EWU GAME NOTES

For the eighth time in program history and for the second-straight year, the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team is playing in the postseason. The Eagles accepted their bid to the first-ever The Basketball Classic (formerly CIT) and will take on Fresno State in the First Round on Thursday, March 17. The game tips at 7 p.m. Pacific time in Fresno, Calif., at the Save Mart Center. All games for the classic will be streamed on ESPN+, and Eastern's First Round game will be on 920-AM KXLY.
 
Eastern Washington currently sits at 18-15 overall and finished 11-9 in Big Sky Conference play under first-year head coach David Riley. Eastern earned a No. 6 seed and topped No. 11 Northern Arizona in the first round of the Big Sky Championships, before dropping a heartbreaker to No. 3 Northern Colorado in the quarterfinals, 68-67.
 
Fresno State plays in the Mountain West Conference where they finished 8-9 and are 19-13 overall. Like Eastern Washington, the Bulldogs lost in the quarterfinals to No. 3 San Diego State after beating San Jose State in overtime in the first round.
 
The Bulldogs and the Eagles have only faced off once as members of Division I, with EWU trailing 0-1.  
 
ABOUT THE BASKETBALL CLASSIC: The Basketball Classic was originally designed as a 32-team tournament, but there are currently 21 participants. It is open to deserving teams not selected to participate in the NCAA, NIT or CBI tournaments.
 
The tournament will begin this week with the semifinals scheduled for Tuesday, March 29th and the Championship game on Thursday, March 31st. Each game of The Basketball Classic will be held on the campus of one of the participating schools. In lieu of a traditional bracket, the field and matchups will be set after each round.
 
Administering The Basketball Classic is a panel that previously conducted the College Insider, Inc. Postseason Tournament (CIT) from 2009-19.
 
First Round Games (as of March 16)
March 15: USC Upstate at Appalachian West
March 16: Merrimack at UMBC, Morgan State at Youngstown State, Southeastern Louisiana at South Alabama, Kent State at Southern Utah
March 17: Eastern Washington at Fresno State
March 19: New Orleans at Portland
 
EASTERN WASHINGTON'S POSTSEASON HISTORY: This is Eastern's eighth appearance in a national postseason tournament and the second-straight after advancing to the NCAA Tournament in 2021. Besides 2021, Eastern Washington has played in the NCAA Tournament in 2004 and 2015 and played in the NIT in 2003. They have played in three College Basketball Invitational (CBI) tournaments in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
 
In the 2016 CBI, Eastern recorded its first win in a national postseason tournament as a member of Division I with a 79-72 home win over Pepperdine. The Eagles are now 1-7 in postseason national tournaments as a member of NCAA Division I, and 7-12 overall.
 
NCAA Division I Postseason Tournament Results (1-7)
3/20/21 - NCAA Tournament - #12 rank/#3 seed Kansas (Indianapolis, Ind.) - L, 84-93
3/13/18 – College Basketball Invitational - at Utah Valley (Orem, Utah) - L, 65-87
3/15/17 – College Basketball Invitational - at Wyoming (Laramie, Wyo.) - L, 81-91
3/21/16 – College Basketball Invitational - at Nevada (Reno, Nev.) - L, 70-85
3/16/16 – College Basketball Invitational - Pepperdine (Cheney, Wash.) - W, 79-72
3/19/15 – NCAA Tournament - #22 rank/#4 seed Georgetown (Portland, Ore.) - L, 74-84
3/19/04 – NCAA Tournament - #3 rank/#2 seed Okla. St. (Kansas City, Mo.) - L, 56-75
3/20/03 – National Invitation Tournament - at Wyoming (Laramie, Wyo.) - L, 71-78
 
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington concluded the regular season 17-14 overall and 11-9 in Big Sky Conference games, finishing with at least 10 conference wins for the eighth-straight season. The Eagles came in to the postseason on a two-game winning streak after beating Northern Arizona and Portland State at home. Eastern Washington beat Northern Arizona in the First Round, 78-75, but fell to Northern Colorado by a point, 68-67, after being down 17 with 15 minutes left to play.
 
The Eagles average 76.9 points per game, the third-highest offensive output in the conference. They lead the conference and rank 24th in the nation with 15.8 assists per game, totaling 521 to rank 13th. Eastern Washington pulls down 36.8 rebounds per game to rank second in the conference and 95th nationally, with 1,216 total boards to rank 59th. Eastern has out-rebounded its opponents in 19 games this year. They average 27.70 defensive boards per game which is 32nd in the nation and first in the Big Sky.
 
EWU is also one of the nation's top three-point shooting teams, firing off 289 total this year to rank 31st in the NCAA. Eastern also has a stifling three-point defense, only allowing opponents to shoot 32.9 percent behind the arc to rank second in the conference. Eastern Washington ranks 42nd in the NCAA and second in the Big Sky with 8.8 three-pointers per game. The squad has made double-digit triples in eight out of the last 18 games, with season highs of 14 against Idaho and 13 against Idaho State.
 
The Eagles are also solid at the free throw line, ranking 20th nationally with 490 free throws made and 42nd with 651 attempts. EWU makes 75.3 percent of its attempts to rank 47th in the country. Eastern is 3-0 this season when scoring 90 or more points, and 6-3 when shooting between 50-to-60 percent from the field. However, they are 0-8 when opponents shoot over 50 percent.
 
Eastern Washington boasts five players who average double figures, four of which rank in the top-19 in the Big Sky. Steele Venters (6th, 16.6 ppg) leads the way, followed by Linton Acliese III (7th, 16.2 ppg) and Rylan Bergersen (15th, 13.3 ppg). Angelo Allegri rounds out the offense with 12.2 points per game to rank 19th and Ethan Price adds 10.0. Four Eagles also rank in the top-21 in the conference in rebounding in Acliese (6th, 7.3 rpg), Allegri (9th, 6.7 rpg), Bergersen (19th, 4.8 rpg), and Ethan Price (23rd, 4.9).