Giving senior Venky Jois another home game in an Eagle uniform is the crowning glory, but it will also be a milestone night for Jim Hayford when the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team makes its fourth national postseason appearance as a member of NCAA Division I.

Hayford will coach in his 500th game as a collegiate head coach when Eastern opens play in the College Basketball Invitational this Wednesday (March 16). Tipoff is 6:05 p.m. Pacific time in an event presented by the Gazelle Group.

Eastern enters Wednesday game 17-15 after going 1-1 in the recently-concluded Big Sky Conference Tournament. The Waves are 18-13 after finishing 10-8 and in fourth place in the West Coast Conference. The winner will play on Monday, March 21, versus the winner of the Montana versus Nevada game.

Tickets for the game are now on sale and will all be sold as general admission, and cost $10 for adults and $5 for juniors (ages 3-12). More information and a link to purchase is available at www.goeags.com/tickets Fans can listen the game on 700-AM ESPN and via the web at www.700espn.com, and the game will also be broadcast on www.watchbigsky.com.

"What I'm really excited about it that we're going to get to play another game, and the loss to Idaho (77-73 in the BSC Tournament quarterfinals) wasn't the last game for our team," said Hayford, who is 337-162 in 17 seasons, including the last five at Eastern. "We've had a great season and we are going to continue playing basketball."

"Coach (Marty) Wilson has rebuilt Pepperdine into a contending WCC program," said Hayford of his team's first-round matchup. "We are honored to host them in the postseason."

In a season full of milestones for Jois -- just the third player in Big Sky Conference history to score more than 1,600 points and haul down at least 900 rebounds – Wednesday's game will be an unexpected milestone for Hayford. He was 37-27 at Sioux Falls (two seasons from 1999-2001), 217-57 at nearby Whitworth (10 seasons from 2001-2011) and is 83-78 at EWU (five seasons from 2011-16).

"500 is a lot of games," said Hayford, who has led the Eagles to its most victories (43) in back-to-back seasons in EWU's 33 seasons as a member of NCAA Division I. "My first thought, other than being surprised, is that 500 games is a ton of game-day stress to have to endure. But it mainly gives me true joy because I've been fortunate to coach with great people and have enjoyed incredible relationships with so many outstanding players."

Jois enters Wednesday's game with a school-record 1,797 points, and needs just 13 to move into 12^th in Big Sky Conference history. His 1,012 rebounds are now fifth in league history, and his 239 blocks are just behind the league record of 247. He has already set seven school records, and is on pace for another for field goal percentage in a season (68.3 percent).

 "The most important part of it is that the all-time leading scorer in Eastern Washington history is going to get to play again – it's awesome," said Hayford. "I get to coach him another day and his teammates get to put on their uniforms with him another day. Right there, that matters a lot. What Venky has come and given his life to is turning this program around. We decided we were going to build on a group of players and turn it around, and we've had the two best back-to-back seasons Eastern has had at the Division I level. They get to have back-to-back postseason experiences, and in three of the last five years have been in the top half of the conference. We've pushed our way up the ladder. There is a lot of parity in this league. I'm really proud of our players."

Senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom and junior Felix Von Hofe are also climbing all-time best lists for single season 3-pointers. McBroom has 108 to rank fourth in Big Sky history and third in school history, just one from moving up a notch in both. Von Hofe has 95 to rank 13th all-time in the league and fifth in EWU history, and is trying to record the 10th performance in league history with at least 100. Eastern players own four of those marks.

