Upcoming Games (times Pacific)

Coverage

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

---

A year ago, the Vikings and Hornets were speed bumps during Eastern Washington University's trek to the NCAA Tournament.
 
This week at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash., the Eagles hope to continue their high-speed chase for another postseason berth when they put their perfect home record on the line Thursday (Jan. 28) at 6:05 p.m. versus Portland State and Saturday (Jan. 30) at 12:05 p.m. versus Sacramento State.
 
Fans can listen to the games on 700-AM ESPN and via the web at www.700espn.com. All EWU home games and conference road games are broadcast on www.watchbigky.com.
 
On Thursday, representatives from the Big Sky Conference and Reno, Nevada, will be in attendance to promote Big Sky Championship ticket/hotel packages, and will be giving a tickets/lodging fan pack to a lucky winner at halftime. Cheer cards will be provided courtesy of the Spokesman-Review, and EWU Dining Services will also be offering a Mexican-themed dinner option for fans.
 
Saturday's game is a "Red Out Reese" Day, featuring 1,500 shirts given out to fans courtesy of Northern Quest Resort and Casino. Saturday is also EWU Alumni Day, with face painting, EWU tattoos and sign-making station available for children. Also, the EWU coaching staff will participate in the Coaches vs. Cancer "Suits & Sneakers" nation-wide promotion.
 
The Eagles are 6-0 at home thus far, including a convincing 3-0 mark in Big Sky play. However, a year ago it was Portland State which handed EWU its first loss in 13 tries at Reese Court. The Eagles split in the regular season with both PSU and Sacramento State, but then roared past the Hornets 91-83 in the Big Sky Conference Tournament during EWU's 3-0 run that yielded the school its second NCAA berth.
 
"We need to go now and protect our home court – we are the only remaining undefeated league team at home," said Eastern head coach Jim Hayford. "We want to finish the first half of the league season with a winning record, but that's easier said than done. Sacramento State and Portland State are really good teams."
 
The Eagles are 9-10 overall and 3-4 in the Big Sky Conference following road losses at Montana State (85-71) and Montana (74-69). The next two weeks will be extremely important toward EWU's goals of finishing the season with a winning record and, perhaps more importantly, earning one of four first-round byes in the Big Sky Conference Tournament March 8-12 in Reno.
 
"In these next four games it is time for our team to make or break our season in terms of having a winning record next to our name and go into the Big Sky Tournament as one of the top four teams," Hayford explained. "We'll do everything we can to coach and get our team ready for this. We just ask our fans to come out and support us really well Thursday and Saturday."
 
Portland State is coming off an 81-63 victory over Sacramento State last Saturday, helping the Vikings improve to 7-10 overall and 3-3 in the league. The Hornets are now 8-9 overall and 1-5 in the conference after entering league play with the Big Sky's top non-conference record at 7-4.
 
Eastern is looking for its first road breakthrough of the league season, having gone 3-0 at home and 0-3 on the road thus far. For the season, EWU is perfect at home (6-0) where it has made a blistering 56 percent of its shots from the field – including 45 percent from 3-point range. But on the road where they are 3-9, the Eagles have made 46 percent from the field, and just 36 percent from the arc.
 
Eastern returns to the road to begin the second half of the league season on Feb. 4 when the Eagles play at Northern Arizona, followed by a game two nights later at Southern Utah. Eastern soundly defeated both of those foes earlier this season at home, knocking off the Thunderbirds 106-80 and NAU two days later by a 96-73 score.
 
