­­­­­­­Eastern Washington University "Eagles" Men's Basketball (5-8/0-0 Big Sky) Dec. 29 – at Northern Colorado, 6 p.m., Greeley, Colo. Dec. 31 – at North Dakota, 2 p.m., Grand Forks, N.D. all times Pacific
Radio:	700-AM ESPN & 105.3-FM in the Spokane/Cheney area. Larry Weir calls the play-by-play. Broadcasts begin a half-hour prior to tipoff
Internet Radio:	http://www.tunein.com  (search for Eastern Washington University)
Radio  Mobile Phone App:	Via tunein radio
TV:	None for UNC; none locally for UND game but it will be broadcast in the Midwest by the Midco Sports Network.
­­­Webcast:	All EWU home games and all Big Sky Conference games are available via Pluto TV and http://watchbigsky.com
Live Stats:	Click here for UNC game, and click here for UND. http://ewustats.com for all EWU home games.
Weekly Coaches Show:	The next show hosted by Larry Weir and featuring head coach Shantay Legans is Wednesday, Jan. 3 at 6 p.m. from Barrelhouse Pub & Pizza in Cheney and aired live on 700-AM ESPN. The show will take place on Jan. 9 (Tuesday) and Mondays thereafter.

The Eagles were building their resume in November and December, and now it's time to go back to work on the road.
 
The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team played a challenging non-conference schedule with 10-of-13 games on the road, and now heads to the states of Colorado and North Dakota for equally challenging Big Sky Conference openers.
 
Eastern first plays in Greeley, Colo., next Friday (Dec. 29) to face Northern Colorado in a game that starts at 6 p.m. Pacific time. Eastern then plays at North Dakota, the defending Big Sky regular season and tournament champs, on New Year's Eve at 2 p.m. Pacific time in Grand Forks.
 
Neither game will be televised in the Eastern Washington region, but the North Dakota game will be televised in the Midwest by the Midco Sports Net. All of EWU's remaining regular season games will be available via http://watchbigsky.com via Pluto TV. In addition, all Eastern games are carried live on 700-AM ESPN and 105.3-FM in the Spokane/Cheney area, with Larry Weir calling the play-by-play. Broadcasts begin a half-hour prior to tipoff and may also be heard via http://www.tunein.com (search for Eastern Washington University). A mobile phone app is also available via tunein radio.
 
The Bears are currently 9-4 this season after falling 94-91 at UNLV on Dec. 22 prior to playing the Eagles. Eastern also lost on the road to the Runnin' Rebels by a 91-76 score on Nov. 17. Prior to that, UNC registered a 91-84 victory on Dec. 19 at Wyoming, a team EWU lost to in overtime by a 93-88 score on Dec. 12. The Bears also won 63-62 at a neutral site over South Dakota, a team EWU lost to 75-73 on the road.
 
North Dakota is 4-7 after suffering a narrow 89-83 overtime loss at nationally-ranked Gonzaga on Dec. 16. The Fighting Hawks don't play again until hosting Idaho on Dec. 29.
 
Eastern is 5-8 following resounding 28-point home victories to improve to 3-0 at Reese Court on the season. An 86-58 victory over CSUN (Cal State Northridge) on Dec. 17 snapped a five-game losing skid – all on the road – then EWU beat Providence (formerly Great Falls) 94-66 on Dec. 20. Eastern led from start to finish in both – and by double-digits for 55:50 out of a total of 80 minutes. Eastern led by double digits for the last 27:15 against CSUN and the last 25:15 versus Providence.
 
A year ago Eastern battled to the end for the Big Sky title, and ended up second in the regular season before advancing to the semifinals of the league tournament. Legans thinks the race for a berth into the NCAA Tournament will be a great competition once again.
 
"It's going to be like that every year – we have some good teams and good players in the league," he said. "Portland State is doing well and has a good record. Northern Colorado has some good players. But I think we are going to surprise people."
 
In the preseason media poll, Eastern was picked to finish sixth in the league – just behind No. 5 UND and just ahead of No. 7 UNC. The Coaches poll had UNC at No. 4, with North Dakota sixth and EWU seventh.
 
