­­­­­­­Eastern Washington University "Eagles" Men's Basketball (12-12/7-4 Big Sky) Feb. 9 – at Idaho ­– Moscow, Idaho – approx. 7:30 p.m. (after EWU-UI game which begins at 5 p.m.) Feb. 15 – Montana ­– Cheney, Wash. – 6:05 p.m. 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:	The Idaho doubleheader will be broadcast in the Eastern Washington region by SWX.
­­­Webcast:	All EWU home games and all Big Sky Conference games are available via Pluto TV and http://watchbigsky.com
Live Stats:	http://ewustats.com for all EWU home games, plus Idaho road game.
Weekly Coaches Show:	Shows hosted by Larry Weir and featuring head coach Shantay Legans take place Mondays at 6 p.m. at Barrelhouse Pub & Pizza in Cheney. They are aired live on 700-AM ESPN.

It's time to start talking positioning, and even tiebreakers.
 
Hoping for a reversal of a home loss earlier this season, the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team takes on Big Sky Conference preseason favorite Idaho on Friday (Feb. 9) at approximately 7:30 p.m. at Cowan Spectrum in Moscow, Idaho. The game will start after the conclusion of the EWU-UI women's game which begins at 5 p.m.
 
The doubleheader will be broadcast live regionally by SWX in the Eastern Washington region. 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.
 
Earlier this season in Cheney, Idaho overcame a 20-6 start by the Eagles and went on to win 58-51. That was the first home loss this season for the Eagles, who are anxious to steal back a victory on the road. So far, EWU is 4-1 at home in Big Sky league games and 3-3 on the road.
 
Eastern is fourth in the league standings, a game behind Idaho at 8-3. The Vandals have won their last three games and are 6-1 on the road and 2-2 at home during conference play. A win for Idaho on Friday would give the Vandals a tiebreaker advantage over EWU at the end of the season in seeding for the Big Sky Conference Tournament March 6-10 in Reno, Nevada. The top four teams receive first-round byes and won't have to play until March 8 in the quarterfinals.
 
In the nine meetings since Idaho re-joined the Big Sky Conference in the 2014-15 season, EWU is 6-3 but the average winning margin for the winning team is just 6.7 points. Eastern's Bogdan Bliznyuk will equal the school record of 128 career games played on Friday.
 
 "It will be a great test and opportunity for our team," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans. "This time of year we are playing for seeding and we want to be one of the top four teams in the league. We have to fight, fight, fight for that top four spot. It's going to be huge game for us."
 
Now 12-12 overall, the Eagles have won nine of their last 13 games. Idaho is 16-7 overall and has won six of its last seven after a 2-2 league start.
 
The Eagles split two games on the road last week, including a resounding 74-54 victory at Sacramento State on Feb. 1, followed by a 94-81 loss at Portland State. The Eagles went from their best defensive performance of the season in allowing only 54 points to its worst. Idaho swept those same teams on the road last week.
 
Heading into this Thursday's action in the Big Sky, Montana remains unbeaten at 11-0, with Weber State second at 8-2. Idaho (8-3) and Eastern (7-4) are followed by Northern Colorado (6-5), Idaho State (5-5), Montana State (5-6) and Portland State (4-6).
 
Eastern's next home game is a showdown on Feb. 15 versus league leader Montana, followed by a Feb. 17 game against Montana State. The Eagles are now 53-10 (84 percent) at Reese Court in the past five seasons since 2013-14. However, the Eagles saw their 12-game home court winning streak snapped against Idaho on Jan. 12, having not lost at home since falling to Montana on Jan. 7, 2017.
 
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

 
6-foot-6 Point-Forward Bogdan Bliznyuk 18 Points from No. 8 in League History
 
As he continues to climb towards the top of the league's all-time scoring list – and the milestone of 2,000 points -- there are still plenty more opportunities for Big Sky Conference Player of the Year candidate Bogdan Bliznyuk. Just 18 points from ranking No. 8 in league history, he has already broken EWU's career scoring record. He's also broken an EWU record held by a former 10-year NBA veteran, and another mark held for 45 years.
 
