Tyler Hall got his points, but the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team made up for it with another big night on offense and defense to improve to 8-0 at home this season.
 
Senior graduate transfer Jacob Wiley scored a career-high 25 points with a near triple-double, and two big scoring runs fueled by defense helped EWU improve to 2-0 in the Big Sky Conference with an 82-64 victory over Montana State Thursday (Jan. 5) at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.
 
Senior Felix Von Hofe added 19 points with five three-pointers and Jesse Hunt came off the bench to score a career-high 13 points in the 10th win of the season for the Eagles. Eastern made a season-best 60.4 percent from the field, but it was its defense that made the difference as MSU made only 38 percent in the game – the third-best performance this season for the Eagles.
 
Montana State missed 11-straight shots at one point and went 11:23 without a field goal as EWU used a 21-3 run to turn an 8-4 deficit into a 25-11 lead in the first half. Eastern held the Bobcats to 27 percent shooting and just 22 points in the first half for the second-best defensive half of the season for EWU.   
 
In the second half after Hall led MSU's rally, a 9-0 Eagle run and a four-minute stretch without a field goal for the Bobcats helped Eastern turn a one-point lead into a double-digit advantage. Eastern led by no less than eight the rest of the way, despite a game-high 33 points by Hall, who at one point scored 17-straight MSU points.
 
"I'm obviously pleased to open our home conference schedule with a win," said Eastern head coach Jim Hayford. "They heated up at the beginning of the second half, but our guys showed great composure and were resilient. They didn't give up the lead and we got re-grouped. We had a nice little two-minute run to take the lead back and made sure nothing crazy happened."
 
The game was a match-up of two of the top scoring teams in the league and NCAA Division I, with the Bobcats averaging 81.3 to rank second in the league and 39th nationally. Eastern entered with an average of 75.8 to rank sixth and 139th, respectively.
 
 
Won-Lost Records . . .  
 
* The Eagles are now 10-5 in their 34th season as a member of NCAA Division I and 2-0 in the league as they begin their 30th season as a member of the Big Sky.  Eastern entered the game with a league-best RPI of 82, and is now 8-0 at home and 2-5 on the road.
* The Bobcats are 1-2 in the league and 6-10 overall. The Bobcats fell to Weber State 87-75 before rebounding for an 80-63 win over Idaho State in last week's openers at home.
 
 
What It Means . . .
 
* After a 78-76 home loss by Northern Colorado on Thursday, Eastern is one of only three teams in the Big Sky with no losses. Last week's 69-62 victory at Idaho was one of seven road breakthroughs in the first 10 games of the league schedule. Weber State and EWU sit atop the conference at 2-0 after the Wildcats won a pair of road games on the opening weekend. Southern Utah is also 2-0. Eastern's perfect 8-0 record at home thus far included five games decided by six points or less. Four of them were won in overtime, as EWU has already set a school record with six overtime periods thus far. Eastern hadn't played at home since knocking off Morehead State 88-86 in overtime on Dec. 13.
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* Eastern hosts Montana at 1:05 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 7) in a game televised regionally by SWX. The Grizzlies defeated Idaho 70-57 on Thursday in Moscow, Idaho. Now 2-1 in the league and 7-9 overall, last week Montana beat Idaho State 74-62, then fell to Weber State 84-81 on a shot at with one second left in overtime by Wildcat senior guard Jeremy Senglin. The Grizzlies visit Cheney for the first time since EWU's NCAA Tournament season in 2014-15. Montana guards Ahmaad Rorie and Walter Wright have combined to average 28.1 points and 6.6 assists per game entering action Thursday.
 
 
Keys to Game . . .
 
* With the length of 6-foot-5 Felix Von Hofe guarding Montana State high-scoring sophomore guard Tyler Hall, Eastern equaled its second-best defensive performance of the season by allowing MSU to score just 22 first half points. Hall had only seven at halftime, but Von Hofe had three fouls in the first half. In the second half, Hall scored 26 of his 33 after intermission, including all 17 during a 17-3 run that pulled MSU within 48-47 at the 11:49 mark with his four-point play. It was the second-straight game one of the Big Sky's best guards has had a big second half versus EWU – Idaho's Victor Sanders scored 27 of his 32 in the second half of EWU's 69-62 victory.
 
 
Top Performers . . .
 
* Senior graduate transfer Jacob Wiley eclipsed his previous career high by two by making 10-of-15 shots from the field and 5-of-7 free throws. He also had 10 rebounds, a career-high seven assists and three blocked shots. He entered the game averaging 3.29 blocked shots per game to rank sixth in NCAA Division I. As a team, Eastern entered 18th nationally with an average of 5.7 per game. Wiley was also 23rd nationally in field goal percentage and 77th in free throw percentage.
* Senior Felix Von Hofe scored 19, making 5-of-7 of his shots from the 3-point stripe and both of his two-point shots. He entered the MSU game ranked 17th in NCAA Division I with an average of 3.29 3-pointers per game, helping EWU rank 68th as a team in makes per game (8.9) and 124th in percentage (36.4).
* Sophomore Jesse Hunt scored EWU's last seven points of the first half, helping EWU lead 34-22 at intermission. He finished with a career-high 13 points in 18 minutes, having entered the game averaging just 2.2 points per game and scoring seven points in his last five games. He also had seven rebounds, one from his career high.
* Sophomore Cody Benzel added nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from the 3-point stripe.
* Junior Bogdan Bliznyuk played only 25 minutes because of foul trouble, and finished with eight points, three assists and a pair of steals. He entered ranked in the top 15 in five different statistical categories in the league, ranking fifth in points (19.8 per game), 12th in rebounds (6.1), fourth in assists (4.4), first in free throw percentage (.900) and 15th in field goal percentage (.486). He was 52nd nationally in scoring and 25th in free throw percentage.
 