Seven of EWU losses this season have been on the home court of their opponents, which are 65-27 (71 percent) on the season and 47-6 (89 percent) at home through games of Dec. 22. After 36-straight days without a home game, Eastern returned to Reese Court where the Eagles had won 84 percent of their games (46-9) in the previous four years since the 2013-14 season. The Eagles are now 3-0 at home this year, and recorded a huge win at Stanford (67-61 on Nov. 14) and barely lost at Wyoming (93-88 in overtime on Dec. 17).
 
"We've had a great, hard schedule – we had five non-conference wins and a difficult strength of schedule," added Legans. "We're playing against some really, really good competition. And we've had some young guys play with some other players injured. For us to be picked seventh, our team put that on our shoulders and said we aren't going to be seventh. We are going to be better than that."
 
The Eagles are coming off a third-straight appearance in a national postseason tournament, and were 22-12 overall a year ago. Eastern finished 13-5 in the Big Sky to finish second behind regular season champion North Dakota, and then the Eagles advanced to the semifinals of the league tournament.
 
 
 

Game Notes

 
Eagles Are Coming Off Best Four Shooting Performances of the Season
 
After their top four shooting performances of the year, the Eagles have climbed well above 40 percent for the season and are now at 42.8 percent overall and 34.2 percent from the 3-point stripe. In the last four games alone, Eastern is shooting at a 50.6 percent clip overall and 44.2 on 3-pointers (.393/.302 prior to that).
 
Eastern is holding opponents to 44.0 shooting overall and 36.3 from the arc. As a result, Eastern is 10th in the Big Sky Conference in field goal percentage and sixth in the league defensively. The Eagles are 5-0 when they out-shoot their opponents and 0-8 when they don't.
 
In its last outing, Eastern made over 50 percent of its shots for the second-straight game, making a season-best 56.7 percent against Providence on Dec. 20. The Eagles sank 62 percent in the second half as they eclipsed the 51.5 percent they had three days earlier versus CSUN. Eastern's 11-of-22 performance from the arc against the Matadors equaled its season-best of 50 percent, while its 51.6 percent shooting afternoon eclipsed the .484 shooting percentage EWU had at Wyoming in its previous outing. That was better than EWU's previous game when they made what was then a season-best 45.6 percent against South Dakota on Dec. 10.
 
In addition, the Eagles have been a solid free throw shooting team and are currently fourth in the league (73.1 percent). Redshirt freshman Jacob Davison is fifth in the league at 84.4 percent, and Bogdan Bliznyuk is sixth at 84.3 percent. In individual field goal shooting, junior Jesse Hunt is 14th in the league at 50.0 percent. True freshman Jack Perry is seventh in 3-point shooting at 47.2 percent (13-of-17) and junior Cody Benzel is 11th at 44.1 percent (12-of-15). Junior Ty Gibson has averaged 2.4 3-pointers per game (35-of-87 total) to rank seventh in the league, and is currently second on the team in scoring at 8.5 per game. One of the team's co-captains, Gibson has scored in double figures in each of EWU's last three games and five of the last six.
 
 
Balanced Minutes and Balanced Scoring is Key During Grueling Stretch
 
To survive the early-season gauntlet of playing seven games in a 15-day span – and a total of 13 in 41 days (Nov. 10-Dec. 20), Eastern head coach Shantay Legans has gone to his bench often.
 
For the season, Eastern is averaging 28.2 points per game from its bench (366 total), compared to an average of 19.8 by its opponents (258 total). Nine Eagles are averaging between 15.9 and 32.8 minutes per game, and two others are each averaging at least 9.0. For the season, Bogdan Bliznyuk is averaging 17.8 points per game, but 10 others are averaging between 4.3 and 8.5.
 
All 11 players who were available against Providence on Dec. 20 scored to contribute toward EWU's season-best output of 94 points, and each had at least one rebound. The Eagles were playing without injured starters Mason Peatling and Luka Vulikic – the second-straight game for Peatling the fifth in a row for Vulikic. Legans is hopeful both can return for conference play.
 
Against Cal State Northridge on Dec. 17, five players scored in double figures as the Eagles had their best shooting percentages (.516 overall and .500 from the 3-point stripe), as well as a season-high 22 assists. Five different Eagles had at least three assists, and three Eagles had at least six rebounds. Defensively, Eastern had a season best by allowing just 58 points, surpassing the previous low of 61 on two other occasions – both wins.
 