With 40 points against Sacramento State on Feb. 1, he moved up to ninth in league history as he passed Montana State's Nate Holmstadt with 1,864 points from 1995-99. Ranking No. 8 is Steve Conner from Boise State with 1,927 from 1974-78. If the Eagles play just the minimum of eight games left this season and he maintains his average of 20.0 points per game, Bliznyuk would finish third in league history with 2,069 points. If Bliznyuk matches his 23.6 average in league games, he would finish with 2,089 and finish 13 behind the record of 2,102.
 
Earlier this season, Bliznyuk broke the previous school record of 1,803 set by Venky Jois (2013-16). Bliznyuk is just the third player since 2000 to crack the Big Sky's top 10, joining Weber State's Jeremy Senglin (2013-17) and Damian Lillard (2008-12). Senglin scored 2,078 points to rank only behind the record 2,102 Orlando Lightfoot from Idaho scored in three seasons from 1991-94. Lillard is No. 6 with 1,934 points.
 
Bliznyuk broke the school record on Jan. 25 in a 95-71 victory at home versus North Dakota with a 3-pointer barely a minute into the game to give EWU a 7-2 lead. Eastern head coach Shantay Legans called a timeout so his accomplishment could be acknowledged, then the Eagles used the energy to open a 30-8 lead while making 12 of their first 15 shots.
 
Bliznyuk moved up four spots on the Big Sky list against UND to 11th in the 55-year history of the Big Sky, then moved into 10th one game later. Besides passing Jois, Bliznyuk passed the 1,810 points by Jim Potter from Idaho State from 1992-95, the 1,819 by Donn Holston from Idaho State from 1984-87, the 1,827 by Michael Ray Richardson from Montana from 1984-87 and the 1,841 by Tom Domako from Montana State from 1985-88.
 
On EWU's all-time listings, Ron Cox had 1,741 points from 1974-77 and held the school record for 39 years – about 14,300 days – until broken by Jois on March 3, 2016 in an Eagle loss. Thus, Jois owned the record for just 693 days. Against San Francisco on Dec. 7, Bliznyuk passed Irv Leifer (1,550 from 1942-47), who held the Eastern 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 424 free throws made in his career, Bliznyuk has also broken the record of 386 held by Stuckey, who played a total of 10 years with the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers in the NBA. Bliznyuk broke the record when he was 13-of-13 from the line against Portland State on Jan. 4, and also made 16-of-16 versus Northern Arizona on Jan. 18 (Harvey holds the school and Big Sky records with a 20-for-20 performance). Bliznyuk currently ranks fourth in school history with 83.3 percent accuracy rate from the free throw line. He enters the Idaho game on Feb. 12 having made his last 49 in a row, dating back to the second half of the North Dakota game on Jan. 31.
 
Bliznyuk has a school-record 1,362 field goal attempts, breaking the 45-year record on Jan. 18 against NAU when he moved past the 1,286 Hayden had from 1970-73. In addition, the next game Bliznyuk plays will equal the record of 128 set by his former teammate Felix Von Hofe from 2014-17. Von Hofe, now living back in Melbourne, Australia, was at EWU games on Jan. 25 and 27. 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 (Snow had 318 and Bliznyuk has a current total of 368 to rank fourth all-time at EWU).
 
This season, Bliznyuk has made 51.2 percent of his field goals (13th in the Big Sky and 89.8 percent of his free throws (second in the Big Sky, 19th in NCAA Division I) to average 20.0 points (fourth, 39th nationally) through 24 games. He is also averaging 6.4 rebounds (eighth) and 3.8 assists (third) to rank as the only player in the league to be in the top 10 in scoring, rebounding and assists. He now has two performances in his 127-game career of at least 40 points, 10 with at least 30, 38 with at least 20 and 89 scoring in double figures, including the school record scoring total of 45 set as a junior. He also ranks tied for seventh in school history with 40 points at Sacramento State on Feb. 1 when he sank 15-of-18 shots. Plus, he had the lone triple-double in school history as a sophomore.
 
