Upcoming Games (times Pacific)

Coverage

Radio: All Eastern games are on 700-AM ESPN in Spokane. Larry Weir returns for his 23rd season calling the play-by-play, starting 30 minutes prior to tipoff.
Internet Radio: www.700espn.com or www.tunein.com.
Radio iPhone App: Search for "Spokane Radio" and download app. An app is also available for tunein radio.
Live Stats:  ewustats.com for EWU home games.
EWU Coaches Show: The shows, featuring head coach Jim Hayford & host Larry Weir, continue Mondays until at least Feb. 29 live at 6 p.m. Pacific time from the Swinging Doors Restaurant in North Spokane (W. 1018 Francis). Fans may attend the one-hour shows live, or listen on 700-AM ESPN and via the web at www.700espn.com.

 

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Now that they've found it, the Eagles are hoping to keep their groove for the rest of the season.
 
Currently in sole possession of third place in the Big Sky Conference standings, the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team puts a pair of winning streaks on the line when it faces Northern Colorado on Saturday (Feb. 13) at 2 p.m. in a rematch of EWU's league-opening 96-90 loss at UNC on Dec. 31.
 
The game will be televised live regionally on SWX. Fans can also listen to the game on 700-AM ESPN and via the web at www.700espn.com. All EWU home games and conference road games are broadcast on www.watchbigsky.com.
 
Eastern is riding a Big Sky-best five-game winning streak, and has won eight of its last 10 since opening the league season 0-2. Only league-leading Montana (10-2) and second-place Weber State (9-2) have matched EWU's 8-of-10 stretch.
 
The Eagles have also won all nine games at Reese Court this season, out-scoring opponents by an average score of 96-72 while out-shooting opponents 55 percent to 43 percent. The Eagles have also doubled the 3-point output of their opponents – 109-50 – while sinking 43 percent of their treys to just 35 percent for opponents.
 
But keeping that grove is important, especially with a battle on their hands to stay in the top four in the conference and earning one of four first-round byes in the Big Sky Conference Tournament March 8-12 in Reno. Just one game separates sixth from third in the standings, with Eastern currently 8-4 in the league and 14-10 overall. Idaho State is 7-4 and Idaho and North Dakota are both 7-5.
 
Lurking in the shadows are a pair of teams EWU has lost to this season – 6-6 Montana State and 5-7 Northern Colorado. The Bears come to Cheney with an 8-16 record overall and a three-game losing streak after having won four in a row. On a night Eastern knocked off UND 95-85, UNC fell at Idaho 73-67 on Thursday (Feb. 11).
 
In the previous meeting in Greeley, Colo., the Bears made 62 percent of their shots for the game and scored 78 points in the final 27 minutes.
 
"We've been looking forward and not looking back," Eastern head coach Jim Hayford said of his team's recent hot stretch. "We've won five-straight and our guys are playing really well. Our practices are going just as well as you see us play in games. Our team is in a really good groove."
 
During its five-game winning streak, Eastern has led 92 percent of the time (a total of 183:10), and have trailed for only 6:39 (tied for the other 10:11). Eastern's win over North Dakota was its closest of the five games, with UND leading for 5:02 and the game tied for 2:27 in the first half. But Eastern took the lead for good with a 14-0 run and led for a total of 32:31, opening its biggest leads of the game at 12 in the first half and 17 in the second half.
 
Following Saturday's contest, Eastern plays its final three regular season league road games – Feb. 18 at Sacramento State, Feb. 20 at Portland State and Feb. 27 at Idaho. The Eagles close the league season at home versus Idaho State on March 3 and Weber State on March 5.
 
 
 
Opponent/Series Notes 
 
* The Eagles are 9-10 all-time versus UNC (6-3 in Cheney, 3-7 in Greeley), with the first meeting taking place on Dec. 20, 1971, when Eastern beat the Bears 76-68 in Greeley, Colo. Since then, all of the meetings have been with EWU as a member of NCAA Division I (since 1983-84), starting in the 2006-07 season when the Bears became a Big Sky Conference member. Last year, EWU played the Bears just once, winning 95-85 in Cheney.
 
