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:  http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=110470 for NAU game; http://www.suutbirds.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=20100 for SUU game; 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.
 

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Eastern Washington University men's basketball coach Jim Hayford joked after his team's home sweep that "I've let the assistants coach the road games all year and I'm going to start coaching them now."
 
But all kidding aside, the Eagles face a pair of important Big Sky Conference road tests this week at Northern Arizona and Southern Utah, as EWU looks for its first league road breakthrough of the season. The Eagles play NAU in Flagstaff on Thursday (Feb. 4) at 5:35 p.m. Pacific time, and then travel to Cedar City, Utah, to face SUU on Saturday (Feb. 6) at 6:05 p.m. Pacific time.
 
Fans can listen to both 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.watchbigsky.com. The NAU game will be televised in Arizona via NAU-TV/Fox Arizona.
 
The Eagles held serve at home and improved their records to 11-10 overall and 5-4 in the Big Sky with a convincing 112-83 victory over Portland State on Jan. 28 and a 74-67 win over Sacramento State on Jan. 30 at Reese Court. The PSU victory featured a school-record 20 3-pointers and 64 percent shooting overall, while double-doubles by Venky Jois and Bogdan Bliznyuk versus Sac State helped improve EWU's home record to a perfect 8-0. Jois went on to win Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors for the fourth time in his career and first this season.
 
But the road, where EWU is winless in four league games, has been a different matter. The Eagles are 3-10 overall on the road, and are shooting just 46 percent from the field (36 percent from the 3-point arc) and are averaging 73.4 points. But in eight home games, the Eagles have made 56 percent of their shots from the field (44 percent on 3-pointers) while averaging 96.0 points per game.
 
Eastern is 5-2 with Julian Harrell in the starting lineup, and the lone losses were 85-71 at Montana State on Jan. 21 and 74-69 at Montana on Jan. 23. Harrell missed EWU's first 13 games of the season with a hand injury, but is averaging 10.6 points and 3.8 rebounds on 56 percent shooting in eight games played.
 
"You just hope winning carries over," Hayford said of his team's success at home, where the Eagles have led 96 percent of the time (191:08 out of 200 total minutes). "We have a really good veteran starting lineup, and Sir Washington is playing well as our sixth man. Another way to look at our season is that once we were made whole, what is our record? Well, we're 5-2, and now we have our next chance to go win. Montana State played really well, and we played really well at Montana. Maybe we can get on a roll now that our team is whole – that's what I'm believing in."
 
This week's road trip begins the second half of league play for the Eagles. It 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.
 
Northern Arizona enters Thursday's game 3-17 overall and 1-8 in the league, and has a six-game losing streak. Southern Utah is 4-15/2-7 heading into Thursday's home game against Idaho, and has lost its last four. 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 28-35 versus Northern Arizona, including an 8-22 record in Flagstaff, Ariz., 19-12 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 five meetings in Cheney dating back to a 73-69 loss on Jan. 15, 2010. Eastern trails in the all-time series 28-36 (8-22 in Flagstaff, 19-12 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.
 
* Earlier this season, sophomore Bogdan Bliznyuk registered the first triple-double in school history with 11 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists to lead EWU to a 96-73 Big Sky Conference victory over Northern Arizona on Jan. 16 at Reese Court. Last year's Big Sky Freshman of the Year helped the Eagles lead by as many as 15 in the first half and 26 in the second half to complete EWU's unbeaten three-game homestand. Bliznyuk made 4-of-12 shots from the field and both of his free throws, and also had three blocked shots. Senior Venky Jois completed a huge weekend with 21 points, eight rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. He had five dunks on Saturday, giving him 11 for the week. Also in double figures for the Eagles were Austin McBroom (19), Sir Washington (13) and Julian Harrell (11). Besides having five players finish in double figures, Eastern also had a dominating 43-21 rebounding advantage – its best against a NCAA Division I opponent this season (EWU out-rebounded George Fox by 24). The result was a 21-5 advantage in second-chance points, again, a best versus a DI opponent (25 versus George Fox). Eastern shot better than 50 percent for the third-straight game, finishing at 55 percent (36-of-65). Redshirt freshman Cody Benzel from Spokane entered the game in the first half and hit a pair of 3-point attempts, both during EWU's 12-0 run that gave the Eagles a 42-27 advantage. Northern Arizona was within 10 points with 16:10 left in the game, but over the next 10 minutes the Eagles went on a 29-13 run to open their biggest lead of the game at 80-54 with 6:20 to play. Six different Eagles scored in that stretch, including 11 by McBroom and eight by Washington.
 
* 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.
 
* On Jan. 14 at Reese Court, senior Venky Jois led the way with 24 points and 12 rebounds and Eastern displayed a superb drive game in powering past Southern Utah 106-80. The 30th double-double in the career of Jois was complemented by a 61 percent shooting night for the Eagles – which at the time was 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 – including no 3-point attempts after entering the game leading the Big Sky and ranking second in NCAA Division I with an average of 3.86 makes per game.
 