He earned his second Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honor of the season and fourth of his career on Jan. 29. On a record-setting week when he became the school's men's basketball career scoring leader while also climbing five spots into the top 10 on the Big Sky Conference scoring chart, he led the Eagles to a weekend sweep over North Dakota (95-71) and Northern Colorado (67-65). He averaged 27.0 points on a sizzling 65.7 shooting percentage (23-of-35) from the floor, and also averaged 6.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per outing.
 
On Jan. 1, Bliznyuk was one of five players in the league named by HoopsHD.com to its mid-season All-Big Sky team. He was also selected on Dec. 19 as the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week after a 30-point effort in an overtime loss at Wyoming and a near triple-double in a 28-point victory over CSUN. In two games he averaged 23.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game. 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.
 
Bliznyuk has played in seven Big Sky Tournament games (5-2 record), with Bliznyuk averaging 15.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. He scored 32 points with eight rebounds in the 2017 semifinals, and had 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists in the quarterfinals.
 
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.
 
 
Bliznyuk Has Made 49 Free Throws in a Row
 
The Eagles have been a solid free throw shooting team this season and are currently second in the league and ranked 31st in NCAA Division I (76.4 percent, as well as tops in league games only at 82.2 percent). Senior Bogdan Bliznyuk is second in the league and 19th nationally at 89.8 percent, including 53-of-54 (98.1 percent) in league games only to lead the Big Sky.
 
Bliznyuk enters action this week having made 49 consecutive free throws dating back to EWU's game at North Dakota on Dec. 31. There is no known record for EWU and the Big Sky, but the NCAA single season record is 73 set by Gary Buchanan from Villanova over a 21-game stretch in the 2000-01 season. The career record of 85 came between Feb. 15, 2001, and Jan. 18, 2003, by Darnell Archey from Butler during a 57-game stretch.
 
 
Eagles No. 41 in Nation in Fewest Turnovers
 
After a seven-game stretch to start league play in which EWU had between 11 and 20 turnovers in each game, the Eagles have returned to lead the league in fewest turnovers per game. The Eagles have allowed only 11.5 per game to rank 41st in NCAA Division I. Prior to the start of league play, the Eagles were averaging just 11.0 per game to lead the league, but had performances of 16, 20 and 17 in their first seven league games.
 
 
Benzel's 3-Point Percentage Ranks Fourth in the Big Sky
 
Junior Cody Benzel ranks third in the Big Sky Conference in 3-point shooting overall at 48.0 percent (49-of-102), including 34-of-68 (50.0 percent) in league games only to rank third. Benzel, whose career percentage of 44.3 percent is third best in school history, also ranks fourth in league games only with an average of 3.1 treys per game. Junior Ty Gibson has averaged 2.0 3-pointers per game to rank 14th in the league, and Benzel is just ahead of him in 11th at 2.1. One of the team's co-captains, Gibson is third on the team in scoring at 7.1 per game and has scored in double figures eight times this season to rank second on the team. Benzel is also averaging 7.1 points on the season with five games in double figures and a pair with at least 20.
 
In individual field goal shooting, Bogdan Bliznyuk is 12th in the league at 51.2 percent, and is also fourth in scoring (20.0), third in assists (3.8) and eighth in rebounding (6.4). He's the only player to rank in the top three in the league in all three categories, both overall and Big Sky games only. Bliznyuk has an average of 4.5 assists in Big Sky games only to rank second in the league. Mason Peatling is fifth with an average of 1.2 blocked shots per game, and he has averaged 1.8 in conference play to lead the league. His average of 7.0 rebounds per game in league games is fifth.
 
 
Eastern 6-0 When it Makes 50 Percent from the Field
 
The Eagles have made at least half of their shots in six of their last 13 games, including a season-best 57.1 percent performance against Sacramento State on Feb. 1 when Bogdan Bliznyuk made 15-of-18 shots on his way to a 40-point night. For the season, Eastern is now 11-1 when they out-shoot their opponents and 1-11 when they don't.
 
