Upcoming Games (times Pacific)

Coverage

Radio: Eastern games may be heard 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://www.govandals.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml for Idaho game; ewustats.com for EWU home games, plus the PSU game.
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.
 

---

The where part is a done deal, but the who and when will be determined in the next two weeks for the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team.
 
The Eagles play at Idaho Saturday (Feb. 27) at 1 p.m. at Memorial Gym as part of an 11-game series in which the top seven teams in the league standings square off against each other. Those games, which conclude March 5, will be the most important meetings in the final two weeks of the regular season to determine seeding for the Big Sky Conference Tournament, which takes place March 8-12 in Reno, Nevada, and includes all 12 league teams. The top four seeds receive first-round byes, otherwise, the other eight teams will play on the first day of the tournament and need to win four games in five days to win the league title and the NCAA berth that goes with it.
 
Fans can listen to Saturday's game 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.
 
In an earlier meeting on Jan. 9 in Cheney, Eastern jumped out to an early 16-point lead and had its best defensive field goal percentage of the season to beat Idaho 74-60. Eastern out-shot the Vandals 53 percent to 31 percent, with Eastern's defensive performance its best of the year by six percent.
 
Eastern's Julian Harrell scored 14 points in his first start after missing EWU's first 13 games with a hand injury. Idaho's top two scorers were injured shortly after that meeting and missed several games, but the Vandals are back to fully health. They are 9-6 in the league and 17-11 overall, while the Eagles have a 10-5 Big Sky mark and 16-11 record overall.
 
The Eagles, whose 42 victories are already the most in back-to-back seasons in the school's 33 seasons as a member of NCAA Division I, have won four-straight games over the Vandals. Idaho is in its second season back in the league after an 18-year hiatus, and at one time had won 22-straight over the Eagles, including all 18 Big Sky meetings until EWU's 89-66 road win on Jan. 10, 2015.
 
"Idaho has had an amazing season battling adversity and finding their way to success," said Eastern head coach Jim Hayford. "I have tremendous respect for coach (Don) Verlin and the job he does. Our mission is simple -- keep working at reversing history and finding wins so that we can make the games with Idaho a true rivalry for both schools."
 
Eastern is currently in sole possession of third place in the Big Sky Conference standings with a 10-5 record (16-11 overall), just ahead of a pair of teams the Eagles will face in the next two games. Idaho State is 9-5 (14-12) and plays at EWU on March 3, and Idaho is right behind the Bengals at 9-6. Eastern's Senior Day home finale on March 5 is against Weber State, which is battling Montana at the top of the league standings (both 12-2).
 
Eastern is coming off a road split last week, and enters the Idaho game having won seven of its last eight league games and 10 of its last 13 since opening the league season 0-2.
 
"We wanted to keep putting some heat on the teams above us," said Hayford after his team lost at Portland State last Saturday (Feb. 20), two days after beating Sacramento State for the team's third-straight road triumph. "That's a little bit more removed now. The most precious thing you fight for is a league championship, because it shows over time how you do against your peers. But the reality of it – and what we learned last year -- is that it really matters what you do in the conference tournament."
 
Senior Venky Jois enters Saturday's game just 24 points behind the EWU career record of 1,741 held by Ron Cox (1974-77). The 6-foot-8, 230 pound junior has 1,717 points in his 116-game career to rank 13th in Big Sky Conference history, and his 969 rebounds are sixth. Already only the third player in Big Sky history to have at least 1,600 points and 900 rebounds, Jois is fifth all-time in the league in combined points and rebounds with 2,686 total, and needs only 20 to move into fourth with Weber State's Willie Sojourner (1,563 points, 1,143 rebounds, 2,706 total from 1969-71).
 
Jois, who is ranked second in NCAA Division I in shooting accuracy (69.7 percent), has made 31-of-36 shots (86 percent) in his last four games. His 53 dunks this season has tied his own school record of 53 set as a junior. He has 36 career double-doubles, 10 this season and six in his last nine games. Two of the times he hasn't had a double-double in that nine-game stretch he was a rebound shy.
 
 
 
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 

 
* Starting this Thursday (Feb. 25), 11 head-to-head games will take place involving the top seven teams in the Big Sky standings. By date, here they are:
 
Thursday, Feb. 25 – Montana (12-2) at Idaho State (9-5); Montana State (7-7) at Weber State (12-2).
 