* For the first 13 minutes earlier this season in Greeley, things went according to plan in the Big Sky Conference opener for EWU, but Northern Colorado exploded for 78 points in the final 27 minutes to beat the Eagles 96-90 on Dec. 31. Felix Von Hofe scored 27 points for the Eagles, marking his third-straight game of at least 27. Venky Jois had his second-straight double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds, but EWU never led in the second half after taking a 24-18 lead in the opening 12:47. The Bears made 40-of-65 shots from the field for 62 percent, including 9-of-13 3-pointers (69 percent). In the second half alone, Northern Colorado made 66 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Eagles 22-10. The Bears had 16 of their 20 second-chance points after intermission. Senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom added 18 points and sophomore Sir Washington made 3-of-6 shots from the field and 5-of-6 free throws to finish with 11 points. Eastern was within 83-81 with 2:20 to play, but the Bears scored 10 of the next 12 points to go up by 10 with 37 seconds left. The biggest blow in that run was an offensive rebound – UNC's 11th of the half – that led to a basket and eight-point lead at the 1:19 mark. The final rebounding margin was 39-36 in favor of the Bears, but it was a tale of two halves. Eastern led 26-17 at halftime and had 12 offensive rebounds leading to 11 second-chance points (16 in the game). But in the second half, UNC out-rebounded the Eagles 22-11, with 11 offensive boards leading to 16 UNC second-chance points (20 in the game).
 
 
 
Venky Jois Milestone Watch 

* Senior Venky Jois, only the third player in the 53-year history of the Big Sky Conference to have more than 1,600 points and 900 rebounds in his career, is inching closer to the EWU career scoring record. Now with 1,665 points as an Eagle, he is only 76 points behind the school record of 1,741 held by Ron Cox (1974-77). His point total is currently 14th in Big Sky history, just eight from moving into the No. 13 position.

* If Jois equals his 16.8 scoring average the rest of the season (including one Big Sky Tournament game), Jois would finish with 1,782 to rank 13th in league history and break the school record at home on March 3 versus Idaho State. He moved from fourth to second in career scoring against Montana on Jan. 23, with a first-half dunk moving him past the 1,550 points of Irv Leifer (1942-47) and in the second half he moved past the 1,564 scored by former teammate Tyler Harvey. Jois also ranks ahead of the 1,438 of Rodney Stuckey (now with the Indiana Pacers in the NBA). Jois became the fourth player in school history to hit the 1,500-point mark in his Eagle career with 24 against Southern Utah on Jan. 14.

* Besides his scoring prowess, Jois' school-record total of 229 blocked shots are 18 from the league record of 247 (Brian Qvale, Montana, 2008-11). Jois also has 940 rebounds in his career to rank third in school history and seventh all-time in the Big Sky (nine from moving into sixth). The only other players in league history to have more than 1,600 points and 900 rebounds are Larry Krystkowiak (Montana, 1983-86, 2,017 points, 1,105 rebounds, 3,122 total) and Steve Hayes (Idaho State, 1974-77, 1,933 points, 1,147 rebounds, 3,080 total). For total points/rebounds, Jois is sixth all-time with a current total of 2,605 (No. 5 is Jim Potter, Idaho State, 1993-95, 1,810 points, 863 rebounds, 2,673 total and No. 4 is Willie Sojourner, Weber State, 1,563 points, 1,143 rebounds, 2,709 total).

* Jois is also currently on pace to finish 21st in Big Sky history and fifth in school history in career field goal percentage (57.6 percent). His accuracy as a senior of 68.4 percent is on pace to set a school record (Ron Cox, 66.0 percent in 1977) and rank as the third-best in league history. Jois also ranks on EWU's leaders lists for games played (113, sixth), scoring average (14.70, 10th), rebounding average (8.3, eighth), field goals attempted (1,145, third), field goals made (660, second), free throws made (341, second) and owns school records for dunks (144) and free throws attempted (610).
 
Game Notes 
 
* Eastern's scoring average for the season is at 82.6 points to rank 17th in NCAA Division I and lead the Big Sky Conference through games of Feb. 11. Eastern had scored 290 points in its first three games for an average of 96.7 points per game to rank fifth nationally. Last year's team set a school record with 2,820 points scored and averaged 80.6 per game to rank third in NCAA Division I.
 