Eastern made significant shooting improvement since late December after starting the year making only 39 percent through nine games. The Eagles have improved that to 45.2 percent for the season. Eastern has had its top 13 shooting performances of the year in the last 15 games, and the team's three-point shooting has also improved from 30.2 percent after nine games to a current mark of 36.4. In league play, the Eagles have sank 48.2 percent of their shots from the field overall and 39.1 percent from the 3-point arc.
 
Defensively, Eastern had its best performance of the season in holding Sacramento State to 54 points on 41.1 percent shooting from the field on Feb. 1 in a 20-point Eagle win. The Hornets made only 2-of-15 3-pointers, EWU's second-best defensive effort of the season behind the 2-of-16 performance by Stanford in EWU's 67-61 victory there on Nov. 14. In 11 league games thus far, the Eagles are holding opponents to 33.5 percent from the 3-point line and 44.3 percent overall, ranking third and fourth in the league, respectively.
 
What Eastern accomplished in the first three months of the season, the reverse happened Jan. 18 and 20. For the first time this season, Eastern was out-shot at Northern Arizona on Jan. 18 and won a game. In the next game in an overtime setback to Southern Utah, the Eagles suffered their first loss when they've had a better shooting percentage. Eastern made 48.9 percent compared to 50.9 percent to the Lumberjacks, then made 40.0 percent against the Thunderbirds while holding them to 35.6 percent.
 
 
Punctuated by Performances Against Sac State, Balanced Minutes and Balanced Scoring is Key for Eagles
 
Eastern head coach Shantay Legans has gone to his bench often, continuing in league play what the Eagles started in the preseason while utilizing eight different starting lineups along the way. With eight different players scoring in double figures in two home games in early January, the Sac State game on Jan. 6 was the punctuation mark on EWU's balance this season.
 
For the season, Eastern is averaging 24.8 points per game from its bench (594 total), compared to an average of 19.4 by its opponents (465 total). Ten Eagles are averaging between 13.2 and 33.8 minutes per game, and one other is averaging 8.9. For the season, Bogdan Bliznyuk is averaging a team-leading 20.0 points per game, but 10 others are averaging between 4.3 and 9.1.
 
Versus Sac State, 80 of Eastern's 82 points were scored by players not named Bliznyuk, Gibson and Hunt. Bliznyuk and third-leading scorer Ty Gibson combined for only two points in the first half and were scoreless in the second half. In addition, second-leading scorer Jesse Hunt didn't play because of a foot injury suffered the day before in practice and has been out ever since. However, five other Eagles did score in double figures, with all five of them entering with season scoring averages of between 4.5 and 5.4 points per game. Those five had entered the game with just a collective total of nine double-figure scoring performances in EWU's first 16 games of the season. Eastern had career-high performances from starter Cody Benzel (25 on 7-of-10 shooting from the 3-point stripe) and substitute Benas Gricinunas (16), as well as 14 points from true freshman Jack Perry, 12 by sophomore Mason Peatling and 10 by senior Sir Washington.
 
Eastern had 26 bench points in its league opener at Northern Colorado, then 19 at North Dakota and 22 versus Portland State. The Eagles played those games without injured starter Luka Vulikic (planter fasciitis), and the first two without starter Mason Peatling (hand). Peatling missed a total of four games, and Vulikic has missed EWU's last 16. Peatling returned on Jan. 4, but that was the last game Hunt (foot) played before he was sidelined.
 
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. Against Cal State Northridge on Dec. 17, five players scored in double figures as the Eagles at the time 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.
 
 
Trio of Newcomers Contributing Significantly, Including Two as Starters
 
True freshman Jack Perry has started EWU's last 16 games, and had his fourth double-figure performance of the season with 11 against Northern Arizona on Jan. 18. He had a 14-point, six-assist effort in EWU's 82-67 win over Sacramento State on Jan. 6, and had his first two first double-figure scoring performances of the season 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 6.0 points and 2.8 assists per game while making 45.2 percent from the field and 30-of-74 3-pointers (40.5 percent. His clutch 3-pointer with 15 seconds left helped clinch EWU's 81-74 win over Portland State on Jan. 4, then he hit another clutch trey with 1:06 left in EWU's 81-76 victory against Northern Arizona on Jan. 18.
 