 
Link to Fact Book
 
The complete version of the 2015-16 EWU men's basketball fact book may be found at:
http://goeags.com/sports/2016/1/7/MBB_Other%20Links-Archive.aspx
 
 
More Eagle Basketball Links
 
Eastern Basketball -- http://goeags.com/index.aspx?path=mbball
Link to CBI Tournament Information – www.cbi2016.com
Link to Ticket Information -- http://goeags.com/sports/2015/12/19/genticketinfo.aspx
Spokesman-Review EWU Basketball Page -- http://www.spokesman.com/ewuhoops
Story on Eagle Head Coach Jim Hayford -- http://www.inlander.com/spokane/the-man-in-the-red-blazer/Content?oid=2603878
Story on Mid-Season Top 5 Australians (Jois & Von Hofe included): http://pickandroll.com.au/ncaa-men-simmons-headlines-mid-season-top-5-aussies/
Eagle Radio Podcasts: https://soundcloud.com/ewuathletics-1/tracks
Big Sky Conference Basketball: http://www.bigskyconf.com/index.aspx?tab=basketball&path=mbball
NCAA Basketball -- http://www.ncaa.com/sports/m-baskbl/ncaa-m-baskbl-body.html
ESPN College Scoreboard -- http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/scoreboard
Tyler Harvey NBA D-League Page -- http://dleague.nba.com/player/tyler-harvey/
Tyler Harvey Video of 3-Point Barrage in D-League: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMTL11v5kkQ
Rodney Stuckey NBA Page -- http://www.nba.com/playerfile/rodney_stuckey/index.html
More Information and Links are Available at: HTTP://WWW.GOEAGS.COM

 
 

CBI/Opponent/Series Notes 

 
* Eastern has participated in the NCAA Tournament in 2004 and 2015, and the NIT in 2003. In 2003, Eastern fell to Wyoming 78-71 in the first round of the NIT in 2003, then lost 75-56 to Oklahoma State in the NCAA Tournament in Kansas City, Mo., a year later. Last season, after winning the Big Sky Conference Tournament title in Missoula, Eastern fell to 22nd-ranked Georgetown 84-74.
 
* This will be the eighth national post-season tournament Jim Hayford has coached in. Besides last year's NCAA Tournament, he coached Whitworth in six NCAA Division III Tournaments (2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011). He is 6-7 in national tourney games, including an Elite Eight appearance in his final season at Whitworth in 2011.
 
* Eastern has played Pepperdine only once in school history, that coming nearly 70 years ago to the day on March 14, 1946. That was a 46-42 Eastern loss in the NAIA Championships, an event Eastern played in on five occasions (1942, 1943, 1945, 1946 and 1947).
 
* Eastern was 2-0 versus the West Coast Conference this season, having defeated USF for the second-straight season (81-77 on Dec. 1) and Pacific (70-63 on Nov. 28 in Sacramento). Pepperdine was 4-1 versus those same teams, beating Pacific 81-76 at home and 65-63 in overtime on the road, and beating USF on the road 98-84 and losing to the Dons at home 82-72. The Waves beat USF 90-86 in the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas before falling to Saint Mary's 81-66 in the semifinals. Pepperdine beat Montana 69-63 on Nov. 29 in Malibu, and Eastern fell to the Grizzlies 74-69 in Missoula.
 
* Pepperdine has three players averaging in double figures, led by the 16.3 average of 6-foot-5 junior guard/forward Lamond Murray Jr., who earned second team All-WCC honors. Stacy Davis, a 6-6 senior and three-time first team All-WCC selection, averages 15.2 points and 9.0 rebounds. Honorable mention All-WCC performer Jeff Raines, a 6-7 senior, averages 12.8 points and 4.9 boards. The team is coached by Marty Wilson, a 1989 Pepperdine graduate and former Waves player who is in his fifth season as head coach at Pepperdine. This is his 19th season overall on the campus in Malibu.
 