* Eastern is now 11-0 this season when it has a better field goal percentage than its opponent, and 3-10 when it has been out-shot. The Eagles are also 8-1 when allowing 71 points or fewer, and 6-1 when their opponent makes 44.9 percent or less from the field. Against North Dakota on Feb. 11, the Eagles won for the sixth-straight time when they've made at least 50 percent of their shots, finishing 30-of-58 for 52 percent with 11 3-pointers. The Eagles, ranked eighth in NCAA Division I with a season accuracy rate of 49.7 percent, are now 10-2 when making at least 50 percent.
 
* Eastern is 8-2 with Julian Harrell in the starting lineup, and the lone losses were 85-71 at Montana State on Jan. 21 and 74-69 at Montana on Jan. 23. Harrell missed EWU's first 13 games of the season with a hand injury, but is averaging 9.1 points and 3.2 rebounds on 52 percent shooting in 11 games played, while often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent's best player.
 
* Eastern has now led for 183:10 out of 200 total minutes – 92 percent -- in its last five games, and only trailed for 6:39 (tied for the other 10:11). Eastern's win over North Dakota was its closest of the five games, with UND leading for 5:02 and the game tied for 2:27 in the first half. The Eagles led for 32:31 against UND, 33:16 at Southern Utah, 39:45 at Northern Arizona, 38:25 versus Sacramento State and 39:13 against Portland State. Versus PSU, EWU opened a double-digit lead it never relinquished at 16-4 just 3:40 into the game, and led by 20 or more for the last 26:21 of the game and 27:13 total.
 
* Eastern has now led for 286:40 out of 320 minutes – 90 percent -- in its last eight victories. In a three-game homestand in January, EWU led 113:30 out of a total of 120 possible minutes, sank 57 percent of their shots (99-of-174) and had an average winning margin of 21.0 points per game. Eastern averaged 92 points per game while allowing an average of 71. But proving just how difficult it is to win on the road, Eastern led Montana on Jan. 23 for just 3:29 and two nights earlier led MSU for just 5:23. In its six league home games, Eastern has led for 223:38 out of 240 minutes (93 percent).
 
* Featuring a school-record performance with 20 3-pointers against Portland State on Jan. 28, Eastern's average of 10.4 3-pointers per game is eighth in NCAA Division I (previously fourth after eight games) and leads the Big Sky. The team's percentage is 20th at 39.2 percent (previously 175th/33.9 percent after six games). Austin McBroom (3.57 per game) and Felix Von Hofe (3.04 per game) are ranked first and third in the Big Sky and are sixth and 22nd, respectively, in the nation. Against PSU on Jan. 28, the Eagles made 20-of-31 to break the previous school record of 18 3-pointers set against New Hope on Dec. 4, 2010 and equal the Big Sky record  (since broken by Montana State with 25 on Feb. 11 versus Northern Arizona). Eastern's 20 treys were by eight different players – six by Austin McBroom, five by Felix Von Hofe, four by Julian Harrell and one each by Bogdan Bliznyuk, Sir Washington, Bear Henderson, Will Ferris and Cody Benzel. Two days later, Eastern made just 1-of-20 in a 74-67 home victory over Sacramento State. A year ago, Eastern was fifth nationally with an average of 9.8 made treys per game, and its 40.0 percent accuracy was eighth-best in the nation.
 
* This only the second time in Eastern's 33 seasons as a member of NCAA Division I that the Eagles have scored at least 100 points in four games. Eastern also achieved that feat in 2006-07 season when Rodney Stuckey averaged 24.6 points per game when the Eagles averaged 84.2 per game to establish EWU's high-water mark as a member of DI. The overall record for 100-point performances is eight set in the 1970-71 season, and the 1971-72 squad had seven when Eastern averaged a school-record 90.0 points per game.
 
* Eastern has now led at halftime in 18 of 24 games this season, and has a 14-4 record in those 18 games. Until a 96-86 loss to Davidson on Dec. 9 and an 84-51 setback to Pitt two days later, EWU had led at halftime in its first eight games of the year. The Eagles trailed by eight and 19 points, respectively in those two games. Eastern has out-scored opponents 946-787 in the first half (average score of 39-32) and has been outscored 1049-1036 in the second half (43-43).
 