* 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.
 
* This week's Big Sky Conference co-Player of the Week and now with 1,616 points in his career, senior Venky Jois is only 125 points behind the school record of 1,741 held by Ron Cox (1974-77). If he equals his 16.9 scoring average the rest of the season (including one Big Sky Tournament game), Jois would finish with 1,785 and break the record at home on March 3 versus Idaho State. He moved from fourth to second in career scoring against Montana on Jan. 23, with a first-half dunk moving 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). Jois' school-record total of 221 blocked shots are 26 from the league record of 247 (Brian Qvale, Montana, 2008-11).  Jois has 909 rebounds to rank third in school history, and he also ranks on leaders lists for games played (110, 10th), scoring average (14.70, 10th), rebounding average (8.3, eighth), field goals attempted (1,121, third), field goals made (642, second), free throws made (328, second) and owns school records for dunks (137) and free throws attempted (584). 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.
 
* 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 eighth in NCAA Division I (previously fourth after eight games) and leads the Big Sky. The team's percentage is 21st at 39.1 percent (previously 175th/33.9 percent after six games). Austin McBroom (3.50 per game) and Felix Von Hofe (3.10 per game) are ranked first and second in the Big Sky and are sixth and 24th, respectively, in the nation. Against PSU on Jan. 28, the Eagles made 20-of-31 to break the previous record of 18 3-pointers set against New Hope on Dec. 4, 2010 (the Big Sky record is 30). 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.
 
* Eastern has now led for 191:08 out of 200 minutes in its five league home games. The Eagles led for 38:25 versus Sacramento State on Jan. 30 and 39:13 against Portland State on Jan. 28 to continue that recent trend. 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. 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. 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.
 
* Eastern is now 9-0 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 7-1 when allowing 71 points or fewer, and 5-1 when their opponent makes 44.9 percent or less from the field.
 
* 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's scoring average for the season is at 82.0 points to rank 20th in NCAA Division I and lead the Big Sky Conference through games of Jan. 30. 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 has now led at halftime in 15 of 20 games this season, and has an 11-4 record in those 15 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 823-697 in the first half (average score of 39-33) and has been outscored 914-899 in the second half (43-43).
 
* 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 

 
* Senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom is averaging 19.6 points per game to rank first in the Big Sky and 38th in NCAA Division I. His scoring average currently ranks as the ninth-best in school history In addition, his average of 3.50 3-pointers per game leads the league (just ahead of teammate Felix Von Hofe) and is sixth nationally. His 70 total 3-pointers already ranks eighth all-time in single season school history. McBroom is also 26th in the nation in minutes per game with a league-leading 36.6 average, and he is 51st in 3-point percentage (.419). He is eighth in the league and 150th nationally in free throw percentage, making 70-of-86 for 81.4 percent (he was 10th nationally after making 19 of his first 20). He has upped his assists average to 3.4 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 67.6 percent of his shots thus far (he was a season-high third several times, as recently as Jan. 27th). His current mark is on pace to break the school record of 66.0 percent set by Ron Cox in the 1976-77 season. He is also 71st nationally and fifth in the league in rebounding (8.6 per game), 63rd/3rd in blocked shots (1.85) and 137th/10th in scoring (16.9). Jois has had five double-doubles in his last 10 games, including his 32nd career double-double against Sacramento State (1/30/16), finishing with 24 points and 12 rebounds. That helped him earn Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors for the fourth time in his career and first in the 2015-16 season. 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 584 free throws attempted in his career, he broke the previous school record of 499 set by Dave Hayden from 1970-73. His 328 free throws made are second in school history, with Rodney Stuckey (2006-07) owning the record of 386. Jois also owns school records with 221 blocked shots (second in Big Sky history) and 137 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 16.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.9 blocks. Jois has six double-doubles this season and 32 total in his career. 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.
 
* 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 eight games played this season, he is averaging 10.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, while making 55.6 percent of his shots and 13-of-28 3-pointers (46.4 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.
 
* Playing a key "blur" position for the Eagles, sophomore forward Bogdan Bliznyuk has had three double-doubles in his last three games, including 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. One game later, he had 18 points and 11 rebounds versus Sacramento State (1/30/16). 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 11.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.4 steals with a deft ability to get to the rim. He has made 23-of-72 3-pointers thus far for 32 percent, and is 62-of-124 inside the stripe (50 percent) with an overall percentage of 43 percent. He has also made 47-of-62 free throws (75.8 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 13.8 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.  Von Hofe ranks 24th in NCAA Division I in 3-pointers per game with an average of 3.10 per game (he was third with a 3.86 average following EWU's game on Jan. 9) and is 37th in accuracy at 43.1 percent (he was 22nd with a 46.2 percent accuracy rate after Jan. 9). 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, has scored in double figures five 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). 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 6.2 points on 51 percent shooting from the field, and is also averaging 17.9 minutes and 2.9 rebounds with 16 assists and 14 steals.
 