Redshirt freshman Jacob Davison made the first start of his career at Seattle on Dec. 3 and started seven-straight games. He is now coming off the bench and has averaged 5.4 points on the season. He had his best scoring game in more than two months in finishing with 12 against Sacramento State on Feb. 1. He made 5-of-7 shots with a pair of 3-pointers to finish with his fourth double-figure scoring performance of the year and first in league play. It was his most since scoring 15 at Utah on Nov. 24 when he had 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.
 
And true freshman forward Richard Polanco has provided an offensive boost, averaging 8.9 minutes and 4.3 points. He's scored in double figures three times this season and has made nearly half of his shots from the field (38-of-81 for 46.9 percent) and 72.0 percent of his free throws (18-of-25).
 
 
Senior Sir Washington Averaging 9.1 Points in Conference Play; Benzel at 9.9
 
Four-year letterwinner Sir Washington has picked up his scoring pace in the Big Sky Conference season. After averaging only 4.3 points and 1.8 rebounds in the 12 preseason games he played, the senior has averaged 9.1 points and 4.3 rebounds in conference play. He sank only 30.4 percent of his shots overall (17-of-56) in the preseason, but has made 43.5 percent (37-of-85) of his field goals and 18-of-25 free throws (72.0 percent) in conference play thus far. His pair of free throws with eight seconds left gave EWU a 67-65 win over Northern Colorado on Jan. 27, in a game in which is also had a key tip-in and defensive rebound in the final three minutes.
 
Scoring at least 10 in five of EWU's league games, he is coming off a 12-point effort at Portland State on Feb. 3 in which he also had four rebounds and three assists. Now with 20 double figure performances of his career, he had a season-high 15-point performance in an overtime loss at Southern Utah on Jan. 20. He ranks 12th in school history with 111 career games played (25 as a starter) while averaging 5.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists.
 
Junior Cody Benzel has also picked up his scoring pace, and is averaging 9.9 points in league play after owning a 4.5 average during non-conference play. He's made 34-of-68 3-point attempts (50.0 percent) in Big Sky games, compared to 16-of-42 (38.1 percent) prior to that. Benzel has scored at least 15 points in four of his last eight outings, including a career-high 25 against Sacramento State on Jan. 6 and 21 against Portland State on Feb. 3.
 
 
With Three Double-Doubles, Peatling Back to Pre-Injury Form
 
Sophomore Mason Peatling has provided some big games since joining the starting lineup, and put together a stretch of three-straight double-doubles from Jan. 20 to Jan. 27. In a win over Northern Colorado on Jan. 27 he had 17 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. He had his seventh double figure scoring performance of the season as he made 6-of-11 shots from the field and had two blocked shots.
 
Peatling had the first double-double of his career with 10 points and 10 rebounds in EWU's overtime loss at Southern Utah on Jan. 20, then had 11-11 versus North Dakota on Jan. 25. For the season, Peatling has averaged 6.8 points in 20 games (16 as a starter), and has averaged 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots per game (fifth in the Big Sky). His averages are 7.8 points, 7.0 rebounds (fifth in the league) and 1.8 blocks (first) in conference play. In his 54-game career (33 as a starter), he's averaged 5.0 points and 3.7 rebounds with a total of 29 assists, 37 blocks and 28 steals.
 
Making his first start since Dec. 12 after missing four games because of a hand injury, Peatling embraced his return to the starting lineup on Jan. 6 against Sacramento State. It took barely over seven minutes for him to hit the double-figure mark, as he finished with 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field in 13 minutes of action. Prior to being sidelined with his injury, he scored a career-high 19 at South Dakota on Dec. 10 and had 11 points and six rebounds one game earlier at San Francisco.
 
 
Junior Jesse Hunt Has Made Most of Five Starts
 
Sidelined against Sacramento State on Jan. 6 with a foot injury suffered the day prior in practice, junior Jesse Hunt has started EWU's the last five games he has played. In those five outings (including four Eagle victories), he's averaged 14.6 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game, while making 25-of-43 shots overall (58.1 percent), 7-of-11 from the 3-point stripe (63.6 percent) and 16-of-20 from the free throw line (80.0 percent). He registered his career high in the first four games.
 