 
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 Ticket Information -- http://goeags.com/sports/2015/12/19/genticketinfo.aspxSpokesman-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

 
 
 

Opponent/Series Notes 

 
* Since Eastern became a member of NCAA Division I in the 1983-84 season, the Eagles are now 19-21 versus the Vikings. All of the meetings have come since the 1996-97 school year when PSU joined the Big Sky Conference, and Eastern is 12-8 in Cheney and 7-12 against PSU in Portland (0-1 on neutral courts) since then. The Vikings have a 24-20 edge in the overall series. Last year, Eastern won in Portland 92-85, but lost at Reese Court 68-66. In the loss, the Vikings made 69.6 percent of their shots in the second half to finish at 52.9 percent for the game, while the Eagles could manage just 38.2 percent in their worst performance of the season on their home floor. It was the first loss at home for EWU in 13 games, where EWU had made 53 percent of its shots in its first 12 games there. In the game in Portland, the Eagles led from start to finish versus the Vikings and snapped a seven-game losing streak in Portland against the Vikings. Despite junior Venky Jois suffering an ankle injury nine minutes into the game and Tyler Harvey getting just five shots in the first 20 minutes, Eastern was still able to garner a 42-29 halftime lead.
 
* Since Eastern became a member of NCAA Division I in the 1983-84 season, the Eagles are now 29-14 versus Sacramento State, and the two schools did not play against each other prior to that. The Eagles have won 22 of their last 32 games against the Hornets, and have an 18-3 record versus Sacramento State in Cheney, are 10-11 in Sacramento and 1-0 on a neutral court. That neutral site game came in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament last year in Missoula, when the Eagles won 91-83. Felix Von Hofe came off the bench to score a career-high 23 points with seven 3-pointers made, helping EWU lead by as many as 26 in the second half. At one point, the Eagles made 16-of-17 shots from the field, including seven of its last eight in the first half and their first nine of the second half. Earlier in the season, Eastern won 64-61 at home and lost 90-77 in Sacramento.
 
* 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).
 
* 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). Thus far, EWU is 4-0 at home and 3-8 on the road.
 
* 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.
 
 
 
 

Game Notes 

 
* Coaches Shows featuring head coach Jim Hayford and host Larry Weir continue Mondays at 6 p.m. Pacific time at 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. Shows will continue through at least Feb. 29, with the show on March 7 depending on team travel arrangements for the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Reno, Nevada. Shows on March 14 and March 21 are also possible and will be determined by EWU's postseason fate and availability of Hayford.
 
* Proving last week just how difficult it is to win on the road, Eastern led Montana for just 3:29 and two nights earlier led MSU for just 5:23. In its previous three-game homestand, 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.
 
* Eastern is now 7-0 this season when it has a better field goal percentage than its opponent, and 2-10 when it has been out-shot. The Eagles are also 6-1 when allowing 71 points or fewer, and 4-1 when their opponent makes 44.9 percent or less from the field.
 
* Eastern's scoring average for the season is at 80.8 points to rank 35th in NCAA Division I and lead the Big Sky Conference through games of Jan. 24. 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 average of 10.3 3-pointers per game is 10th in NCAA Division I (previously fourth after eight games) and leads the Big Sky, and the team's percentage is 27th at 38.9 percent (previously 175th/33.9 percent after six games). Austin McBroom (3.56 per game) and Felix Von Hofe (3.11 per game) are ranked first and third in the Big Sky and are fifth and 22nd, respectively, in the nation. A year ago, Eastern was fifth with an average of 9.8 made treys per game, and its 40.0 percent accuracy was eighth-best in the nation.
 
* Eastern has now led at halftime in 13 of 19 games this season, and has a 9-4 record in those 13 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 730-634 in the first half (average score of 38-33) and has been outscored 827-806 in the second half (43-42).
 
* Because of his team's involvement with the C.H.A.M.P.S (College Headed and Making Progress) program at Whitman Elementary School in Spokane, senior Venky Jois is one of 154 nominees nationally for the NABC/Allstate Good Works Team. The 10-player squad will be announced in February, and the distinguished award shines a spotlight on a select group of student-athletes who have shown dedication to community service and altruism in their communities. Eastern student-athletes spend part of their time at Whitman with the entire student body, but a majority of their time is spent one-on-one with a fifth-grade student. The unique program follows each Whitman student for eight years through middle school and high school. Once a EWU student-athlete graduates, an incoming player will begin mentoring their student. Jois, an Academic All-America candidate with a 3.49 grade point average as a pre-med student at EWU, has also been a part of several other team community projects. Those include Salvation Army backpacks and school supplies distribution; Salvation Army Christmas Eve meal for the homeless; participation in AAU Youth Basketball Day; food drive for the West Plains Food Bank; and campus move-in days. He's a three-time member of the Big Sky Conference All-Academic Team, and three times has been honored on All-Big Sky Conference teams (2012-13 Freshman of the Year and all-league honorable mention; 2013-14 all-league honorable mention; 2014-15 all-league first team for a squad that won Big Sky regular season and tournament titles to advance to the NCAA Tournament). Last season he selected to the Big Sky Conference All-Tournament team and is the preseason choice for 2015-16 MVP honors in the league.
 