* Six Eagles have already made their college basketball debuts this season, and five of them have played in at least 19 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 10.6 minutes, 2.2 rebounds and 1.7 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 7.4 minutes on the season. Ty Gibson has seen significant action as a true freshman, averaging 7.7 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 5.6 minutes and 1.9 points thus far, and started his first career game against George Fox on Nov. 15. Freshman redshirt Cody Benzel has averaged 3.9 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 missed EWU's last two games with 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.
 
* 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 Sac State Win: ""Every Big Sky Conference win is a great win, and we'll take it. What I'm really pleased about is that we won, and I don't know if we would have won this game three or four weeks ago. We were giving too much of our energy, focus and attention off of how we were shooting the ball. We couldn't have shot (3-pointers) any worse – probably the worst shooting performance I've seen as Eastern's head coach. But we knocked enough shots down in the second half and held them to 35 percent in the second half."
 
On Venky Jois down the stretch & Bogdan Bliznyuk in the second half: "We shot the ball well at the free throw line, and then we had a senior who said he would not let the team lose. He just put his head down and said, 'here is what winning is, follow me guys.' That's what you want in a leader. Bogdan had an outstanding second half and we ran a lot of offense through him. At the end of the day, we'll take the win – it's good. We have to figure it out on the road, so our theme this week is 'reverse the curse.' We're going to go win on the road next week."
 
On PSU Win: "We had great balance and we saw our team really playing within their roles and off of each other. As good as we were offensively, we were that good defensively in the first half. It's hard to keep the intensity in the second half, but we were really good in the first half."
 
On 3-Point Record: "I'm very happy for our team that they were able to set a school record. I don't know if I've ever coached a team that has made 20 threes – we've been close before. And we did it against a really good opponent. Portland State won its last two road games, but we were clicking on all cylinders."
 
On Freshmen: "I believe we also have five really good freshmen on our bench, and they are going to come in and make winning contributions. That is going to be the difference maker that carries us over the top."
 
 
 

Recent Game Recaps

 
* Senior Venky Jois and sophomore Bogdan Bliznyuk both recorded double-doubles, and the Eagles rode their defense in the second half for a 74-67 victory over Sacramento State Jan. 30 at Reese Court. Eastern led from start-to-finish for the fifth-straight league game at home, and held the Hornets to 35 percent shooting in the second half. Eastern was just 1-of-20 from the 3-point line, but made 19-of-24 free throws (79 percent) – including eight made charity shots in the last 1:55 to preserve EWU's 8-0 home record. Jois and Bliznyuk combined for 18-of-26 shooting (69 percent), while the rest of the team was just 9-of-31 (29 percent). Bliznyuk made 8-of-11 shots and both of his free throws to finish with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Jois made 10-of-15 field goals and 4-of-5 free throws to finish with a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom finished with 16 points despite a 3-of-11 shooting night, and junior Julian Harrell had 10 points and two each of rebounds, assists, blocked shots and steals. After Sacramento State used a 14-1 run to cut Eastern's game-high 17-point lead to four with 4:43 to play, Jois took over. The senior had a defensive rebound that led to his dunk with 3:52 left to bump the lead back to eight, then had a blocked shot on the next defensive possession for EWU. The 2:35 Sac State scoreless stretch was enough to give EWU some breathing room, and then EWU iced the victory by making 8-of-10 free throws in the last 1:55. An offensive rebound by Bliznyuk with 16 seconds left helped keep the ball out of the hands of the Hornets, who were down by four at the time. The Eagles out-rebounded Sac State 39-33, and had a 50-32 advantage in points in the paint.
 
* On a night they made a school-record 20 3-pointers, the Eagles jumped out to a 21-4 lead and had a 10-point lead or larger for all but four minutes in an overwhelming 112-83 victory over Portland State in a Big Sky game Jan. 28 at Reese Court. Eastern sank a season-high 64 percent of its shots from the field, including 20-of-31 3-point attempts (62 percent). The Eagles broke the previous record of 18 3-pointers set against New Hope on Dec. 4, 2010. Eight Eagles made 3-pointers and six Eagles scored in double figures, led by the 25 of Austin McBroom and 23 by Venky Jois. Although Portland State's Cameron Forte had a monster game with 37 points and 13 rebounds, the Eagles held PSU to 34.3 percent shooting in the first half and led at intermission 56-32. Eastern's largest lead of 36 came with 15:11 left at 74-38 after an 18-6 run to open the second half. Sophomore Bogdan Bliznyuk was a box score stuffer, finishing with 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists, five steals and four blocked shots. Juniors Julian Harrell and Felix Von Hofe each scored 16, and sophomore Sir Washington came off the bench to score 10 points in 16 minutes. Eastern made seven of its first eight shots in the game and ended up making 66 percent of its shots in the first half and 62 percent after halftime. The 63.8 percent accuracy bettered Eastern's other two 60-percent shooting nights this season – 63.3 versus George Fox and 61.3 against Southern Utah.