* The CBI is a single-elimination tournament up until the "best-of-three" Championship Series, with all games played at campus sites. After the First Round games, the Quarterfinal Round will take place on Monday, March 21, followed by the Semifinal Round on Wednesday, March 23. Prior to the semifinals, the remaining teams will be re-bracketed. The Championship Series is a best-of-three in which one team will host two of the three games. Those games will be played on March 28, March 30, and April 1. Past CBI champions include Tulsa, Oregon State, VCU, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Santa Clara, Siena, and Loyola Chicago. Teams from nearly every conference have participated in the event. Twenty-six teams have used the CBI to springboard to the NCAA Tournament the following year, while another 16 have gone on to the NIT. ESPN is the official television home of the CBI. ESPNU will televise each game of the best-of-three Championship Series. Mitch Holthus and Sean Harrington will serve as the broadcast team. The College Basketball Invitational is produced by the Gazelle Group of Princeton, N.J. The Gazelle Group is a sports marketing firm, specializing in event production and management, client representation, and sponsorship consulting. Gazelle produces numerous nationally-recognized events, such as the 2K Classic benefiting Wounded Warrior Project, Legends Classic, and the Gotham Classic.
 
* The Eagles had a 6-6 record in non-conference play, with three of those losses coming to upper echelon squads in NCAA Division I (Mississippi State, Davidson and Pittsburgh). With two of EWU's wins against lower-division teams, that gave Eastern seven opponents – mid-majors if you will – to prepare for the rigors of league play. The Eagles finished those seven games with a 4-3 record, including road wins at San Francisco and Denver. Fresh off its best season in the school's NCAA Division I history, Eastern played teams from nine different conferences in the 2015-16 non-conference portion of EWU's season.
 
* Of EWU's first 14 games of the season, just three were at home – Nov. 15, Nov. 17 and Dec. 6. A Dec. 17 game against Morehead State would have been one of only two home games for the Eagles in a 12-game stretch from Nov. 23 to Jan. 2, but it was canceled because of weather-related travel difficulties for the Kentucky-based team. Thus, by the time the Eagles played Idaho, they had not played at home in more than a month and played 10 of 11 on the road (including its last six).
 
 
 

Venky Jois/Austin McBroom/Felix Von Hofe 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, established his sixth school record against Idaho State on March 3 by becoming Eastern's all-time scoring leader. A layup with four minutes left in the first half put him past the previous record of 1,741 set 39 years ago by Ron Cox (1974-77). Jois now has 1,797 points to rank 12th in Big Sky history, 13 from moving into the No. 12 position (1,810).
 
* Besides his scoring prowess, Jois' school-record total of 239 blocked shots are eight from the league record of 247 (Brian Qvale, Montana, 2008-11). Jois also has 1,012 rebounds in his career to rank third in school history and fifth all-time in the Big Sky. 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 fourth all-time with a current total of 2,809, only 89 from No. 3 (Bruce Collins, Weber State, 1977-80, 2,019 points, 879 rebounds, 2,898 total).
 
* With 61 dunks to break his own school record of 53 set as a junior, Jois is currently on pace to finish 19th in Big Sky history and fifth in school history in career field goal percentage (58.4 percent). His accuracy as a senior of 68.3 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 career leaders lists for games played (121, second), scoring average (14.9, ninth), rebounding average (8.4, eighth), field goals attempted (1,227, second), field goals made (716, second), free throws made (361, second) and owns school records for dunks (159) and free throws attempted (658).
 
* With 108 3-pointers this season, senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom now ranks fourth among the nine performances in Big Sky Conference history with at least 100. Four of those performances are by Eagles (Shannon Taylor 103 in 1999, Tyler Harvey 109 in 2014 and Harvey a Big Sky-record 128 in 2015), and Felix Von Hofe is only five from that mark (his current total of 95 is 13th). McBroom needs one to equal Harvey's total of 109 to rank third and 16 to move into second (Stephen Sir, Northern Arizona, 2007). McBroom has a 21.0 scoring average to currently rank as the fifth-best in school history and his 651 total points are fifth. He is 26 points from Harvey's total of 677 in 2014 to rank fourth all-time.
 
* Besides ranked 13th in Big Sky history in 3-pointers made in a single season, Felix Von Hofe is fifth in school history in that category. In his career, he is seventh in 3-pointers made (156), eighth in 3-point attempts (390) and 10th in 3-point field goal accuracy (40.0 percent).
 
