Big Sky Conference Tournament

Reno Events Center  • Reno, Nevada • Times Pacific
 
First Round/March 8 (seeds #5-12)
12:05 p.m. - #8 Portland St. (12-17) vs. #9 Northern Colo. (10-20)
2:35 p.m. - #5 North Dakota (15-14) vs. #12 Southern Utah (5-23)
5:35 p.m. - #7 Montana St. (14-16) vs. #10 Sacramento St. (13-16)
8:05 p.m. - #6 Eastern Wash. (16-14) vs. #11 Northern Ariz. (5-24)
 
Quarterfinals/March 10
12:05 p.m. - #1 Weber State (23-8) vs. #8/#9 winner
2:35 p.m. - #4 Idaho State (16-14) vs. #5/#12 winner
5:35 p.m. - #2 Montana (19-10) vs. #7/#10 winner
8:05 p.m. - #3 Idaho (20-11) vs. #6/#11 winner
 
Semifinals/March 11
5:35 p.m. (first two quarterfinal winners)
8:05 p.m. (second two quarterfinal winners)
 
Championship Game/March 12
5:45 p.m. - live on ESPNU & WatchESPN
(Roxy Bernstein/Play-by-Play, Corey Williams/Analyst)
 
All Games March 8-11 Streamed Live Via watchbigsky.com
(Mike McDowd/Play-by-Play & Joe Cravens/Analyst)
 
EWU Games Carried Live on 700-AM ESPN and via the web at www.700espn.com (Larry Weir/Play-by-Play)
 

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Ending a streak, starting a streak and continuing a streak is the task at hand Tuesday (March 8) for the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team in Reno, Nevada.
 
The Eagles begin defense of the Big Sky Conference Tournament Championship they won last season when the 16-14 Eagles play 5-24 Northern Arizona at 8:05 p.m. Pacific time in the final game of the first round at the Reno Events Center. The winner of the game between the sixth-seeded Eagles and No. 11 Lumberjacks will advance to play Idaho (20-11) Thursday night (March 10), also at 8:05 p.m.
 
Fans can listen to all of EWU's tournament games on 700-AM ESPN and via the web at www.700espn.com. All tourney games will also be broadcast on www.watchbigsky.com.
 
Eastern caught fire and won three games in last year's tournament in Missoula, beating Idaho and Sacramento State by identical 91-83 scores, then came from behind to upset host Montana 69-65. That earned EWU its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Eagles are hoping to return to their play in January and February that saw them win seven-straight games for the first time in 11 seasons. Eastern has followed with a four-game losing streak, including the team's first home losses of the season to Idaho State by a 75-71 score and regular season outright league champion Weber State by just two points, 79-77.
 
Eastern defeated NAU 96-73 on Jan. 16 at home, then picked up its first league road victory of the season by an 84-73 score in Flagstaff. In those two games, Eastern out-scored NAU by an average score of 90-73 and had a 51 percent to 45 percent shooting edge, as well as dominating 40-28 rebounding advantage.
 
Both of the previous meetings followed a familiar pattern. In Cheney, Eastern led by as many as 15 in the first half, was ahead 45-32 at halftime and led by as many as 26 in the second half. The Eagles opened a 16-point lead in the opening 20 minutes in Flagstaff, and led 41-27 at intermission and by as many as 25 in the second half.
 
Despite the recent losing skid, which has included its last three losses by four points or less, Eastern head coach Jim Hayford does not doubt his team's confidence heading into the league tournament. In fact, in reply to whether his team had re-gained its "mojo" in a two-point loss to now 23-8 Weber State, he replied: "I think we did today. I really think we did."
 
"I don't think a lack of confidence has ever been an issue with our team," explained Hayford. "We came out of the Portland State game (a 112-83 loss on Jan. 28) really disappointed we weren't going to be in the conference championship race. I thought we played really good at Idaho (a 66-62 loss on Feb. 27), but we had a few tough things happen to us. I think we could have played with a little more energy against Idaho State, but I think we played good enough to beat anybody in the conference against Weber State."
 
Besides being the defending Big Sky Conference Tournament champion, EWU has 42 victories the last two seasons. Those are already the most in back-to-back seasons in the school's 33 seasons as a member of NCAA Division I.
 