Saturday, Feb. 27 – Eastern (10-5) at Idaho (9-6); Montana at Weber State; Montana State at Idaho State.
 
Thursday, March 3 – Idaho State at Eastern; Weber State at Idaho; North Dakota at Montana.
 
Saturday, March 5 – Weber State at Eastern; Idaho State at Idaho; North Dakota at Montana State.
 
* Eastern has won the last four meetings against Idaho, and hasn't lost since falling 81-79 at home in overtime on Dec. 6, 2012. Eastern has won the last two in Moscow, dating back to a 58-49 loss on Dec. 9, 2007. Since 1996 when Idaho left the Big Sky Conference, the two schools have now played 18 times, with Eastern winning 12 of them. Idaho leads the all-time series 52-28. Since EWU became a NCAA Division I member in the 1983-84 season, EWU is 15-31 against Idaho (8-14 home, 6-14 away, 1-3 neutral).
 
* The Eagles and Vandals played three hard-fought battles last season, with EWU pulling out an 89-86 victory in Moscow, Idaho, on Jan. 10. Eastern then rallied from 11 points down in the final 1:33 in the rematch at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash., for a 98-95 overtime victory on Jan. 31. The Eagles then won 91-83 in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Missoula, Mont., when Tyler Harvey tied the Big Sky Conference Tournament record with a career-high 42 points. Harvey made 8-of-12 3-pointers and 13-of-20 shots overall, with Venky Jois adding his fifth-straight double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds.
 
* The meeting last season in Moscow was EWU's first-ever league victory over the UI, and was the first league meeting between the schools since Feb. 17, 1996. The Vandals rejoined the Big Sky Conference in the 2014-15 season after previously competing in the league from 1963-1996, winning tournament championships in 1980, 1981, 1989 and 1990. Eastern began playing in the Big Sky in 1987-88, and won the tourney title in 2004. In those previous nine seasons of co-existence in the Big Sky, the Vandals won all 18 league meetings between the two schools, as well as the Big Sky Conference Tournament Championship game in 1990 won 65-62 by the Vandals on a shot at the buzzer by Ricardo Boyd. In all, Idaho had won 22-straight against the Eagles, who went nearly 14 years between victories (1/15/86 to 11/29/99).
 
* Earlier this season, Eastern jumped out to an early 16-point lead and had its best defensive field goal percentage of the season and picked up its first Big Sky Conference victory of the season with a 74-60 win on Jan. 9 in Cheney, Wash. Senior Austin McBroom had 26 points and seven assists, and Julian Harrell scored 14 in his starting debut as an Eagle. Eastern out-shot the Vandals 53 percent to 31 percent, with Eastern's defensive performance its best of the year by six percent. McBroom hit 8-of-14 shots from the field, including 6-of-10 3-point attempts. His seven assists were his most against a NCAA Division I opponent this season as he accounted for 45 of EWU's 74 points (31 of 46 in the first half). Felix Von Hofe added 19 points and five 3-pointers to help EWU to a 15-of-29 performance from the 3-point arc. Senior Venky Jois had four blocked shots, and was a perfect 4-of-4 with a pair of dunks to finish with nine points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Bogdan Bliznyuk chipped in six points, a team-high nine rebounds and three assists. The Eagles ranked 344th out of 351 NCAA Division I teams in field goal percentage defense entering the game at 51.0 percent. But Eastern held Idaho to just 30 points in each half on 31.3 percent shooting from the field. Previously, the lowest shooting percentages against the Eagles were 37.5 percent by George Fox on Nov. 15 and 37.5 percent by Pacific on Nov. 28. Eastern continued its torrid shooting from the 3-point stripe, sinking 15-of-29 for what was then a season-best 51.7 percent. The Eagles made nine of their first 11 shots and jumped out to a quick 28-12 lead, with Julian Harrell scoring all 10 of his first-half points in that stretch on a trio of 3-pointers and a free throw. Eastern led by no less than nine the rest of the half as McBroom hit a pair of free throws with one second left to give EWU a 46-30 halftime lead. Eastern opened the second half on an 8-0 run to take its biggest lead of the night at 24, and the closest Idaho came was 11 with 1:01 left. Idaho never led, and EWU led for all but the game's first 12 seconds when it was 0-0.
 
