Eagles Return Home to Face Rival Western Michigan

Men's Basketball vs. Western Michigan
Date	Tuesday, Feb. 21 \| 7 p.m.
Venue	Ypsilanti, Mich. \| George Gervin GameAbove Center
Preview Info	EMU Notes (PDF) \| Media Guide (PDF) \| Digital Game Programs
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Watch	ESPN+
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 plays host to Western Michigan University, Tuesday, Feb. 21, in a 7 p.m. tip inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center. The Eagles' (6-21, 3-11 MAC) game with the visiting Broncos (7-20, 3-11 MAC) will be the first of the final two home games for Eastern this season before closing out the regular season on the road next week.
    The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Greg Steiner and Justin Rose on the call and Dannie Rogers reporting from the sideline. Tom Helmer, the Voice of the Eagles, will have the radio call on WEMU (89.1 FM) and the Varsity Network app.

OPENING TIPS:
» Eastern is coming off an 81-54 loss at Kent State, Feb. 17, in which Emoni Bates collected 15 points and 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
» With four games remaining in the regular season, the Eagles are tied for 10th in the MAC standings and are two games out of the eighth and final position for the 2023 MAC Tournament.
» Bates is the sixth player in program history to record at least 500 points in his sophomore season and ranks fifth all-time on that ledger with 520 points.
» Bates' 520 points have him five shy of ranking among the program's all-time top 100 scorers and 78 points away from the 10th-best single-season scoring total in EMU history.
» The Eagles are currently on a streak of 578 games in a row with at least one made three-pointer.
» EMU and WMU will be meeting for the second time this season. The Broncos won the first meeting, 85-79, in Kalamazoo, Jan. 10.
» All three schools hold 1-1 records in this year's Michigan MAC standings. A win by Eastern over WMU (EMU doesn't play CMU again this year), would give the Eagles a 2-1 record over its instate rivals and guarantee at least a share of the top spot in the standings. As title holders, Eastern would then retain the trophy.

IN THE STANDINGS: Four games remain on the regular season schedule for all 12 teams in the Mid-American Conference with four having earned berths into the 2023 MAC Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio, March 9-11, with the remaining eight still alive for the final four positions. Kent State, Toledo, Akron, and Ball State have already punched their tickets to the tournament with Ohio (8-6) on the cusp. As it stands through games played Feb. 17-18, Eastern is 3-11 in league play which ties for 10th place with both Miami and Western Michigan. Bowling Green is currently ninth at 4-10 with Central Michigan holding the eighth position at 5-9.

SCOUTING WESTERN MICHIGAN: Western Michigan heads into the game at Eastern with a 7-20 record and stand 3-11 in MAC play after winning, 78-68, at home, Feb. 18, over Ball State to snap a nine-game losing streak. Lamar Norman Jr., continues to lead the Broncos in scoring this year, averaging 17.7 points per game while also leading the team with 3.0 assists per contest with Tray Maddox Jr., also averaging double-digit points with 11.5 per game. Markeese Hastings is the team leader with 9.6 rebounds per game while adding 8.3 points per game.

IN THE SERIES WITH WESTERN MICHIGAN:
» Western Michigan leads the all-time series, 64-54, and has won two in a row overall, including an 85-79 decision, Jan. 10, in Kalamazoo.
» When playing the game in Ypsilanti, Eastern Michigan holds a 33-18 advantage with the Broncos winning the last meeting, 71-60, March 1, 2022.
» The 118 meetings with the Broncos are the second-most of any team in program history for Eastern behind only the 205 match-ups the Eagles have shared with Central Michigan.

LAST TIME OUT AGAINST WMU: Eastern and Western Michigan met earlier this season with the host Broncos winning, 85-79, in Kalamazoo, Jan. 10. The Eagles trailed, 36-28, at the break and battled back, but were unable to claim the win despite scoring 51 points in the second half. Emoni Bates led the way for EMU with 23 points while Tyson Acuff (13), Jalin Billingsley (13), and Noah Farrakhan (12) each scored double-digit points. The Broncos also saw four of their players reach double figures with Lamar Norman Jr., scoring a game-high 25 points.