 
 

School Records Broken

(Venky Jois owns seven and is on pace for eight)
 
Single Game
Team - Points/RECORD - 126 vs. George Fox 11/15/15 (old record 124)
Team - 3-Point Field Goals/RECORD - 20 vs. Portland State 1/28/16 (old record 18)
• Also tied the Big Sky Conference record, which was broken on 2/11/16 when MSU had 25 against Northern Arizona
Team - Steals/RECORD - 26 vs. George Fox 11/15/15 (old record 19)
Bogdan Bliznyuk/FIRST-EVER TRIPLE DOUBLE - 11 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists vs. Northern Arizona 1/16/16
 
Season
Venky Jois - Dunks/SCHOOL RECORD - 61 (old record 53 set in 2014-15 by Jois)
Venky Jois – Season Field Goal Percentage/ON PACE FOR SCHOOL RECORD - .683 (current record .660 set by Ron Cox in 1976-77)
*** Venky Jois - Blocked Shots/SCHOOL RECORD - 69 (old record 68 set in 2013-13 by Martin Seiferth)
***Record broken in 2014-15.
 
Career
Venky Jois - Points/SCHOOL RECORD - 1,797 (broke old record of 1,741)
Venky Jois - Free Throws Attempted/SCHOOL RECORD - 658 (broke old record of 499)
Venky Jois - Blocked Shots Per Game/CURRENTLY SCHOOL RECORD - 2.0
Venky Jois - Blocked Shots/SCHOOL RECORD - 239 (broke old record of 112)
Venky Jois - Dunks/SCHOOL RECORD - 159 (old record 101)
 
 
 

Game Notes 

 
* Coaches Shows featuring head coach Jim Hayford and host Larry Weir continue Mondays at 6 p.m. Pacific time, including a live show on March 14. Fans can listen to the one-hour show on 700-AM ESPN and via the web at www.700espn.com. Shows take place at the Swinging Doors Restaurant in North Spokane (W. 1018 Francis) and fans may attend live.
 
* The Eagles and head coach Jim Hayford have already won the most games in back-to-back seasons in the school's 33 seasons as a member of NCAA Division I. Eastern has won 43 thus far (26 last year, 17 this season), to overtake the previous mark of 35. This is also the first time since the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons EWU has had back-to-back winning seasons, and EWU's 24 total league wins the last two seasons are also the most in back-to-back years in 29 seasons as a member of the Big Sky. Hayford is the winningest coach in Eastern's Division I history with 83 wins in his five years at the helm (the previous mark was 69). He is averaging 16.6 victories per season thus far – just behind the all-time record of 17.3 among Eastern coaches with at least four seasons at the helm. He would need to get to 87 wins (21 this season) to surpass that high-water mark in EWU's 108 seasons of basketball.
 
* Eastern's scoring average for the season is at 81.9 points to rank 14th in NCAA Division I and lead the Big Sky Conference through games of March 12. Eastern has 2,620 points total thus far, and 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's school records for average are 90.0 overall (1972) and 84.2 as a member of D1 (2007).
 
* Eastern is now 14-0 this season when it has a better field goal percentage than its opponent, and 3-15 when it has been out-shot. The Eagles are also 9-2 when allowing 71 points or fewer and 8-1 when their opponent makes 44.9 percent or less from the field, and are 1-8 when EWU scores 71 or fewer. Against Sacramento State on Feb. 18, the Eagles won for the ninth-straight time when they made at least 50 percent of their shots, finishing 31-of-58 for 53 percent with 11 3-pointers, but that streak ended the next game versus Portland State when EWU was out-shot 65 percent to 50 percent. The Eagles, ranked ninth in NCAA Division I with an accuracy rate of 48.9 percent, are now 12-3 when making at least 50 percent, and had had hit that mark in five-straight games before making only 43 percent versus Idaho on Feb. 27. Starting with that Idaho game, EWU has made only 42.9 percent overall (45-of-141) and 32.6 percent from the 3-point stripe (46-of-141) in its last five games.
 
