Eastern Uses Inside Force to Power Past Southern Utah 106-80
 
Venky Jois finishes with 30th career double-double as Eagles make 61 percent of their shots in easy win over Thunderbirds
 
On some nights, you don't need the three-point shot as much.

With senior Venky Jois leading the way with 24 points and 12 rebounds, the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team displayed a superb drive game in powering past Southern Utah 106-80 in a Big Sky Conference men's basketball game Thursday (Jan. 14) at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.

The 30th double-double in the career of Jois was complemented by a 61 percent shooting night for the Eagles – their second-best of the season and tops against a NCAA Division I opponent. Austin McBroom scored 25 points in just 27 minutes of action – the same amount Jois played. Julian Harrell had 15 in just 19 minutes.

 "We set the tone of the game early by going inside to Venky," said Eastern head coach Jim Hayford, whose team hosts Northern Arizona Saturday at 12:05 p.m. at Reese Court. "They have one experienced post player and we wanted to go at him and get him into foul trouble. They didn't double-team him, so Venky was really good."

Eastern finished with 11 3-pointers, but attempted just four in the first half. Eastern led by as many as 19 points in the first half and 32 in the second half.

 "This is what you want – light minutes on your players on Thursday so they're good for Saturday," Hayford added. "We'll take it."
 

Won-Lost Records . . .  

* The Eagles are now 2-2 in the Big Sky and 8-8 overall with their second-straight league victory after opening the year with road defeats at Northern Colorado and North Dakota. In the last two games, including a 74-60 win over Idaho, Eastern has led for 77:38 out of a possible 80 minutes.

* Now 1-3 in the Big Sky and 3-11 overall, Southern Utah picked up a season-opening 93-82 home win over Montana State, but has lost its last two. In their last outing, the Thunderbirds lost at home 73-63 to Northern Arizona, EWU's opponent on Saturday (Jan. 16).
 

What It Means . . .

* With road wins golden in the Big Sky Conference, the Eagles have taken care of business at home in the first two games of three-game homestand. The Thunderbirds are now 1-7 on the road and 3-11 overall this year, while NAU is 1-8 on opponent home courts and is 3-12 on the season following its 83-76 loss at Idaho on Thursday. In Big Sky Conference preseason polls, Southern Utah was picked to finish fifth by the coaches and ninth by the media, with NAU selected to finish fourth in both polls right behind No. 3 Eastern. A year ago, SUU finished 7-11 in the league and 10-19 overall, and the Lumberjacks were 13-5 in the Big Sky and finished the year 23-15 and as the runner-up in the CollegeInsider Tournament (CIT).

 
What's Next . . .

* Eastern ends its three-game homestand Saturday (Jan. 16) by hosting Northern Arizona at 12:05 p.m. On Saturday, a "Family 4 Pack" is featured at the concession stands for $20, which is good for four hot dogs and four boxes of popcorn. After the game, EWU players will be available for autographs.

* The Lumberjacks are 1-3 in the Big Sky and 3-12 on the season after their loss to Idaho. NAU dropped their first two league games at home to the Montana schools – 90-84 to Montana in double overtime and 74-72 to Montana State in overtime – then beat Southern Utah. In that win, NAU closed the game on a 16-5 run for the 73-63 victory. The victory snapped an eight-game losing streak and earned the Lumberjacks their first win over a Division I opponent.

 
Keys to Game . . .

* Two hot stretches were paramount in the Eagle win. In the first half, Eastern had a stretch of making 10-of-12 shots. In the second half, the Eagles made 10 of their first 11 shots to open a 31-point lead at 78-47 with 13 minutes left on a 3-point play by Austin McBroom. Eastern led by as many as 32.

 
Top Performers . .

* Senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom sank 8-of-12 shots from the field, including 4-of-5 3-pointers to finish with 25 points. He also made all five of his free throws and had a pair of assists.

* Senior Venky Jois, who was ranked fourth in the nation entering the game with a .679 field goal percentage, made 11-of-16 shots with six dunks. His 24 points and 12 rebounds gives him four double-doubles this season and 30 in his career.

* Junior Julian Harrell, a transfer from City College of San Francisco who previously played at Penn, scored 15 in his second start of the season. He made 6-of-7 shots and also had three rebounds.

