Upcoming Games (times Pacific)

Coverage

Radio: All Eastern games are on 700-AM ESPN in Spokane (Note: Saturday's game versus PSU will aired on KXLY 920-AM and via www.700espn.com. 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, plus the Sac State and PSU 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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As impressive and efficient as the Eagles have been during their current six-game winning streak, the road certainly makes the task at hand more difficult for the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team.
 
The Eagles, winners of six-straight games and nine of their last 11, try to maintain their top-three position in the Big Sky Conference standings this week when they play the first two of three-straight road games. Eastern's offense, which is leading NCAA Division I in offensive efficiency, plays at Sacramento State on Thursday (Feb. 18) and Portland State on Saturday (Feb. 20) in a pair of games that begin at 7:05 p.m. Pacific time.
 
Fans can listen to Thursday's game on 700-AM ESPN and via the web at www.700espn.com. Saturday's game will be aired on KXLY-AM 920 and via the web at www.kxly920.com. All EWU home games and conference road games are broadcast on www.watchbigsky.com.
 
Eastern is riding a Big Sky-best six-game winning streak, and has won nine of its last 11 since opening the league season 0-2. Only league-leading Montana (11-2) and second-place Weber State (10-2) have matched EWU's stretch, which has put the Eagles in sole possession of third place in the standings behind the Grizzlies and Wildcats.
 
Eastern has led 92 percent of the time in its six-game winning streak, including wire-to-wire victories last week over North Dakota (95-85) and Northern Colorado (97-80). The Eagles are unbeaten at home for the season (10-0) and in conference play (7-0), and its winning streak includes the team's first two road league wins at Northern Arizona and Southern Utah two weeks ago.
 
Earlier this season, Eastern beat Portland State (112-83) and Sacramento State (74-67) at home, with the odd twist that Eastern set a school record and tied the Big Sky mark with 20 3-pointers versus PSU, then went 1-of-20 against Sac State. The Hornets have lost their last three games and the Vikings have dropped their last four. Those teams are a combined 12-9 at home this season, while the Eagles are 5-10 away from home.
 
Eastern ranks in the top 20 in four different offensive categories in NCAA Division I, and is the most efficient team in the nation with an average of 1.049 points per possession (Michigan and North Florida are No. 2 at 1.043).
 
 "We're really happy with the sweep, and now it's time to match last week's road wins with some more road wins," said Eastern head coach Jim Hayford. "That's what has our attention."
 
Despite the hot stretch, Eastern still has a battle on their hands to stay in the top four in the conference and earn one of four first-round byes in the Big Sky Conference Tournament March 8-12 in Reno. Just one game separates fifth from third in the standings, and a pair of teams are just two games out of third.
 
Eastern is currently 9-4 in the league and 15-10 overall, followed by Idaho State at 8-4, Idaho at 8-5 and North Dakota and Montana State at 7-6. The Hornets are 3-9 in the league and 10-13 overall, and PSU enters its game Thursday at Idaho with a 4-8 league mark and 8-15 overall record.
 
"We've been looking forward and not looking back," Eastern head coach Jim Hayford said of his team's recent hot stretch. "We've won six-straight and our guys are playing really well. Our practices are going just as well as you see us play in games. Our team is in a really good groove."
 
After this week's games, Eastern plays its final regular season league road game Feb. 27 at Idaho. The Eagles close the league season at home versus Idaho State on March 3 and Weber State on March 5.
 
 
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 20-21 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 13-8 in Cheney and 7-12 against PSU in Portland (0-1 on neutral courts) since then. The Vikings have a 24-21 edge in the overall series. Eastern split its meetings against PSU in 2014-15, but won in Portland (92-85) and lost later in the season at home (68-66).
 
* Earlier this season 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.
 
* Since Eastern became a member of NCAA Division I in the 1983-84 season, the Eagles are now 30-14 versus Sacramento State, and the two schools did not play against each other prior to that. The Eagles have won 23 of their last 33 games against the Hornets, and have a 19-3 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.
 
* Earlier this season at Reese Court, 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 on Jan. 30. 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.
 