* From Jan. 28 to Feb. 18 the Eagles had a seven-game winning streak, its best since the 2003-04 season when the Eagles won 11 in a row – all during conference play. Eastern's longest winning streak during last year's 26-9 campaign was six games. Both the 2004 and 2015 squads advanced to the NCAA Tournament. In those seven games, EWU led for 259:10 out of 280 total minutes – 93 percent -- and only trailed for 7:18 (tied for the other 13:32). Eastern's win over North Dakota was its closest of the seven games, with UND leading for 5:02 and the game tied for 2:27 in the first half. The Eagles led for 38:47 in its most recent game versus Sacramento State, 37:13 against Northern Colorado, 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 390:17 out of 440 minutes – 89 percent -- in its last 11 victories. In a three-game homestand in January which started the trend, 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 a 107-91 loss at Portland State on Feb. 20 that snapped EWU's seven-game winning streak, EWU led for just 48 seconds, with the game tied for 1:22 and PSU leading for 37:50.
 
* Featuring a school-record performance with 20 3-pointers against Portland State on Jan. 28, Eastern's average of 10.3 3-pointers per game is seventh in NCAA Division I (previously fourth after eight games) and leads the Big Sky. The team's percentage is 36th at 38.2 percent (previously 175th/33.9 percent after six games). Austin McBroom (3.48 per game) and Felix Von Hofe (3.06 per game) are ranked first and fourth in the Big Sky and are fifth and 24th, respectively, in the nation. With 329 3-pointers made this season, the Eagles are chasing the school record of 344 set in 2015, with the percentage record (.400) set the same season. 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 23 of 32 games this season, and has a 17-6 record in those 23 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 1267-1081 in the first half (average score of 39-33) and has been outscored 1379-1353 in the second half (43-42).
 
* Entering the 2015-16 season, head coach Jim Hayford was selected by College Sports Madness as its preseason Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year. Additionally, Sam Vecenie of CBS Sports rated him as one of the top 21 offensive coaches in all of NCAA Division I.
 
* Head coach Jim Hayford – the 2014-15 Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year -- took over an Eastern team four years ago that had been to the Big Sky Conference Tournament just once in five seasons, but in the 2014-15 season he took the Eagles to new heights. The Eagles entered the 2015-16 season with 66 victories overall, 39 league wins and four Big Sky Tournament game triumphs under Hayford, and the 26 victories last season are the fourth-most in the more than 50-year history of the league. In fact, a local newspaper dubbed Hayford the "Wizard in Cheney" in a feature article in November 2015. On July 8, 2015, Hayford signed a new five-year agreement which extends his contract at EWU through the 2019-20 season. The new five-year agreement replaced the contract he signed a year prior.
 
* For the second year in a row, EWU was honored with the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Team Academic Excellence Award. Eastern's 3.27 team grade point average was the best in the Big Sky Conference in the 2014-15 season, and .20 better than the team's 3.07 average of a year ago.
 
* Active within the last year in the pro ranks are 14 former Eagles, including Tyler Harvey and Drew Brandon from last year's Eagle team. Harvey is now with the Erie Bay Hawks of the NBA's Developmental League after getting drafted in the second round (51st overall) by the Orlando Magic in the 2015 NBA Draft. Harvey averaged 10.6 points, 2.0 assists and 1.4 rebounds for the Magic's "Blue" summer squad. Brandon is in his first year with the Bayer Giants in the Germany ProA League. Eastern's professional players are headlined by NBA veteran Rodney Stuckey, who is in his second season with Indiana after seven seasons with the Detroit Pistons. In 2014-15 – his eighth season as a pro and first with the Indiana Pacers – Stuckey averaged 12.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 0.8 steals per game in 71 games (36 starts). He made a career-best 39.0 percent of his 3-point attempts, sinking 55-of-141. Stuckey signed a new 3-year, $21 million contract with the Pacers on July 21, 2015.
 