* True freshman Ty Gibson came off the bench to make all three of his 3-point shots and finish with 10 points in 13 minutes of action.

* Sophomore Bogdan Bliznyuk finished with a career-high six assists, and also had eight points and four rebounds.

* Junior Felix Von Hofe finished with only four points, but attempted just three shots.

 
Turning Point . . .

* The Eagles made 59 percent of their shots in the first half, including a torrid 10-of-12 stretch. Eastern used a 23-8 run to turn a one-point deficit into a 27-13 lead with 9:05 left in the half. Venky Jois scored 11 points in that stretch, with Julian Harrell adding six. Eastern's defense held the Thunderbirds to 31 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes, and the Eagles led by as many as 19 at 44-25 with 1:23 left after a 8-1 spurt.

 
Key Stats . . .

* Eastern, ranked fifth in NCAA Division I in 3-pointers made per game (10.8), attempted just four in the first half while sinking 17-of-28 shots from inside the stripe. In the second half, Eastern made 9-of-14 shots from beyond the arc to finish with an 11-of-18 performance for 61 percent. Overall, Eastern made 61 percent of its shots, compared to 48 percent for the Thunderbirds – including just 31 percent in the first half.

 
Team Highlights . . .

* Senior Venky Jois, who has moved into second on the Big Sky Conference career leaders list for blocked shots, became the fourth player in school history to hit the 1,500-point mark in his Eagle career. He now has 1,517 to rank fourth in school history, just 33 from moving into third and 47 from reaching the 1,564 scored by former teammate Tyler Harvey. His school-record total of 213 blocked shots are 34 from the league record of 247 (Brian Qvale, Montana, 2008-11).

 
Notables . . .

* Eastern has now led at halftime in 12 of 16 games this season, and has an 8-4 record in those 12 games.

* The Eagles are 6-4 all-time against Southern Utah (4-1 in Cheney, 2-3 in Cedar City) with a five-game winning streak. Last season, Eastern played the Thunderbirds just once, winning in Cedar City Utah by a 78-75 score for EWU's fourth-straight win over SUU. Southern Utah would go on to finish 7-11 in the Big Sky and 10-19 overall.

* Since Eastern became a member of NCAA Division I in the 1983-84 season, the Eagles are 27-35 versus Northern Arizona, including an 8-22 record in Flagstaff, Ariz., 18-12 in Cheney and 1-1 on neutral courts. A year ago, Eastern lost 73-59 in Flagstaff in the lone meeting between to two schools. Eastern has, however, won the last four meetings in Cheney dating back to a 73-69 loss on Jan. 15, 2010. Eastern trails in the all-time series 27-36 (8-22 in Flagstaff, 18-12 in Cheney, 1-2 neutral). The only meeting before Eastern became a member of NCAA Division I was an 84-80 NAU victory on Dec. 20, 1969, in Fresno, Calif.

 
More Comments from Head Coach Jim Hayford . . .

On Respect for EWU's Inside Game: "You can't have a dominant inside performance unless they respect the guys around him. We only shot four threes in the first half while we picked them apart inside. Then, to make sure we kept the game separation, we came out the first six minutes of the second half and had a nice little high-low game going with Julian and Venky and we established that. That's how you win a conference game by 25 points."
 
On Another Step Forward: "I keep telling everybody this team is going to come together, and obviously we've taken another good step forward. Now we are going to have to do it against Northern Arizona, which is a better team than Southern Utah."
 
On Julian Harrell: "He's a triple-threat player – you have to guard him off the drive and you have to guard him on the 3-point line. And then he's a great passer. When you put that with the other pieces, it comes together."
 
On Similar Skills of Guard/Forwards: "We talk about it in our program that we like to have blurs. Felix really developed his two-point game and that's been a big step forward for him. When you look at Julian, Bogdan and Felix, you have three guys who all are 6-5, 6-6 and you have to worry about their shot and their drive. It's really hard to guard. Julian has bought into what our team really needed, and that's guarding the other team's best player. I think that's filled a lot of holes for us."
 
On Only Nine Turnovers: "It's a trademark on all of our teams and we put a big emphasis on that. No turnover goes unpunished in our practices."