 
 
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


 
 
 

Eagles in the Big Sky Tournament

 
* Eastern is 2-1 versus Northern Arizona in the Big Sky Conference Tournament, winning the last two meetings. The last time the Eagles and Lumberjacks met was in the 2004 championship game in Cheney, won by the Eagles 71-59 to advance to the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament. Eastern made its second NCAA appearance when it won the tourney title in 2015. Eastern beat NAU 58-53 in the semifinals in 2001 in Northridge, Calif., and fell 82-65 in 2000 in the semifinals in Missoula after EWU won the Big Sky regular season co-championship.
 
* Eastern will be making its 14th Big Sky Conference Tournament appearance in 29 years as a member of the league, with a record of 11-11 in its 22 games. Before winning the 2015 title, Eastern hadn't appeared since the 2011-12 and 2010-11 seasons, which were EWU's first since 2006. The Eagles qualified for each tournament from 1998-2006.
 
* Before beating Montana for the 2015 title, Eastern had ended its season with losses to the Grizzlies in appearances in 2012, 2006 and 2005. But the year before, in 2004, EWU won the title with a 71-59 championship game victory over Northern Arizona to advance to the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament (EWU made its first-ever NIT appearance in 2003).
 
* Although its streak of Big Sky tournament berths came to an end in the 2006-07 season, at the time Eastern was just the fifth school in league history to make nine-straight appearances in the Big Sky Conference Tournament. Eastern started the streak back in 1998 after making just one trip to the tourney in their first 10 seasons as a member of the conference. Weber State had its string of 24-straight appearances stopped in 2005-06, and Montana had a string of 21-straight from 1978-98. The other streaks were 16 by Idaho (1981-96) and 11 by Nevada (1982-92). Interestingly, Montana's 77-69 victory over the Lumberjacks on Feb. 28, 2005, extended Eastern's streak and ended NAU's eight-season streak. Eastern's streak started in 1998 with an end-of-year victory at Montana. That "winner advance, loser eliminated" game ended Montana's 21-year streak.
 
* In 2011, Eastern's season came to an end with a 79-70 loss at Weber State in the quarterfinal round of the tournament. That came just three days after the Eagles stunned WSU on their home court 75-59 to end the regular season. Because of the upset, the Wildcats lost their chance at a first-round bye and had to face the Eagles again. In the rematch, WSU out-scored EWU 46-25 in the second half as the Wildcats overcame a 12-point EWU halftime lead and a 15-point deficit early in the second half. Last year, the Eagles were 15-16 overall and missed the Big Sky Conference Tournament with a 10-10 league mark. Interestingly, Sacramento State was also 10-10, but secured the final bid because of a tiebreaker advantage over EWU, which dropped its final game of the season to Weber State 82-78.
 
Here is a list of Eastern's all-time games in the Big Sky Tournament . . .
2016 – First Round (Reno, Nevada) #6 seed vs. #11 Northern Arizona
2015 – Championship (Missoula, Mont.) #2 seed vs. #1 Montana - W, 69-65
2015 – Semifinal (Missoula, Mont.) #2 seed vs. #3 Sacramento State - W, 91-83
2015 – Quarterfinal (Missoula, Mont.) #2 seed vs. #7 Idaho - W, 91-83
2012 – Semifinal (Missoula, Mont.) #4 seed vs. #1 Montana – L, 66-74
2012 – Quarterfinal (Cheney, Wash.) #4 seed vs. #5 Idaho State – W, 81-75
2011 - Quarterfinal (Ogden, Utah) - #6 seed vs. #3 Weber State - L, 70-79
2006 - Semifinal (Flagstaff, Ariz.) - #3 seed vs. #2 Montana - L, 71-73 (ot)
2006 - Quarterfinal (Cheney, Wash.) - #3 seed vs. #6 Portland State - W, 81-75
2005 - Quarterfinal (Missoula, Mont.) - #6 seed vs. #3 Montana - L, 48-58
2004 - Championship (Cheney, Wash.) - #1 seed vs. #2 Northern Ariz. - W, 71-59
2004 - Semifinals (Cheney, Wash.) - #1 seed vs. #5 Weber State - W, 72-53
2003 - Championship (Ogden, Utah) - #2 seed vs. #1 Weber State - L, 57-60
2003 - Semifinals (Ogden, Utah) - #2 seed vs. #4 Idaho State - W, 76-67
2002 - Championship (Bozeman, Mont.) - #2 seed vs. #5 Montana - L, 66-70
2002 - Semifinals (Bozeman, Mont.) - #2 seed vs. #3 Weber State - W, 62-57
2001 - Championship (Northridge, Calif.) - #2 seed vs. #1 CS Northridge - L, 58-73
2001 - Semifinals (Northridge, Calif.) - #2 seed vs. #5 Northern Arizona - W, 58-53
2000 - Semifinals (Missoula, Mont.) - #2 seed vs. #3 Northern Arizona - L, 65-82
1999 - Quarterfinals (Ogden, Utah) - #6 seed vs. #3 Portland State - L, 74-80
1998 - Quarterfinals (Flagstaff, Ariz.) - #3 seed vs. #6 CS Northridge - L, 98-104 (ot)
1990 - Championship (Boise, Idaho) - #2 seed vs. #1 Idaho - L, 62-65
1990 - Semifinals (Boise, Idaho) - #2 seed vs. #5 Weber State - W, 83-67
 