* 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 

 
* Now with 1,569 points in his career and the school record on the horizon, senior Venky Jois moved from fourth to second in career scoring against Montana on Jan. 23. A first-half dunk moved him past the 1,550 points of Irv Leifer (1942-47) and in the second half he moved past the 1,564 scored by former teammate Tyler Harvey. Jois also ranks ahead of the 1,438 of Rodney Stuckey (now with the Indiana Pacers in the NBA), but is 172 points behind the school record of 1,741 held by Ron Cox (1974-77). If he equals his 16.2 scoring average the rest of the season (including one Big Sky Tournament game), Jois would finish with 1,763 and break the record. Jois' school-record total of 218 blocked shots are 28 from the league record of 247 (Brian Qvale, Montana, 2008-11).  Jois has 888 rebounds to rank third in school history, and he also ranks on leaders lists for games played (108, 12th), scoring average (14.50, 12th), rebounding average (8.2, eighth), field goals attempted (1,091, fourth), field goals made (623, second), free throws made (319, second) and owns school records for dunks (132) and free throws attempted (572). Jois became the fourth player in school history to hit the 1,500-point mark in his Eagle career with 24 against Southern Utah on Jan. 14.
 
* Senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom is averaging 19.4 points per game to rank first in the Big Sky and 37th in NCAA Division I. In addition, his average of 3.56 3-pointers per game leads the league (just ahead of teammate Felix Von Hofe) and is fifth nationally. McBroom is also 25th in the nation in minutes per game with a league-leading 36.6 average, and he is 43rd in 3-point percentage (.430). He is 10th in the league and 123rd nationally in free throw percentage, making 55-of-67 for 82.1 percent (he was 10th nationally after making 19 of his first 20). He has upped his assists average to 3.3 per game, ranking 10th in the league. The Eagles lost a pair of All-Big Sky guards from last year's NCAA Tournament team, but McBroom has provided an instant solution for the Eagles. He scored 76 points on Eastern's East Coast road trip, including 33 at Davidson on Dec. 11, 14 two nights later at Pitt and 29 on Dec. 14 at Western Carolina. His performance against Davidson included a 12-of-19 shooting night, and eclipsed his previous top game as an Eagle of 20 points (versus Pacific) and as a collegian of 26 points (for Saint Louis against Bradley on 11/29/14). He sank 10-of-17 shots from the field at Western Carolina, including 7-of-12 3-point attempts. His 19 points, five 3-pointers and five assists helped EWU win at San Francisco 81-77 on Dec. 1. He had a double-double with 19 points and 10 assists versus George Fox on Nov. 15. McBroom came to EWU with 97 games and 45 starts worth of NCAA Division I experience -- he played in 66 games at Saint Louis (15 as a starter) and 31 (30 as a starter) at Central Michigan in 2011-12.
 
* Preseason Big Sky Conference MVP Venky Jois is ranked a season-high third in NCAA Division I in field goal percentage, having made 68.3 percent of his shots thus far (he was also third at 72.4 percent after his first seven games played). He has had a four double-doubles in his last eight games, including his 32nd career double-double against Montana (1/23/16), finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds. 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. One game later versus Pitt, he moved up two spots to sixth on EWU's all-time career scoring list. 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 572 free throws attempted in his career, he broke the previous school record of 499 set by Dave Hayden from 1970-73. His 319 free throws made are second in school history, with Rodney Stuckey (2006-07) owning the record of 386. Jois also owns school records with 218 blocked shots (second in Big Sky history) and 132 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 16.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.9 blocks. Jois has five double-doubles this season and 31 total in his career. 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 record his fourth double-double of the season and 30th of his career. 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.
 
