Men's Basketball Tangles with Kent State Tuesday, Jan. 18, at 7 p.m.

Men's Basketball vs. Kent State
Date	Tuesday, Jan. 18 \| 7 p.m.
Venue	Ypsilanti, Mich. \| George Gervin GameAbove Center
Preview Info	EMU Notes \| Media Guide.
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Watch	ESPN3
Listen	WEMU (89.1 WEMU-FM) \| The Varsity Network App \| Eastern Insider Podcast
Twitter	@EMU_MBB \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team returns home Tuesday, Jan. 18, for a Mid-American Conference tilt against Kent State University. Tip is set for 7 p.m. from the George Gervin GameAbove Center.
    Eastern (7-8, 2-2 MAC) looks to get back on track following a 77-70 road setback to Northern Illinois, Jan. 15. Meanwhile, the Golden Flashes (8-8, 3-3 MAC) snuck past rival Akron, 67-55, last Friday night at the M.A.C. Center.
    The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 with Ryan Wooley (pxp), Justin Rose (analyst), and Kristy King (sideline) on the call. Fans can also listen to the game on WEMU (89.1 FM) and the Varsity Network app with Tom Helmer on the call.

ARE YOU NEW HERE?: Tuesday's contest marks the first time EMU Head Coach Stan Heath squares off against Kent State, the program he helped lead to the 2002 NCAA Elite Eight. No surprise, Kent State is also the lone league school he has yet to defeat as a MAC head coach. Overall, the 14th-year collegiate mentor has combined to notch a 19-3 record against league foes between both KSU and EMU.

HOME COOKING: EMU has been dominant at home this season, outscoring opponents by nearly nine points per game. The Eagles have averaged 82.4 points a contest, while shooting 46.7 percent from the field. Four EMU players are averaging double figures at home, led by Monty Scott (14.9), Noah Farrakhan (14.9), Bryce McBride (14.4), and Colin Golson (10.7). Furthermore, the squad is averaging almost four turnovers a game fewer than the opposition (EMU 14.3, OPP 18.0).

WE WANT IT MORE!: Eastern Michigan leads NCAA Division I basketball with an average of 78.8 possessions per game. Head Coach Stan Heath's uptempo Eagles have pushed that total to 85.1 possessions per game at home.
    Last season, EMU averaged 71.3 possessions per game, ranking 164th in Division I.

HOT SHOOTING NOT ENOUGH: Hot shooting from deep was not enough for Eastern Michigan at Northern Illinois, Jan. 15. The Eagles saw their best shooting performance from three this season, hitting 9-of-16 (56.3%). EMU also made nine threes against Indiana, Nov. 9, in the team's season opener.
    Surprisingly, the last time EMU shot better than 50.0 percent from the long-line also came against NIU. The Eagles hit for a 57.1 clip (12-of-21) during its home win over the Huskies during the 2020-21 campaign, Feb. 27, 2021.

KEVIN-DAVID GETS THE NOD: Freshman Kevin-David Rice made his first appearance in the starting lineup at Northern Illinois, Jan. 15. Rice had four points, two rebounds, and a steal in the contest. The freshman got the nod after a game against Central Michigan, Jan. 11, where he scored 15 points in 19 minutes off the bench.

SCOTT'S RETURN: Senior Nate Scott's return to the Convocation Center at Northern Illinois, Jan. 15, saw him score nine points. Scott also had two rebounds, two assists, and a block in his former home arena. Furthermore, the senior shot 50 percent from beyond the arc (2-of-4).

GETTING THE ROTATION BACK: With the national uptick in COVID, combined with usual bumps and bruises from game play, it has been nearly 44 days since the Eagles have had its full rotation of student-athletes dressed for a game. The last such occurrence was against Northwood, Dec. 5, when 13 players saw action in the 79-57 non-conference victory.
   During the streak, Eastern played as many as 12 student-athletes against Central Michigan, Jan. 11, or as few as eight against Northern Illinois, Jan. 15.

TURNING IT (DARI)ON: Senior guard Darion Spottsville is putting together his best stretch of basketball right now. Most recently, Spottsville scored 11 points with five rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block at NIU, Jan. 15. The senior was perfect from three (1-of-1) and from the free throw line (4-of-4).
   After averaging just 5.2 points per game through EMU's first 10 games of the season, Spottsville has turned it on as of late. He is putting up 11.2 points per contest over his last five games and has scored 10+ points in each. That is the longest stretch of consecutive double-digit outings in his career.

BENCH BOSS(ES): Eastern has now gotten 20+ points from its bench in 12 of its 14 games this season. Additionally, EMU is averaging 25.1 points per game from its bench this season, a significant advantage over its opponents, which average just 19.2 points per game from their non-starters this season.