 
 

Opponent/Series Notes 

 
* Eastern trails in the all-time series 29-36 (9-22 in Flagstaff, 19-12 in Cheney, 1-2 neutral). The only meeting before Eastern became a member of NCAA Division I was an 84-80 NAU victory on Dec. 20, 1969, in Fresno, Calif. A year ago, Eastern lost 73-59 in Flagstaff in the lone meeting between to two schools. Eastern has, however, won the last five meetings in Cheney dating back to a 73-69 loss on Jan. 15, 2010.
 
* In the previous meeting in Flagstaff, Eastern led from start-to-finish and registered their first Big Sky Conference road win of the season with an 84-73 victory at Northern Arizona on Feb. 4 in Flagstaff, Ariz. Four Eagles scored in double figures, led by the 28 of senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom. Sophomore Bogdan Bliznyuk and senior Venky Jois added double-doubles for the Eagles. Eastern had a torrid stretch of 13 makes in 19 attempts (68 percent) – including seven 3-pointers – to turn a three-point lead in the first half into a 14-point advantage. Eastern led by as many as 25 and no fewer than 10 in the second half in improving to 6-4 in the league. The Eagles held NAU to 36 percent shooting from the field in the first half, and held NAU's leading scorer – Kris Yanku (15.0 per game) -- to just two points. Yanku had a 0-of-5 shooting night, with Julian Harrell and Sir Washington guarding him. Eastern led for 39:45 of the game and, for the third-straight outing, never trailed and was not tied. In the game, the Eagles made 13-of-34 3-point shots for 38 percent and made 45 percent overall. Bliznyuk hit a career-high six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds. McBroom hit 7-of-16 shots overall, 4-of-10 from the 3-point stripe and 10-of-12 from the free throw line to finish with 28 points. He also had six assists and three steals. Jois made 6-of-8 shots against the Lumberjacks to finish with a double-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots. Junior Felix Von Hofe was the fourth Eagle in double figures, making 3-of-10 3-pointers and 3-of-4 free throws to finish with 12 points. He also had five rebounds.
 
* Earlier this season in Cheney, sophomore Bogdan Bliznyuk registered the first triple-double in school history with 11 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists to lead EWU to a 96-73 Big Sky Conference victory over Northern Arizona on Jan. 16 at Reese Court. Last year's Big Sky Freshman of the Year helped the Eagles lead by as many as 15 in the first half and 26 in the second half to complete EWU's unbeaten three-game homestand. Bliznyuk made 4-of-12 shots from the field and both of his free throws, and also had three blocked shots. Senior Venky Jois completed a huge weekend with 21 points, eight rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. He had five dunks, giving him 11 for the week. Also in double figures for the Eagles were Austin McBroom (19), Sir Washington (13) and Julian Harrell (11). Besides having five players finish in double figures, Eastern also had a dominating 43-21 rebounding advantage – its best against a NCAA Division I opponent this season (EWU out-rebounded George Fox by 24). The result was a 21-5 advantage in second-chance points, again, a best versus a DI opponent (25 versus George Fox). Eastern shot better than 50 percent for the third-straight game, finishing at 55 percent (36-of-65). Redshirt freshman Cody Benzel from Spokane entered the game in the first half and hit a pair of 3-point attempts, both during EWU's 12-0 run that gave the Eagles a 42-27 advantage. Northern Arizona was within 10 points with 16:10 left in the game, but over the next 10 minutes the Eagles went on a 29-13 run to open their biggest lead of the game at 80-54 with 6:20 to play. Six different Eagles scored in that stretch, including 11 by McBroom and eight by Washington.
 