* 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.
 
 
 

Venky Jois Milestone Watch

* Senior Venky Jois, only the third player in the 53-year history of the Big Sky Conference to have more than 1,600 points and 900 rebounds in his career, is inching closer to the EWU career scoring record. Now with 1,679 points as an Eagle, he is only 62 points behind the school record of 1,741 held by Ron Cox (1974-77). His point total is currently 13th in Big Sky history, 131 from moving into the No. 12 position (1,810).
 
* If Jois equals his 16.7 scoring average the rest of the season (including one Big Sky Tournament game), Jois would finish with 1,779 to rank 13th in league history and break the school 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 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.
 
* Besides his scoring prowess, Jois' school-record total of 231 blocked shots are 16 from the league record of 247 (Brian Qvale, Montana, 2008-11). Jois also has 950 rebounds in his career to rank third in school history and sixth all-time in the Big Sky (61 from fifth). The only other players in league history to have more than 1,600 points and 900 rebounds are Larry Krystkowiak (Montana, 1983-86, 2,017 points, 1,105 rebounds, 3,122 total) and Steve Hayes (Idaho State, 1974-77, 1,933 points, 1,147 rebounds, 3,080 total). For total points/rebounds, Jois is sixth all-time with a current total of 2,629 (No. 5 is Jim Potter, Idaho State, 1993-95, 1,810 points, 863 rebounds, 2,673 total and No. 4 is Willie Sojourner, Weber State, 1,563 points, 1,143 rebounds, 2,709 total).
 
* Jois is also currently on pace to finish 21st in Big Sky history and fifth in school history in career field goal percentage (57.8 percent). His accuracy as a senior of 68.7 percent is on pace to set a school record (Ron Cox, 66.0 percent in 1977) and rank as the third-best in league history. Jois also ranks on EWU's leaders lists for games played (114, sixth), scoring average (14.70, 10th), rebounding average (8.3, eighth), field goals attempted (1,151, third), field goals made (665, second), free throws made (345, second) and owns school records for dunks (146) and free throws attempted (616).
 

 
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.
 
* Through 25 games this season, Eastern is the most efficient offensive team in the nation according to Synergy Sports Technology with an average of 1.049 points per possession. Michigan and North Florida are No. 2 at 1.043, with notable teams in the top 10 including Duke (#4), Notre Dame (#5), Saint Mary's (#6), Indiana (#7), Virginia (#8) and Iowa State (#10).
 
* Eastern's scoring average for the season is at 83.2 points to rank 15th in NCAA Division I and lead the Big Sky Conference through games of Feb. 14. 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 is now 12-0 this season when it has a better field goal percentage than its opponent, and 3-10 when it has been out-shot. The Eagles are also 8-1 when allowing 71 points or fewer, and 7-1 when their opponent makes 44.9 percent or less from the field. Against Northern Colorado on Feb. 13, the Eagles won for the seventh-straight time when they've made at least 50 percent of their shots, finishing 33-of-59 for 56 percent with 14 3-pointers. The Eagles, ranked sixth in NCAA Division I with a season accuracy rate of 49.9 percent, are now 11-2 when making at least 50 percent.
 
* Eastern is 9-2 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 8.9 points and 3.1 rebounds on 54 percent shooting in 12 games played, while often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent's best player.
 
* Eastern has now led for 220:23 out of 240 total minutes – 92 percent – during its six-game winning streak, and only trailed for 7:17 (tied for the other 12:20). Eastern's win over North Dakota was its closest of the five games, with UND leading for 5:02 and the game tied for 2:27 in the first half. The Eagles led for 37:13 against Northern Colorado, 32:31 against UND, 33:16 at Southern Utah, 39:45 at Northern Arizona, 38:25 versus Sacramento State and 39:13 against Portland State. Versus PSU, EWU opened a double-digit lead it never relinquished at 16-4 just 3:40 into the game, and led by 20 or more for the last 26:21 of the game and 27:13 total.
 
