Eagles Return to Action Saturday at Oakland

GAME #4 - EASTERN MICHIGAN at OAKLAND
Date	Saturday, Nov. 19 \| 3 p.m.
Venue	Rochester Hills, Mich. \| Athletics Center O'rena
Preview Info	EMU Notes \| Media Guide
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Watch	ESPN+
Listen	WEMU (89.1 WEMU-FM) \| The Varsity Network App \| Eastern Insider Podcast
Tickets	Purchase Season Tickets
Twitter	@EMU_MBB \| @EMUAthletics

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team will look to halt a two-game slide when it heads to Rochester Hills, Mich., Saturday, Nov. 19, for a 3 p.m. contest at Oakland University. The Eagles (1-2) are coming off an 89-61 loss at Bradley University, Nov. 15, while the Golden Grizzlies (1-3) fell at the University of Toledo, 112-90, Nov. 16.
The game will be broadcast live on WEMU (89.1) radio and the Varsity Network app with Tom Helmer, the Voice of Eastern Michigan Athletics, on the call. The game also will be aired live on ESPN+ and simulcast locally on WMYD Detroit (TV20) with Neal Ruhl and Tony Paul calling the action.

OPENING TIPS:
» Eastern leads the all-time series with Oakland, 11-7, and is 3-4 when the two teams play inside the O'rena. Additionally, the two teams combine to average 160.6 points in their 18 previous contests.
» Emoni Bates is averaging 25.0 points per game so far with the Eagles after scoring 20 at Bradley, Nov. 15, to follow up his 30-point performance against then-No. 22 University of Michigan, Nov. 11.
» Bates' scoring average is the best in the MAC and would rank ninth in the NCAA, but he doesn't yet appear on the rankings as he has not played in at least 75 percent of Eastern's game, which he will reach by playing at Oakland Nov. 19.
» So far this season, Eastern is 35-of-45 from the free throw line, a connection rate of 77.8 percent. That average ranks third in the Mid-American Conference and 30th overall in the NCAA.
» Yusuf Jihad is set to face his former team for the first time after the Farmington Hills, Mich., native began his career playing for Oakland in the 2020-21 season.
» LaMonta Stone was recently hired as the program's director of basketball operations and returns to Ypsilanti after previously serving as an Eagles' assistant coach from 2000-02.

LID LIFTED AGAIN: The Nov. 15 game at Bradley was the first "true" road game of the year for the Eagles, an 89-61 setback for Eastern. With the loss, EMU fell to 12-37 in its road opener since becoming a member of NCAA Division I in time for the 1974-75 season and have dropped three in a row.

SCOUTING OAKLAND: The Golden Grizzlies enter the weekend with a 1-3 overall record after falling on the road the University of Toledo Wednesday, Nov. 16, 112-90. After opening the season with a 92-27 victory over visiting Defiance College, Oakland has dropped three in a row, including an 87-82 loss at home to Bowling Green State University and at home to Oklahoma State University, 91-62. Four players are averaging double-digit points on the year with Trey Townsend leading the way with 19.3 per contest while Keaton Hervey, who is averaging 13.8 points, leads the team with 8.3 rebounds per game for Head Coach Greg Kampe, the second-longest tenured NCAA Division I head coach at 38 years with OU behind 46 seasons at Syracuse University for Jim Boeheim.

IN THE SERIES WITH OAKLAND:
» Eastern leads the all-time series, 11-7, but trails when playing at Oakland, 4-3.
» The Grizzlies, who have won two in a row in the series when playing host, won the last meeting, 86-81, Dec. 22, 2017, in Rochester Hills, Mich.
» The last time Eastern won at Oakland was Dec. 21, 2013, an 81-79 overtime decision.
» The Nov. 30, 1987, game played in Ypsilanti ended in a 117-107 victory for the Eagles, the 13th-highest offensive output in program history and the second-highest combined score in an EMU game behind only at Feb. 5, 1970, game at Hillsdale College that ended in Eastern's favor, 134-113.

BIG NUMBERS: Looking at the 18 games played all-time in the series with Oakland, one trend that emerges is scoring. Overall, the Eagles are averaging 83.0 per game against the Golden Grizzlies while OU averages 77.6. Combined, the two teams average 160.6 points per contest in their series. The most points scored in the series came Nov. 30, 1987, in Ypsilanti with the Eagles winning a game with 224 combined points, 117-107.

FAMILIAR FACE: Although the two teams have not met since the 2017 season, one Eastern player will be very familiar with the surroundings of the O'rena as Yusuf Jihad spent his first collegiate season with the Golden Grizzlies, appearing in 17 games during the 2020-21 season. Jihad posted several of his career highs that still stand today, including eight points against Detroit Mercy and two assists against Wright State University.

LOCAL TOUR: The game Saturday at Oakland is the third of four games on the slate this year in which Eastern will face a local Michigan foe. The Eagles have already played Wayne State University (36.9 miles between campuses), a 75-66 win Nov. 7 in Ypsilanti, and then-No. 22 University of Michigan (6.6 miles), an 88-83 loss at Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit, Nov. 11. Following the tilt with the Golden Grizzlies, the Eagles and the Titans of the University of Detroit Mercy will meet Sun, Dec. 18, inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center to finish out the four games.