* The Eagles 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.
 
* 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).
 
 
 

Venky Jois/Austin McBroom 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, established his sixth school record against Idaho State on March 3 by becoming Eastern's all-time scoring leader. A layup with four minutes left in the first half put him past the previous record of 1,741 set 39 years ago by Ron Cox (1974-77). Jois now has 1,766 points to rank 13th in Big Sky history, 44 from moving into the No. 12 position (1,810).
 
* Besides his scoring prowess, Jois' school-record total of 236 blocked shots are 11 from the league record of 247 (Brian Qvale, Montana, 2008-11). Jois also has 989 rebounds in his career to rank third in school history and sixth all-time in the Big Sky (22 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 fourth all-time with a current total of 2,755, only 143 from No. 3 (Bruce Collins, Weber State, 1977-80, 2,019 points, 879 rebounds, 2,898 total).
 
* With 58 dunks to break his own school record of 53 set as a junior, Jois is currently on pace to finish 16th in Big Sky history and fifth in school history in career field goal percentage (58.5 percent). His accuracy as a senior of 69.5 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 (119, third), scoring average (14.8, 10th), rebounding average (8.3, eighth), field goals attempted (1,206, second), field goals made (705, second), free throws made (352, second) and owns school records for dunks (156) and free throws attempted (645).
 
* With 106 3-pointers this season, senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom now ranks fifth among the seven performances in Big Sky Conference history with at least 100. Three of those previous six performances are by Eagles (Shannon Taylor 103 in 1999, Tyler Harvey 109 in 2014 and Harvey a Big Sky-record 128 in 2015). He needs two treys to move into fourth (Conner Hill, Idaho, 2015), three to equal Harvey's total to rank third and 18 to move into second (Stephen Sir, Northern Arizona, 2007). McBroom has a 21.5 scoring average to currently rank as the fifth-best in school history and his 623 total points are sixth. He needs three points to move into fifth with David Peed (626 in 1989) and is 54 points from Harvey's total of 677 in 2014 to rank fourth all-time.
 
 
 
 
 

Game Notes 

 
* Coaches Shows featuring head coach Jim Hayford and host Larry Weir continue Mondays at 6 p.m. Pacific time, but this week's show (March 7) will be broadcast from the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Reno, Nevada. Fans can listen to the one-hour show on 700-AM ESPN and via the web at www.700espn.com. Shows normally take place at the Swinging Doors Restaurant in North Spokane (W. 1018 Francis) and fans may attend live. 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. This is also the first time since the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons EWU has had back-to-back winning seasons, and EWU's 24 total league wins the last two seasons are also the most in back-to-back years in 29 seasons as a member of the Big Sky. 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 82.3 points to rank 13th in NCAA Division I and lead the Big Sky Conference through games of March 5. 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 3-14 when it has been out-shot. The Eagles are also 8-2 when allowing 71 points or fewer and 7-1 when their opponent makes 44.9 percent or less from the field, and are 1-8 when EWU scores 71 or fewer. 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 an accuracy rate of 49.5 percent, are now 12-3 when making at least 50 percent, and have had hit that mark in five-straight games before making only 43 percent versus Idaho on Feb. 27. Eastern followed that by making 44 percent against Idaho State and 47 percent against Weber State to end the regular season.
 
* 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 10.3 3-pointers per game is seventh in NCAA Division I (previously fourth after eight games) and leads the Big Sky. The team's percentage is 20th at 38.9 percent (previously 175th/33.9 percent after six games). Austin McBroom (3.7 per game) and Felix Von Hofe (3.1 per game) are ranked first and third in the Big Sky and are third and 22nd, respectively, in the nation. With 310 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. 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 22 of 29 games this season, and has a 16-6 record in those 22 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 1194-1011 in the first half (average score of 39-33) and has been outscored 1320-1279 in the second half (44-42).
 
