At one point, the Eagles were on a pace to beat Montana by nearly 100 points.
 
With a 17-of-19 shooting start leading to a 24-point lead in the opening 10 1/2 minutes, the league-leading Eastern Washington University men's basketball team used a 51-point first half to beat Montana 90-76 in a Big Sky Conference game Thursday (Feb. 18) at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash. The two rivals will play again Saturday (Feb. 20) in Missoula in a game that will begin at 11:05 a.m. Pacific time, as EWU tries for its first regular season sweep of the Grizzlies since the 2003 league season.
 
Sophomore Tyler Robertson led the Eagles with a career-high 21 points, and junior Kim Aiken Jr. also had 21 to go along with eight rebounds and four steals. Junior Tanner Groves contributed his seventh double-double of the season with 14 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and a pair of blocked shots. Sophomore Michael Meadows was the fourth Eagle in double figures with 14.
 
Eastern led by as many as 27 points in the first half and no less than 12 in the second half as EWU won for the eighth-straight time and snapped a four-game losing streak to UM. The eight-game winning streak equals the second-best in Eastern's NCAA Division I history, and is one of 12 the Eagles have had of six-straight or more since moving to D-I in the 1983-84 season. The record is 11 set by the 2003-04 Eastern team which advanced to the NCAA Tournament that season.
 
"We came out hot and made some shots early," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans, whose team went exactly nine minutes between misses at one point in the second half. "Their pressure really bothered us and we turned the ball over at a pretty high rate. But coming out and hitting those shots early really put us in a good spot for the rest of the game."
 
After its 17-of-19 shooting start – 89.5 percent – the Eagles cooled off to finish at 54 percent for the game. Eastern held the Grizzlies to 42 percent and had a 19-4 advantage in fast-break points.
 
Eastern handed Montana is worst Big Sky loss of the season. The Eagles are now 10-2 in the Big Sky and 11-6 overall, and have won at least 10 league games for the eighth-straight season. That only happened six times before in EWU's first 30 seasons as a member of NCAA Division I.
 
Entering the night 1 1/2 games ahead of second-place Southern Utah, the Eagles solidified their hold on sole possession of first place in the league standings. Eastern's remaining league schedule includes the re-match in Missoula and home games versus Idaho State on March 3 and 5 at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.
 
Through Thursday's games, Eastern is 10-2 in the Big Sky, followed by Southern Utah (7-2), Weber State (8-3), Idaho State (7-3), and Montana State (6-4). They are followed by Northern Colorado (5-6), Sacramento State (4-5), Montana (5-8), Portland State (4-5), Northern Arizona (4-7), and Idaho (0-15).
 
All 11 league teams will advance to the Big Sky Conference Basketball Championships, to be held for the third consecutive year at recently re-named Idaho Central Arena (formerly CenturyLink Arena) in Boise, Idaho. The neutral-site tournament will run from March 10-13, 2021, and begins two days earlier for the women.
 
"They kicked our butts last year – twice, and even the last four times," said Legans. "Our team was excited to play this game, had intensity and were ready to go. We know it will be a different team we'll be playing on Saturday. Montana is the cream of the crop. They've been the best team in the league in the last 10 years – and Weber State every now and then. That's something we want for our program – to have the same success as Montana.
 
"In any sport we want to beat Montana and we know how good they always are," he continued. "They have a hall of fame coach, have good players and a great tradition. When you play Montana you have to bring everything you have – we played one of our better games, at least one of our better halves of basketball this year."

 
Records
 
* The Eagles, defending regular season champions, are 11-6 overall and 10-2 in the Big Sky Conference. Eastern is coming off its third-straight sweep in league play, beating Montana State twice in Bozeman by relatively easy 93-77 and 85-69 scores. Eastern is now 9-2 in the Big Sky and 10-6 overall with four games left to play in league play. The Eagles have a current seven-game winning streak, matching Eastern's season-ending streak of a year ago. It's the best since EWU won eight in a row in the 2017-18 season, ended with an 82-65 loss to Montana on March 10, 2018, in the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Reno, Nevada.
 