The Eagles had a season-low 18 bench points at South Dakota on Dec. 10, but had a season-high 40 versus Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 22. Eastern routed Eastern Kentucky by 21, jumping out to a 19-point lead in the first half and leading 39-16 at intermission. Eastern led by as many as 28 in the second half and no less than 19 in the final minutes in the 83-62 win. That helped give EWU a 39-point turnaround in two games, having lost to Georgia State by 18 points two days earlier on Nov. 20 in its MGM Resorts Main Event opener.
 
 
6-foot-6 Point-Forward Bogdan Bliznyuk Now 143 Points from School Record
 
Big Sky Conference Player of the Year candidate Bogdan Bliznyuk is now just 143 points from ending what could be a short-lived record. And he's a mere 15 free throws from another record held by a former 10-year NBA veteran.
 
In 116 career games (seventh in school history), Bliznyuk has moved into third in school history in career scoring with a current total of 1,660 points – 81 from second and 143 from the school record. Next on the list is Ron Cox (1,741 from 1974-77) and a former teammate, Venky Jois (school-record 1,803 points from 2013-16). Against San Francisco on Dec. 7, Bliznyuk passed Irv Leifer (1,550 from 1942-47), who held the record for 30 years after playing for EWU from 1942-47. He then passed the 1,564 points of his former teammate Tyler Harvey (2013-15). Previously, Bliznyuk passed 10-year NBA veteran Rodney Stuckey (1,438 points from 2006-07) in EWU's first game of the season, and then Dave Hayden (1,461 points from 1970-73) against Washington.
 
With 371 free throws made in his career, Bliznyuk is just 15 from the record of 386 held by Stuckey, who played a total of 10 years with the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers in the NBA. In addition, if Bliznyuk plays 12 more games he will equal the record of 128 set by his former teammate Felix Von Hofe from 2014-17. Bliznyuk is ranked in the top 10 in school history in several other categories, and against Providence on Dec. 20 moved passed Eagle legend and former Big Sky MVP Alvin Snow (2015-17) into seventh in assists with 319 (Snow had 318).
 
This season, Bliznyuk has made 45.5 percent of his field goals and 84.3 percent of his free throws (sixth in the Big Sky) to average 17.8 points (fifth in the league) through 13 games. He is also averaging 5.9 rebounds (11th) and 3.2 assists (11th). He now has nine performances in his 115-game career of at least 30 points, 31 with at least 20 and 79 scoring in double figures, plus had the lone triple-double in school history as a sophomore.
 
Bliznyuk was selected on Dec. 19 as the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week after a 30-point effort in one game and a near triple-double in another. In two games – including an overtime loss at Wyoming and a 28-point NCAA Division I home win, the Big Sky Player of the Year candidate averaged 23.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He made 50 percent of his shots overall (15-of-30) and from the 3-point arc (4-of-8), and also made 12-of-15 free throws for 80 percent. On Nov. 8, Bliznyuk was selected to the Lou Henson Award preseason Watch List by Colllegeinsider.com. The award is presented annually to the nation's top Division I mid-major player, and the initial watch list featured 51 players from across the country.
 
Bliznyuk concluded his junior season with 701 points, becoming just the fourth player in school history to hit that mark (Jake Wiley, a senior on the 2017-18 squad, ranks fifth in school history with 694). A senior, Bliznyuk was a second team All-Big Sky Conference selection a year ago, and was the league's Freshman of the Year in 2014-15. He also earned second team All-District 6 honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches. He is formerly from Lutsk, Ukraine, and graduated from Todd Beamer High School in Federal Way, Wash., in 2014.
 
 The Eagles finished the season with five Big Sky Conference records and 14 EWU marks, most broken as the result of EWU's 130-124 triple-overtime victory over Portland State on Feb. 4. Wiley and Bliznyuk set the most intriguing record when both scored a school-record 45 points in that game versus the Vikings.
 