* 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 

 
* Eagle players are a collective 14-4 when they have double-doubles, including Venky Jois (7-4), Bogdan Bliznyuk (6-0) and Austin McBroom (1-0). Jois, with 37 in his career, has led EWU to a 22-15 record in those games (7-4 this season, 6-2 in 2014-15, 4-5 in 2013-14 and 5-4 in 2012-13). Eastern is 7-1 in the eight career double-doubles Bliznyuk has recorded, including a current streak of seven in a row.
 
* When including two previous collegiate stops, senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom has now played 126 games and has 248 career 3-pointers, marks that would rank first and second, respectively, in EWU history if they all came as an Eagle. The school record for games played is 126 set the last four seasons by Parker Kelly (Venky Jois has played 119), and the 3-point record is 260 set the last three seasons by Tyler Harvey. 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) in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons, and 31 (30 as a starter) at Central Michigan in 2011-12. In those 126 games, McBroom has per game averages of 23.1 minutes (2,910 total), 11.3 points (1,423), 2.3 assists (296), 2.0 rebounds (246), 0.8 steals (104) and 1.8 turnovers (232). His shooting percentages are 40.3 percent (439-of-1089) overall, 40.8 percent from the 3-point arc (248-of-608), and 83.2 percent from the free throw line (297-of-357). Only three players in Eastern history have made at least 83.0 percent of their free throws in their careers (the record of 84.9 percent).
 
* Senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom has a 21.5 scoring average to rank is first in the Big Sky and 16h in NCAA Division I, and his average of 3.7 3-pointers per game leads the league and is third nationally. His 106 total 3-pointers already ranks third all-time in single season school history and sixth in league history. McBroom is also 14th in the nation in minutes per game with a league-leading 37.3 average, and he is 41st nationally and sixth in the Big Sky in 3-point percentage (.422). He is seventh in the league and 99th nationally in free throw percentage, making 137-of-165 for 83.0 percent (he was 10th nationally after making 19 of his first 20). His assists average is 3.6 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, finishing 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 has made 54 of his last 70 shots (77 percent) in the last seven games and is ranked a season-high second in NCAA Division I in field goal percentage. His current mark of 69.5 percent 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 74th nationally and fourth in the league in rebounding (8.7 per game), 61st/2nd in blocked shots (1.8) and 137th/10th in scoring (16.8). Jois has had 11 double-doubles this season, with 10 in his last 19 games, including his 37th career double-double against Idaho State (3/3/16) with 21 points and 11 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 641 free throws attempted in his career, he broke the previous school record of 499 set by Dave Hayden from 1970-73. His 352 free throws made are second in school history, with Rodney Stuckey (2006-07) owning the record of 386. Jois also owns school records with 235 blocked shots (second in Big Sky history) and 154 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 16.8 points, 8.7 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.
 
* Besides Venky Jois and Austin McBroom, the third Eagle senior is Los Angeles native Kyle Reid, who has played in 54 career games after transferring from Los Angeles Trade Tech. He has played in 24 games this season, and has scored a total of 65 points and has 63 rebounds in his career. He scored a career-high 10 points versus Great Falls earlier this season when he made all three of his shots from the field and 4-of-7 free throws. A year ago, he played in 31 games and earned Big Sky Conference All-Academic honors.
 
