Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Toledo
Eastern Michigan Comes Up Short in 86-66 Loss to Toledo
2/1/2022 8:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Farrakhan cracks top-10 freshman scoring list at Eastern Michigan with 17-point performance
Press Conference
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team fell short in an 86-66 loss to the Toledo Rockets tonight, Feb. 1, inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center.
The Eagles (8-12, 3-6 MAC) had four players score in double figures, led by freshman Noah Farrakhan (Newark, N.J.-The Patrick School (East Carolina)), who had 17 points and four assists. Senior Nate Scott (Naperville, Ill.-Neuqua Valley (Northern Illinois)) tacked on 15 points and knocked down 3-of-6 shots from deep, while classmate Monty Scott (Union, N.J.-St. Benedict's Prep (Portland State)) and freshman Mo Njie (Centerville, Ohio-Centerville (DME Sports Academy)) both helped out with 10 points.
Njie paced the team with eight rebounds, while N. Scott came away with two steals. Eastern Michigan forced 13 Toledo turnovers while committing 11 themselves in tonight's game. The Eagles turned those takeaways into 11 points on the other end of the floor. Additionally, EMU was bested on the glass, 46-to-29.
How It Happened
Eastern Michigan struggled out of the gate, falling behind 45-35 heading into halftime. The Eagles hit 5-of-10 shots from beyond-the-arc in the period.
Toledo widened its lead after intermission, constructing a 78-54 advantage before Eastern Michigan went on a 9-0 run, finished off by a Farrakhan layup to shrink the deficit to 78-63 with 2:56 to go in the contest. The Rockets responded and outscored the Eagles the rest of the way, ending the game with a final score of 86-66.
Game Notes
» Eastern Michigan knocked down eight treys in the game. The Eagles have hit eight-or-more six times so far in the 2021-22 season.
» The Eastern Michigan defense forced 13 turnovers. The performance marked the 12th time this season the Green and White have forced at least 13 turnovers.
» Farrakhan led the Eagles with 17 points, the tenth time the freshman has scored 17-or-more points in a game this season.
» Eastern Michigan got a team-high eight rebounds from Njie. The freshman has led the team in rebounds four times in the 2021-22 campaign.
» N. Scott also connected on three deep balls, marking just the second time this season he knocked down three-or-more triples.
» EMU had four players score in double digit points. The milestone marks the fifth time that has happened this season.
Historical Notes
» Tonight's contest was the 112th all-time meeting between the Eagles and the Rockets. Toledo leads the all-time series 60-52.
» Farrakhan cracked the top-10 on the all-time freshman scoring list for Eastern Michigan. The Newark, N.J. native became the ninth freshman to score 272 points-or-more in a season and the first since James Thompson IV (490) in 2015-16. Moreover, Farrakhan is just the fifth freshman in the twenty-first century to make the list. The guard is still averaging 17.0 points per game, which will give him 425 points by the end of the regular season, if he continues this pace. The point total would place him second all-time behind Thompson.
Up Next
Eastern Michigan hits the road for three consecutive games with contests at Ohio, Feb. 3, Kent State, Feb. 5, and Buffalo, Feb. 8. The team will remain on the road for the entirety before returning home following the game in Amherst, N.Y. It is the team's longest in-conference road swing since Feb. 5-11, 1998. That year, the Eagles played at Akron (Feb. 5 - L, 76-69), at Kent State (Feb. 7 - W, 79-74), and at Ball State (Feb. 11 - W, 89-77).