* The Grizzlies are now 5-8 in the league and 9-11 overall, but had defeated the Eagles the last four times they've met. Two of those games were in Big Sky Conference Tournament championships in 2018 and 2019, and the teams were on a collision course to meet again in 2020 in the tournament before the Covid-19 pandemic ended the season prematurely.
 
* Montana was coming off a 91-82 loss to Weber State in Missoula, but two days earlier knocked off the Wildcats 80-67. The Grizzlies have lost their other six league games by margins of 1 (twice), 2, 4, 5 and 6 (double overtime). Thus, Montana's first seven Big Sky losses have come by a total of 28 points for an average of just 4.0 per game.
 
 
Top EWU Performers
 
Junior Tanner Groves had his seventh double-double of the season with 14 points, 10 rebound, three assists and two blocked shots. He now has nine double-doubles in his career.
Sophomore Michael Meadows hit 5-of-8 shots to finish with 14 points and shared team-high honors with Robertson with five assists. He has now scored in double figures in six-straight games.
Junior Kim Aiken Jr., a preseason All-Big Sky selection, hit all six of his 2-point shots and 3-of-6 3-pointers to finish with 21 points, eight rebounds and four steals. He came two rebounds from a double-double, and had the 10th 20+ performance of his career. He has two double-doubles this season and 19th in his career, with 22 double-figure rebounding performances.
Sophomore Tyler Robertson had 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line, and sank 3-of-4 3-point attempts. He also had a team-high five assists and contributed four rebounds.
Senior Jack Perry came off the bench and sank all three of the shots he attempted – all 3-pointers – to finish with nine points and a pair of assists.
Sophomore Jacob Groves, the younger brother of junior Tanner Groves, chipped in nine points and five rebounds. Both Groves brothers are graduates of Shadle Park High School in Spokane, Wash.
Senior Jacob Davison, the preseason MVP in the Big Sky Conference, played just two minutes after not playing in the previous two.
 
 
Game Details & Turning Point
 
The Eagles hot start including early leads of 5-0, 11-5 and 18-7, then the Eagles really got going. A 6-0 run opened a 27-11 advantage, as a three-point play by Meadows and a 3-pointer by Perry put EWU up by 16 with 12:14 left.
 
An 11-0 run led by Aiken with six points and Robertson with 5 resulted in a 38-14 lead with 9:35 to play – a 22-point margin in the game's first 10 1/2 minutes. A 7-0 run then put EWU up 47-20 with 6:24 to play, and the Eagles led 51-34 at halftime.
 
At one point in the first half, Eastern went exactly nine minutes between misses. En route to the 27-point margin, EWU sank 17-of-19 field goals with a string of 14-straight.
 
A trio of Eagles scored in double figures in the first half alone, with Aiken scoring 16, Groves scoring 12 and Meadows having 10. Aiken and Groves each had six rebounds in the first half, as the Eagles out-shot the Grizzlies 68 percent to 38 percent.
 
Eastern cooled off even more in the second half, and Montana was able to cut the lead to 14 before back-to-back 3-pointers by Robertson and Perry put EWU back up by 20. Later, after the Grizzlies crawled to within 13, Eastern used four free throws during a 6-0 run to regain a 19-point lead at the 6:01 mark.
 
Eastern led by no less than 12 the rest of the way.
 
 
Series Notes
 
* Eastern is 24-55 against the Grizzlies since becoming a member of NCAA Division I in 1983-84, including a 10-29 record in Missoula, 14-22 in Cheney and 0-4 on neutral courts. Montana leads the overall series 72-44. The Eagles had lost four in a row, but have still won three of the last six meetings in Missoula and three of the last four in Cheney. Until winning 75-69 on Feb. 5, 2015, the Eagles had lost their last 12 meetings in Missoula, dating back to a 71-52 Eagle win on Feb. 7, 2004. The Eagles would also beat the Grizzlies on their home floor in the 2015 Big Sky Championship game, giving the Eagles a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Eastern also picked up a 72-60 victory at Montana on Jan. 26, 2017. EWU is 1-6 versus the Griz in the Big Sky Tournament. Besides the 2015 victory, Eastern has also lost to the Grizzlies in the 2018 (82-65) and 2019 (68-62) title games. The Eagles lost 74-66 to UM in the 2012 semifinals in Missoula; 73-71 in overtime in the 2006 semifinals in Flagstaff, Ariz.; 58-48 in the 2005 quarterfinals; and 70-66 in the 2002 championship in Bozeman.
 
