Upcoming Games (times Pacific)

Coverage

Radio: Eastern games may be heard 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.
 

---

The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team is going to have to embrace the grind if it hopes to return to the NCAA Tournament.
 
The defending Big Sky Conference regular season co-champion and tournament titlist closes out its 2015-16 regular season when the Eagles host Weber State Saturday (March 5) at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash., at 2:05 p.m. The Eagles, who can finish no better than fifth in the league standings, take on the Wildcats, who can clinch at least a share of the league title and the No. 1 seed into the tournament with a victory over the Eagles.
 
Eastern seniors Venky Jois, Austin McBroom and Kyle Reid will be honored in pre-game ceremonies, just one game after Jois became the school's career scoring leader in a 75-71 loss versus Idaho State on Thursday (March 3). Fans can listen 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.
 
Win Saturday and the Eagles will be the No. 5 seed in the Big Sky Tournament; lose and they will be No. 6. Regardless, Eastern will play either Northern Arizona or Southern Utah on Tuesday, March 8.
 
The Eagles are hoping to return to their play in January and February that saw them win seven-straight games for the first time in 11 seasons. Eastern has followed with a three-game losing streak, including the team's first home loss of the season Thursday to Idaho State by a 75-71 score. As a result, Eastern has dropped from sole possession of third in the league standings to a tie for fifth.
 
"As a team we need to recharge our batteries and prepare for a week where we can work to make our dreams come true," said Eastern head coach Jim Hayford, whose team could potentially play a total of six games from March 3 to March 12. "Knowing we will be playing Tuesday will factor into how we approach this game. I expect to see our guys play inspired, hard-nosed basketball against a great Weber State team."
 
If EWU is the No. 5 seed, they will play at 2:35 p.m. Pacific time against the No. 12 seed, and if they slip to No. 6 they will play at 8:05 p.m. versus No. 11. Winners of those games will play the two days later on March 10 in the quarterfinals in the same corresponding times versus teams that received first-round byes -- 2:35 p.m. (#4 vs. #5/#12 winner or 8:05 p.m. (#3 vs. #6/#11 winner).
 
There are still six games to play in the league season on Saturday – four of them at night. Those will determine seedings for the Big Sky Conference Tournament, which takes place March 8-12 in Reno, Nevada, and includes all 12 league teams. Eastern will need to win four games in five days to win defend its league title and the NCAA berth that goes with it.
 
Saturday's game will be a matchup of two of the Big Sky's all-time greats – the 6-foot-8 Jois and Weber State's 6-9 Joel Bolomboy. Jois will enter the Weber State game with 1,754 points, 985 rebounds and 235 rebounds in his career to rank 13th, sixth and second, respectively, in Big Sky history. He is only the third player in league history to have more than 1,600 points and 900 rebounds.
 
Bolomboy has a Big Sky record 1,257 rebounds in his career to go along with 1,411 points and 172 blocked shots in 125 career games. Career averages for the two heavyweights are 14.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks for Jois, while Bolomboy has averaged a double-double in his career with marks of 11.3 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks.
 
Entering the lone meeting this season between the Eagles and Wildcats, Eastern is now 16-13 overall and 10-7 in the Big Sky Conference. The Wildcats are 14-3 in the league and 22-8 overall, and are coming off a 62-58 loss at Idaho.
 
Eastern is the defending Big Sky Conference Tournament champion, and has 42 victories the last two seasons. Those are already the most in back-to-back seasons in the school's 33 seasons as a member of NCAA Division I.
 
 
 

Opponent/Series Notes 

* There are still several key games Saturday that will determine seeding for the Big Sky Conference Tournament. The first tie-breaker criteria is head-to-head, followed by record versus teams in ascending order of finish in the league standings. Here are the six remaining games that will determine, most notably, the top two seeds between Montana and Weber State, and seeds No. 3 through No. 6:
 
Saturday, March 5 (times Pacific) – North Dakota at Montana State, 1:05 p.m.; Weber State at Eastern, 2:05 p.m.; Northern Colorado at Montana, 6:05 p.m.; Idaho State at Idaho, 7:05 p.m.; Southern Utah at Portland State, 7:05 p.m.; Northern Arizona at Sacramento State, 7:05 p.m.
 