QUICK REVIEW • EAGLES FALL AT BRADLEY: Eastern played its first "true" road game of the year as they faced the Bradley University Braves in the opening round of the Cancun Challenge inside Carver Arena in Peoria, Ill., Nov. 15. The Eagles dropped the contest, 89-61.
» The game was part of the Cancun Challenge. Both teams will play twice inside the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya in Cancun, Mexico, next week with Eastern taking part in the Mayan Division and Bradley playing in the Riviera Division.
» For the second game in a row, Emoni Bates led the team in scoring and reached the 20-point mark as he finished with 20. Bates also connected on three treys for the second game in a row, marking the second time in his career - and second game in a row - he has done so,
» Colin Golson Jr. made his first start of the season, the 18th of his career with the Eagles. He finished the game with 11 points - just one off his season high - and added three boards, one assist and one steal.
» With just over 14 minutes remaining in the opening half, Javantae Randall recorded buckets on back-to-back possessions, giving him his first collegiate field goals and points. He finished with four points and three rebounds in the game.
» Late in the first half, Yusuf Jihad scored on back-to-back shots, giving him four points in quick succession. Jihad entered the game with a season-high three points. He finished with four points, just two shy of his best performance with the Green and White.
» Eastern falls to 0-2 in the all-time series with the loss tonight. Bradley won the only previous meeting, an 86-85, double-overtime decision in the opening round of the NIT played in Peoria.
» The Eagles fall to 12-37 in their first road game of the season since joining the ranks of NCAA Division I ahead of the 1974-75 season. EMU has dropped two road openers in a row.

BATES GETS BUCKETS: Despite the overall outcome at Bradley, Nov. 15, Emoni Bates scored 20 points to post his second 20+ game of the season and of his career. Since Bates has not appeared in 75 percent of his team's games this season, he is not eligible to be included on conference and national statistics lists. If he were, however, his 25.0 points per game would rank nine in the NCAA and first in the MAC. While all the other players ranked in the MAC's top 25 have played at least three games, Bates' stats through two contests played would also have him ranked tied for 10th with 50 points scored, tied for 10th with 18 field goals made, and tied for seventh with six treys made.

MORE THAN AVERAGE: Emoni Bates is currently averaging a blistering 25.0 points per game. Although the season is just getting underway, if he is able to maintain this pace, he would be the first Eastern player to average more than 20 points per contest for the season since the 2005-06 campaign when both John Bowler and Carlos Medlock accomplished the feat.

BACK-TO-BACK: With 50 points in his first two games this year, Emoni Bates has paced the team offensively. The last time an Eagle scored 50 or more points in consecutive games was Noah Farrakhan, who tallied 58 in games with Northern Illinois University (31), Feb. 22, 2022, and at Ball State University (27), Feb. 26, 2022. Farrakhan scored 21 at home against the University of Akron, Feb. 19, 2022, to give him 79 in three games.

FREE TO THROW: Two Eagles are currently ranked in the MAC top 10 in free throw percentage, including freshman Orlando Lovejoy, who sits fourth with a 91.7 average. Tyson Acuff also is on the list as he is tied for ninth with an 85.7 percent conversion rate. Lovejoy also ranks tied for 66th nationally with his connection rate. As a team, Eastern has hit at a 77.8 percent clip so far this season, which ranks third in the league and 30th in the NCAA.

RANKINGS WATCH: The first regular season CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 rankings were released Monday, Nov. 14, with the Eagles receiving votes for the first time this year with 13 after not receiving any votes from the coaches in the preseason ranking. Following the Nov. 19 game with Oakland, the Eagles will play their first of four teams currently ranked in the top 25 as they will face No. 24 Purdue Fort Wayne at the Cancun Challenge. The other teams in the top 25 currently that appear on Eastern's schedule are all MAC opponents, including No. 5 Toledo, No. 6 Kent State University, and No. 19 Akron.

MILESTONE WATCH: Heading into the season, several wins can help the Eagles reach several milestone victories. With the win over Wayne State, Nov. 7, Eastern now needs 15 more wins to bring its all-time victory total to 1,350 while three more wins would mark 675 all-time wins as an NCAA Division I member. On the home front, the Eagles are now six wins from 225 victories inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center.

STONE IS BACK: LaMonta Stone has returned to the Eagles program as the former Eastern assistant coach (2000-02) will serve as the director of basketball operations for Stan Heath's staff. Stone brings a wealth of experience and success to the program as the Detroit native has coached 28 years, including 11 years leading the highly-successful River Rouge High School program to go along with 17 years in the collegiate coaching ranks. During his time, Stone served on coaching staffs at the University of Michigan-Dearborn (three years), EMU (two), Ohio State University (two) and Bowling Green State University (10). While leading RRHS, his teams won the Michigan Class B state titles in 1998 and 1999 with both ranked in the USA Today Top 25 poll. All told, he guided his teams to 10 district and seven regional crowns.

UP NEXT: The Eagles will fly south to Cancun, Mexico, next week for the 2022 Cancun Challenge inside the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya, Nov. 21-22. Eastern will open play Tuesday, Nov. 21, with a 12:30 p.m. ET tip with Purdue University-Fort Wayne, who is currently ranked No. 4 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. Wednesday, Nov. 22, the Eagles will play at either 12:30 p.m. or 3 p.m. and will face either the University of Southern Miss or Winthrop University.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tyson Acuff

Emoni Bates

Noah Farrakhan

Colin Golson Jr.

Yusuf Jihad

Orlando Lovejoy

Eastern Michigan Athletics