MICHIGAN MAC TROPHY: Eastern reclaimed the Michigan MAC Trophy last year with a 3-1 record against both Central Michigan (2-0) and Western Michigan (1-1), bringing the trophy to Ypsilanti for the fourth time. Created by the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2005, the trophy is given annually to the winner of the three-team basketball series. Ahead of the final four games of the regular season, Eastern meets only WMU, Feb. 21, with CMU and WMU meeting, March 3, in Kalamazoo. Should Eastern win its game with the Broncos, a 2-1 record in the standings would guarantee at least a share of the top spot and a tie resulting in the trophy staying with the Eagles.
    If the Eagles retain the crown, it would mark the second time Eastern has won the title in back-to-back seasons with the first coming with Eastern's first two wins; the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons. Also, retaining the title would mark the first time the Eagles would capture the title in both football and basketball in the same academic year.

QUICK REVIEW • KENT STATE: Emoni Bates recorded his third career double-double with all 15 of his points coming in the second half as the Eastern Michigan men's basketball team dropped an 81-54 decision on the road to Kent State, Feb. 17.
    Bates secured a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Eagles (6-21, 3-11 MAC) while Orlando Lovejoy added seven points and Kevin-David Rice chipped in as well with nine points off the bench.
    Led by Lovejoy's two offensive rebounds, Eastern did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 13 boards that resulted in 12 second chance points and also outrebounded the Golden Flashes, 35-32, in the game. The Eastern defense caused its share of mistakes, forcing 15 Kent State turnovers. Those takeaways turned into 15 points on the offensive end of the floor.
    Eastern struggled out of the gate, falling behind 41-25 heading into halftime. Kent State kept widening its lead after intermission, constructing a 79-48 advantage before Eastern went on a 6-0 run to shrink the deficit to 79-54 with 51 seconds to go in the contest. Kent State responded and outscored the Eagles the rest of the way, ending the game with a final score of 81-54. Eastern got a boost from its bench in the period, as non-starters accounted for nine of its 29 total points.

WAY DOWNTOWN: The Eagles connected on a pair of three-point shots at Kent State, Feb. 17, to extend the program's streak to 578 games in a row with at least one triple drained. Kevin-David Rice connected on a deep shot with 8:26 remaining in the opening half against the Golden Flashes to extend the streak. The last time the EMU failed to hit a three was Jan. 24, 2004, when Miami held Eastern to 0-of-7.

FROM THE STRIPE: Eastern has found great success from the free throw line this year with the Eagles converting 76.3 percent, which ranks third in the MAC and 26th nationally. Through 27 games played (Feb. 17), the Eagles have made their way to the stripe 20+ times in 13 games, including in eight of the last 12 games, in which Eastern is converting at 76.8 percent in those games. In four of the 13 games EMU has shot more than 20 free throws, it has converted over 85.0 percent of their chances after shooting 18-of-21(85.7 percent) at Miami, Jan. 28. In conference games, the Eagles are sitting second in free throw percentage with a 77.7 percent conversion rate, just behind Akron, who leads with 77.8.

MOVING UP: The Eagles are currently hitting at a 76.3 percent clip from the free throw line this season. As it stands, the current Eagles have the best shooting percentage from the line in program history with the 2020-21 team's 74.5 percent shooting following its 18-game, COVID-shortened season just behind this year's squad. When looking at teams that played full seasons, the 2007-08 squad leads the way at 72.9 percent following its 31-game slate.

HE'S GOT 5(00) ON IT: With 15 points scored at Kent State, Feb. 17, Emoni Bates moved past Brian Tolbert (509 points in 1993-94) for fifth place on the program's sophomore season scoring sheet as Bates has now collected 520 points. With his point total this year, Bates is closing in on two more point ledgers and, if he maintains his 20.0 points per game scoring average over the final four games of the regular season, he will reach both. First, he is five points shy of joining the program's all-time top 100 scorers as his 525 points would tie him with Bryce McBride (2020-22) for 100th. With 78 points the rest of the way, Bates would bring his season total to 598 points, tying him with Brandon Bowdry (2010-11) for 10th on the overall single-season scoring list.