Led by Bliznyuk, the Eagles in 2017-18 feature a team with size throughout their lineup. They were bolstered by the addition of 7-footer Benas Griciunas, a senior graduate transfer from UNC Charlotte. A 6-foot-6 point-forward, Bliznyuk was named to the preseason All-Big Sky team, and is one of 10 returning players to the Eagle roster. The Eagles return eight letterwinners from last year, including a trio of returning starters -- Bliznyuk, Mason Peatling and Luka Vulikic. The others are Cody Benzel, Grant Gibb, Ty Gibson, Jesse Hunt and Sir Washington, with Jacob Davison and Joshua Thomas returning as a 2016-17 redshirts.
 
 
Newcomers Contributing Significantly, Including Two as Starters
 
True freshman Jack Perry has started EWU's last four games, and had his first two first double-figure scoring performances with 13 at South Dakota on Nov. 10 and 17 two nights later at Wyoming when he also had a season-high seven assists. On the season he's averaging 5.7 points and 2.3 assists per game while making 51.0 percent from the field and 17-of-36 3-pointers (47.2 percent to rank seventh in the Big Sky).
 
Redshirt freshman Jacob Davison made the first start of his career at Seattle on Dec. 3 and has started ever since while averaging 7.0 points. He had a 13-point performance against Utah on Nov. 24 for his third double-figure scoring performance in a four-game span. He came off the bench to score 20 against Georgia State on Nov 20, and had 11 one game earlier versus UNLV. He has made 27-of-32 free throws (84.4 percent to rank fifth in the Big Sky).
 
 
Honored Academically Within Past Year, Eagles Post 3.43 GPA in Fall Quarter
 
Despite a road-heavy second half of the quarter for the Eagles, EWU basketball players posted a collective 3.43 grade point average in the fall.  "This is very impressive, especially considering the amount of days we were on the road this quarter," praised Eastern head coach Shantay Legans. "Our guys work hard, and our coaches and administration do a great job of making sure they have all the support they need."
 
In the offseason, the Eastern men's basketball team was honored with the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Team Academic Excellence Award announced last summer. It was the fourth consecutive year EWU has won that award. In addition, a trio of players – including returning senior forward Bogdan Bliznyuk – were honored on the NABC Honors Court.
 
The team award was won by 209 colleges and universities for having a team cumulative grade point average of 3.0 and above for the 2016-17 season. Teams in NCAA Division I, II, II and NAIA Division I and II were eligible. Eastern and Gonzaga were the only NCAA Division I schools in the state of Washington to be honored, and were joined by Central Washington from NCAA Division II and Northwest College from the NAIA. Eastern, Idaho State and Montana were the only Big Sky Conference schools to be recognized.
 
Players on EWU's 2016-17 team included Academic All-America nominees Ty Gibson and Jesse Hunt, as well as their fellow Big Sky Conference All-Academic selections Jacob Wiley (Big Sky MVP), Bogdan Bliznyuk (second team All-Big Sky), Mason Peatling, Mario Soto and Luka Vulikic. Other members of the squad included Julian Harrell, Felix Von Hofe, Sir Washington, Cody Benzel, Michael Wearne, Grant Gibb and Geremy McKay, with Jacob Davison and Joshua Thomas redshirting.
 
Besides Bliznyuk, former Eagles Julian Harrell and Mario Soto were selected on the Honors Court. Recipients of the award must be a varsity player, and academically a junior or senior while earning a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher.
 
Bliznyuk is from Lutsk, Ukraine, and graduated in 2014 from Todd Beamer High School in Federal Way, Wash. He is a marketing major at Eastern, and currently has a 3.31 grade point average at EWU. A three-time member of the Big Sky All-Academic team, Bliznyuk is one of five returning players who earned that honor in the 2016-17 season. The others are Gibson, who has a near-perfect 3.99 GPA, Hunt (3.62 GPA), Peatling (3.94 GPA) and Vulikic (3.41 GPA).
 
 
Five of EWU's Past Opponents in the Top 110 in RPI, While Three Are Ahead
 
As more and more games are played nationally, the NCAA's RPI (ratings percentage index) rankings are sorting themselves out and Eastern is at No. 207 (87th in strength of schedule) through games of Dec. 22. Among foes EWU has already played, Utah, Washington, South Dakota, UNLV and Wyoming are all in the top 104 at Nos. 50, 66, 93, 102 and 110, respectively.
 