 
 
Player Notes 
 
* After a career-best 35-point effort against North Dakota (2/11/16), senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom is averaging 20.6 points per game to rank first in the Big Sky and 21st in NCAA Division I. His scoring average currently ranks as the sixth-best in school history In addition, his average of 3.57 3-pointers per game leads the league (teammate Felix Von Hofe is third) and is sixth nationally. His 82 total 3-pointers already ranks fifth all-time in single season school history. McBroom is also 19th in the nation in minutes per game with a league-leading 37.0 average, and he is 36th in 3-point percentage (.429). He is seventh in the league and 127th nationally in free throw percentage, making 94-of-115 for 81.7 percent (he was 10th nationally after making 19 of his first 20). He has upped his assists average to 3.5 per game, ranking ninth in the league. The Eagles lost a pair of All-Big Sky guards from last year's NCAA Tournament team, but McBroom has provided an instant solution for the Eagles. His career-high of 35 against North Dakota (2/11/16) including 20 first-half points and, and overall shooting of 9-of-17 from the field, 5-of-8 from the 3-point stripe and 12-of-14 from the free throw line. He scored 76 points on Eastern's East Coast road trip, including 33 at Davidson on Dec. 11, 14 two nights later at Pitt and 29 on Dec. 14 at Western Carolina. His performance against Davidson included a 12-of-19 shooting night, and eclipsed his previous top game as an Eagle of 20 points (versus Pacific) and as a collegian of 26 points (for Saint Louis against Bradley on 11/29/14). He sank 10-of-17 shots from the field at Western Carolina, including 7-of-12 3-point attempts. His 19 points, five 3-pointers and five assists helped EWU win at San Francisco 81-77 on Dec. 1. He had a double-double with 19 points and 10 assists versus George Fox on Nov. 15. McBroom came to EWU with 97 games and 45 starts worth of NCAA Division I experience -- he played in 66 games at Saint Louis (15 as a starter) and 31 (30 as a starter) at Central Michigan in 2011-12.
 
* Preseason Big Sky Conference MVP Venky Jois is ranked a season-high second in NCAA Division I in field goal percentage, having made 68.4 percent of his shots thus far. His current mark is on pace to break the school record of 66.0 percent set by Ron Cox in the 1976-77 season and rank third all-time in the Big Sky. He is also 58th nationally and fourth in the league in rebounding (8.8 per game), 44th/2nd in blocked shots (1.96) and 136th/ninth in scoring (16.8). Jois has had eight doubles this season, with seven in his last 13 games, including his 34th career double-double against Southern Utah (2/6/16) with 11 points and 11 boards. He had his first double-double of the season with 21 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots at Davidson on Dec. 9. Jois played in the 100th game of his career and became the 16th player in school history to hit the century mark on Dec. 14 when EWU played at Western Carolina. He equaled his career high with seven assists on Nov. 29 against South Dakota, which double and triple teamed him when he got the ball in the post and limited him to just three shots. He also went to the free throw line five times against the Coyotes to surpass the school's career record for charity shots. Now with 600 free throws attempted in his career, he broke the previous school record of 499 set by Dave Hayden from 1970-73. His 335 free throws made are second in school history, with Rodney Stuckey (2006-07) owning the record of 386. Jois also owns school records with 229 blocked shots (second in Big Sky history) and 144 dunks. He averaged 16.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots per game as a junior, and so far as a senior has averages of 16.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.0 blocks. In Eastern's home sweep versus Portland State (1/28/16) and Sacramento State (1/30/16), he averaged 23.5 points and 10.5 rebounds while making 63 percent of his shots from the field (19-of-30) and 75 percent from the free throw line (9-of-12). He also had three assists, three blocks and a steal to garner Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors. In a six-game stretch from Jan. 14-30, he averaged 20.5 points and 9.5 points on 53-of-79 shooting (67.1 percent) from the field, helping EWU to four victories. He had a huge weekend in Eastern's home sweep on Jan. 14 and 16, scoring 45 points on 21-of-28 (75 percent) shooting from the field, with a total of 11 dunks. Jois also had 20 rebounds, three assists, three blocked shots and a pair of steals. Eastern beat Southern Utah 106-80 and Northern Arizona 96-73 in a pair of romps that EWU led for a total of 73:22 and trailed for just 4:09 out of 80 minutes. He made 11-of-16 shots with six dunks to score 24 against SUU, and also had 12 rebounds to finish with a double-double. He made 10-of-12 shots from the field with five dunks, and added eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals in a 21-point effort versus NAU.
 