* Eastern will finish fifth if it beat Weber State and sixth if it doesn't. Idaho will either finish third or fourth, Idaho State can be anywhere from third to sixth and North Dakota could finish anywhere from fourth to sixth. A Weber State win or Montana loss would give the Wildcats the No. 1 seed. Northern Arizona can clinch the No. 11 seed with a win, or a loss and a Southern Utah loss. Southern Utah earns the No. 11 seed only with a win and NAU loss.
 
* Eastern is 22-45 all-time against Weber State, including a 15-16 home record. However, Eastern is just 5-29 all-time at Weber State, but won there last season 79-71 to end the regular season. Earlier in the year, Eastern opened league play with an 84-78 win over the Wildcats to snap a seven-game losing streak against WSU. Eastern had also lost the last five meetings at Reese Court, having not defeated the Wildcats at home since a 77-69 victory on Jan. 11, 2009.
 
* This year's Big Sky Conference Tournament will include all 12 teams at a neutral site, the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada. The first round takes place on March 8 (seeds #5-12), followed by quarterfinals (March 10), semifinals (March 11) and the championship game (March 12). Game times for the first round will be 12:05 p.m. (#8 vs. #9), 2:35 p.m. (#5 vs. #12), 5:35 p.m. (#7 vs. #10) and 8:05 p.m. (#6 vs. #11). The same game times will be used in the quarterfinals -- 12:05 p.m. (#1 vs. #8/#9 winner), 2:35 p.m. (#4 vs. #5/#12 winner), 5:35 p.m. (#2 vs. #7/#10 winner) and 8:05 p.m. (#3 vs. #6/#11 winner). The semifinals will include games at 5:35 p.m. (first two quarterfinal winners) and 8:05 p.m. (second two quarterfinal winners). The championship game is slated for 5:45 p.m. 
 
 

 
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, established his sixth school record against Idaho State 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 1,754 points to rank 13th in Big Sky history, 56 from moving into the No. 12 position (1,810).
 
* Besides his scoring prowess, Jois' school-record total of 235 blocked shots are 12 from the league record of 247 (Brian Qvale, Montana, 2008-11). Jois also has 985 rebounds in his career to rank third in school history and sixth all-time in the Big Sky (26 from fifth). 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 2,739, only 159 from No. 3 (Bruce Collins, Weber State, 1977-80, 2,019 points, 879 rebounds, 2,898 total).
 
* With 56 dunks to break his own school record of 53 set as a junior, Jois is currently on pace to finish 16th in Big Sky history and fifth in school history in career field goal percentage (58.5 percent). His accuracy as a senior of 70.0 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 (118, fourth), scoring average (14.90, ninth), rebounding average (8.3, eighth), field goals attempted (1,195, second), field goals made (699, second), free throws made (352, second) and owns school records for dunks (151) and free throws attempted (631).
 

 

Game Notes 

* 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 42 thus far (26 last year, 16 this season), to overtake the previous mark of 35. Hayford is the winningest coach in Eastern's Division I history with 82 wins in his five years at the helm (the previous mark was 69). He is averaging 16.4 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.
 
* Only three times this season in 11 previous home games had the Eagles failed to make at least 50 percent of their shots, including a low of 43.5 percent in the team's lone home loss of the season against Idaho State on March 3. In the previous 10 games, the Eagles out-scored opponents by an average score of 96-72 while out-shooting opponents 55 percent to 43 percent. The Eagles also doubled the 3-point output of their opponents – 123-55 – while sinking 43 percent of their treys to just 35 percent for opponents. In its six league home games, Eastern led for 223:38 out of 240 minutes (93 percent).
 
* Eastern's scoring average for the season is at 82.6 points to rank 13th in NCAA Division I and lead the Big Sky Conference through games of March 3. 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's school records for average are 90.0 overall (1972) and 84.2 as a member of D1 (2007).
 
* Eastern is now 13-0 this season when it has a better field goal percentage than its opponent, and 3-13 when it has been out-shot. The Eagles are also 8-1 when allowing 71 points or fewer, and 7-1 when their opponent makes 44.9 percent or less from the field. 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 sixth in NCAA Division I with an accuracy rate of 49.6 percent, are now 12-3 when making at least 50 percent, and have had hit that mark in five-straight games before making only 43 percent versus Idaho on Feb. 27.
 