* Eastern has now led for 323:53 out of 360 minutes – 90 percent -- in its last nine victories. In a three-game homestand in January which started the trend, EWU led 113:30 out of a total of 120 possible minutes, sank 57 percent of their shots (99-of-174) and had an average winning margin of 21.0 points per game. Eastern averaged 92 points per game while allowing an average of 71. But proving just how difficult it is to win on the road, Eastern led Montana on Jan. 23 for just 3:29 and two nights earlier led MSU for just 5:23. In its six league home games, Eastern has led for 223:38 out of 240 minutes (93 percent).
 
* Featuring a school-record performance with 20 3-pointers against Portland State on Jan. 28, Eastern's average of 10.6 3-pointers per game is sixth in NCAA Division I (previously fourth after eight games) and leads the Big Sky. The team's percentage is 17th at 39.5 percent (previously 175th/33.9 percent after six games). Austin McBroom (3.71 per game) and Felix Von Hofe (3.04 per game) are ranked first and third in the Big Sky and are third and 23rd, respectively, in the nation. Against PSU on Jan. 28, the Eagles made 20-of-31 to break the previous school record of 18 3-pointers set against New Hope on Dec. 4, 2010 and equal the Big Sky record (since broken by Montana State with 25 on Feb. 11 versus Northern Arizona). Eastern's 20 treys were by eight different players – six by Austin McBroom, five by Felix Von Hofe, four by Julian Harrell and one each by Bogdan Bliznyuk, Sir Washington, Bear Henderson, Will Ferris and Cody Benzel. Two days later, Eastern made just 1-of-20 in a 74-67 home victory over Sacramento State. A year ago, Eastern was fifth nationally with an average of 9.8 made treys per game, and its 40.0 percent accuracy was eighth-best in the nation.
 
* This only the second time in Eastern's 33 seasons as a member of NCAA Division I that the Eagles have scored at least 100 points in four games. Eastern also achieved that feat in 2006-07 season when Rodney Stuckey averaged 24.6 points per game when the Eagles averaged 84.2 per game to establish EWU's high-water mark as a member of DI. The overall record for 100-point performances is eight set in the 1970-71 season, and the 1971-72 squad had seven when Eastern averaged a school-record 90.0 points per game.
 
* Eastern has now led at halftime in 19 of 25 games this season, and has a 15-4 record in those 19 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 946-787 in the first half (average score of 39-32) and has been outscored 1049-1036 in the second half (43-43).
 
* Eastern has been dominant at Reese Court, where Eastern has won all 10 games this season. The Eagles have out-scored opponents by an average score of 96-72 while out-shooting opponents 55 percent to 43 percent. The Eagles have also doubled the 3-point output of their opponents – 123-55 – while sinking 43 percent of their treys to just 35 percent for opponents.
 
* 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 was one of 154 nominees nationally for the NABC/Allstate Good Works Team. Although not chosen to the final 10-player squad recently announced, the 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

* Piling up the most points in back-to-back games in Big Sky Conference play in school history, senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom finished with a combined 72 points in EWU's home sweep to extend EWU's winning streak to six games. As a result, he was selected Monday (Feb. 15) as the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week. Including his 11 assists which led to 26 additional Eagle points, he had a hand in 98 of EWU's 192 points on the weekend (51 percent). He finished with a career-high 37 – 12^th-most in school history – in a 97-80 win over Northern Colorado (2/13/16). He made 10-of-16 shots from the field, 7-of-12 from the 3-point stripe and 10-of-11 from the free throw line to finish with his second-straight game of 35+ points. Including a 35-point outing in a 95-85 victory over North Dakota (2/11/16) – his previous career high and now 23rd all-time – McBroom made 19-of-33 shots (58 percent), 12-of-20 3-pointers (60 percent) and 22-of-25 free throws (88 percent) in the sweep. He also had six assists and six rebounds on Saturday, giving him 11 and 10, respectively in the two games. His performance against UND included 20 first-half points, and overall shooting of 9-of-17 from the field, 5-of-8 from the 3-point stripe and 12-of-14 from the free throw line. It was the third time in the last two years an Eagle has scored at least 72 points in back-to-back games. But it's the most in back-to-back Big Sky Conference games in school history, besting the 70 Rodney Stuckey, now with the Indiana Pacers in the NBA, had late in the 2006-07 season against Weber State (34) and Portland State (36). Last season, Venky Jois had 38 each in back-to-back games versus Eastern Oregon and Seattle, then Tyler Harvey had a total of 73 in consecutive games versus L-C State (34) and Weber State (39). The most Harvey had in back-to-back league games was 61 last year against Northern Colorado (37) and North Dakota (24). The Big Sky record was set by Damian Lillard (now of the Portland Trailblazers), who had 75 in two games in Feb. of 2012 (40 vs. Portland State 2/2 and 35 vs. Northern Colorado 2/4).
 
* Senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom is averaging 21.3 points per game to rank first in the Big Sky and 14th in NCAA Division I. His scoring average currently ranks as the fifth-best in school history and his 511 total points are already 12th. In addition, his average of 3.71 3-pointers per game leads the league (teammate Felix Von Hofe is third) and is third nationally. His 89 total 3-pointers already ranks fourth all-time in single season school history. McBroom is also 14th in the nation in minutes per game with a league-leading 37.1 average, and he is 21st nationally and second in the Big Sky in 3-point percentage (.438). He is fifth in the league and 108th nationally in free throw percentage, making 104-of-126 for 82.5 percent (he was 10th nationally after making 19 of his first 20). He has upped his assists average to 3.6 per game, ranking eighth 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 second in NCAA Division I in field goal percentage, having made 68.7 percent of his shots thus far. His current mark is on pace to break the school record of 66.0 percent set by Ron Cox in the 1976-77 season and rank third all-time in the Big Sky. He is also 58th nationally and fourth in the league in rebounding (8.9 per game), 46th/2nd in blocked shots (1.96) and 140th/ninth in scoring (16.7). Jois has had nine doubles this season, with eight in his last 14 games, including his 35th career double-double against Northern Colorado (2/13/16) with 14 points and 10 boards. He had his first double-double of the season with 21 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots at Davidson on Dec. 9. Jois played in the 100th game of his career and became the 16th player in school history to hit the century mark on Dec. 14 when EWU played at Western Carolina. He equaled his career high with seven assists on Nov. 29 against South Dakota, which double and triple teamed him when he got the ball in the post and limited him to just three shots. He also went to the free throw line five times against the Coyotes to surpass the school's career record for charity shots. Now with 616 free throws attempted in his career, he broke the previous school record of 499 set by Dave Hayden from 1970-73. His 345 free throws made are second in school history, with Rodney Stuckey (2006-07) owning the record of 386. Jois also owns school records with 231 blocked shots (second in Big Sky history) and 146 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 16.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 blocks. In Eastern's home sweep versus Portland State (1/28/16) and Sacramento State (1/30/16), he averaged 23.5 points and 10.5 rebounds while making 63 percent of his shots from the field (19-of-30) and 75 percent from the free throw line (9-of-12). He also had three assists, three blocks and a steal to garner Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors. In a six-game stretch from Jan. 14-30, he averaged 20.5 points and 9.5 points on 53-of-79 shooting (67.1 percent) from the field, helping EWU to four victories. He had a huge weekend in Eastern's home sweep on Jan. 14 and 16, scoring 45 points on 21-of-28 (75 percent) shooting from the field, with a total of 11 dunks. Jois also had 20 rebounds, three assists, three blocked shots and a pair of steals. Eastern beat Southern Utah 106-80 and Northern Arizona 96-73 in a pair of romps that EWU led for a total of 73:22 and trailed for just 4:09 out of 80 minutes. He made 11-of-16 shots with six dunks to score 24 against SUU, and also had 12 rebounds to finish with a double-double. He made 10-of-12 shots from the field with five dunks, and added eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals in a 21-point effort versus NAU.
 