* 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). Game times for the first round will be 12:05 p.m. (#8 vs. #9), 2:35 p.m. (#5 vs. #12), 5:35 p.m. (#7 vs. #10) and 8:05 p.m. (#6 vs. #11). The same game times will be used in the quarterfinals -- 12:05 p.m. (#1 vs. #8/#9 winner), 2:35 p.m. (#4 vs. #5/#12 winner), 5:35 p.m. (#2 vs. #7/#10 winner) and 8:05 p.m. (#3 vs. #6/#11 winner). The semifinals will include games at 5:35 p.m. (first two quarterfinal winners) and 8:05 p.m. (second two quarterfinal winners). The championship game is slated for 5:45 p.m. 
 
* 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 1,717 points as an Eagle, he is only 24 points behind the school record of 1,741 held by Ron Cox (1974-77). His point total is currently 13th in Big Sky history, 93 from moving into the No. 12 position (1,810).
 
* If Jois equals his 16.9 scoring average the rest of the season (including one Big Sky Tournament game), Jois would finish with 1,784 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 969 rebounds in his career to rank third in school history and sixth all-time in the Big Sky (42 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 fifth all-time with a current total of 2,660, only 20 from No. 4 (Willie Sojourner, Weber State, 1,563 points, 1,143 rebounds, 2,706 total).
 
* With 53 dunks this season to tie his own school record of 53 set as a junior, Jois is currently on pace to finish 20th in Big Sky history and fifth in school history in career field goal percentage (58.2 percent). His accuracy as a senior of 69.7 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 (116, fifth), scoring average (14.80, 10th), rebounding average (8.4, eighth), field goals attempted (1,172, third), field goals made (682, second), free throws made (349, second) and owns school records for dunks (151) and free throws attempted (629).
 
 
 

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.
 
* The Eagles and head coach Jim Hayford have already won the most games in back-to-back seasons in the school's 33 seasons as a member of NCAA Division I. Eastern has won 42 thus far (26 last year, 16 this season), to overtake the previous mark of 35. Hayford is the winningest coach in Eastern's Division I history with 82 wins in his five years at the helm (the previous mark was 69). He is averaging 16.4 victories per season thus far – just behind the all-time record of 17.3 among Eastern coaches with at least four seasons at the helm. He would need to get to 87 wins (21 this season) to surpass that high-water mark in EWU's 108 seasons of basketball.
 
* Eastern's scoring average for the season is at 83.8 points to rank ninth in NCAA Division I and lead the Big Sky Conference through games of Feb. 20. Eastern had scored 290 points in its first three games for an average of 96.7 points per game to rank fifth nationally. Last year's team set a school record with 2,820 points scored and averaged 80.6 per game to rank third in NCAA Division I. Eastern's school records for average are 90.0 overall (1972) and 84.2 as a member of D1 (2007).
 
* Eastern is now 13-0 this season when it has a better field goal percentage than its opponent, and 3-11 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 Sacramento State on Feb. 18, the Eagles won for the ninth-straight time when they made at least 50 percent of their shots, finishing 31-of-58 for 53 percent with 11 3-pointers, but that streak ended the next game versus Portland State when EWU was out-shot 65 percent to 50 percent. The Eagles, ranked fifth in NCAA Division I with a season-best accuracy rate of 50.1 percent, are now 12-3 when making at least 50 percent, and have hit that mark in their last five games.
 
* From Jan. 28 to Feb. 18 the Eagles had a seven-game winning streak, its best since the 2003-04 season when the Eagles won 11 in a row – all during conference play. Eastern's longest winning streak during last year's 26-9 campaign was six games. Both the 2004 and 2015 squads advanced to the NCAA Tournament. In those seven games, EWU led for 259:10 out of 280 total minutes – 93 percent -- and only trailed for 7:18 (tied for the other 13:32). Eastern's win over North Dakota was its closest of the seven games, with UND leading for 5:02 and the game tied for 2:27 in the first half. The Eagles led for 38:47 in its most recent game versus Sacramento State, 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 362:40 out of 400 minutes – 91 percent -- in its last 10 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 a 107-91 loss at Portland State on Feb. 20 that snapped EWU's seven-game winning streak, EWU led for just 48 seconds, with the game tied for 1:22 and PSU leading for 37:50.
 