 
More Game Notes
 
* Eastern has now averaged 86.4 points per game during its current eight-game winning streak, while allowing 72.0 for an average winning margin of 14.4 points per game. During the streak, EWU has out-shot opponents 50.9 percent to 42.4 percent overall, and 41.8 percent to 34.9 percent from the 3-point stripe, and has made 82.8 percent from the free throw line. Eastern also has a plus 7.1 rebounding margin in those games, averaging 36.4 per game. The Eagles are 7-0 this season when they out-rebound their opponent, and 6-1 when they have at least 36 boards.
 
* Shantay Legans, the reigning Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year, moved up to No. 3 in winning percentage in the 58-year history of the Big Sky Conference – tops among those who coached at least four seasons. After the first Montana game, he's 51-19 in four seasons for a percentage of .729. He only ranks behind Phil Johnson (Weber State 1968-71, .886, 39-5) and Kermit Davis (Idaho 1989-90, .813, 26-6), and is now ahead of Dick Motta (Weber State, 1963-68, .727, 40-15), Travis DeCuire (Montana 2014-present, .720, 90-35) and Ron Abegglen (Weber State, 1991-99, .717, 86-34). Overall, Legans is now 70-47 overall (.598) in four seasons. In school history, Ray Giacoletti (four seasons, 2000-04) currently ranks just behind Legans in winning percentage overall (.580, 69-50) and is No. 2 in league games only (.707, 41-17).
 
* The Eagles, 11-6 overall and with a eight-game winning streak, are on the roll they had a year ago en route to the regular season league title. Last year after five games of the league season, the Eagles were 3-2 (like this year's team), and had won the first game of what would become a six-game winning streak. Eastern ended the regular season with a streak of seven-straight victories to win the league title with a 16-4 mark.
 
 
 
On the Horizon
 
* The Eagles and Grizzlies will play again this Saturday (Feb. 20) in Missoula in a game that will begin at 11:05 a.m. Pacific time. The game will be televised live regionally on SWX – both in Eastern Washington and in Montana. It will also be available via PlutoTV channel 1056, as well as via https://bigskyconf.com/watchbigsky. Eastern games are also aired live on radio on 700-AM ESPN, 105.3-FM, via the web at tunein.com and via mobile phone app, with pre-game coverage starting a half-hour prior to tipoff. Larry Weir serves as the play-by-play broadcaster. Live statistics from all Eastern home games are available via http://ewustats.com.
 
* Eastern closes out the regular season with games versus Idaho State on Wednesday, March 3 at 6:05 p.m. Pacific time and Friday, March 5 at 12:05 p.m. Pacific at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash. The games were re-scheduled from one day later to avoid a conflict with EWU's home football opener on March 6. Idaho State is currently 7-3 in the Big Sky Conference and 12-5 overall heading into games on Feb. 18 and Feb. 20 against Montana State, which were canceled.
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans
 
On Second Half: "They cut the lead down to 13 and 12 a couple of times, and then we had a couple of lucky breaks. The game could have gone either way a couple of times, but we had some late rebounds, steals and turnovers."
 
On Tyler Robertson: "He's a swiss army knife – he can do anything on the court, play point guard or play center. It's a lot like how Kim plays on defense where he guard anybody, one through five. Tyler can play any offensive position one through five. When you have players like that who can do different things, it puts you in a great position. You want to play everybody, but some games some players do better than others and you have to give them those opportunities. Tonight we saw that outcome with Tyler Robertson."
 
On Rematch Saturday: "We have to be ready to go on Saturday – they are a great team and really good. They have one of the best coaches in the country – not just in our league. We know they'll come in with some adjustments – they are probably one of the toughest teams in our league so we have to be ready to go."