The top three Big Sky schools are 10-3 Portland State (#46), 6-5 Southern Utah (#88) and 9-4 Northern Colorado (#110, tied with Wyoming). Eastern opens its league season Dec. 29 at UNC, and has its Big Sky home opener versus PSU on Jan. 4.
 
Eastern's last two losses – nail-biters decided by a total of just seven points -- came at a pair of teams ranked in the top 100 in RPI and unbeaten at home at the time. Eastern fell on Dec. 10 by a 75-73 score at South Dakota, which had won its previous four home games by an average of 31 points per game. Eastern then fell 93-88 in overtime two nights later to a Wyoming team which had a winning margin of 10.8 points per game in four home court wins prior to facing EWU.
 
When the dust settled from EWU's 67-61 win at Stanford on Nov. 14, the next day Eastern ranked sixth nationally in the live-rpi.com rankings (the NCAA had not revealed its rankings by then). Rated so high based on a high strength of schedule, Eastern was just behind Big Sky rival Weber State at No. 5, with Washington holding down the top spot. At one point last year EWU's RPI was 57th on Dec. 13, and during its run to the NCAA Tournament in 2014-15 the Eagles were as high as 50th.
 
 
Home Games Cherished in Second-Toughest Preseason in 31 Years
 
With just three home games in the preseason, the first season at the helm has been road-heavy and a challenging one for Shantay Legans and his first team, with 10 of 13 preseason games away from home. In fact, the only time in 31 seasons as a member of the Big Sky Eastern has had a more road-heavy preseason schedule was in the 1988-89 season when EWU played 11 of 14 games away from home. That team was 1-10 away from home and 3-11 overall heading into conference play (EWU finished 8-22 overall and 5-11 in the league).
 
This season is also just the second time in school history EWU has played three Pac-12 Conference opponents in the same year, with 2011-12 the other season and included losses to Oregon, Washington State and UCLA. In the 2017-18 season, Eastern will play eight opponents who played in national postseason tournaments last season, including five in the non-conference portion of EWU's schedule.
 
Three Pac-12 Conference opponents and a stretch of 36-straight days without a game at home were the task EWU took on. Three other teams in NCAA Division I also have such a streak:
39 – Penn (Nov. 18 vs. PSU-Brandywine; Dec. 27 vs. Delaware State)
39 – Harvard (Nov. 12 vs. UMass; Dec. 21 vs. Boston University)
37 – New Mexico State (Dec. 12 vs. vs. Eastern New Mexico, Jan. 18 vs. Seattle U.)
36 – Eastern Washington (Nov. 10 vs. Walla Walla; Dec. 17 vs. CSU-Northridge)
 
After opening the season at Reese Court on Nov. 10 against Walla Walla in the debut of Legans' head coaching career, the Eagles began a stretch of 10-straight games away from home. The Eagles played a trio of Pac-12 foes (Washington, Stanford and Utah) during a 15-day stretch away from campus from Nov. 11 to Nov. 25. The final stretch of road games featured contests at Seattle, San Francisco, South Dakota and Wyoming. That's a total of six states visited in the team's first 11 games of the season.
 
Utah and South Dakota advanced to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), Georgia State advanced to the College Insider Tournament (CIT) and San Francisco and Wyoming joined EWU in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI). The other three postseason opponents came from the Big Sky Conference – North Dakota in the NCAA Tournament and Idaho and Weber State in the CIT.
 
In all, Eastern will play teams from 10 different conferences, with all but two of its games versus NCAA Division I opposition. Seven opponents won at least 20 games a year ago – Georgia State, Utah, San Francisco, South Dakota, Wyoming, North Dakota and Weber State.
 
 
Eagles End One of Top 3 Road Stretches in 110 Years
 
Eastern's recently-concluded long road stretch was rare, but not unprecedented in 110 years of basketball at Eastern. The 10 games (2-8 record) without a home game is the second-longest stretch, ranking only behind the 1988-89 team which played 11-straight away from home (1-10) while going from Dec. 3 to Jan. 12 without a home game. That team went 39 days without playing at home and the 1981-82 squad had a stretch of 37 days (5-4 in nine games away from home). This year's team went 36 days – Nov. 10 to Dec. 17 – without playing at home at Reese Court, where the Eagles are 46-9 (84 percent) in the last four-plus years (since the 2013-14 season). Since joining NCAA Division I in the 1983-84 season, Eastern has had eight month-long stretches without a home game, and prior to that had seven known such streaks.
 