* Sophomore forward Bogdan Bliznyuk is the only player in the league to rank in the top 25 in scoring (20th, 12.2 per game) and the top 15 in rebounding (8th, 6.5) and assists (13th, 2.8). He also ranks in the top 10 in steals (8th, 1.42) and free throw percentage (9th, 78.2 percent). In league only statistics, Bliznyuk is ranked in the top 20 in scoring (18th, 12.6) and in the top 10 in five other categories – rebounding (7th, 7.7), assists (10th, 3.3), blocked shots (8th, 1.1), free throw percentage (4th, .838) and assist-to-turnover ratio (7th, +2.0). Playing a key "blur" position for the Eagles, Bliznyuk has had four double-doubles in his last eight games, and a total of five this season and seven in his career. Included is the first triple-double in school history with 11 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in a 96-73 victory over Northern Arizona (1/16/16). He made 4-of-12 shots from the field and both of his free throws, and also had three blocked shots. Not even Rodney Stuckey, now of the Indiana Pacers, or former All-Big Sky point guard Drew Brandon, were able to register the rare feat. He followed that with his fourth double-double of his career and third this season with 22 points and 13 rebounds at Montana State (1/21/16), and against Portland State (1/28/16) he had another monster game with 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists, five steals and four blocked shots in 34 minutes. In Eastern's road sweep over Northern Arizona (84-73) and Southern Utah (81-67), he averaged 24.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals to earn College Sports Madness Big Sky Player of the Week honors. He sank 53.8 percent of his shots overall (14-of-26), making an equal percentage and amount of shots from the 3-point stripe as well as inside (7-of-13 each). He was 7-of-13 from the field in both games as well, registering a double-double with 22 points, a career-high six 3-pointers and 10 rebounds against NAU in EWU's first Big Sky road win of the season. He then had a career-high 26 points with seven rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals against SUU. He made 11-of-12 free throws against the Thunderbirds, including 6-of-6 in the last 3:37 and a key steal and rebound in the final 1:43 to preserve the win.
 
* Sophomore Bogdan Bliznyuk plays a position head coach Jim Hayford calls a "blur" because it shares attributes of a shooting guard, small forward and power forward. He has been used frequently at bringing the ball up the court with a deft ability to get to the rim. He has made 30-of-87 3-pointers thus far for 35 percent, and is 71-of-142 inside the stripe (50 percent) with an overall percentage of 44 percent. He has also made 61-of-78 free throws (78.2 percent). He was the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year after coming off the bench to average 8.7 points and 4.0 rebounds for the Eagles. It's an honor now won six times in the past 14 seasons by Eastern players, including current Eagle Venky Jois in the 2012-13 season. Bliznyuk, who also earned Big Sky All-Academic honors, averaged 12.0 poi­­nts in league play to rank 24th in the Big Sky -- tops among all freshmen. He was also fifth in field goal shooting (58.0 percent) and 12th in rebounding (5.6). Bliznyuk is formerly from Lutsk, Ukraine, but graduated from Todd Beamer High School in Federal Way, Wash., in 2014. He was less than 2 years old when his father, a truck driver, died in an accident. Their mother moved them to Federal Way five years later to be closer to family. Born with a gap in his upper jaw, he has had multiple surgeries after moving to the United States, included transferring bone from his hip. He officially became a United States citizen on Jan. 12, 2016.
 
* Junior Julian Harrell, a transfer from City College of San Francisco who previously played at Penn, averaged 13.3 points in his first three starts this season (all victories). He sank 15-of-20 shots in those three games, including 6-of-9 3-point shots. In 11 games played this season, he is averaging 9.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game, while making 52.2 percent of his shots and 13-of-35 3-pointers (37.1 percent). His season high is 16 points versus Portland State on Jan. 28 when he finished with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 4-of-6 3-pointers. He made the first start of his career against Idaho (1/9/16), helping EWU to a 28-12 lead by scoring all 10 of his first-half points in that stretch on a trio of 3-pointers and a free throw. He finished with 14 points and three rebounds in a total of 25 minutes, then had 15 points in 19 minutes on 6-of-7 shooting against Southern Utah (1/14/16). He had two points, five rebounds and an assist in 10 minutes of action in his Eagle debut versus North Dakota (1/4/16) after missing the first 13 games with a hand injury. He also takes on the added role of usually guarding the opposing team's best player.
 
