GAME NOTES

Riding the momentum of two-straight wins, the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team faces its biggest challenge of the season on Wednesday (Dec. 22) when they play at No. 25 Texas Tech. The Eagles take on the Red Raiders at 11 a.m. Pacific time at the United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas, on ESPN+.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team played host to the visiting Multnomah Lions on Dec. 15 where they walked away with an emphatic 95-56 win. Four Eagles scored in double figures, led by Angelo Allegri who had the first 20-plus point performance of his career with 23 points in 24 minutes. Mason Landdeck (15), Ethan Price (12) and Linton Acliese III (10) also scored in double figures. Eastern Washington finished with a school-record 68 rebounds in the win, besting the 67 against Multnomah back on Dec. 13, 2019. By the 15-minute mark in the second half, the Eagles had outscored the Lions 17-2 for a 67-35 advantage thanks to a 7-0 run. The lead stretched to as many as 33, 81-48 with six minutes left to play after the Eagles went off for another 8-0 scoring spurt and held the Lions scoreless for 3:46. Eastern Washington shut the door on Multnomah, closing the contest on a 12-3 run en route to the 95-56 win.
 
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington is 6-5 (0-1 Big Sky) entering Wednesday's contest and are on a two-game winning streak after victories over North Dakota and Multnomah.
 
Five Eagles average double figures, three of which rank in the top-11 in the Big Sky Conference. Steele Venters ranks second with 18.5 points per game, followed by Linton Acliese III with 15.0 points per game to rank eighth. Rylan Bergersen averages 13.2 to ranks 11th, and Ethan Price (10.5) and Angelo Allegri (10.4) round things out.
 
Four Eagles also rank in the top-20 in rebounding in the Big Sky, led by Acliese who ranks eighth with 7.5 per game, while Allegri adds 5.5 to rank 13^th and Price adds 5.0 to rank 19^th. Bergersen is third with 4.3 assists per game, and Mason Landdeck ranks sixth with 1.6 steals per game and 12^th in assists with 2.6.
 
Venters, who sat out against Multnomah, leads the conference in three-point field goal percentage (48.3), three-pointers per game (2.9) and ranks third in both free throw (85.7%) and field goal (51.2%) percentage.
 
As a team, the Eagles lead the league in points per game with 79.6 which ranks 47^th nationally. They are shooting 44.2 percent from the field and average 9.0 triples per contest. Nationally, EWU is 29^th with 16.9 assists per game, 14^th with 29.73 defensive rebounds per game, 15^th in free throws made with 187, and 42^nd with 40.55 rebounds per game.
 
A LOOK AT THE RED RAIDERS: Texas Tech is 8-2 overall this season and are coming off of a 55-69 loss to Gonzaga on Saturday in Phoenix. Coming into Wednesday's game, the Red Raiders are a perfect 6-0 at home and have a 12-game non-conference home winning streak. Eastern Washington snapped Washington State's 18-game non-conference winning streak back on Nov. 27 in a 76-71 victory.
 
The Red Raiders are ranked No. 25 for the second-straight week in the Associated Press Top 25. Texas Tech is fourth in the nation with a 13.0 rebounding margin and seventh with 14.5 offensive rebounds per game. They hold opponents to 59.9 points per game which is 33^rd across all of Division I, and score 78.5 points per game while grabbing an average of 41.5 rebounds.
 
Four Red Raiders average double figures, led by Kevin McCullar with 14.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Terrence Shannon Jr., who sat out against Gonzaga and is a game time decision for Wednesday, also adds 14.3 points per contest. Bryson Williams (11.5) and Davion Warren (11.1) round out the scoring.
 
Eastern Washington is 0-10 all-time against Big 12 opponents, including an 84-93 loss to Kansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year. Texas Tech also played in the tournament last season, topping Utah State in the first round before falling to Arkansas, 68-66, in the second.
 
UP NEXT: After the holidays, it's back to Big Sky play for the Eagles. Eastern Washington takes on Portland State at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 30 in Portland, Ore., before traveling to Northern Arizona for a 1 p.m. tip on Saturday, Jan. 1. EWU is back in action the following week at home against Montana (Jan. 6) and Idaho (Jan. 8).