EMUEagles.com.

LIVE FROM KENT, IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT!: Eastern Michigan playing late on a Saturday has been a rare occurance over the years. In fact, the Eagles have not played a Saturday night game since Jan. 9, 2016, when taking on Northern Illinois in DeKalb, Ill. EMU lost, 80-63, but then-freshman James Thompson IV tied the NCAA record for consecutive field goals made when he converted his 26th-straight basket.

DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN: Eastern's slow start to MAC play in 2018-19 almost mirrors the start to conference action in 2017-18 exactly. Not only is its record after 11 games identical to last season's at 5-6, EMU also had the same record after five games (2-3), eight games (3-5), and 10 games (4-6).
   The Green and White went on to rattle off six straight wins to end the regular season to finish second in the MAC West and secure a first round bye in the MAC Tournament.

COMEBACK OF THE SEASON: Going into its Feb. 12 matchup at Ohio, the largest deficit Eastern had overcome on the season was a seven-point double overtime comeback win against Ball State, Jan. 8. The Eagles were able to shake off a slow start against the Bobcats that saw them trailing 12-0 to win 66-57.
   It marked the first time EMU came back to win from a double-digit deficit in a regular season game since defeating Central Michigan, 72-67 Feb. 17, 2018. More noticeably, Eastern erased a 19-point second-half deficit against Akron, March 8, in the Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

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 69.4 points per contest and have held each of their last three opponents under 60 points.

SILVER'S SPOTLIGHT: Redshirt freshman Tariq Silver made his debut in the Eastern Michigan starting lineup against Northern Illinois, Feb. 9, and returned to the first five against Ohio, Feb. 12. The Clarksville, Tenn. native not only provided the Eagles with stellar defense, he has also averaged 8.5 points, 1.5 steals, and 1.0 rebounds per contest.

MURPHY'S TEN: Eastern Michigan head coach Rob Murphy stuck with his 10th starting lineup of the season in its win over Ohio, Feb. 12. The Eagles kept things the same for the second straight game, starting with redshirt senior Paul Jackson, redshirt freshman Tariq Silver, redshirt junior Boubcar Toure, senior James Thompson IV, and redshirt senior Elijah Minnie.

ALL-TIME VS. KENT STATE: Though a series that has been one-sided since the turn of the century in favor of KSU, it has been EMU that has won three of the last four meetings between the Eagles and Golden Flashes. Eastern trails the all-time series 34-42, and is just 4-19 against Kent State since 2000.

EARLIER THIS SEASON: Eastern's 95-61 victory Jan. 12 marked the most points the Green and White have ever scored against Kent State, the first time the Eagles tallied 90-or-more points against the Golden Flashes since Jan. 4, 1997, and the program's largest head-to-head margin of victory since an 85-50 triumph, Feb. 25, 1995.
   EMU was able to hold KSU to its second-lowest shooting percentage of the season (.355), and its second-lowest rebounding total of the year (27). The Golden Flashes also shot just 8-of-16 (.500) from the charity stripe, its worst output against a DI team this season.

PREVIOUSLY AT THE M.A.C. CENTER: Last season, Eastern snapped a 20-year losing streak in Kent, Ohio, with a 71-67 victory at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center. 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 KENT STATE IN THE MURPHY ERA: Since Head Coach Rob Murphy became the Eastern Michigan bench boss before the 2011-12 season, he has accumulated an overall record of 4-5 against Kent State and a 1-3 mark in the M.A.C. Center.

MILESTONE WATCH: Senior James Thompson IV is the NCAA's active career rebound leader with 1,354 during his three-plus seasons with Eastern. The Baton Rouge, La. native needs 73 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 147, or an average of 18.4 over the final eight games, to reach the mark. Minnie has slightly less ground to cover, needing 100 points, or an average of 12.5 points per game, in that stretch.

#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 15.0 points and 5.8 assists per contest, while only turning the ball over 2.6 times per game.

STREAKING!: Redshirt senior Paul Jackson is on a 13-game double-digit scoring streak, dating back to a 13-point performance against Siena Heights, Dec. 22. The Stone Mountain, Ga. native has averaged 14.8 over the 13-game stretch, and has also averaged 5.3 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.5 rebounds per contest.
   The streak is one short of Jackson's best of 14 that he rattled off from Nov. 12 to Jan. 6 last season.

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 13.2 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 (13.2), 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.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan 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