 * 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 (22nd, 12.3 per game) and the top 12 in rebounding (9th, 6.8) and assists (12th, 2.9). He also ranks in the top 10 in steals (9th, 1.3) and free throw percentage (9th, 78.9 percent). In league only statistics, Bliznyuk finished ranked in the top 20 in scoring (20th, 12.5) and in the top 11 in five other categories – rebounding (6th, 7.8), assists (11th, 3.4), blocked shots (8th, 1.0), free throw percentage (6th, .833) and assist-to-turnover ratio (8th, +1.6). Playing a key "blur" position for the Eagles, Bliznyuk has had five double-doubles in his last 14 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 36-of-103 3-pointers thus far for 35 percent, and is 91-of-182 inside the stripe (50 percent) with an overall percentage of 45 percent. He has also made 75-of-95 free throws (78.9 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 10-5 with Julian Harrell in the starting lineup, having started 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 17 games played this season, he is averaging 8.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game, while making 53.1 percent of his shots and 18-of-49 3-pointers (36.7 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 ranks 22nd in NCAA Division I and third in the league in 3-pointers per game with an average of 3.1 per game (he was third with a 3.86 average following EWU's game on Jan. 9) and is 34th in accuracy at 42.2 percent (he was 22nd with a 46.2 percent accuracy rate after Jan. 9). With 150 career 3-pointers, Von Hofe already ranks seventh in school history, and his 370 attempts are eighth. His career 3-point accuracy of 40.5 percent is currently 10th all-time at EWU. His 89 3-point field goals this season rank fifth in single season school history (18th all-time in the Big Sky) and his 221 attempts are sixth. He is averaging 12.8 points on the season, but in a five-game stretch from Dec. 14 to Jan. 9, he averaged 24.0 points with outings of 28, 27 (twice) and 19 (twice). In that stretch, he made 52.6 percent of his shots overall (40-of-76) and 50.0 percent of his 3-point shots (27-of-54), and also made 13-of-16 free throws (81.3 percent) and averaged 4.4 rebounds. 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 five games, and is averaging 5.8 points on 53 percent shooting from the field (60 percent in conference play), and is also averaging 17.4 minutes and 2.7 rebounds with 24 assists and 20 steals.
 
* Six Eagles have already made their college basketball debuts this season, and five of them have played in at least 25 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 9.1 minutes, 1.8 rebounds and 1.7 points per game as a nine-game starter. Hunt, who missed EWU's game at Western Carolina with a sprained ankle, had seven points, two rebounds and two steals in seven minutes against Idaho State (3/3/16). 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 1.4 points, 0.6 assists and 6.3 minutes on the season. Ty Gibson has seen significant action as a true freshman, averaging 7.2 minutes and 1.7 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 5.7 minutes and 1.5 points thus far, and started his first career game against George Fox on Nov. 15. Freshman redshirt Cody Benzel has averaged 3.4 points in an average of 5.7 minutes, including 23 points on a 7-of-14 3-point shooting performance against Great Falls on Dec. 6. He also had a 12-point performance against South Dakota on Nov. 29 when he made four 3-pointers in just eight minutes of action. All five of those players made their collegiate debuts in EWU's opener at Mississippi State on Nov. 13, and Ferris, Benzel and Gibson made the first starts of their careers against Great Falls. True freshman Michael Wearne made his collegiate debut versus George Fox, however, will now redshirt because of a hip injury requiring surgery.
 
* Making his NCAA Division I debut against Mississippi State on Nov. 13 was junior college transfer Rico Nuno, who had a career-high seven rebounds at Denver on Dec. 20 and is averaging 1.7 rebounds, 0.6 points and 6.4 minutes in 17 games played. He has 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 Upcoming Big Sky Tournament: "Our team believes that they can beat anybody, but they also know they can lose to anybody. Because we have some players who have been there, I believe we are going to find another gear when we get to Reno. That's what we're going to bank on. They know what it's about and they've had success in that tournament. I'm going to put my eggs in that basket."
 
On Team Success Despite Four-Game Losing Streak to End Regular Season: "The bigger picture is that we put together back-to-back winning records and that hasn't been done in 12 years here. This team has accomplished a lot, and they are ready to tackle the next step, which is the postseason."
 
On Weber State Loss: "I like how our team played – we played with tremendous fight and energy. We took the best team in the league right to the wire. That's what I saw. I thought it was a great basketball game."
 
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."
 