* Junior Julian Harrell, a transfer from City College of San Francisco who previously played at Penn, averaged 13.3 points in his first three starts this season (all victories). He sank 15-of-20 shots in those three games, including 6-of-9 3-point shots. In six games played this season, he is averaging 9.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, while making 55.3 percent of his shots and 9-of-20 3-pointers (45.0 percent). 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.
 
* Playing a key "blur" position for the Eagles, sophomore forward Bogdan Bliznyuk registered 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). 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, and is averaging 11.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.2 steals with a deft ability to get to the rim. He has made 22-of-68 3-pointers thus far for 32 percent, and is 50-of-110 inside the stripe (45 percent) with an overall percentage of 40 percent. He has also made 45-of-60 free throws (75.0 percent). He was the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year after coming off the bench to average 8.7 points and 4.0 rebounds for the Eagles. It's an honor now won six times in the past 14 seasons by Eastern players, including current Eagle Venky Jois in the 2012-13 season. Bliznyuk, who also earned Big Sky All-Academic honors, averaged 12.0 poi­­nts in league play to rank 24th in the Big Sky -- tops among all freshmen. He was also fifth in field goal shooting (58.0 percent) and 12th in rebounding (5.6). Bliznyuk is formerly from Lutsk, Ukraine, but graduated from Todd Beamer High School in Federal Way, Wash., in 2014. He was less than 2 years old when his father, a truck driver, died in an accident. Their mother moved them to Federal Way five years later to be closer to family. Born with a gap in his upper jaw, he has had multiple surgeries after moving to the United States, included transferring bone from his hip. He officially became a United States citizen on Jan. 12, 2016.
 
* Junior sharpshooter Felix Von Hofe is averaging 14.2 points on the season, but in a five-game stretch from Dec. 14 to Jan. 9, he averaged 24.0 points with outings of 28, 27 (twice) and 19 (twice). In that stretch, he made 52.6 percent of his shots overall (40-of-76) and 50.0 percent of his 3-point shots (27-of-54), and also made 13-of-16 free throws (81.3 percent) and averaged 4.4 rebounds.  But in four games since then, he has made only 5-of-24 shots overall (20.8 percent) and 2-of-16 from the 3-point stripe (12.5 percent) for an average of 4.0 points per game. Von Hofe ranks 22nd in NCAA Division I in 3-pointers per game with an average of 3.11 per game (he was third with a 3.86 average following EWU's game on Jan. 9) and is 52nd in percentage (he was 22nd with a 46.2 percent accuracy rate after Jan. 9). He had no 3-point attempts in his outing against Southern Utah (1/14/16), but EWU still won easily 106-80. 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).
 
* Guard sophomore Sir Washington 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). 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 thus far, and is averaging 6.1 points on 50 percent shooting from the field, and is also averaging 17.9 minutes and 3.1 rebounds with 13 assists and 14 steals.
 
* Six Eagles have already made their college basketball debuts this season, and five of them have played in at least 17 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 11.5 minutes, 2.4 rebounds and 1.9 points per game as a nine-game starter. He missed EWU's game at Western Carolina with a sprained ankle. Redshirt freshman Will Ferris, who came off the bench to play 23 minutes against Seattle on Nov. 23 and score a career-high nine points, is averaging 2.0 points, 0.8 assists and 7.6 minutes on the season. Ty Gibson has seen significant action as a true freshman, averaging 8.3 minutes and 2.0 points per game and starting twice. He made all three of his 3-point attempts and a free throw to finish with a season-high 10 points against Southern Utah (1/14/16). Redshirt freshman Bear Henderson has averaged 5.8 minutes and 1.8 points thus far, and started his first career game against George Fox on Nov. 15. Freshman redshirt Cody Benzel has averaged 4.2 points in an average of 5.9 minutes, including 23 points on a 7-of-14 3-point shooting performance against Great Falls on Dec. 6. He also had a 12-point performance against South Dakota on Nov. 29 when he made four 3-pointers in just eight minutes of action. All five of those players made their collegiate debuts in EWU's opener at Mississippi State on Nov. 13, and Ferris, Benzel and Gibson made the first starts of their careers against Great Falls. True freshman Michael Wearne made his collegiate debut versus George Fox, however, will now redshirt because of a hip injury requiring surgery.
 