* Junior sharpshooter Felix Von Hofe is averaging 13.2 points on the season, but in a five-game stretch from Dec. 14 to Jan. 9, he averaged 24.0 points with outings of 28, 27 (twice) and 19 (twice). In that stretch, he made 52.6 percent of his shots overall (40-of-76) and 50.0 percent of his 3-point shots (27-of-54), and also made 13-of-16 free throws (81.3 percent) and averaged 4.4 rebounds.  Von Hofe ranks 22nd in NCAA Division I in 3-pointers per game with an average of 3.04 per game (he was third with a 3.86 average following EWU's game on Jan. 9) and is 36th in accuracy at 42.9 percent (he was 22nd with a 46.2 percent accuracy rate after Jan. 9). He was selected on Dec. 21 as the Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week after back-to-back career-best performances. The 6-foot-5 sharpshooter eclipsed his career high with 28 in a huge 74-58 road win at Denver on Dec. 20 on 9-of-18 shooting from the field and 8-of-14 from the 3-point stripe. Von Hofe finished two treys away from the school record of 10 and also had six rebounds -- two from his career high. One game earlier, he scored 27 at Western Carolina, which bested his previous high of 25 points set against Seattle on Nov. 18. He made 10-of-16 shots overall and 5-of-9 from the 3-point stripe against Western Carolina, for two-game totals of 19-of-34 (55.9 percent) and 13-of-23 (56.5 percent).
 
* Eastern's sixth-man, sophomore guard Sir Washington, has scored in double figures five times this season, including a 10-point effort on perfect 3-of-3 shooting against Portland State (1/28/16). Three games earlier he came two points from his career high by hitting all five of his shots and three free throws to finish with 13 points in a 96-73 win over Northern Arizona (1/16/16). He also had six points, six rebounds and two steals in 28 minutes at Montana (1/23/16) and eight points, five rebounds and a career-high three assists in 15 minutes versus North Dakota (2/11/15). The Eagle sixth man opened the season with 11 points in the team's opener at Mississippi State, and topped that with career highs of 15 points and nine rebounds against Great Falls on Dec. 6. He also scored 11 in two other games, including Northern Colorado (12/31/16) in the team's league opener. He was injured and didn't play versus Idaho (1/9/16). He has started four games, and is averaging 5.9 points on 51 percent shooting from the field, and is also averaging 17.2 minutes and 2.9 rebounds with 20 assists and 14 steals.
 
* Six Eagles have already made their college basketball debuts this season, and five of them have played in at least 20 Eastern games. Those five were inserted into the starting lineup by head coach Jim Hayford against Great Falls on Dec. 6.
 
* Starting true freshman Jesse Hunt, a 6-foot-7 forward, made the first start of his career against Pacific (11/28/15), and is averaging 10.2 minutes, 2.1 rebounds and 1.6 points per game as a nine-game starter. He missed EWU's game at Western Carolina with a sprained ankle. Redshirt freshman Will Ferris, who came off the bench to play 23 minutes against Seattle on Nov. 23 and score a career-high nine points, is averaging 1.8 points, 0.7 assists and 6.9 minutes on the season. Ty Gibson has seen significant action as a true freshman, averaging 8.0 minutes and 2.0 points per game and starting twice. He made all three of his 3-point attempts and a free throw to finish with a season-high 10 points against Southern Utah (1/14/16). Redshirt freshman Bear Henderson has averaged 5.4 minutes and 1.7 points thus far, and started his first career game against George Fox on Nov. 15. Freshman redshirt Cody Benzel has averaged 3.9 points in an average of 5.9 minutes, including 23 points on a 7-of-14 3-point shooting performance against Great Falls on Dec. 6. He also had a 12-point performance against South Dakota on Nov. 29 when he made four 3-pointers in just eight minutes of action. All five of those players made their collegiate debuts in EWU's opener at Mississippi State on Nov. 13, and Ferris, Benzel and Gibson made the first starts of their careers against Great Falls. True freshman Michael Wearne made his collegiate debut versus George Fox, however, will now redshirt because of a hip injury requiring surgery.
 
