The drama is building already.
 
In the precursor to EWU's rare visit to No. 2 Gonzaga on Saturday (Dec. 21), the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team concluded its three-game homestand with an impressive 97-56 victory over Omaha Tuesday (Dec. 17) at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.
 
Eastern's big three of senior Mason Peatling, junior Jacob Davison and sophomore Kim Aiken Jr. combined for 54 points in the win, including 40 in the first half when the Eagles opened a 21-point halftime lead. Both Peatling and Aiken had double-doubles in the contest.
 
Eastern used a 19-0 run spanning intermission to break open the game, and led by as many as 43. Eastern won its third-straight game during its homestand, in which the Eagles averaged 113.7 points and out-scored opponents by an average of 38.0 points per game (98-82 over North Dakota, 146-89 over Multnomah and 97-56 over Omaha). Eastern had a 21-6 lead in fast-break points versus Omaha.
 
"Pace of the game was the key tonight and that is what we put on the white board in the locker room," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans, whose team leads NCAA Division I in scoring. "We wanted to play fast and push the ball up the court to make sure they had to run back. As they game wore on they were getting tired. We have a smart basketball team and they are going to do what's best for our team. We have some great leaders out there and they played really well."
 
The game was part of the Big Sky Conference Versus Summit League Challenge Series, now in its second year. Eastern now plays its non-conference finale on Nov. 21 at No. 2 Gonzaga, which will be the highest-ranked team Eastern has ever played.
 
"Our guys played hard," said Legans. "Our assistant coaches had our team revved up and ready to go and there were no letdowns. They understood exactly how important this game was. We wanted to come out of it 7-3 and win every game at home during the non-conference schedule and we did that. That was an important thing for us to do."
 
Eastern seized control early as Peatling picked up where he left off from Dec. 13 when he scored a Big Sky Conference record 54 points versus Multnomah. The reigning Big Sky Conference Player of the Week, Peatling scored 12 of EWU's first 15 points as the Eagles led 15-10.
 
Eastern gradually opened an eight-point lead shortly after that, then ended the half with a huge 14-0 run capped by a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Aiken to give EWU a 49-28 halftime lead. Aiken scored 11 of his 13 first-half points in the run, and Peatling scored the other three as he ended the half with 17 points and six rebounds.
 
Eastern scored the first five points in the second half, including a dunk by Davison to lead by 26. The Eagles held the Mavericks without scoring for 4:24 during the 19-0 run, and went on to hold Omaha to 33.3 percent shooting for the game, including just 19 percent from the 3-point line (3-of-16). Eastern shot at a 54.2 percent clip, a high against a NCAA Division I opponent this season.
 
Following the Gonzaga game, Eastern takes a break for Christmas before Big Sky Conference play begins at Weber State on Dec. 28. Eastern's 7-3 start is its best since beginning the 2015-16 season with an 8-2 mark. A year ago during an injury-plagued season, the Eagles began the year 1-9.
 
 
Records . . .
 
* Eastern is now 7-3 on the season, its best since beginning the 2015-16 season with an 8-2 mark. A year ago during an injury-plagued season, the Eagles began the year 1-9. The Eagles are now 5-0 at home, having registered one of its biggest victories in school history, an 87-82 home win on Nov. 26 over mid-major power Belmont in the final game for both schools in the Gotham Classic.
 
* The Mavericks are 6-8, having defeated Washington State 85-77 on Nov. 21. That started a three-game winning streak that lifted them to a 5-3 record overall, but Omaha had dropped four in a row until a 92-82 home win last Saturday (Dec. 15) over UTRGV. Included was a 73-65 loss at Northern Arizona on Dec. 8 and a 99-49 thumping at the hands of nationally-ranked Arizona three nights later.
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* Playing each other for the first time since the unique date of 11/11/11, Eastern Washington plays at second-ranked Gonzaga on Saturday (Nov. 21) at the McCarthy Center in nearby Spokane, Wash. Eastern will face the highest-ranked opponent in school history when the Eagles play at the No. 2 Bulldogs, currently 11-1. After an 84-80 road win at Arizona on Dec. 14, the Bulldogs moved up to second in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls announced on Dec. 16. Eastern, which is 1-27 all-time versus nationally-ranked opponents, faced No. 3 Kansas in 2007 and No. 3 Oklahoma State in 2004 (NCAA Tournament), losing those games 85-47 and 75-56, respectively.
 
* Gonzaga will be the second ranked team Eastern has played in five-game stretch, having fallen to No. 22/23 Washington 90-80 on Nov. 4 in Seattle. Washington dropped out of the AP poll and was ranked 25th by the coaches the week after falling 83-76 to Gonzaga on Dec. 8. In the Dec. 16 poll, Washington was 22nd in both.
 
* Gonzaga is virtually unbeatable at home, winning 213 of 228 game at "The Kennel" heading into Wednesday's (Dec. 18) game versus North Carolina. Five players are averaging in double figures for Gonzaga, which has defeated Eastern 24-straight times dating back to EWU's last victory in 1990.
 
 
Top Performers . . .
 
* Of the 13 players who saw action for the Eagles, 11 scored. Seven different Eagles hit 3-pointers as the Eagles finished 13-of-36 from the arc for 36 percent. Aiken led the way with five, as he finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season and 11th of his career. Peatling finished with his second-straight double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds, and also had four assists. Davison finished with 12 points and six assists, and true freshman Ellis Magnuson had 10 points, seven assists and a pair of steals. Eastern finished the game with 28 assists on 39 baskets made.
 
 
More Notes . . .
 
* Members of the Big Sky Conference and Summit League have agreed to a four-year men's basketball series involving four teams from each league, which began during the 2018-19 season. Each school will play one home game and road contest against separate schools from the other league during each of the four seasons. Big Sky schools participating are Eastern, Montana State, Montana and Idaho. The Summit is represented by North Dakota State, North Dakota, Omaha and South Dakota State. North Dakota's final year of membership in the Big Sky was in 2017-18 before moving to the Summit League, but the Eagles are still playing the Fighting Hawks again as part of the four-year rivalry series between the two leagues. So far, EWU is 2-2 in the series, losing on the road at North Dakota State (74-67) and at home versus South Dakota State (74-64) a year ago, then beating North Dakota 98-82 on Dec. 8, 2019. The Big Sky was 4-4 in the eight games played in the challenge series last season and 4-2 this year thus far.
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans . . .
 
On Running and Running: "We've been on the other end of this. I give a lot of credit to Omaha – they have been all over the country playing games. We've been down that road, and you don't want to give the road team life early. But you need to run them into the ground and go non-stop, then keep running and running. You would have thought one of our plays was 'run' because that's what we were yelling at our guys. We just had to get into their legs and they were tired tonight. We did a really good job of exposing that tonight."
 
On Sharing the Basketball: "Twenty-eight assists is a good number. Jacob Davison is going to get keyed on almost every game he plays, and he had six assists and only two turnovers. Ellis Magnuson is really coming around, and had seven assists and is leading the league, which is really huge for a freshman to do that. We also had Mason with three and multiple guys with three – Jack Perry had some great looks made some great passes."
 
On 7-3 Start: "Our guys are understanding what you need and are playing the game the right way. They are playing with passion and energy, and that makes it really easy to coach. Everybody is sticking with it and working to get better. The teammates, leadership and their involvement together is huge."