* Making his NCAA Division I debut against Mississippi State on Nov. 13 was junior college transfer Rico Nuno, who had a career-high seven rebounds at Denver on Dec. 20 and is averaging 1.7 rebounds, 0.6 points and 6.4 minutes per game. 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.
 
* Two major cogs in Eastern's roll to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament last season – Venky Jois and Bogdan Bliznyuk -- were selected to the preseason All-Big Sky Conference team as selected by a panel of sportswriters, broadcasters and sports information directors in the league. Jois, a senior 6-foot-8 forward, is EWU's lone returning starter this season and was selected as the league's preseason MVP. A year ago, Eastern's Tyler Harvey won the award and went on to lead NCAA Division I in scoring and was eventually drafted in the second round of the NBA Draft by Orlando. Besides Jois, Bliznyuk was also selected to the seven-player team and was the only underclassmen chosen. The others honored included Montana's Martin Breunig, Montana State's Marcus Colbert, Northern Arizona's Kris Yanku and Weber State's Joel Bolomboy and Jeremy Senglin.
 
 
 
 

Quoting Coach Hayford

 
On Upcoming Stretch of Games: "What we have to learn how to do is win on the road – that's why we have to look ahead to that weekend. If we are going to win on the road it is going to be on that trip, and we have to pack our bags with a lot of resolve.  If we don't, we'll end up in the middle of this whole thing and have to hope for good luck in Reno."
 
On Montana Game: "It was a great college basketball game – give both teams credit. All Big Sky league games should be this good. You recruit players to be able to play in games like this. I thought our players showed a lot of toughness and battled through adversity. A lot of credit goes to Montana and our team. There was nothing to draw negatives on – it was just a really great game. I can remember coming into this gym in other seasons and we weren't competing down to the very end. We're doing our part now to make this a rivalry."
 
On Montana State Game: "We played pretty good defensively – we held them to 45 percent, which is good for us right now and we are headed in the right direction. They had a great shooting night and we didn't. We had a high turnover total too – 14 is a big number for us. Credit their defense – I thought they had a lot of tenacity. Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. Tonight Montana State was really good, and we shot the ball poorly from the field and the line. That's why you end up losing on the road like we did. We were still in a good position in the second half, and fought through a lot of that. But it was just too much to overcome."
 
On EWU's Women Remaining Unbeaten in the League: "The story of the day (Jan. 23) is the Eastern women, who are doing awesome right now. Out congratulations goes to them for remaining undefeated with a great comeback against Montana. We want to do our part and join them in Reno and make it a great experience for Eastern fans. It's basketball season in Cheney and we have two good teams fans can get behind."
 
Bogdan Bliznyuk's Triple-Double: "For Bogdan to do that is something that he will hold for the rest of his life. I'm really proud and happy for him. The glue of our program is our position that we call a 'blur.' We try to blur the 2, 3 and 4 positions, and to be able to do that, you have to be able to score off the drive, off the post-up and be able to shoot the three. And then you have to be an excellent passer because we are going to run offense through you. The ultimate blur is Bogdan, and the ultimate stat that supports what we try to do at that position is to get a triple-double. He's had a tough go of it so far this year, but he doesn't put his head down – he just keeps working hard. The NAU game was a good launching point for him to have the kind of season he's been anticipating since his freshman season ended last year against Georgetown."
 
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. That kind of rounded us off, and took away some of the bumps we were hitting. 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. He's a fourth-year junior – he's played defense since he was a freshman. With each week he gains more stamina and his hand gets more comfortable. It's hard for opponents when you look at our starting lineup because we have five dynamic offensive players – what are you going to stop? We just have to get those five dynamic offensive players to play defense."
 
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."
 