 
 
 
 

Player Notes 

 
* Eagle players are a collective 15-5 when they have double-doubles, including Venky Jois (8-5), Bogdan Bliznyuk (6-0) and Austin McBroom (1-0). Jois, with 39 in his career, has led EWU to a 23-16 record in those games (8-5 this season, 6-2 in 2014-15, 4-5 in 2013-14 and 5-4 in 2012-13). Eastern is 7-1 in the eight career double-doubles Bliznyuk has recorded, including a current streak of seven in a row.
 
* When including two previous collegiate stops, senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom has now played 128 games and has 250 career 3-pointers, marks that would rank first and second, respectively, in EWU history if they all came as an Eagle. The school record for games played is 126 set the last four seasons by Parker Kelly (Venky Jois has played 121), and the 3-point record is 260 set the last three seasons by Tyler Harvey. 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) in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons, and 31 (30 as a starter) at Central Michigan in 2011-12. In those 128 games, McBroom has per game averages of 23.3 minutes (2,982 total), 11.3 points (1,451), 2.4 assists (303), 2.0 rebounds (250), 0.9 steals (110) and 1.8 turnovers (235). His shooting percentages are 40.1 percent (446-of-1113) overall, 40.3 percent from the 3-point arc (250-of-621), and 83.1 percent from the free throw line (309-of-372). Only three players in Eastern history have made at least 83.0 percent of their free throws in their careers (the record of 84.9 percent).
 
* Senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom has a 21.0 scoring average to rank is first in the Big Sky and 18th in NCAA Division I, and his average of 348 3-pointers per game leads the league and is fifth nationally. His 108 total 3-pointers already ranks third all-time in single season school history and fourth in league history. McBroom is also 14th in the nation in minutes per game with a league-leading 37.3 average, and he is 57th nationally and ninth in the Big Sky in 3-point percentage (.409). He is seventh in the league and 105th nationally in free throw percentage, making 149-of-189 for 82.8 percent (he was 10th nationally after making 19 of his first 20). His assists average is 3.5 per game, ranking ninth in the league. He was the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week after piling up the most points in back-to-back games in Big Sky Conference play in school history, finishing with a combined 72 points in EWU's home sweep against North Dakota (35 points on 2/11/16) and Northern Colorado (37 points on 2/13/16). Including his 11 assists which led to 26 additional Eagle points, he had a hand in 98 of EWU's 192 points on the weekend (51 percent). 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. 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 has made 65 of his last 91 shots (71 percent) in the last nine games and is ranked a season-high second in NCAA Division I in field goal percentage. His current mark of 68.3 percent 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 64th nationally and fifth in the league in rebounding (8.9 per game), 63rd/2nd in blocked shots (1.77) and 144th/10th in scoring (16.7). Jois has had 13 double-doubles this season, with 12 in his last 21 games, including his 39th career double-double against Idaho (3/10/16) with 17 points and 12 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 658 free throws attempted in his career, he broke the previous school record of 499 set by Dave Hayden from 1970-73. His 361 free throws made are second in school history, with Rodney Stuckey (2006-07) owning the record of 386. Jois also owns school records with 239 blocked shots (second in Big Sky history) and 159 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 16.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.8 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.
 
* Besides Venky Jois and Austin McBroom, the third Eagle senior is Los Angeles native Kyle Reid, who has played in 57 career games after transferring from Los Angeles Trade Tech. He has played in 26 games this season, and has scored a total of 65 points and has 63 rebounds in his career. He scored a career-high 10 points versus Great Falls earlier this season when he made all three of his shots from the field and 4-of-7 free throws. A year ago, he played in 31 games and earned Big Sky Conference All-Academic honors.
 