Hunt scored a career-high 14 points and had eight rebounds in his first start of the season against CSUN on Dec. 17, then had his second double-double of the season with 16 points and a career-high 11 rebounds against Providence three days later. He equaled his career high with 16 points at Northern Colorado on Dec. 29 when he also had a career-high four blocked shots and eight rebounds in a career-high 29 minutes of action. He played 29 minutes at North Dakota and finished with 16 points and eight boards, then had 11 points and four rebounds in just 16 minutes because of foul trouble against Portland State.
 
For the season, Hunt is averaging 21.3 minutes, 9.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and has eight blocked shots, while making 50.5 percent of his shots from the field and 83.3 percent from the free throw line. In his 79-game career (17 as a starter), Hunt has averaged 12.3 minutes, 3.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and has 28 blocks.
 
 
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).
 
 
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).
 
Seven of EWU preseason losses were on the home court of its opponents, which finished their pre-conference schedules 69-27 (72 percent) on the season and 50-6 (89 percent) at home. The Eagles recorded a huge win at Stanford (67-61 on Nov. 14) and barely lost at Wyoming (93-88 in overtime on Dec. 17). 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.
 
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)
 
In all, Eastern has played teams from 10 different conferences this season, 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. 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.
 
Eastern's 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 Feb. 3, his total is at 1,016.
 
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, Basketball Coaches Show Are Mondays
 
Featuring a new location, the next Eastern Washington University basketball coaches show take place Mondays throughout the season 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.
 
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 Portland State Loss: "I haven't said it too many times this season that our energy wasn't where it needed to be. We didn't play the way we should have been playing. It's tough. We just didn't execute what we wanted to do. Sometimes that happens, but I didn't like the energy of our guys today. It's not a light switch – you can't turn it on and off. We just can't come in and play that way, especially teams like this. Once they got going they hit some tough shots. In these types of games and teams like this you have to get on them early, and we didn't. We let them dictate the game early and that led to the loss."
 
On Bliznyuk's 40-Point Outing at Sac State: "They played two completely different game plans against him. At our place they double and triple teamed Bogdan, and in Sacramento they played him man-to-man the whole game. He's one of the best players to ever play in the conference, and if they are going to play him man-to-man I'm going to let him shoot a thousand shots. I don't mind it at all, and his teammates don't mind it all because he also passes the ball. He made a lot of great assists too, and would have had more if guys would have made their shots. It was pretty good to see him out there playing the way he was playing."
 
On Defense Versus Hornets: "Defense has been our calling card – that's been the most important thing to me. Our offense may not travel, but defense always does. That's the thing we preach about the most – communication, energy and effort. If you have those things, every single game defensively you have a chance. And if you also have the best player on the court, you have a chance to win a lot of close ballgames. We challenged our guards early in the week in our preparation. It seemed like their guards kicked our butts the last time we played, and we needed them to dig down. We followed the scout and followed the game plan. We missed on a few possessions here and there where we didn't do what we wanted to do, but the energy and the effort was there. So when something did break down there were other guys there to help. We played together as a unit and as one."
 
On Bliznyuk's Scoring Record: "His historic accomplishment is a true testament to his character, drive and work ethic. And that's not to mention he is also a great student, with a 3.31 GPA. As our team's captain, he is a great role model and ambassador for the EWU men's basketball program and our University. I couldn't be more proud."
 
On Development of Players in His Program: "Development is important, and it's important for our recruits to see that. A lot of players have talent. The way we play we give players freedom for creativity on the offensive end. When you get a player as creative as Bogdan or Jake Wiley, they are talented but sometimes you just need to give them the confidence. We want to make sure we are a place where we are always providing encouragement. When Bogdan came here he wasn't a great 3-point shooter, but he is now – guys can't leave him early. Tyler Harvey came as just a catch-and-shoot guy, but he left being able to put the ball on the floor. We have a lot of young coaches and we like to get in the gym with them as much as our 20-hour limit allows us. We have built a culture of guys working on their game together, and working in the gym is important. They go really hard and focus, and that's what we've been building for the last four or five years."
 