* Sophomore forward Bogdan Bliznyuk is the only player in the league to rank in the top 25 in scoring (18th, 12.2 per game) and the top 15 in rebounding (8th, 6.6) and assists (13th, 2.8). He also ranks in the top 10 in steals (8th, 1.40) and free throw percentage (10th, 78.0 percent). In league only statistics, Bliznyuk is ranked in the top 20 in scoring (17th, 13.0) and in the top 11 in five other categories – rebounding (7th, 7.7), assists (11th, 3.3), blocked shots (8th, 1.2), free throw percentage (4th, .829) and assist-to-turnover ratio (6th, +2.0). Playing a key "blur" position for the Eagles, Bliznyuk has had four double-doubles in his last nine games, and a total of five this season and seven in his career. Included is the first triple-double in school history with 11 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in a 96-73 victory over Northern Arizona (1/16/16). He made 4-of-12 shots from the field and both of his free throws, and also had three blocked shots. Not even Rodney Stuckey, now of the Indiana Pacers, or former All-Big Sky point guard Drew Brandon, were able to register the rare feat. He followed that with his fourth double-double of his career and third this season with 22 points and 13 rebounds at Montana State (1/21/16), and against Portland State (1/28/16) he had another monster game with 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists, five steals and four blocked shots in 34 minutes. In Eastern's road sweep over Northern Arizona (84-73) and Southern Utah (81-67), he averaged 24.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals to earn College Sports Madness Big Sky Player of the Week honors. He sank 53.8 percent of his shots overall (14-of-26), making an equal percentage and amount of shots from the 3-point stripe as well as inside (7-of-13 each). He was 7-of-13 from the field in both games as well, registering a double-double with 22 points, a career-high six 3-pointers and 10 rebounds against NAU in EWU's first Big Sky road win of the season. He then had a career-high 26 points with seven rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals against SUU. He made 11-of-12 free throws against the Thunderbirds, including 6-of-6 in the last 3:37 and a key steal and rebound in the final 1:43 to preserve the win.
 
* Sophomore Bogdan Bliznyuk plays a position head coach Jim Hayford calls a "blur" because it shares attributes of a shooting guard, small forward and power forward. He has been used frequently at bringing the ball up the court with a deft ability to get to the rim. He has made 31-of-90 3-pointers thus far for 34 percent, and is 77-of-152 inside the stripe (51 percent) with an overall percentage of 45 percent. He has also made 64-of-82 free throws (78.0 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 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 12 games played this season, he is averaging 8.9 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, while making 53.5 percent of his shots and 14-of-37 3-pointers (37.8 percent). His season high is 16 points versus Portland State on Jan. 28 when he finished with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 4-of-6 3-pointers. He made the first start of his career against Idaho (1/9/16), helping EWU to a 28-12 lead by scoring all 10 of his first-half points in that stretch on a trio of 3-pointers and a free throw. He finished with 14 points and three rebounds in a total of 25 minutes, then had 15 points in 19 minutes on 6-of-7 shooting against Southern Utah (1/14/16). He had two points, five rebounds and an assist in 10 minutes of action in his Eagle debut versus North Dakota (1/4/16) after missing the first 13 games with a hand injury. He also takes on the added role of usually guarding the opposing team's best player.
 
* Junior sharpshooter Felix Von Hofe is averaging 13.0 points on the season, but in a five-game stretch from Dec. 14 to Jan. 9, he averaged 24.0 points with outings of 28, 27 (twice) and 19 (twice). In that stretch, he made 52.6 percent of his shots overall (40-of-76) and 50.0 percent of his 3-point shots (27-of-54), and also made 13-of-16 free throws (81.3 percent) and averaged 4.4 rebounds.  Von Hofe ranks 23rd in NCAA Division I in 3-pointers per game with an average of 3.04 per game (he was third with a 3.86 average following EWU's game on Jan. 9) and is 34th in accuracy at 42.7 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) and eight points, five rebounds and a career-high three assists in 15 minutes versus North Dakota (2/11/15). The Eagle sixth man opened the season with 11 points in the team's opener at Mississippi State, and topped that with career highs of 15 points and nine rebounds against Great Falls on Dec. 6. He also scored 11 in two other games, including Northern Colorado (12/31/16) in the team's league opener. He was injured and didn't play versus Idaho (1/9/16). He has started four games, and is averaging 5.9 points on 52 percent shooting from the field, and is also averaging 17.3 minutes and 2.8 rebounds with 21 assists and 16 steals.
 
