Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
6-16,3-6MAC
Ohio
11-11,3-6MAC
Eagles Earn Back-to-Back Wins with 90-79 Victory Over Ohio
1/31/2023 9:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Acuff posts career-high 29 points in victory
Highlight Video | Postgame Press Conference
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team received a career-high performance in Tyson Acuff's (Detroit, Mich.-Cass Technical-Duquesne) 29 points as the Eagles claimed a 90-79 victory over the Ohio University Bobcats inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center Tuesday, Jan. 31.
The Eagles (6-16, 3-6 MAC) had five players score in double figures, including Acuff, who also added six assists. Emoni Bates (Ypsilanti, Mich.-Ypsi Prep-Memphis) tacked on 19 points and Kevin-David Rice (Flint, Mich.-Grand Blanc-Delta College) helped out with 11 points.
Eastern Michigan utilized impressive ball movement in the game, piling up 16 assists on 30 made field goals. Acuff's career-high six assists were the most for the Eagles while Noah Farrakhan (Hillside, N.J.-The Patrick School-East Carolina) also added four assists of his own.
How It Happened
After jumping out to a 37-35 advantage, Eastern Michigan went on a 6-0 run with 3:04 left in the first half, culminating in a triple from Yusuf Jihad (Farmington Hills, Mich.-North Farmington-Oakland), to increase its lead to 43-35. The Eagles then lost some of that lead, but still entered halftime with a 47-40 advantage. The Eagles relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down seven shots to account for 21 of its 47 points.
Eastern Michigan kept its lead intact before going on a 5-0 run, finished off by Bates' three, to grow the lead to 61-52 with 10:22 to go in the contest. The Eagles kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 90-79 win. The Green and White shot well from three-point range in the half, hitting six shots from deep to score 18 of its 43 points.
Game Notes
» Tyson Acuff led the way to victory with a career night as he scored 29 points on 8-of-12 shooting that included a career-best six made threes, while adding a career-high-tying six assists, two rebounds, and one steal. Acuff, who also was 7-of-9 from free throw line, scored 19 of his points in the second half to record his second game of 20+ points after scoring 25 against Winthrop, Nov. 23, in Cancun.
» The Eagles recorded 16 assists, the most in a home game this year and the second-highest total behind the 17 recorded Nov. 19 at Oakland. Acuff led the way with a career-high six helpers, which surpassed the four he recorded for Duquesne against UC Irvine, Dec. 19, 2021. His previous season best was three assists against Bowling Green, Jan. 3.
» Emoni Bates tallied 19 points in the game, marking the 18th time this year he has reached double digits and the 17th time he scored 15+ in a game. Additionally, he brought his three-game total to 79 points, which ties him for eighth-most in a three-game stretch with Noah Farrakhan (2021-22) and Ricky Cottrill (2001-02).
» Noah Farrakhan scored four points on the night to move up to No. 64 on the program's all-time scoring ledger, passing Charles Thomas, who scored 710 points for the Eagles from 1987-91. Next up on the list are both Bill James (1970-72) and Anthony White (1979-83), who both scored 721 points.
» With four assists today, Noah Farrakhan extended his streak to recording at least one helper in 22 contests and has dropped at least one dime in 34 consecutive games dating back to last season. In fact, in his two seasons with the Eagles, Farrakhan has recorded at least one assist in 44-of-47 games played (93.6 percent) for Eastern and, when including his one season with East Carolina (2020-21), he has done so in 51-of-59 career games (86.4 percent). Farrakhan now ranks fifth all-time in program history for consecutive games with an assist.
» Kevin-David Rice, who earned just his second start of the season, connected on a three-point shot with 16:55 remaining in the opening half to help the Eagles extend their consecutive games streak to entering 573 in a row with at least one made triple. Eastern finished the game shooting 13-of-24 from three. The last time Eastern failed to hit a three-point basket in a game came Jan. 24, 2004, when the Eagles were 0-of-7 at Miami.
» Jalin Billingsley scored 10 points in the first half to record the fifth double-digit scoring performance of his career and his fourth this season. He finished the game shooting a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor on the night.
» Kevin-David Rice made his second start of the season and the fourth of his career and finished with a season-high 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc while adding a pair of free throws and three rebounds. In his previous eight games, he was 0-of-6 from behind the arc.
» The Eagles scored 47 points in the first half to not only take a seven-point lead (47-40) over Ohio, but also tie for the most points scored in the first half this season. Previously, Eastern scored a season-best 47 points in the first half at home against Detroit Mercy, Dec. 18, and also scored 45 points against Michigan, Nov. 11. The 47 points also marks back-to-back games EMU has reached the 40-point mark after scoring 40 at Miami, Jan. 28. The last time the Eagles had back-to-back games with 40+ points in the first half was in the 2020-21 season when EMU scored 64 against Adrian (Dec. 9, 2020) and 52 against Olivet (Dec. 27, 2020).
» The Eagles made 13 three-pointers as a team for the game. The total marks a season-high for made three-pointers, breaking a previous mark of 11, done twice at Oakland, Nov. 19, and at Toledo, Jan. 24. EMU also shot 54.2 percent from downtown, which is the best percentage the Eagles have shot from the arc by seven percent, breaking a previous mark of 47.1 percent against Detroit Mercy. The last time Eastern Michigan shot better than 54 percent from three-point range was when they shot 56.3 percent (9-of-16) against Northern Illinois, Jan. 15, 2022.
» Kevin-David Rice made his second start of the season and the fourth of his career and finished with a season-high 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc while adding a pair of free throws and three rebounds. In his previous eight games, he was 0-of-6 from behind the arc.
» Five Eagles scored in double figures in the game, marking the second time it has happened this year. The previous instance came Nov. 23 in the Cancun Challenge against Winthrop.
Historical Notes
» With its victory, Eastern improved to 27-54 in its all-time series with Ohio and snapped the Bobcats' five-game winning streak in the series. Prior to the win, the Eagles last defeated the Bobcats, 66-57, in Athens, Feb. 12, 2019.
» The Eagles' win tied the all-time series when the teams meet in Ypsilanti at 19-19. Eastern also snapped a four-game losing skid when playing host to the Bobcats with the previous win coming Jan. 27, 2015, in a 76-40 win for EMU.
» The 90 points are the most scored since EMU won, 94-80, March 12, 1988. The game was part of the Mid-American Conference Tournament played on the University of Toledo campus.
» Eastern has now won back-to-back games for the first time since last season when the Eagles won three in a row at home to close out the non-conference schedule. Those wins came against Northwood (Dec. 5, 2021), 79-57; Niagara (Dec. 8, 2021), 60-58; and Florida International (Dec. 11, 2021), 92-88 in four overtimes.
» The Eagles have now won back-to-back Mid-American Conference games for the first time since the 2019-20 slate. That year, Eastern posted wins at Central Michigan (Feb. 11, 2020), 73-70; home against Western Michigan (Feb. 15, 2020), 69-51; and home against Kent State (Feb. 18, 2020), 70-49.
Up Next
Eastern returns to the road Friday, Feb. 3, as the Eagles will take on Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. The game is slated for a 6:30 p.m. tip and will be broadcast live to a national television audience on CBS Sports Network. Tom Helmer, the Voice of the Eagles, will have the call on the WEMU (89.1 FM) and the Varsity Network app.