On Bliznyuk: "He comes out and works hard every day, is the last guy in the gym and always encourages his teammates. I haven't ever heard him say anything negative toward another player – he's always uplifting. We have freshmen and sophomores who have seen how he's done it. He's had some great mentors along the way and he's taken things from everybody, and now he's given back to all his teammates."
 
On Bliznyuk Being a Coach on the Floor: "It makes it easy, especially for my first year. I told him, 'Thank you for getting us this job, because if you weren't so good for four years I wouldn't have it.' There is a lot of trust here in him – he has the rights to call plays. He's a captain and a leader, and for me it means a lot to have so much trust in him. He helps everything – defensively, offensively and options for us to run on offense. He's huge for us – he's like another coach on the floor."
 
On Sir Washington: "Sir is stepping up as a senior. He is playing with a lot of composure and freedom and has confidence. That is what we need. He has been playing super hard."
 
On Cody Benzel: "He's been playing great. The thing that got him into the starting lineup and his minutes up is his defense. He's been doing a great job defending the other team's best shooters. He came out and took defense to heart, and wanted to show us he could defend. Since then he's been playing great basketball and has helped us out tremendously both offense and defense. He's been on fire since then."
 
On Jack Perry: "I'm on him the whole game to talk more and to lead more, but he's a freshman and he's learning. But when he gets these open looks, he's a great shooter and a smart player. He gets guys involved and he's a great defender. He's more of a pass-first guy, but I don't mind if he shoots 10-15 shots because he's that good of a shooter. 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 Strength of League: "There are lot of good coaches, and recruiting is starting to pick up and they are getting good players from all over the world. It's a tough league because every team has three or four really tough players and are well-coached. There are a lot of skilled players and the depth of the league is wild."
 
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 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 receives. 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

 
* In the nine meetings since Idaho re-joined the Big Sky Conference in the 2014-15 season, EWU is 6-3 but the average winning margin for the winning team is just 6.7 points. Included was an EWU sweep in 2016-17 versus the Vandals, with EWU winning 69-62 in Moscow and 77-67 in Cheney. But Eastern lost the previous two meetings, 77-73 in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Big Sky Conference Championships in Reno, Nevada, and a 66-62 setback in Moscow on Feb. 27, 2016. Until losing at home 58-51 earlier in the 2017-18 season, the Eagles had won their last three games at Reese Court versus the Vandals, and hadn't lost there since an 81-79 overtime loss on Dec. 6, 2012, in the last non-conference meeting before the Vandals rejoined the Big Sky.
* Since 1996 when Idaho first left the Big Sky Conference, the two schools have now played 23 times, with Eastern winning 14 of them. Idaho leads the all-time series 55-29. Since EWU became a NCAA Division I member in the 1983-84 season, EWU is 17-34 against Idaho (9-15 home, 7-15 away, 1-4 neutral).
* Earlier this season in Cheney, Eastern jumped out to a 20-6 lead but fell 58-51 to Idaho on Jan. 12 at Reese Court to end EWU's 12-game home court winning streak. The Eagles held Idaho to 58 points, equaling the fewest EWU had allowed to an opponent at that point of the season. Idaho sank just 40.8 percent of its shots, including only 2-of-9 3-pointers in the second half (22.2 percent). However, after sinking eight of its first 13 shots from the field to jump out to the early 14-point lead, Eastern finished at just 36.4 percent from the field for its lowest percentage since Dec. 7. Eastern's 51 points were its fewest since scoring 50 in a loss to Georgia State in November. Most notably, Idaho held Bogdan Bliznyuk scoreless for 32:12 of the game after he scored nine of EWU's first 20 points. He also contributed six rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals. Mason Peatling chipped in eight points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots, and Jack Perry also scored eight with two assists and three rebounds. Juniors Ty Gibson and Cody Benzel each scored six points, but combined to go just 4-of-14 from the field overall, including 4-of-13 from the 3-point stripe. Gibson also had five rebounds and four assists. The Eagles got off to a hot start, opening leads of 10-1 and 20-6, but they couldn't sustain it. The Eagles made eight of their first 13 shots, but then just 12-of-42 after that for 29 percent. Eastern led 34-33 with 15:27 left in the game on a 3-pointer by Gibson, but the Vandals followed with a 10-2 run over the next three minutes to take a 43-36 advantage. A 7-0 Vandal run and a five-minute scoreless stretch for the Eagles helped Idaho open an 11-point bulge at the 2:21 mark, and EWU could get no closer than seven the rest of the way.
* The meeting on Jan. 10, 2015, in Moscow was EWU's first-ever league victory over the UI, and was the first league meeting between the schools since Feb. 17, 1996. The Vandals rejoined the Big Sky Conference in the 2014-15 season after previously competing in the league from 1963-1996, winning tournament championships in 1980, 1981, 1989 and 1990. Eastern began playing in the Big Sky in 1987-88, and won the tourney title in 2004 and again in 2015. In those previous nine seasons of co-existence in the Big Sky, the Vandals won all 18 league meetings between the two schools, as well as the Big Sky Conference Tournament Championship game in 1990 won 65-62 by the Vandals on a shot at the buzzer by Ricardo Boyd. In all, Idaho had won 22-straight against the Eagles, who went nearly 14 years between victories (1/15/86 to 11/29/99).
 