 * Sophomore forward Bogdan Bliznyuk is one of only two players in the league (NAUs Kris Yanku is the other) to rank in the top 25 in scoring (20th, 12.2 per game) and the top 12 in rebounding (8th, 6.8) and assists (12th, 2.9). He also ranks in the top 10 in steals (9th, 1.2) and free throw percentage (9th, 78.9 percent). In league only statistics, Bliznyuk finished ranked in the top 20 in scoring (20th, 12.5) and in the top 11 in five other categories – rebounding (6th, 7.8), assists (11th, 3.4), blocked shots (8th, 1.0), free throw percentage (6th, .833) and assist-to-turnover ratio (8th, +1.6). Playing a key "blur" position for the Eagles, Bliznyuk has had five double-doubles in his last 16 games, and a total of six this season and eight 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 40-of-115 3-pointers thus far for 35 percent, and is 98-of-193 inside the stripe (51 percent) with an overall percentage of 45 percent. He has also made 75-of-95 free throws (78.9 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.
 
* Eastern is 11-6 with Julian Harrell in the starting lineup, having started for the first time on Jan. 9 against Idaho after missing 13 games with an injury. A transfer from City College of San Francisco who previously played at Penn, Harrell 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 19 games played this season, he is averaging 8.4 points and 2.8 rebounds per game, while making 51.4 percent of his shots and 21-of-56 3-pointers (37.5 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 ranks 24th in NCAA Division I and fourth in the league in 3-pointers per game with an average of 3.06 per game (he was third with a 3.86 average following EWU's game on Jan. 9) and is 55th in accuracy at 41.1 percent (he was 22nd with a 46.2 percent accuracy rate after Jan. 9). With 156 career 3-pointers, Von Hofe already ranks seventh in school history, and his 390 attempts are eighth. His career 3-point accuracy of 40.0 percent is currently 10th all-time at EWU. His 95 3-point field goals this season rank fifth in single season school history (13th all-time in the Big Sky) and his 231 attempts are fifth. He is averaging 12.7 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. 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 made 7-of-10 shots from the field to finish with 15 points and equal his career high against Sacramento State (2/18/15). It was his most in his career against a Division I opponent, and matched his overall career high of 15 against Great Falls (12/6/15). He has scored in double figures seven 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 five games, and is averaging 5.7 points on 51 percent shooting from the field (60 percent in conference play), and is also averaging 17.5 minutes and 2.7 rebounds with 25 assists and 20 steals.
 
* Six Eagles have already made their college basketball debuts this season, and five of them have played in at least 26 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 9.0 minutes, 1.8 rebounds and 1.8 points per game as a nine-game starter. Hunt, who missed EWU's game at Western Carolina with a sprained ankle, had seven points, two rebounds and two steals in seven minutes against Idaho State (3/3/16). 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 1.3 points, 0.6 assists and 6.0 minutes on the season. Ty Gibson has seen significant action as a true freshman, averaging 7.0 minutes and 1.7 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 1.4 points thus far, and started his first career game against George Fox on Nov. 15. Freshman redshirt Cody Benzel has averaged 3.5 points in an average of 5.8 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 Idaho Loss in Big Sky Tournament: "It was two great teams who really battled it out in a great basketball game. I just feel really bad for our players. We feel like we are a lot better shooting team than we showed, but I feel like we need to credit the other's team defense. We're a pretty good offensive team, but they held us to 36 percent from the field and 28 percent from three. They did a great job of mixing up defenses on us and dared us to make the outside shot. But they also get in that space where they contest it, and then they take away your high percentage inside looks. They did it to us in Moscow and they did it to us again tonight. So you need to credit the team that won."
 
On NAU Victory in Big Sky Tournament: "Any win in the postseason is a good win. During our four-game losing streak, we were kind of like a snake coiling into perfect form ready to strike this week. In some ways our team can be a fragile team. Sometimes we get our energy from scoring, and that makes us play harder on defense. We got a little re-adjusted (against NAU) – we didn't make shots like we can, but we fed off our defense. Then our offense came into form and we shot the ball like we could. And we didn't go down in our defense. That's how we came away with a win."
 
On Shooting Prowess: "We recruit to shoot – I'm not surprised by our great shooting nights. If you come to practice and watch these players, they can really shoot it. We put a premium on it and it's one of the standards of our offense. When we are shooting well it sets up our drive game and our post play."
 