* Making his NCAA Division I debut against Mississippi State on Nov. 13 was junior college transfer Rico Nuno, who had a career-high seven rebounds at Denver on Dec. 20 and is averaging 1.7 rebounds, 0.6 points and 6.4 minutes in 17 games played. He has not played since Jan. 23 because of a foot injury. Senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom made his Eagle debut against the Bulldogs, and junior transfer Julian Harrell played for the first time on Jan. 2 after missing the first 13 games with a hand injury. Three Eagles – transfer Geremy McKay, transfer Mario Soto and freshman Grant Gibb – will redshirt.
 

 
Quoting Coach Hayford
 
On UND Win: "That was a really good win for our basketball team against a quality opponent. Our two seniors played outstanding and wouldn't be denied. They led us to victory – that's what leadership on the floor looks like. Venky in the second half inside was just unstoppable."
 
On Contributions from Bench: "Julian was suffering from a migraine headache, and we received great contributions from two freshmen off the bench in Cody Benzel and Ty Gibson. And Sir Washington in 15 minutes really made a difference. When you get great contributions off the bench and leadership from your seniors, that's how you beat a quality opponent by 10. I'm very, very happy."
 
On Eagles After 0-2 Start at UND & UNC: "It's like two separate seasons. We've won eight of our last 10 – anything that happened before that is not even in our memory. We wanted a little payback because even though we weren't playing that well that first weekend, we still should have won that game. We didn't play the last four minutes like we should have."
 
On Venky Jois Building Program: "Tyler Harvey got a lot of attention last year, but there are some unsung heroes too in the renaissance of Eastern basketball. Venky is going to leave here as the all-time leading scorer and the all-time leader in blocked shots. He's a pre-med major and was selected to the all-academic team for our region. The reason is our program is better is that we were able to build on his back. He's that good of a player and a person. He loves Eastern – he sweats it. He said, 'I will turn this around with you Coach Hayford,' and he's done it. That's why we'll see his number retired in this gym some day."
 
On Austin McBroom Filling Gap When Tyler Harvey Departed a Year Early: "We had a gap in our program, and I don't think there was a graduate transfer in the country than the player we were able to get. He scored 35 points tonight and he's leading the Big Sky in scoring. We lost a player to the NBA, but our team is playing better offensively because we added a player like Austin. I'm really glad he wanted to get his master's in communications here because he's made us a great team. I love them both."
 
On Bogdan Bliznyuk: "Bogdan is playing great basketball -- as well as anyone on our team. I am really proud of him.  His conference statistics reflect his great ability and character."
 
 
 
Recent Game Recap
 
* Senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom scored a career-high 35 and fifth-year senior Venky Jois added 24 to help Eastern power past North Dakota 95-85 in a battle for third place in the Big Sky Conference standings Feb. 11 at Reese Court. Eastern made 52 percent of its shots overall, including 11-of-29 3-point shots (38 percent), compared to 47 percent for the visitors. Eastern, which sank 24-of-32 free throws (75 percent), also managed a 38-30 rebounding advantage. Jois led the way on the boards with nine, and also had four blocked shots and five assists. He made all nine of his field goal attempts, including three dunks, to flirt with the school record of 10-of-10. McBroom eclipsed his previous career high of 33 by netting 35 on 9-of-17 shooting from the field (5-of-8 3-pointers) and 12-of-14 from the free throw line. He also had five assists and four rebounds. With starter Julian Harrell playing just nine minutes because of a migraine headache, sophomore Sir Washington and freshmen Cody Benzel and Ty Gibson stepped forward to play 39 quality minutes for EWU. Washington scored eight points and had five rebounds and three assists, and Gibson hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first half and added three rebounds. Benzel hit a pair of baskets in the second half, including a 3-pointer. There were three lead changes and a pair of ties in the early going, but McBroom's 20 first-half points helped the Eagles lead by 10 at halftime. He scored eight points in a 14-0 Eastern run to turn a five-point deficit into a nine-point advantage with 9:15 left in the half. Eastern held the Fighting Hawks without a point for 4:38 in that stretch as UND missed seven-straight shots. Ahead by seven in the second half, the Eagles went on an electrifying 18-5 run, capped by a Benzel 3-pointer with 11:30 left that gave EWU a 66-49 advantage. Jois had all three of his dunks in that stretch, as the Eagles led by no less than seven the rest of the way. Eastern clinched it by making 10 free throws in the final 58 seconds, including eight by McBroom.