 
 
 

Recent Game Recaps

 
* In another heavyweight battle between EWU and its rival to the East, the Eagles couldn't hold off Montana in the final 4 1/2 minutes and lost 74-69 Jan. 23 at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula, Mont. The foursome of EWU's Venky Jois and Austin McBroom and Montana's Martin Breunig and Walter Wright combined for 93 of the 143 points scored in the game. Those four players scored 24 of the last 25 as Montana used a 6-1 run to take the lead for good after a 63-all tie with 4:32 left. Jois knotted the game at 63, but EWU didn't get another field goal until the 1:40 mark when a basket by Jois cut into a five-point Grizzly lead. Montana sank a basket and three free throws to hold off the Eagles, who missed seven free throws in the last 5:45. Both teams were coming off losses, and had battled three times a year ago – including two EWU wins in Missoula. Those games featured 28 lead changes and 14 more ties, and this year's installment of the rivalry did not disappoint. In the last 11 minutes alone when the teams traded blows, there were four ties and a pair of lead changes, for a total of nine and six in the game, respectively. Jois moved into second in school history in career scoring with his fifth double-double of the season and 31st of his career, finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom scored a team-high 22 points in his first meeting against the Griz, while Breunig finished with 26 points and Wright had 25. Wright made 5-of-7 3-pointers against the Eagles, while EWU made just 6-of-20 (30 percent) from the 3-point stripe. Montana entered the game as the league's top defensive team against the 3-point shot, holding opponents to 31.2 percent to rank 51st in NCAA Division I. Eastern was eighth nationally in 3-pointers per game (10.6) and 26th in percentage (39.3) before the UM game. Junior Julian Harrell added 12 points, making 3-of-6 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line.
 
* Eastern was out-scored at the 3-point line by 12 points and fell to the Bobcats 85-71 Jan. 21 at Worthington Arena in Bozeman, Mont. Sophomore Bogdan Bliznyuk led three Eagles in double figures with 22 points, notching his second-straight double-double with 13 rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists. The Bobcats sank 11-of-22 3-points shots in the game, compared to 7-of-25 for the Eagles. The Bobcats closed the game out at the free throw line, making 11-of-14 in the last 2:36 to extend a five-point lead with 10:26 remaining to as much as 16 in the final minutes. Four of Eastern's five starters combined to make just 3-of-18 shots in the first half, and 14-of-40 in the game (35 percent). From the 3-point line, three starters combined for a 3-of-19 performance (15 percent). The result was a 42-percent shooting night for the Eagles, who had shot 50 percent or better in each of their previous three games. MSU, meanwhile, converted 30-of-66 shots for 46 percent, including 11-of-22 3-point attempts. Sophomore Bogdan Bliznyuk, coming off the first triple-double in school history, had 15 of EWU's 30 points at halftime. He finished with a team-high 22, coming just three from his career high of 25. He made 6-of-11 shots from the field, including 3-of-4 3-point attempts, and made 7-of-9 free throws. He also had 13 rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists. Senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom scored 19 points, with 5-of-8 shooting on 2-point shots and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. However, he was just 1-of-8 from the 3-point arc.  Senior Venky Jois finished with 11 points and six rebounds, but was held to 4-of-8 shooting from the field and made 3-of-10 free throws. He also had three blocked shots, giving him 218 in his career to rank just 29 behind the league record. Consecutive 3-pointers by Bogdan Bliznyuk, Felix Von Hofe and Julian Harrell fueled an 11-0 Eastern run in the second half to cut a 12-point Bobcat lead to one. But the Bobcats responded with an 11-3 run to regain a nine-point advantage with 9:55 left, and led by no less than seven the rest of the way. Eastern used an early 10-0 run to open a 16-10 lead in the first half, during which the Eagles held MSU scoreless for 3:11. But the Bobcats were scorching hot after that, making 8-of-15 3-pointers and leading 38-30 at halftime. Bogdan Bliznyuk had 15 of EWU's 30 points, but Marcus Colbert topped that with 17. It was just the fifth time all season EWU has trailed at halftime.