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 better than the player we were able to get. We lost a player to the NBA, but our team is playing great basketball on the offensive side, this is in large part due to 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 offensive team."
 
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."
 
 
 

Big Sky Conference Tournament Recaps

 
* Although they battled to the very end against the Big Sky's best defense, the sixth-seeded and defending champion Eagles fell to third-seeded Idaho 77-73 in a Big Sky Conference Tournament quarterfinal game Thursday (March 10) at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada. Despite two-time All-Big Sky Conference player Venky Jois finishing with the 39th double-double of his career, Eastern lost in the rubber game against the Vandals this season. Eastern won at home (74-60 on Jan. 9) and lost on the road (66-62 on Feb. 27). But the Eagles were held to a season-low 35.6 percent shooting night, including just 9-of-32 3-pointers for 28 percent. The game included six ties and six lead changes, identical to the meeting in Moscow. In that meeting, Idaho held EWU to 43 percent shooting from the field and 31 percent from the 3-point arc. Senior two-time All-Big Sky first team recipient Venky Jois made 6-of-11 shots to finish with 17 points, 12 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Junior Felix Von Hofe made 4-of-12 3-pointers and finished with 17 points and six rebounds. In his 128th game as a collegian, senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom finished with 12 points on 12-of-14 shooting from the free throw line. However, the second team All-Big Sky performer finished 0-of-10 from the field and 0-of-6 from the three-point stripe. After making just 13 of its first 39 field goal attempts and 4-of-21 3-pointers, the Eagles had a hot stretch to knot the game at 62 on back-to-back 3-pointers by Julian Harrell. Eastern pulled to within 66-65 shortly after that. Eastern made 6-of-8 shots in that stretch, including all three of its 3-point attempts. But Eastern missed its next five shots and Idaho turned it into a 73-67 advantage with 3:10 left. The closest Eastern could get the rest of the way was three, as Idaho closed out the game by  making 4-of-6 free throws in the last 1:04.
 
* The sixth-seeded and defending champion Eagles used a late run in the first half to take the lead for good and went on to defeat 11th seeded Northern Arizona 74-52 in a Big Sky Conference Tournament game March 8 at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada. With All-Big Sky Conference players Austin McBroom and Venky Jois leading the way, Eastern won its fourth-straight game in the league tournament and third in three tries this season against the Lumberjacks. The 52 points EWU allowed was its best defensive effort of the season, and Northern Arizona's 40.4 shooting percentage was the lowest against the Eagles since Idaho made only 31.3 percent on Jan. 9 in a 74-60 Eagle win. Eastern forced 19 turnovers against Weber State in its regular season finale, and forced 17 versus the Lumberjacks. That led to 24 points off turnovers for the Eagles, just one behind the season high of 25 set on two occasions. In his 127th game as a collegian, senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom finished with 16 points and five steals, making 7-of-14 shots overall and 2-of-7 3-pointers. McBroom, a second-team all-league choice, moved into fourth in Big Sky Conference history with 108 3-pointers this season. Senior two-time All-Big Sky first team recipient Venky Jois made 5-of-10 shots to finish with 14 points, 11 rebounds, six assists (one from his career high), two steals and a blocked shot. Jois finished with his 38th career double-double and 12th this season, and in the process hit the 1,000-rebound mark in his career. Sophomore Bogdan Bliznyuk scored 15 points and had five boards. Eastern trailed 26-23, but went on a 9-0 run to take a 32-26 advantage just before halftime. Eastern held NAU without a point for a 3:10 stretch, then continued its defensive effort in the second half, holding NAU to 3-of-8 shooting with a trio of turnovers as the Eagles opened a 50-36 lead with 12:57 left in the game. Eastern led by as many as 29 the rest of the way. Eastern made just 3-of-18 3-point shots in the first half and was 10-of-32 for the game, but was impressive inside the arc. Eastern made 19-of-33 of its 2-point attempts (58 percent) and 6-of-8 free throws (75 percent) in the game.