SEEING DOUBLE: With 15 points and 11 rebounds at Kent State, Feb. 17, Emoni Bates recorded his third double-double of the season and his first since the start of the MAC schedule. Bates picked up his first career double-double, Nov. 27, at home against UC San Diego when he added a career-high 13 rebounds to his 17 points scored. He recorded his second at home against Central Michigan, Jan. 7, as he tallied 26 points to go with 10 rebounds. Bates' double-double at KSU stands as the fourth overall by an Eagle this season after Legend Geeter was the first to record one when he scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against Winthrop, Nov. 23, in the Cancun Challenge.

DOUBLE LEADER: Through the Kent State game, Feb. 17, Emoni Bates is leading the team in both scoring and rebounding as the sophomore is averaging 20.0 points and 5.8 rebounds. If he finishes the season leading both, it would mark the first time an Eagle has finished atop both categories in the same year since 2021-22 when Ty Groce averaged 15.2 and 6.9. Should Bates lead both categories and average over 20.0 points per game, he would be the first to do so since John Bowler averaged 20.1 points and 10.8 rebounds during the 2005-06 season.

STREAKER: According to research compiled by Andrew Weatherman (@andreweatherman), Emoni Bates has two of the longest in what he refers to as "Hero Runs", which is a scoring run of 10-or-more points in a single game. Bates' 29-point run at Toledo, Jan. 24, is the biggest run of the season with Frankie Policelli of Stony Brook ranking second with a 22-point streak. Bates is also on the list a second time, tying for the ninth-longest scoring run with 17 points in a row at South Carolina, Dec. 30. The two games are Bates' highest offensive outputs this year with the 36 scored at USC formerly standing as his career high before his 43-point explosion at UT topped his personal ledger.

GETTING HIS: Emoni Bates, who ranks 26th nationally at 20.0 points per game and ranks second in the MAC, hasn't scored all his points in huge outbursts. In the 26 games he has played for the Eagles, Bates has scored at least 10 points 22 times, gone for at least 15 points 20 times and hit for 20 or more 11 times. By reaching the 20-point plateau 11 times, Bates is now tied for the sixth-most such games in Eastern history and is three shy of tying the single-season record (since 1998-99) held by Brandon Bowdry (2010-11) and Ricky Cottrill (2001-02) of 14.

RECORD CHASES: With four games to play in the regular season, Emoni Bates has positioned himself among the top players in program history as he has entered or is nearing the top 10 of several statistical categories. Here is a look at several of those categories:
» Bates' 43 points scored at Toledo, Jan. 24, ranks as the ninth-most in a game at Eastern and the most since Raven Lee scored his school-record 50 points at Central Michigan, Feb. 28, 2017.
» Bates also is 78 points shy of reaching the single-season top 10 list for scoring as Brandon Bowdry sits 10th with 598 points scored in the 2010-11.
» Bates is connecting on 33.5 percent of his three-point shots as he has drained 67 triples on the year. So far, his total leaves him seven shy of reaching the top 10 on the single-season three-point field goals made, with Brian Tolbert sitting 10th with 74 makes in 1995-96. If Bates, who is averaging 2.6 triples made per game, maintains his current pace, he would add around 10 more threes to his total by the end of the regular season, which would bring his total to 77, the eighth-most in a year.
» Speaking of threes, Bates has twice etched his name on the single-game three-point basket list. He drained a career-high nine shots from downtown at Toledo, Jan. 24, to record the second-highest total in a game after recording the fifth-most makes with eight at South Carolina, Dec. 30.
» Bates currently is averaging 20.0 points per game, which currently ranks as the sixth-highest average in a single season in program history. If he maintains his current pace, he would become the first Eagle to end a campaign averaging 20.0+ points since the 2005-06 season when both John Bowler and Carols Medlock accomplished the feat.

CLIMBING HIGHER: Noah Farrakhan continued his climb up the program's all-time scoring ledger as his six points at Kent State, Feb. 17, brought his career total to 771 points scored playing for Eastern Michigan (his overall career total is 807 points when including the 36 points he scored at East Carolina). With his 771 points, Farrakhan currently ranks 57th on the program's all-time scoring list. Averaging 12.6 points per game this year, if Farrakhan were to maintain his current scoring average the rest of the regular season, he would reach the top-50 while surpassing 800 points.