* 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 362:40 out of 400 minutes – 91 percent -- in its last 10 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 30th at 38.6 percent (previously 175th/33.9 percent after six games). Austin McBroom (3.61 per game) and Felix Von Hofe (3.07 per game) are ranked first and third in the Big Sky and are third and 22nd, respectively, in the nation. With 300 3-pointers made this season, the Eagles are chasing the school record of 344 set in 2015, as well as 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 21 of 29 games this season, and has a 16-5 record in those 21 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 1155-977 in the first half (average score of 39-33) and has been outscored 1275-1241 in the second half (43-42).
 
 
 

Player Notes 

* Eagle players are a collective 14-4 when they have double-doubles, including Venky Jois (7-4), Bogdan Bliznyuk (6-0) and Austin McBroom (1-0). Jois, with 37 in his career, has led EWU to a 22-15 record in those games (7-4 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 125 games and has 243 career 3-pointers, both marks that would rank second 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 117), 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 125 games, McBroom has per game averages of 23.0 minutes (2,873 total), 11.1 points (1,393), 2.4 assists (294), 2.0 rebounds (244), 0.8 steals (101) and 1.8 turnovers (230). His shooting percentages are 40.2 percent (430-of-1070) overall, 40.6 percent from the 3-point arc (243-of-598), and 83.1 percent from the free throw line (290-of-349). 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).
 
* With 101 3-pointers this season, senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom now has the seventh performance in Big Sky Conference history with at least 100. Three of those previous six performances are by Eagles (Shannon Taylor 103 in 1999, Tyler Harvey 109 in 2014 and Harvey a Big Sky-record 128 in 2015). McBroom is averaging 21.2 points per game to rank first in the Big Sky and 17th in NCAA Division I. His scoring average currently ranks as the fifth-best in school history and his 593 total points are already seventh. In addition, his average of 3.61 3-pointers per game leads the league (teammate Felix Von Hofe is third) and is third nationally. His 101 total 3-pointers already ranks fourth all-time in single season school history and eighth in league history. McBroom is also 13th in the nation in minutes per game with a league-leading 37.4 average, and he is 41st nationally and fourth in the Big Sky in 3-point percentage (.419). He is seventh in the league and 102nd nationally in free throw percentage, making 130-of-157 for 82.8 percent (he was 10th nationally after making 19 of his first 20). His assists average is 3.6 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 48 of his last 59 shots (81 percent) in the last six games and is ranked a season-high second in NCAA Division I in field goal percentage. His current mark of 70.0 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 61st nationally and fourth in the league in rebounding (8.9 per game), 59th/2nd in blocked shots (1.82) and 134th/ninth in scoring (17.0). Jois has had 11 double-doubles this season, with 10 in his last 18 games, including his 37th career double-double against Idaho State (3/3/16) with 21 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 641 free throws attempted in his career, he broke the previous school record of 499 set by Dave Hayden from 1970-73. His 352 free throws made are second in school history, with Rodney Stuckey (2006-07) owning the record of 386. Jois also owns school records with 235 blocked shots (second in Big Sky history) and 154 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 17.0 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.4 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 54 career games after transferring from Los Angeles Trade Tech. He has played in 23 games this season, and has scored a total of 65 points and has 62 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 (21st, 12.3 per game) and the top 12 in rebounding (8th, 6.9) and assists (12th, 2.9). He also ranks in the top 10 in steals (8th, 1.3) and free throw percentage (9th, 79.6 percent). In league only statistics, Bliznyuk is ranked in the top 20 in scoring (18th, 12.6) and in the top 11 in five other categories – rebounding (6th, 8.0), assists (11th, 3.5), blocked shots (8th, 1.1), free throw percentage (4th, .846) and assist-to-turnover ratio (7th, +1.6). Playing a key "blur" position for the Eagles, Bliznyuk has had five double-doubles in his last 12 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 35-of-100 3-pointers thus far for 35 percent, and is 89-of-175 inside the stripe (51 percent) with an overall percentage of 45 percent. He has also made 74-of-93 free throws (79.6 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 10-5 since junior Julian Harrell entered the starting lineup 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 16 games played this season, he is averaging 8.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, while making 51.6 percent of his shots and 18-of-49 3-pointers (36.7 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 22nd in NCAA Division I in 3-pointers per game with an average of 3.07 per game (he was third with a 3.86 average following EWU's game on Jan. 9) and is 45th in accuracy at 41.7 percent (he was 22nd with a 46.2 percent accuracy rate after Jan. 9). He is averaging 13.0 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 four games, and is averaging 5.9 points on 53 percent shooting from the field (60 percent in conference play), and is also averaging 17.2 minutes and 2.8 rebounds with 23 assists and 18 steals.
 