* Featuring a school-record performance with 20 3-pointers against Portland State on Jan. 28, Eastern's average of 10.5 3-pointers per game is fifth in NCAA Division I (previously fourth after eight games) and leads the Big Sky. The team's percentage is 16th at 39.3 percent (previously 175th/33.9 percent after six games). Austin McBroom (3.65 per game) and Felix Von Hofe (3.08 per game) are ranked first and fourth in the Big Sky and are third and 20th, 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. With 283 3-pointers made this season, the Eagles are chasing the school record of 344 set in 2015, as well as the percentage record (.400) set the same season.
 
* 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 20 of 27 games this season, and has a 16-4 record in those 20 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 1089-912 in the first half (average score of 40-33) and has been outscored 1199-1174 in the second half (44-43).
 
* 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. In its six league home games, Eastern has led for 223:38 out of 240 minutes (93 percent).
 
* 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 21.9 points per game to rank first in the Big Sky and 12th in NCAA Division I. His scoring average currently ranks as the fourth-best in school history and his 569 total points are already seventh. In addition, his average of 3.65 3-pointers per game leads the league (teammate Felix Von Hofe is fourth) and is third nationally. His 95 total 3-pointers already ranks fourth all-time in single season school history. McBroom is also 13th in the nation in minutes per game with a league-leading 37.2 average, and he is 29th nationally and fourth in the Big Sky in 3-point percentage (.428). He is seventh in the league and 101st nationally in free throw percentage, making 128-of-155 for 82.6 percent (he was 10th nationally after making 19 of his first 20). He has upped his assists average to 3.7 per game, ranking ninth in the league. He was the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week after piling up the most points in back-to-back games in Big Sky Conference play in school history, finished with a combined 72 points in EWU's home sweep against North Dakota (35 points on 2/11/16) and Northern Colorado (37 points on 2/13/16). 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). 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 69.7 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 53rd nationally and third in the league in rebounding (8.9 per game), 66th/3rd in blocked shots (1.88) and 140th/ninth in scoring (16.9). Jois has had 10 double-doubles this season, with nine in his last 16 games, including his 36th career double-double against Sacramento State (2/18/16) with 18 points and 13 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 629 free throws attempted in his career, he broke the previous school record of 499 set by Dave Hayden from 1970-73. His 349 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 151 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, 8.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.8 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 one of only two players in the league (NAUs Kris Yanku is the other) to rank in the top 25 in scoring (20th, 12.3 per game) and the top 15 in rebounding (8th, 6.8) and assists (13th, 2.9). He also ranks in the top 10 in steals (8th, 1.37) and free throw percentage (10th, 78.2 percent). In league only statistics, Bliznyuk is ranked in the top 20 in scoring (19th, 12.7) and in the top 11 in five other categories – rebounding (7th, 7.9), assists (11th, 3.5), blocked shots (7th, 1.1), free throw percentage (5th, .826) and assist-to-turnover ratio (7th, +1.7). Playing a key "blur" position for the Eagles, Bliznyuk has had five double-doubles in his last 11 games, and a total of six this season and eight 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 33-of-95 3-pointers thus far for 35 percent, and is 83-of-163 inside the stripe (51 percent) with an overall percentage of 45 percent. He has also made 68-of-88 free throws (78.2 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.
 
* Eastern is 10-3 since junior Julian Harrell entered the starting lineup for the first time on Jan. 9 against Idaho after missing 13 games with an injury. A transfer from City College of San Francisco who previously played at Penn, Harrell 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 14 games played this season, he is averaging 8.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, while making 53.1 percent of his shots and 16-of-41 3-pointers (39.0 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 13.1 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 20th in NCAA Division I in 3-pointers per game with an average of 3.08 per game (he was third with a 3.86 average following EWU's game on Jan. 9) and is 30th in accuracy at 42.8 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 made 7-of-10 shots from the field to finish with 15 points and equal his career high against Sacramento State (2/18/15). It was his most in his career against a Division I opponent, and matched his overall career high of 15 against Great Falls (12/6/15). He has scored in double figures seven 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 6.3 points on 53 percent shooting from the field (61 percent in conference play), and is also averaging 17.8 minutes and 2.8 rebounds with 21 assists and 18 steals.
 
