The Eastern time zone hasn't been kind thus far for the Eastern Eagles
Traveling East for the first of three challenging road games, the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team held a 24-21 lead in the first half but couldn't keep up with Northern Kentucky in a 70-48 loss Sunday (Dec. 18) in Highland Heights.
An afternoon game in the Eastern time zone, the game actually started at 10 a.m. Pacific time. Northern Kentucky out-shot Eastern 45 percent to 33 percent in the game, and the Norse outscored Eastern 49-24 after the Eagles had taken a three-point lead late in the first half.
Eastern, now 8-3, had its seven-game winning streak come to an end as it began a three-game road stretch. Eastern plays at 17th-ranked Xavier on Tuesday (Dec. 20) and then play at Colorado on Thursday (Dec. 22). The combined record of EWU's three opponents on this road trip is now 25-8.
"Our team did a great job of putting the seven-game winning streak together," said Eastern head coach
Jim Hayford. "We just have to take the defeat we just took to make us better, and then use the next two games to improve. We're going to keep the mood right as we face two very tough road games before Christmas. If I had to pick between being 8-3 or 3-8, I'd pick 8-3 and that's what we are."
The Norse held the Eagles to 24 points in each half, and held Eastern leading scorer
Bogdan Bliznyuk to just 4-of-14 shooting from the floor. In taking away the drive game of the junior point-forward, Northern Kentucky held him to 12 points, nearly half of his 22.7 average entering the game which ranked 14th in NCAA Division I and second in the Big Sky Conference.
"They did a really good job defensively on Bogdan," added Hayford. "There are other things we are trying to develop when opponents take that away, but we didn't do that at a high enough level today. That's why we got beat by 22."
Won-Lost Records . . .
* The Eagles are now 8-3, still the best record in the Big Sky. Eastern entered the game with a league-best RPI of 62, and is now 7-0 at home and 1-3 on the road. Northern Kentucky is also 8-3, and had a RPI of 178 entering the game.
What It Means . . .
* Eastern knew it was going to be a difficult road trip, with the three opponents now combining for a 25-8 record. Northern Kentucky is 8-3, Xavier is 9-2 and Colorado is 8-3 (plays at Air Force on Monday). After the road trip, Eastern opens Big Sky Conference play at Idaho on Dec. 30.
What's Next . . .
* The Eagles now plays its first-ever game at against Xavier, ranked 17th nationally. The Musketeers are currently 9-2 after a 69-65 home win on Dec. 17 versus Wake Forest. That game begins Tuesday (Dec. 20) at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Keys to Game . . .
* Eastern had key scoring runs of 9-0, 7-0 and 7-0, but Northern Kentucky had several key runs of its own. The Norse began the game with 11 unanswered points to take an 11-2 lead, then scored the last eight points of the first half and the first five of the second half for a collective 13-0 run. Two runs of 8-0 in the second half were the daggers.
Top Performers . . .
* Senior graduate transfer
Jacob Wiley had his second-straight double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, and also had a pair of blocked shots.
* Junior
Bogdan Bliznyuk scored 12 points, but was just 4-of-14 from the field.
* Senior
Felix Von Hofe scored nine points.
Turning Point . . .
* A 3-pointer by
Bogdan Bliznyuk cut NKU's lead to 34-29 early in the second half, but an 8-0 run put the Norse up by 13. Another trey, the only one in the game by
Felix Von Hofe, cut the lead to 10, but another 8-0 run put the game away for Northern Kentucky.
Key Stats . . .
* Eastern used runs of 9-0 and 7-0 in the first half to forge a 24-21 lead. But Eastern made only two of its last 10 shots in the half, and the Norse led 29-24 at halftime. Eastern ended up with a season-low 48 points and made a season-low 33 percent of its shots from the field, including just 4-of-21 3-pointers.
Team Highlights . . .
* Despite the loss, the impressive start equals the NCAA Tournament team of 2014-15 as the only teams to start 8-3 in 34 years in NCAA Division I. Also coached by Hayford, that team opened the year 8-1 and finished 26-9 after advancing to Eastern's second NCAA Tournament in school history. That squad lost its next three and were 8-4 at one point before going 14-4 in league play. This year's Eagles were just the sixth team in 34 years to start 5-2 or better, including three under Hayford.
Notables . . .
* The Eagles are finding a way to win games, and have already set a school record with six extra periods this season. During its seven-game winning streak, six of the victories came by six points or less. Eastern defeated Seattle 80-76 in double overtime on Nov. 22 and then beat Denver in its next game in overtime by an 85-80 score. Two games later, the Eagles played at Seattle in another double-overtime thriller, winning 93-88. Eastern's seventh win in the streak was an 88-86 overtime victory over Morehead State in which the Eagles missed all 13 of its 3-point shots after intermission. The only other time Eastern has played five overtime periods in a single year came in the 1998-99 season when Eastern had four in a 101-100 loss to Weber State on Jan. 16, 1993. The Eagles had no overtime games last season, two in 2014-15, one in 2013-14 and four in 2012-13
More Comments from Head Coach Jim Hayford . . .
On Northern Kentucky Loss: "I think we need to credit our opponent. There are two forces colliding in every contest and sometimes the other team is better. They had a really good plan to stop Bogdan, and we've kind of been living off of that. It's not fair to expect him to get 30 every night. That opened up some shots for some other guys who had tough nights. I think we'll shoot better, but 4-of-21 is following a 0-of-13 second half the last time we played. None of our players try to miss a shot, but this is Division I basketball and you have to make shots. If you're a shooter, be a good shooter; if you're a driver, be a good driver. You have to play to the best of your abilities, and the other team took a lot of that away. We weren't good enough to capitalize on the opportunities it did present, and that's why we were humbled. I have great confidence in our players. We recruit players who are good shooters. It's a long season and I'm confident they are going to get there."
On Playing at Xavier and Colorado: "What's fun is when you go and represent your school and teammates well. These next two games we are playing in a little deeper water than we are used to, so it's about whether we can use these opportunities to make us a better team. We are going to give these guys a game plan that if they execute it they could win. If we coach them with the belief they are going to play to the best of their ability and execute the game plan, then we'll be satisfied with our performance. It's not always that easy."