 

Recent Game Recaps
 

Late Run Not Enough as Vikings Beat Eagles 94-81
 
Despite a late run that pared a 15-point lead down to seven, Eastern trailed from start to finish and suffered a 94-81 loss to Portland State on Feb. 3 in Portland, Ore. Eastern all-time leading scorer Bogdan Bliznyuk, who had scored 94 points in his previous three outings, was held to 13 points and 11 total shots, but did have team highs of nine rebounds and six assists. The Eagles made 48.5 percent of their shots, but allowed a season high of 57.6 percent. Junior Cody Benzel had 21 points with seven 3-pointers, and senior Sir Washington had 12 points and a pair of treys as the Eagles made 11-of-34 3-point attempts. EWU 7-footer Benas Griciunas sank all five of his shots and finished with 10 points. The Vikings jumped out to a 25-11 lead early in the game, and then scored 11 of the first 14 points in the second half. The Eagles trailed by just seven at halftime, but the Vikings led by as many as 15 in the second half. The closest EWU could come after that was seven with 5:14 to play. An offensive rebound basket with 4:45 to play started a game-deciding 6-0 run by the Vikings. That field goal was the first of seven-straight field goals PSU made in the final 4:45, and the Vikings drained six free throws in the final two minutes.
 
 
Led By Bliznyuk's 40 Points and a Season-Best Defensive Effort, Eagles Win 74-54 Over Hornets
 
Eastern all-time leading scorer Bogdan Bliznyuk poured in a season-high 40 points as EWU opened a three-game road stretch with a 74-54 victory over Sacramento State on Feb. 1 at The Nest in Sacramento, Calif. Eastern out-shot the Hornets 57 percent to 41 percent and had their best defensive performance of the season in allowing only 54 points. Blizyuk's performance equaled the seventh-most all-time at EWU, and was just five from the school record 45 he shares with two other players. Bliznyuk sank 15-of-18 shots from the field, all four of his 3-pointers, all six of his free throws and added seven rebounds and five assists. He increased his streak of free throws made to 46 in a row as he moved into ninth in league history with 1,896 points. Bliznyuk scored 12 of EWU's points in opening the game on a 20-4 run, and he had as many points in the first half as the Hornets did as a team. Eastern led by as many as 19 in the first half, 16 at halftime by a 40-24 score and no less than seven in the second half. Eastern took its biggest lead of the night at 23 with 3:17 to play.  Redshirt freshman had Jacob Davison had his best scoring game in more than two months in finishing with 12. He made 5-of-7 shots with a pair of 3-pointers to finish with his fourth double-figure scoring performance of the year and first in league play. It was his most since scoring 15 at Utah on Nov. 24. Sophomore Mason Peatling had eight points and seven rebounds after entering the game with three-straight double-doubles.