* Six Eagles have already made their college basketball debuts this season, and five of them have played in at least 24 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, 1.9 rebounds and 1.6 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 1.5 points, 0.7 assists and 6.4 minutes on the season. Ty Gibson has seen significant action as a true freshman, averaging 7.4 minutes and 1.8 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 5.3 minutes and 1.6 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 5.7 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 Upcoming Big Sky Tournament: "Our team believes that they can beat anybody, but they also know they can lose to anybody. Because we have some players who have been there, I believe we are going to find another gear when we get to Reno. That's what we're going to bank on. They know what it's about and they've had success in that tournament. I'm going to put my eggs in that basket."
 
On Idaho State Loss: "I credit Idaho State. They came in with a great game plan and we knew we were going to have problems with Telfair. We had a game plan to stop him -- he didn't make any threes, but he drew a lot of fouls and made his free throws. It was a close game and we shot only 50 percent at the free throw line and had two more turnovers.  Venky was unstoppable too, but he had a tough night too from the free throw line. Those things made the difference in a four-point loss."
 
On Overcoming Mistakes: "In these games, everybody can look at something – coach or player. There are things that could have been done to make the difference. We have some 3-point shooters are better than they showed. And we had a higher turnover number than we should have in the backcourt. Venky is obviously a better free throw shooter than that. And those are the little differences in close games that give you a loss instead of 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."
 
 
 

 
Recent Game Recap

* Senior Venky Jois broke Eastern's 39-year-old career scoring record, but the Eagles fell short at home against Idaho State and lost to the Bengals 75-71 March 3 at Reese Court. Jois finished with a team-high 21 points and 11 rebounds to register the 37th double-double of his career, and passed the previous school record of 1,741 set by Ron Cox from 1974-77. Eastern had its worst shooting night of the year at home, and also had 12 turnovers that turned into 16 points for the Bengals. The Eagles made 43.5 percent from the field, 28.6 percent from the 3-point arc and a season-low 47 percent from the free throw line. Idaho State out-shot Eastern 46 percent to 43 percent, and also made 22-of-32 free throws (69 percent) compared to just 9-of-19 for the Eagles. Idaho State was paced by Ethan Telfair, who finished with 31 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. He made 9-of-13 shots from the field and 13-of-15 free throws. Jois made 10-of-13 shots from the field and also had a pair of blocked shots and two steals, but made only 1-of-10 free throws. In his 125th game as a collegian, senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom finished with 13 points and a pair of assists. He made only 4-of-13 field goals, including 3-of-8 3-pointers. Sophomore Bogdan Bliznyuk was perfect from the line (4-of-4), but was 4-of-10 from the field to finish with 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Junior Felix Von Hofe chipped in nine with a trio of 3-pointers (3-of-11). Freshman Jesse Hunt came off the bench to score seven points and get two steals and a pair of rebounds in seven minutes of action. Fellow freshman Cody Benzel scored four points and had two rebounds and two steals as well. After cutting the lead to 71-66 with 1:27 to play, Eastern got a pair of stops, but ended up turning ball over both times. The second turnover, an offensive foul whistled on Bliznyuk with 37 seconds left, led to pair of free throws by Telfair, who added two more free throws with 16 seconds remaining. Eastern needed a 12-0 run in the first half to erase and uncharacteristic start. The Eagles made just one of their first seven shots and 5-of-20 to fall behind early by as many as nine points. Eastern then followed with a 12-0 run to take the lead, capped by a 3-pointer by Hunt, who scored seven points in the run. Jois also scored with 4:00 left on a feed from freshman Cody Benzel to give him sole possession of the career scoring record, with 1,743 points. Eastern trailed at halftime 35-32.