Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
1-6,0-0MAC
UC San Diego
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Bates Nets Double-Double as Eagles Fall to UC San Diego
11/27/2022 4:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Eastern returns to action Wednesday at Florida International
Stan Heath Press Conference
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - Sophomore Emoni Bates (Ypsilanti, Mich.-Ypsi Prep-Memphis) collected his first collegiate double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds as the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team fell to the University of California San Diego Tritons, 66-63, inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center Sunday, Nov. 27. With the loss, the Eagles fall to 1-6 on the season while the Tritons improved to 3-4.
In addition to Bates' double-double, the Green and White were led by sophomore Tyson Acuff (Detroit, Mich.-Cass Technical-Duquesne), who totaled 16 points and five assists. Sophomore Noah Farrakhan (Hillside, N.J.-The Patrick School-East Carolina) also added nine points, six rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block.
Eastern Michigan forced 15 Tritons turnovers while committing just nine themselves in Sunday's game, tying for the fewest miscues the Eagles have committed this year. The Eagles turned those takeaways into 16 points on the other end of the floor. Sophomores Jalin Billingsley (Cleveland, Ohio-Lutheran East-Georgetown) and Luka Savicevic (Skopje, North Macedonia-Sports Academy Skopje) led the way individually with two steals each, both of which tied their respective career highs.
How It Happened
Eastern Michigan struggled out of the gate, falling behind, 34-27, heading into halftime. UC San Diego kept widening its lead after intermission, constructing a 50-38 advantage before Eastern Michigan went on a 7-0 run to shrink the deficit to 50-45 with 7:58 to go in the contest. The Eagles kept their comeback going, pulling to within one on several occasions with less than two minutes to play, but the Tritons managed to hold on for the 66-63 win.
Game Notes
» Bates recorded his first career double-double as the sophomore netted a team-high 17 points and collected 13 rebounds, the most by an EMU player since Yeikson Montero pulled down 14 at Central Michigan University, Jan. 16, 2021. Bates, who previously held a career-high rebound total of seven that he recorded last year for Memphis in a game at UCF, Jan. 12, 2022, also drained a pair of threes to extend his streak to six games in a row with at least two made. With his 17 points, Bates also has now tallied at least 15 points in all six of the games he has played for Eastern.
» Acuff played another solid game on offense for Eastern Michigan as he dished out a career-high five assists and scored 16 points for the Eagles. It is the third time this season the transfer sophomore has scored 15-or-more points and gives him 41 points in his last two games after registering a career-high 25 against Winthrop, Nov. 23, at the Cancun Challenge. Additionally, it is the fourth time in the 2022-23 campaign Acuff has totaled double-digit points in a contest.
» Farrakhan tallied three assists for the 22nd time in his career and fifth time in the 2022-23 season. The New Jersey native has had multiple assists every game this season.
» The Green and White registered five steals in the first half. It was the most robberies in the first 20 minutes of play since the team tallied seven in the season premiere against Wayne State University, Nov. 7. The Eagles finished the game with eight thefts overall, marking the fourth time in seven games this year Eastern has stolen the ball at least eight times from its foe.
» Savicevic had two steals, tying a season and career-high he set at Oakland, Nov. 19.
» Freshman Orlando Lovejoy (Detroit, Mich.-Summit Academy North) continued his torrid pace at the charity stripe, connecting on both of his free throw attempts today, moving his season free throw percentage to 90.9, the fifth-best mark in the Mid-American Conference and 47th in the nation.
» The Eagles had two players in double-digit points highlighted by Bates' 17 and Acuff's 16. It is the third time this season a pair of Eastern shooters have secured double-digit scoring. Furthermore, the Eagles have recorded two or more double-digit scorers in every game last season but three.
» Billingsley had two steals in the first half, tying his season and career-highs set in the home opener against Wayne State, Nov. 7. He finished the game with two points and added two rebounds to his stat line.
» The Eagles rejected four Triton shots in the first half of play, which was already a season high for the team. The previous high for a full game in 2022-23 for blocks was the three recorded against Purdue Fort Wayne, Nov. 22, in the opening game of the Cancun Challenge. Eastern finished the game against UC San Diego with five total blocks.
» Despite the Tritons' 43.9 field goal percentage, the Green and White managed to out shoot UC San Diego in three pointers. The Eagles shot 40.0 percent from the arc to the Tritons' 26.1 percent.
» Eastern was 65.2 percent from the line compared to UC San Diego's 62.5 percent. This marks the sixth contest in which the Eagles have led their opponents in free throw percentage. Additionally, the Eagles drew more fouls than the Tritons, earning a trip to the line 23 times compared to the Tritons' 16 attempts. The 23 free throw attempts are the second-most of the 2022-23 season after the team earned 27 against Michigan, Nov. 11.
» Eastern Michigan had a total of eight players score at least one basket. It is the fourth time the Green and White have had at least that many players make at least one field goal in a game in the young season.
Historical Notes
» Today's matchup marked the second all-time meeting between the Eagles and the Tritons, and the first in Ypsilanti. The Eagles drop to 0-2 in the series.
» This afternoon's contest marked 20 days since Eastern's previous home game (Nov. 7 vs. Wayne State). The last time Eastern went 20-or-more days between home games was a 22-day stretch in the 2014-15 season. The Eagles won the game, 100-42, over Concordia (Mich.), Dec. 28, 2014, to end the stretch.
» The loss to UC San Diego marked the first non-conference home loss for the Eagles under Head Coach Stan Heath. Eastern, who is now 6-1 in those games, was 5-0 last year in Heath's first year and entered today's contest 1-0 after defeating Wayne State in the season opener.
Up Next
EMU will make another flight south for its next game as it will face Florida International University Wednesday, Nov. 30, at 7 p.m. The game, which will be played inside the Ocean Bank Convocation Center in Miami, Fla., and aired live on ESPN+ and WEMU (89.1 FM), will feature a rematch of Eastern's longest game played after the Eagles defeated the Panthers inside the newly minted George Gervin GameAbove Center, 92-88, in four overtimes, Dec. 11, 2021.