SENIOR STUDS: Monty Scott, Nate Scott, and Darion Spottsville have combined to score 35.2 percent (394-of-1,118) of the team's points this season, including 34.6 percent (132-of-381) of all Eagles scoring over the last five games.

DROP IT LIKE IT'S SCOTT: Senior Monty Scott has scored double-figures in 11-of-15 games this season. The senior guard has averaged 13.9 points per game on 79-of-169 shooting (46.7%).

YOU ONLY GET ONE SHOT: EMU is averaging 27.9 defensive rebounds per game, which ranks fourth in the Mid-American Conference and 64th nationally. Eastern grabbed 20 defensive boards in its most recent game, at Northern Illinois, Jan. 15.

NOAH STOPPIN' HIM: Freshman Noah Farrakhan continues to lead the team in scoring, averaging 17.4 points per game, ranking seventh in the Mid-American Conference and 116th in the nation. Most recently, Farrakhan tied his career-high of 27 points at Northern Illinois, Jan. 15.
    The Newark, N.J. native is 34-for-76 from the field in his last five games, while combining to go 10-of-11 from the free throw stripe. He's also accumulated 10 steals during that span.

NEW BLOOD: A total of 69.3 percent (775-of-1118) of EMU's scoring and 61.1 percent (328-of-537) of its rebounding have come from newcomers to the roster. Of that, an incredible 54.3 percent (421-of-775) of the newcomer scoring have come from just two players: freshman guard Noah Farrakhan and senior guard Monty Scott, who happen to be half brothers.

PLAYING THEM TIGHT: EMU has had plenty of high-leverage moments to open the year. A total of eight of its 15 games this season have been decided by six points-or-less.

BACKWARDS DAY?: While statistics are a good indicator of success and failure, there are certain cases where anomalies happen. For Eastern Michigan, that is true when it comes to the free throw line. This season, the team is an amazing 5-1 when shooting less than 70 percent at the charity stripe. Conversely, the team is 2-7 when shooting above the 70 percent mark.
    If that was not enough, how about the fact that EMU is yet to win a game when shooting 40 percent-or-better from deep (0-3), but has captured seven victories while shooting less than 40 percent-or-less from beyond the arc.

BENCH HERO BRYCE: Junior Bryce McBride has been stellar off the bench this season, totaling 153 of his 169 points as a reserve. Eastern Michigan has seen 369 points from its non-starters this season, with McBride being the responsible party for 41.5 percent of those. Furthermore, the junior has led the team in points coming off the pine in four contests.

SWAT TEAM: Eastern Michigan currently ranks fifth in the Mid-American Conference in total blocks (54) and blocks per game (3.5). EMU is led by a trio of Eagles, seniors Nate Scott, and Darion Spottsville, along with freshman Mo Njie, who all have 12 total blocks this season. Njie's one block per game is sixth in the conference.

TAKING COOKIES FROM THE JAR: The Eagles most recently forced Northern Illinois into 16 turnovers, while securing eight steals, Jan. 14. EMU averages 7.3 steals per game this season, which ranks third in the MAC. The team's 110 total steals is also good for fourth in the conference. Senior Darion Spottsville and freshman Noah Farrakhan each had a pair of steals against the Huskies. Farrakhan's 1.5 steals per game ranks sixth in the conference.

ALL-TIME VS. KENT STATE: Tuesday's game marks the 81st meeting between Eastern Michigan and Kent State. The Golden Flashes lead the series, 45-35, which began with an 83-56 win by Kent State, Feb. 18, 1950. At one point, KSU won 17 consecutive games between Dec. 21, 1998, and Feb. 2, 2013.
   The Green and White hold a 25-12 advantage against KSU in Ypsilanti, but are just 4-9 inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center.

EMU'S LAST WIN OVER KENT: Ty Groce scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Eastern Michigan beat Kent State, 70-49, to win its third straight and fourth straight at home, Feb. 18, 2020.
   Thomas Binelli added 13 points and Boubacar Toure had 10 points with nine rebounds and two steals for the Eagles, who made 20-of-31 free throws (65%) and shot 50% from the field (23-of-46).
   Danny Pippen scored 15 points with 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season for Kent State, which shot 29% from the field (16-of-55). Troy Simons added six assists.
   The Golden Flashes scored 21 points in the second half, a season low for the team.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern hits the road to northeast Ohio for a battle with Akron Saturday, Jan. 22. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. from James A. Rhodes Arena. The game will be televised on ESPN3 and WEMU (89.1 FM) will air it locally.

Men's Basketball Tangles with Kent State Tuesday, Jan. 18, at 7 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Thomas Binelli

Noah Farrakhan

Ty Groce

Bryce McBride

Mo Njie

Kevin-David Rice

Monty Scott

Nate Scott

Darion Spottsville

Eastern Michigan Athletics