Turning Point . . .
 
* After Tyler Hall single-handedly got the Bobcats back into the game, Eastern surged again in the second half with a 9-0 run to turn a one-point margin into a 10-point bulge with 8:01 to play. Bogdan Bliznyuk started the run with a 3-pointer, then Jacob Wiley and Jesse Hunt closed it with three-point plays. The Bobcats went 3:59 without a field goal, and could come no closer than eight the rest of the way.
 
 
Key Stats . . .
 
* Montana State finished 9-of-28 from the 3-point stripe while EWU finished at 10-of-16. The Bobcats entered the game with the sixth-best 3-point shooting team in NCAA Division I, averaging 10.7 per game. Eastern was 68th at 8.9 per outing. Montana State sophomore guard Tyler Hall entered the game averaging 23.1 points and 3.73 3-pointers per game to both rank sixth nationally. He finished 12-of-21 from the field and 5-of-11 from the 3-point stripe. The rest of MSU's team was 10-of-37 (27 percent) overall and 4-of-17 (24 percent) from the 3-point arc.
 
 
Team Highlights . . .
 
* With Jacob Wiley scoring EWU's first 10 points of the game, Eastern turned an 8-4 deficit into an early 12-8 lead. The Eagles held MSU without scoring for a 4:54 stretch, and without a field goal for 11:23. The resulting 0-of-11 shooting stretch for MSU and 21-3 run for the Eagles gave EWU a 25-11 advantage with 6:34 left in the first half. The Eagles eventually led 34-22 at halftime, holding MSU to 27 percent shooting from the field, with Wiley scoring 15 of EWU's 34 points.
 
 
Notables . . .
 
* A year ago, Eastern lost to MSU and UM on the road in the lone meetings against those teams, and later in the season was swept at home against Idaho State and Weber State in the only games EWU played against those squads. Coupled with a 1-2 record versus Idaho, and Eastern was just 1-6 last season versus its first five conference foes of the 2016-17 season. This year the Eagles are 2-0 versus those foes.
 
* As a result of their success thus far, the Eagles are the top team in the Big Sky Conference with an RPI of 82 entering the MSU game (EWU was a season high 57th on 12/13 in the official NCAA RPI ratings). The next-best Big Sky teams are Northern Colorado (#174), Portland State (#186) and Weber State (#187). Entering league play, Eastern joined Portland State at 7-4 as the only other league team above the .500 mark. Montana State is currently No. 323 in the RPI and Montana is No. 214. Plus, the Eagles received 10 votes in the Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major top 25 on Dec. 12 when the Eagles were 7-2.
 
* The Eagles were picked to finish fifth by the media and seventh by the coaches in polls released back in October. Montana State was seventh and sixth, respectively, while the Grizzlies were selected No. 2 by the media and No. 4 by the coaches. Weber State was picked to repeat as league champions in both polls, and will host the Eagles on Jan. 14 in Ogden, Utah. Two nights earlier on Jan. 12, Eastern plays at Idaho State.
 
* Eastern has now won eight of the last 10 meetings against MSU, but had its five-game winning streak stopped with an 85-71 loss in Bozeman last season in the lone meeting between the two schools. Eastern has won 19 of the last 33 after winning just once in the previous 13 games (not counting two MSU forfeits). The Eagles are 39-44 all-time against MSU, including a 31-35 record as a member of NCAA Division I (21-12 in Cheney, 10-23 in Bozeman). The records include two MSU forfeits in the 1993-94 season. In the 2011-12 season, Eastern recorded a huge 82-66 road victory over the Bobcats in the first Big Sky Conference game in the head coaching career of Jim Hayford, then later in the year won in Cheney 69-52. Hayford is 8-2 versus the Bobcats, including a 3-2 record in Bozeman and 5-0 mark at home.
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Jim Hayford . . .
 
On Inside Game: "Jacob Wiley was really good inside, but we also had huge minutes off the bench from Jesse. When we were talking about how good we were going to be in the frontcourt this season, Jesse was a big part of the equation. He struggled through the non-conference schedule but he kept coming to work every day.  I thought he was a big difference maker for us in both halves when Bogdan was in foul trouble. To find ways to win games you need different players to step up and Jesse did a great job coming off the bench. I'm really proud of him and I'm really proud of our team."
 
On Defensive Preparation: "Our guys felt like the won the Idaho game based on their preparation. To a man, our locker room after Moscow that night knew we won that game with how hard we worked. And that made them hungry in our preparation for this week. They shot 27 percent and only scored 22 points in the first half because of our preparation. Coach (Brian) Fish is a good coach and made some great halftime adjustments. The Bobcat team you saw in the second half scored 42 points is a high-octane offensive team. That's who they are, and fortunately, our 12-point lead came in handy. That was probably the difference in us winning or losing. I think that was in our preparation."
 
On Bliznyuk Foul Trouble and Balance: "The hardest decision was when he had four and we stole him an extra minute. Teams are really game-planning against Bogdan, and tonight that enabled Jake to really be able to go to work down there. He had a double-double, nearly a triple-double with his assists. Our players really know offensively what we are doing, and that if you take this away we are going to get something else. They lost Felix a couple of times and were able to extend the lead, and they left Cody open and he's a pretty good shooter. So they did their job from outside to balance the inside attack, and that's how you go away with a double-digit win."
 
On Montana State: "Montana State is a good basketball team and they are going to have a good year. We're going to see them again, and maybe another time in Reno. Tyler Hall is a very good player."