The Eagles began their road trip against the University of Washington in Seattle on Nov. 12 – two days after playing at home on Nov. 10 versus Walla Walla. The first leg of EWU's road stretch included 4,432 airline miles, while the other trips in the road stretch included 3,449 air miles. That's a total of 7,881 air miles, not including ground travel and a bus trip to and from Seattle for the game versus the Redhawks.
 
 
1,000 Broadcast Milestone Reached Dec. 3 by Broadcaster Larry Weir
 
Long-time Eastern Washington University radio announcer Larry Weir called his 1,000th Eagle men's basketball or football game on Dec. 3 in EWU's game at Seattle. He was the 2015 and 2016 State of Washington Sportscaster of the Year, and was honored at Eastern's home game versus Providence on Dec. 20.
 
Weir recently concluded his 27th season as the football voice of the Eagles and is in his 25th calling men's basketball for EWU, whose games are broadcast on 700-AM ESPN. Through the Dec. 3 game, Weir had missed just 27 out of 706 men's basketball games, calling a total of 679 to go along with 321 out of a possible 322 football games. Through Dec. 20, his total is at 1,005.
 
Weir first began calling games in the 1991-92 season, and the only football game he missed in that span was a 2005 playoff game at Northern Iowa when he was broadcasting Eastern's basketball games in Alaska. Weir is in his 25th season calling men's basketball action for the Eagles (from 1991-2009 and again from 2012-present). Weir's tenure has included calling games coached by seven men's basketball coaches and five in football. The 2017-18 season marks his first year working with EWU coaches Aaron Best in football and Shantay Legans in basketball.
 
 
Now in Cheney, Next Basketball Coaches Show is Jan. 3
 
Featuring a new location, the next Eastern Washington University basketball coaches show will take place Wednesay, Jan. 3 at 6 p.m. Pacific time and will be broadcast live on 700-AM ESPN.
 
The public is invited to attend the live shows, which are now taking place at Barrelhouse Pub and Pizza in Cheney, Wash., just a few blocks from the EWU campus. They begin at 6 p.m., and feature head men's basketball coach Shantay Legans, host Larry Weir and other special guests, including women's head coach Wendy Schuller. Shows will also take place Tuesday, Jan. 9, then move to Mondays starting on Jan. 15.
 
Barrelhouse is located at 122 College Ave. in downtown Cheney, and is owned by Mike Lyons. The restaurant features specialty pizzas, calzones and other appetizers, as well as a large variety of draft beer and a full bar. It also has a large assortment of televisions tuned to each day's top sporting events.
 
 

 
Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans . . .

 
On Offense and Defense After Providence Win: "Offensively we're starting to hit our peak and defensively we know what we need to do. When we are locked in and we do a good job with penetration, I think we have one of the better defensive teams in the league because of our size. I like that Ty is getting up seven threes – we'd like to get him up to 10 a game but he hasn't gotten that yet. We want Bogdan to get triple-doubles every game and he's been close. And then we want our other players to contribute."
 
On Captains: "Bogdan and Ty are our captains and they keep our team level-headed – not too high and not too low. They keep us steady, and it makes it easy to coach with them on our team."
 
On Providence Win: "I was excited by the way our team came out in the second half and executed. We shot well, and I was most pleased with that. Sometimes when you play games like this your defense comes up a little short and don't do what you want them to do, but in the second half we played good defense. We held them to 40 percent in the second half, but they also shot 50 percent from three so we have to get better at that."
 
On Break for Christmas: "I've been in their shoes – it's Christmas time and they are ready to go home. We're going to give them some time to get away. Some are going home and some are coming over for Christmas Eve. We're going to hang out and relax – we need to re-set and get ready for conference play. When we get back on the 25th we're going to get going. We know how important each game is in the Big Sky. It's a lot of fun – it's the best time of year. We finally get to play against like opponents and you get to see what you accomplished since last summer. Our guys have been working hard ever since our last game. They've had a chip on their shoulder."
 