* Six Eagles have already made their college basketball debuts this season, and five of them have played in at least 23 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 9.3 minutes, 2.0 rebounds and 1.4 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 1.6 points, 0.7 assists and 6.8 minutes on the season. Ty Gibson has seen significant action as a true freshman, averaging 7.6 minutes and 1.9 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 3.7 points in an average of 5.5 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 Getting Rest Before Idaho Game: "It's a hard thing, because what we were missing (against Portland State) was toughness. Yes, they do have to have their legs, but you can't go so easy that when it's time jump into the ring you aren't ready to take game punches. We'll find that fine balance."
 
On PSU Loss: "We'll take a deep breath -- we've won seven of our last eight and 10 of our last 13. We have a good team and we're a better offensive team. This loss gets our attention and we'll just push through. You want sweeps and we got a split. The only team that swept this whole trip this year has been Weber State. We'll wake up in the morning and say, 'okay, fair enough.' I'm just disappointed we didn't have more fight from us from the opening bell."
 
On Portland State's Hot Shooting: "We congratulate Portland State – they played really well. We had won 10 of our last 12 and hadn't played defense like this in a long time. Sometimes it's harder to coach through success than failure – failure keeps you hungry and losing keeps you on point. We haven't tasted that disappointment in a month. I think we can coach and turn this into a good thing. We weren't hungry. When we are at our best we are really focused on defense and getting our energy from that, and not worrying about scoring or not. We've been coaching to try to avoid this, but it showed its head tonight. We'll give our players a couple of days to get their bodies fresh – fortunately we have a long week to prepare for Idaho. We'll fix it."
 
On Sac State Win: "I'm really proud of our team for coming out and executing our game plan very well. We just shot the ball fantastic and adjusted to all their adjusting defenses. Sir gave us a huge spark off the bench. Their bigs are bigger than our bigs, but Venky and Bogdan held their own and out-rebounded them. Austin got fouled about 20 times tonight, but kept taking the hits. I would have like us to finish the game a little better and we turned it over a lot, so that is something we'll have to coach through and get better at. But at the end of the day, we'll take the road win here. It's a good road win."
 
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."
 
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

 
* Portland State used hot shooting and Eastern miscues to open a 20-point lead at halftime, but EWU used a 28-16 run in the second half to close the gap before falling 107-91 Feb. 20 in Portland, Ore. The Vikings made 18 of their first 25 shots and went on to out-shoot the Eagles 65 percent to 50 percent for the game. After EWU had a 12-of-16 shooting stretch to cut the lead to 10 with 7:19 remaining, Portland State followed with a 12-4 run to pull away. Eastern lost for the first time in its last nine games in which they've made at least half of their shots. Portland State's shooting percentage was the best against the Eagles this season, and the point total for the Vikings eclipsed the 106 EWU allowed in a season-opening loss at Mississippi State. Senior Venky Jois made 9-of-11 shots to finish with 20 points and six rebounds, and senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom scored 36 points on 11-of-22 shooting from the field overall, 3-of-9 from the 3-point stripe and a perfect 11-of-11 at the free throw line. He also had three assists, and junior Felix Von Hofe chipped in 11 points with a trio of 3-pointers. Sophomore Bogdan Bliznyuk finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.
 
* Eastern made 15 of its first 19 shots to open an early double-digit lead, and ended up using a 53 percent shooting night to defeat Sacramento State 93-88 on Feb. 18 in a Big Sky Conference game at The Nest in Sacramento, Calif. The Eagles led by 18 at halftime and by as many as 20 early in the second half. The Hornets put together runs of 9-0 and 12-2 in the second half to cut the lead to four with 17 seconds left. But the Eagles sank just enough free throws – 7-of-13 in the final 3:10 to hold on for the win. Six Eagles scored in double figures, including a career-high 15 off the bench by sophomore Sir Washington. Sophomore Bogdan Bliznyuk (10 points, 12 rebounds) and senior Venky Jois (18 points, 13 rebounds) both had double-doubles, and Austin McBroom sank 13-of-18 free throws to finish with 22 points and seven assists. Junior Felix Von Hofe scored 17 for the Eagles on 4-of-7 shooting from the 3-point stripe and 5-of-9 overall, and junior Julian Harrell was the sixth Eagle in double figures, finishing with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Senior Kyle Reid did not score, but contributed three rebounds and two steals in 10 minutes of action.