* Six Eagles have already made their college basketball debuts this season, and five of them have played in at least 21 Eastern games. Those five were inserted into the starting lineup by head coach Jim Hayford against Great Falls on Dec. 6.
 
* Starting true freshman Jesse Hunt, a 6-foot-7 forward, made the first start of his career against Pacific (11/28/15), and is averaging 9.8 minutes, 2.0 rebounds and 1.5 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 1.7 points, 0.7 assists and 6.8 minutes on the season. Ty Gibson has seen significant action as a true freshman, averaging 7.8 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 5.3 minutes and 1.6 points thus far, and started his first career game against George Fox on Nov. 15. Freshman redshirt Cody Benzel has averaged 3.8 points in an average of 5.8 minutes, including 23 points on a 7-of-14 3-point shooting performance against Great Falls on Dec. 6. He also had a 12-point performance against South Dakota on Nov. 29 when he made four 3-pointers in just eight minutes of action. All five of those players made their collegiate debuts in EWU's opener at Mississippi State on Nov. 13, and Ferris, Benzel and Gibson made the first starts of their careers against Great Falls. True freshman Michael Wearne made his collegiate debut versus George Fox, however, will now redshirt because of a hip injury requiring surgery.
 
* Making his NCAA Division I debut against Mississippi State on Nov. 13 was junior college transfer Rico Nuno, who had a career-high seven rebounds at Denver on Dec. 20 and is averaging 1.7 rebounds, 0.6 points and 6.4 minutes in 17 games played. He has not played since Jan. 23 because of a foot injury. Senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom made his Eagle debut against the Bulldogs, and junior transfer Julian Harrell played for the first time on Jan. 2 after missing the first 13 games with a hand injury. Three Eagles – transfer Geremy McKay, transfer Mario Soto and freshman Grant Gibb – will redshirt.
 
* 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 UNC Win: "What a great win and for Austin to have 72 points in two games. Both games were similar – we opened up a big lead and the other team wouldn't let the game end. We kept pushing and had two double-digit wins over teams that defeated us earlier. I think it shows we are improving a lot."
 
On UND Win: "That was a really good win for our basketball team against a quality opponent. Our two seniors played outstanding and wouldn't be denied. They led us to victory – that's what leadership on the floor looks like. Venky in the second half inside was just unstoppable."
 
On Shooting Prowess: "We recruit to shoot – I'm not surprised by our great shooting nights. If you come to practice and watch these players, they can really shoot it. We put a premium on it and it's one of the standards of our offense. When we are shooting well it sets up our drive game and our post play. We obviously came out on fire – it was a great week."
 
On Leading Wire-to-Wire With Double-Digit Wins Throughout: "It's been a consistent theme. We've even had double-digit wins in our last two road wins too. Our players are just really dialed-in on our game plans, our scouting reports and our execution. When other teams have to scout us, they have to pick their poison – what do they want to take away? Our team is doing a really smart job of realizing what that opens up. Our players deserve a lot of credit for not just playing hard but playing smart."
 
On Venky Jois Building Program: "Tyler Harvey got a lot of attention last year, but there are some unsung heroes too in the renaissance of Eastern basketball. Venky is going to leave here as the all-time leading scorer and the all-time leader in blocked shots. He's a pre-med major and was selected to the all-academic team for our region. The reason is our program is better is that we were able to build on his back. He's that good of a player and a person. He loves Eastern – he sweats it. He said, 'I will turn this around with you Coach Hayford,' and he's done it. That's why we'll see his number retired in this gym some day."
 
On Austin McBroom Filling Gap When Tyler Harvey Departed a Year Early: "We had a gap in our program, and I don't think there was a graduate transfer in the country better than the player we were able to get. We lost a player to the NBA, but our team is playing great basketball on the offensive side, this is in large part due to because we added a player like Austin. I'm really glad he wanted to get his master's in communications here because he's made us a great offensive team. Austin only had one day of practice (leading up to the UND game). He's battling an injury and we kept him out of practice Monday and Tuesday. I guess we'll only let him practice one day the rest of the year because with a little rest, he's good for averaging 36 per game."
 