On CSUN Win: "We had to try to do what teams do to us when we are on the road. We came out and jumped on them right away. We followed the scouting report exactly and the players did everything we asked. It's a player's game and we came out and made plays."
 
On Eagles Filling in for Injured Players: "Mason is fine and Luka is going to be okay. It's just precautionary until Big Sky begins. We understand what the bigger picture is. It's good to have other guys stepping up and that's what happened."
 
On Bogdan Bliznyuk & Jesse Hunt Versus CSUN: "Bogdan and Jesse are emotional and two of our leaders. When you are able to see that and see how it works, it's great to watch and sit back as a coach. Jesse didn't just provide energy. He's a really good player and did a lot of great things today. Offensively he had three assists and moved the ball well, and he's a great rebounder."
 
On Jack Perry: "We're lucky to have him. He does a lot of things right and his father is a good coach back in Australia. Jack comes battle-tested and it's great having him. He is confident every time he's on the court and he understands exactly what is going on. It's like having another coach out there, and he's doing everything the right way. We have a lot of different options we can go with."
 
On Bliznyuk's Abilities: "Bogdan has been the personification of what we want our EWU program to look like. He is the perfect student-athlete and deserves all the accolades he is getting this preseason. He shows that hard work and determination pays off. We talked about it before the season started that he was going to be double-teamed and he has to make sure he's making the pass. He's making the pass and that's exactly what we're looking for. He's doing a great job of leading our players, getting them in the huddle and talking to make sure we are doing everything the right way. He's a great captain."
 
On Academic Honors: "This is just a testament that we are more than just a talented basketball team. It also shows that academics are the highest priority for our student-athletes at Eastern Washington. I am proud of our players for finishing the year strong in the classroom, and setting an example for the incoming student-athletes."
 
 
 
 

Series Notes

 
* The Eagles are 11-10 all-time versus UNC (7-3 in Cheney, 4-7 in Greeley), with the first meeting taking place on Dec. 20, 1971, when Eastern beat the Bears 76-68 in Greeley, Colo. Since then, all of the meetings have been with EWU as a member of NCAA Division I (since 1983-84), starting in the 2006-07 season when the Bears became a Big Sky Conference member. Eastern has won the last two meetings, including last year's 70-44 road win  and a 97-80 home victory the year before.
* Last season in Greeley, sophomore Ty Gibson scored a career-high 21 points in his first start of the season and the Eagles recorded a 70-44 road victory over Northern Colorado on Feb. 11. In holding UNC to 44 points and 28 percent shooting from the field, Eastern had its best defensive performances of the season after having allowed its two highest point totals in its last two outings. Gibson made just his third career start and eclipsed his previous high of 19 by tying his career-high of with six three-pointers made on eight attempts. Gibson entered the game with the second-best three-point field goal percentage in the Big Sky at 51.9 percent. Senior graduate transfer Jacob Wiley also had 21 points in the game, making 7-of-13 shots from the field. He also picked up eight rebounds and had three blocked shots. A 15-2 run in the second half helped open up a big lead for the Eagles, who led by as many as 27.
 
* Looking for its first-ever win in Grand Forks (currently 0-5), Eastern is now 3-7 all-time against North Dakota. Since UND joined the Big Sky Conference in the 2012-13 season, Eastern's is 2-6 against the Fighting Hawks (2-2 home, 0-4 on the road). The first meeting with North Dakota came on Dec. 11, 1982, when EWU lost 75-71 in Grand Forks. A year earlier, the Eagles beat North Dakota 81-72 in Cheney in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
* Last season in Grand Forks, Eastern battled back from a 17-point deficit to take a second-half lead, but North Dakota pulled out a 95-86 victory on Feb. 9, 2017. The game was a battle for second place in the league standings and featured 52 fouls and 10 players with at least four. Down by as many as 17 in the first half, Eastern took a 56-55 lead with 15:05 to play. After UND regained control, one more Eagle run helped them pull within four with inside of a minute left before the Fighting Hawks closed out the win six free throws in the final 33 seconds. Eastern's dynamic duo of senior Jacob Wiley and junior Bogdan Bliznyuk combined for 51 points, with 33 and 18 respectively. Wiley also had 10 rebounds, and junior Sir Washington was the third Eagle in double figures with 14. But first-half pressure by the Fighting Hawks resulted in transition baskets and a big early lead, with Quinton Hooker pacing four UND players in double figures with 35 points. While both teams shot the ball well – 50 percent for Eastern and 53 percent for UND – free throw shooting showed a decisive advantage for the home team. Eastern sank 17-of-22 for 77.3 percent after entering the game making 75.1 percent to lead the league and rank 37th in NCAA Division I. The Fighting Hawks, a 70.0 percent shooting team, made 28-of-35 for 82.4 percent from the charity stripe. There were 52 fouls called in the game as both teams had numerous players in foul trouble. Eastern had two players foul out and a trio finish with four, and UND had one disqualified and four players with four. Eastern also had two technical fouls called on its bench, resulting in the ejection of head coach Jim Hayford.
 