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

 
* Weber State wrapped up the outright Big Sky Conference title with a 79-77 victory over EWU to end the regular season for both teams on March 5 at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash. Weber State's Joel Bolomboy made a 3-pointer with 19 seconds left to break a 76-all tie in a game that featured six ties and six lead changes. Knowing his team would have to play again in three days regardless of the outcome against WSU, head coach Jim Hayford played his bench liberally and used a full-court press to force EWU's most turnovers against a NCAA Division I opponent this season. Eastern scored 22 points -- three from a season high -- off those 19 Wildcat miscues. Eastern seniors Venky Jois, Austin McBroom and Kyle Reid were honored in pre-game ceremonies, just one game after Jois became the school's career scoring leader in a 75-71 loss versus Idaho State two days earlier. McBroom had a game-high 30 points and three steals for the Eagles, while Jois finished with 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot before fouling out with 4:32 to play. Reid had a career-high two blocked shots. Junior Felix Von Hofe also scored 12, making a trio of 3-pointers and 4-of-7 field goals overall. Eastern began the game with a new starting lineup – featuring the team's three seniors – and the Wildcats jumped out to an early 15-8 lead. But the Eagles used a platoon system and a full-court press to force the Wildcats into eight first-half turnovers, and EWU turned those into 11 points. After making just five of its first 13 shots, EWU made 11 of its last 18 to take a 39-34 halftime lead. A 10-0 run helped give the Eagles their biggest lead of the half at 30-21 at the 5:43 mark. With the second half featuring six ties and three lead changes, Eastern led by as many as 11 after intermission, but its shooting touch left them down the stretch. Eastern made only two of its last eight shots, while Weber State made eight of its last 10. The Eagles led 75-73 with 1:18 to play, but Joel Bolomboy's dunk and free throw with 57 seconds left and his 3-pointer with 19 seconds to play were the daggers. Eastern was fouled with three seconds left, but after Austin McBroom missed the second shot, Jeremy Senglin snared the rebound for WSU to end the game. Eastern was whistled for a season-high 32 fouls, leading to opponent highs of 32 free throws made and 43 attempts by the Wildcats. Previous highs were 28 fouls, 24 free throws and 32 attempts. Weber State, meanwhile, was whistled for 22 fouls and EWU sank 13-of-23 free throws. The Wildcats out-shot Eastern 61-46 percent in the second half, after Eastern had a 56-33 percent edge in the first half. For the game, Weber State made 54 percent from the field and EWU was at 47 percent, including 10-of-20 3-point attempts.
 
* Senior Venky Jois broke Eastern's 39-year-old career scoring record, but the Eagles fell short at home against Idaho State and lost to the Bengals 75-71 March 3 at Reese Court. Jois finished with a team-high 21 points and 11 rebounds to register the 37th double-double of his career, and passed the previous school record of 1,741 set by Ron Cox from 1974-77. Eastern had its worst shooting night of the year at home, and also had 12 turnovers that turned into 16 points for the Bengals. The Eagles made 43.5 percent from the field, 28.6 percent from the 3-point arc and a season-low 47 percent from the free throw line. Idaho State out-shot Eastern 46 percent to 43 percent, and also made 22-of-32 free throws (69 percent) compared to just 9-of-19 for the Eagles. Idaho State was paced by Ethan Telfair, who finished with 31 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. He made 9-of-13 shots from the field and 13-of-15 free throws. Jois made 10-of-13 shots from the field and also had a pair of blocked shots and two steals, but made only 1-of-10 free throws. In his 125th game as a collegian, senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom finished with 13 points and a pair of assists. He made only 4-of-13 field goals, including 3-of-8 3-pointers. Sophomore Bogdan Bliznyuk was perfect from the line (4-of-4), but was 4-of-10 from the field to finish with 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Junior Felix Von Hofe chipped in nine with a trio of 3-pointers (3-of-11). Freshman Jesse Hunt came off the bench to score seven points and get two steals and a pair of rebounds in seven minutes of action. Fellow freshman Cody Benzel scored four points and had two rebounds and two steals as well. After cutting the lead to 71-66 with 1:27 to play, Eastern got a pair of stops, but ended up turning ball over both times. The second turnover, an offensive foul whistled on Bliznyuk with 37 seconds left, led to pair of free throws by Telfair, who added two more free throws with 16 seconds remaining. Eastern needed a 12-0 run in the first half to erase an uncharacteristic start. The Eagles made just one of their first seven shots and 5-of-20 to fall behind early by as many as nine points. Eastern then followed with a 12-0 run to take the lead, capped by a 3-pointer by Hunt, who scored seven points in the run. Jois also scored with 4:00 left on a feed from Benzel to give him sole possession of the career scoring record, with 1,743 points. Eastern trailed at halftime 35-32.