On Bogdan Bliznyuk: "Bogdan is playing great basketball -- as well as anyone on our team. I am really proud of him.  His conference statistics reflect his great ability and character."
 
 
 

Recent Game Recaps

 
* Senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom led the way with his second-straight performance of 35+ points and Eastern remained unbeaten at home with a 97-80 victory over Northern Colorado in a Big Sky Conference rematch of a 96-90 Eagle loss at UNC on Dec. 31. Senior Venky Jois contributed his 35th career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and the Eagles sank 56 percent of their shots in the game – including 67 percent in the second half. McBroom had 37 against UNC and coupled with his 35 points two nights earlier, finished with a combined 72 points in two games, the most back-to-back in Big Sky play in school history. McBroom made 10-of-16 shots from the field, 7-of-12 from the 3-point stripe and 10-of-11 from the free throw line, and also had six assists and six rebounds. Jois made 5-of-6 field goals and 4-of-6 free throws, and also had two blocked shots. He went into the game ranked second in NCAA Division I with a .684 shooting percentage, and in the weekend sweep made all but one of his 15 field goal attempts. Sophomore Bogdan Bliznyuk scored 12 points in the first half, and finished with 18. He also had eight rebounds, three assists and a pair of blocked shots. Junior Felix Von Hofe nailed a trio of 3-pointers and finished with nine points, three rebounds and equaled his career high with four assists. Eastern fell behind 2-0, but reeled off 19 unanswered points to take an early 19-2 advantage. Austin McBroom scored eight points, Bogdan Bliznyuk had six and Julian Harrell scored the other five for the Eagles in the early stretch in which UNC missed nine-straight shots. The lead ballooned 28 at 48-20 on a 3-pointer by McBroom with 4:12 to play. Eastern missed six-straight shots near the end of the half to allow the Bears to go on an 11-0 run and pull within 51-31 at halftime. Eastern led by no less than 15 and by as many as 24 in the second half.
 
* Senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom scored a career-high 35 and fifth-year senior Venky Jois added 24 to help Eastern power past North Dakota 95-85 in a battle for third place in the Big Sky Conference standings Feb. 11 at Reese Court. Eastern made 52 percent of its shots overall, including 11-of-29 3-point shots (38 percent), compared to 47 percent for the visitors. Eastern, which sank 24-of-32 free throws (75 percent), also managed a 38-30 rebounding advantage. Jois led the way on the boards with nine, and also had four blocked shots and five assists. He made all nine of his field goal attempts, including three dunks, to flirt with the school record of 10-of-10. McBroom eclipsed his previous career high of 33 by netting 35 on 9-of-17 shooting from the field (5-of-8 3-pointers) and 12-of-14 from the free throw line. He also had five assists and four rebounds. With starter Julian Harrell playing just nine minutes because of a migraine headache, sophomore Sir Washington and freshmen Cody Benzel and Ty Gibson stepped forward to play 39 quality minutes for EWU. Washington scored eight points and had five rebounds and three assists, and Gibson hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first half and added three rebounds. Benzel hit a pair of baskets in the second half, including a 3-pointer. There were three lead changes and a pair of ties in the early going, but McBroom's 20 first-half points helped the Eagles lead by 10 at halftime. He scored eight points in a 14-0 Eastern run to turn a five-point deficit into a nine-point advantage with 9:15 left in the half. Eastern held the Fighting Hawks without a point for 4:38 in that stretch as UND missed seven-straight shots. Ahead by seven in the second half, the Eagles went on an electrifying 18-5 run, capped by a Benzel 3-pointer with 11:30 left that gave EWU a 66-49 advantage. Jois had all three of his dunks in that stretch, as the Eagles led by no less than seven the rest of the way. Eastern clinched it by making 10 free throws in the final 58 seconds, including eight by McBroom.