 
 

 
Recent Game Recaps

 
Eastern Closes Non-Conference Schedule With 94-66 Win
 
For the second-straight game, the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team led from start to finish and ended its non-conference campaign with a 94-66 victory over Providence (formerly Great Falls) on Dec. 20 at Reese Court. A total of 11 Eagles played and every player scored and had at least one rebound, with three Eagles scoring in double figures. Junior Jesse Hunt had his second career double-double with a career-high 16 points and 11 rebounds, and senior Bogdan Bliznyuk chipped in another near outstanding all-around game with 24 points, seven rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals. Junior Ty Gibson hit four 3-pointers and had 12 points as the Eagles shot a season-best 56.7 percent from the field and had a season-high scoring output. Senior graduate transfer Benas Griciunas chipped in eight points, five rebounds and a blocked shot. True freshman Richard Polanco also had eight points and contributed three rebounds, while fellow freshman newcomer Jack Perry finished with seven points and four assists. The Eagles led for the last 37:56 of the game, and had dominating advantages of 18-0 in fastbreak points and 50-28 in points in the paint. Eastern had a dominating 42-27 rebounding edge, including 13 offensive boards which equaled a season high. The Eagles turned those into a 15-7 advantage in second-chance points. The Eagles jumped out to a double-digit lead barely over six minutes into the game, and then used a 9-0 run to lead by as many as 15 in the first half. The Eagles steadily opened a 20-point margin in the second half, eventually leading by 30 in the last minute.
 
 
Excited Eagles Turn Homecoming Into 86-58 Win Over Matadors
 
Eastern led by double digits for the last 27 minutes of the game and handily defeated CSUN (Cal State Northridge) 86-58 Sunday (Dec. 17) in its first home game in over a month at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.  Five Eagles scored in double figures for the Eagles, led by the near triple-double of senior Bogdan Bliznyuk. He finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists as the Matadors never led. Eastern improved to 4-8 on the season by taking command early, and eventually led by double digits the last 27:15 of the game. Junior Jesse Hunt added a career-high 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists in his first start of the season and 13th in his 75-game career. Junior Ty Gibson made 3-of-8 3-point attempts and all three of his free throws to finish with 12 points. Senior graduate transfer Benas Griciunas played 14 minutes and responded with 10 points, three rebounds and three blocked shots on 4-of-7 shooting from the field. True freshman Richard Polanco was the fifth Eagle in double figures, finishing with 10 points, six rebounds and a block in 14 minutes. The Eagles had its second-most points of the season and its best shooting percentages (.516 overall and .500 from the 3-point stripe), as well as a season-high 22 assists. Five different Eagles had at least three assists, and three Eagles had at least six rebounds. Defensively, Eastern had a season best by allowing just 58 points, surpassing the previous low of 61 on two other occasions – both wins. CSUN never led and the game was tied for just 1:47. The Eagles led for 38:13, and jumped out to a quick 17-8 lead after a 7-0 run. The Eagles later went on a 16-4 run and took a double-digit lead it would never relinquish. The Eagles led at halftime 39-22, then poured it on in the second half with runs of 5-0, 5-0, 7-0 and 4-0 to open its biggest lead of the game at 75-47 with 5:27 remaining. It was EWU's first home game in over a month, having not played at Reese Court since defeating Walla Walla on Nov. 10.