NOT ALL SCORING: While Noah Farrakhan continues his climb up the program's all-time scoring ledger, he also continues to assist teammates on their scoring. By being held without an assist in the game at Kent State, Feb. 17, Farrakhan saw his consecutive games streak snapped at 38. Prior to the streak being snapped, Farrakhan had recorded at least one assist in the first 26 games of the season and, dating back to last season, 38 games in a row. During his two years with the Eagles, he has assisted on at least one basket in 48-of-52 games for the Green and White and, when including his one season with East Carolina (2020-21), he has done so in 55-of-64 career games.

HE'S HEATING UP: In his first two seasons of collegiate play at Duquesne, Tyson Acuff recorded seven games with double-digit points in the 48 he played with a then-career-high 16 points. In 26 games this year with the Eagles, Acuff has found his scoring touch as he has recorded eight games that would have tied or bettered his previous career best and scored in double figures 16 times, more than doubling his total from DU. Against Ohio, Jan. 31, Acuff not only broke his previous career-high of 25 points (vs. Winthrop, Nov. 23, at Cancun) by scoring 29 points, falling one point shy of his first 30-point performance. After scoring 18 at Ball State, Feb. 3, Acuff not only reached the 30-point barrier, he has done so in back-to-back games with 35 at Buffalo, Feb. 7, and 36 at home against Toledo, Feb. 11.

THIRTY SOMETHINGS: Entering the season, Noah Farrakhan was the last Eagle to score 30+ points in a game when he tallied 31 at home against Northern Illinois, Feb. 22, 2022. Since then, the Eagles have had six games with one 30-point scorer with Tyson Acuff scoring 35 at Buffalo, Feb. 7, before adding 36 against Toledo at home, Feb. 11, and Emoni Bates adding four games, including 35 at Ball State (Feb. 3), 43 at Toledo (Jan. 24), 36 at South Carolina (Dec. 30), and 30 against Michigan (Nov. 11) in Detroit. Combined, the six games of 30+ scoring is the most in a single season, surpassing the four recorded in the 2001-02 season when Ricky Cottrill posted three games and Steve Pettyjohn had one. Additionally, the duo has combined to score 30+ in three consecutive games after Bates scored 35 at Ball State and Acuff tallied his back-to-back career-high games.

MANAGING WINS: Throughout the nation each year, the managers for the two teams playing will get together and play a game of their own. So far this year, the EMU managers have only been able to play six games, but are currently undefeated at 6-0 following their win over the Kent State managers, Feb. 17. According to Manager Games on Twitter (@ManagerGames_), EMU is currently ranked No. 12 nationally.

HOME COOKING: According to the latest update from College Basketball Reference, Feb. 15, the Eagles currently rank third nationally in regards to points scored per game by in-state players with Eastern averaging 54.9 points per game from its Michigan-born players. Northern Iowa (68.7) and Youngstown State (60.0) rank just ahead of EMU. Additional research through 27 games played shows that those same in-state players have accounted for 75.5 percent of the team's scoring with Michigan-born Eagles having collected 1,483 of the team's 1,964 points.

UP NEXT: The Eagles will close out the home portion of their regular season schedule in the second half of an Eastern women's-men's doubleheader Saturday, Feb. 25, as the Eagles welcome Ball State to the George Gervin GameAbove Center for a 3:30 p.m. tip. The EMU women will open the day at 1 p.m. with their home finale against Kent State. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN3 with Ryan Wooley (pxp) and Justin Rose (color) on the call for the men's game and Dannie Rogers reporting from the sideline. Tom Helmer, the Voice of the Eagles, will have the call on the WEMU (89.1 FM) and the Varsity Network app.

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Players Mentioned

Tyson Acuff

Emoni Bates

Jalin Billingsley

Noah Farrakhan

Legend Geeter

Orlando Lovejoy

Bryce McBride

Kevin-David Rice

Eastern Michigan Athletics