EMU Hoops Finishes 2017 with Rochester Friday Afternoon

Men's Basketball vs. Rochester
Date	Friday, Dec. 29 \| 2 p.m.
Venue	Ypsilanti, Mich. \| Convocation Center (8,754)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Watch	ESPN3
Listen	WEMU (89.1 WEMU-FM) \| TuneIn Radio
Twitter	@EMUHoops \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team finishes the 2017 portion of its schedule with a home game against Rochester College, Friday Dec. 29 at 2 p.m.
   Fans can watch Wednesday's game on ESPN3, with Greg Steiner on play-by-play and Reggie Butler as analyst. Chad Bush will handle the broadcast duties for WEMU, joined by Kyler Ludlow as analyst.

LAST TIME OUT: Eastern Michigan hung in for most of the game, but ultimately fell to Syracuse, 62-47, Wednesday night, Dec. 27, at the Carrier Dome. The Eagles (8-4) were tied with the Orange (11-2) at 24 at the half, but SU outscored EMU, 38-23, to pull away in the second stanza.
   Redshirt junior Elijah Minnie led EMU with 13 points, while fellow junior James Thompson IV added 12 to go along with a team-best nine rebounds. Redshirt junior Paul Jackson was the third Eagle in double figures, notching 10 total.
   As a team, EMU shot 37.0 percent (20-of-54) from the field, while SU was only 2.1 percent better at 39.1 (18-of-46). The biggest disparity of the game came at the free throw line, as EMU finished just 4-of-6 (66.7 %) from the stripe, while SU was 20-of-26 (76.9 %). EMU controlled the paint, 28-20, while also totaling 13 points off its seven steals.

DOMINATING DEFENSIVE DUO: Both the men's and women's basketball teams at Eastern Michigan have become known for their stifling defense over the years. In fact, the stout defensive play of seniors Tim Bond and Sasha Dailey puts the pair in limited company across the country.
EMU is one of two schools in the nation to have players ranked inside the country's top-16 in steals and steals per game for both men's and women's basketball. Bond is seventh in steals per game (2.75) and eighth in total steals with 33, while Dailey is ranked 10th in steals per game (3.55) and 16th in steals (39). The duo joins Lamar's Chastadie Barrs and Zjori Bosha.

ALL TIME VS ROCHESTER: The Eagles are 9-0 all-time against the Warriors, having played Rochester in each season going back to the 2010-11 campaign. A year ago, EMU hosted RC in the season's home opener, defeating the visitors 78-63 in the Convocation Center.
   Over the course of the series' history, Eastern has hosted eight of the nine contests.

MURPHY VERSUS NON-DI OPPONENTS: Continuing his success against non-NCAA Division I opponents, EMU Head Men's Basketball Coach Rob Murphy has led the Eagles to an unbeaten 20-0 record in both exhibition and regular season games. Rochester is the final of four non-DI games this season, having already defeated Spring Arbor, Michigan-Dearborn, and Central State.

JAMES THOMPSON IV IS GOOD: Junior James Thompson IV, who comes into the game averaging 17.3 points and 12.1 rebounds per contest, was named Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week for the period ending Dec. 17.
   The Baton Rouge, La. native registered his ninth double-double in 10 games against Long Beach State, Dec. 16, when he scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. The junior shot 9-of-12 (.750) from the floor and added two blocks and a steal in the Eagles' 85-80 road victory.

LIKE, REALLY, REALLY GOOD: Thompson is among the upper-echelon of big men in all of college basketball. Not only does he rank fourth in rebounds per game (12.1), he's also third in double-doubles (9), and is 11th in field goal percentage (67.2).
   The Baton Rouge, La. native is the national leader in rebound average for a career (11.1 rebounds per game), and is fifth in NCAA Division I in career rebounds (855), trailing four seniors.
   Thompson is also one of just six players in the country averaging over 16 points per game, 10 rebounds per game, and owns a shooting percentage above 60 percent. The others are Deandre Ayton (Arizona), Marvin Bagley III (Duke), Devontae Cacok (UNC-Wilmington), Jessie Govan (Georgetown), and Brandon McCoy (UNLV). In addition, just three of those players (Cacok, Govan, and Thompson) are averaging more than 12 rebounds per contest.

AMONG THE LEADING LEADERS: Eastern Michigan leads the Mid-American Conference in steals per game (10.4), blocks per game (5.5), and team field goal percentage (.488). The Eagles are also in the top three in scoring margin (2nd - +7.0), turnover margin (2nd - +2.6), and rebounding margin (3rd - +2.1).
   Individually, James Thompson IV leads five categories (double-doubles, defensive rebound avg., offensive rebound avg., total rebound avg., and field goal percentage), while also being in the top eight in blocks per game (3rd) and scoring (8th). Redshirt junior Elijah Minnie currently ranks fifth in scoring with an average of 17.6 per game, and leads the MAC in free throw shooting with a 91.5 percentage. Fellow redshirt junior Paul Jackson is second in assists per game (4.7) and 10th in scoring (16.4), while lone senior Tim Bond is leading the conference in steals per game (2.75)

MINNIE STAYS HOT: With his 13-point performance at Syracuse, Dec. 27, Elijah Minnie has scored double-digits in 10 out of the 12 Eagles' games this season. He currently ranks fifth in the conference in scoring average at 17.6 points per game.
   Minnie's    23-point output at Long Beach State Dec. 16 gave the redshirt junior 20-or-more points in six of the Eagles' first 10 games.
   The redshirt junior scored 22 points, grabbed four rebounds, dished out three assists, had three blocks, and swiped three steals in his debut against Spring Arbor, and has averaged 16.8 points per game since. The 22 points were the most scored in a debut-game since Willie Mangum IV score 18 in 2015, and the 49 combined points is the most by a new player in the modern statistical era (1998-present).
   The Pittsburgh, Pa. native also put on a show at Indiana, Nov. 24, scoring 20 points and burying a career-high five triples in the EMU loss. Minnie was named to the Hoosier Tip-off Classic All-Tournament team, averaging 13 points, six rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal per game. He also logged his first double-double of the season against North Florida, Nov. 29, scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 boards.

SLICE AND DICE: Redshirt junior Paul Jackson has established himself as one of the top point guards in the Mid-American Conference, averaging 16.4 points per contest as well as leading the team with 4.7 assists per game on the season. The Stone Mountain, Ga. native is currently second in the MAC in assists per game, fourth in steals per game (1.67), and 10th in scoring average.
   Jackson has done most of his damage inside the three-point line, shooting an impressive 51-percent on two-point field goals. The pout guard has scored in double-digits in 11 of 12 games on the season, reaching the 20-point plateau three times.

I'LL TAKE THAT: After leading the Mid-American Conference in steals per game (9.6) last year, Eastern has continued that trend, currently averaging a conference-high 10.1 steals per game through its first 12 contests. Led by Tim Bond's 2.75 steal per game average, the Eagles have three players ranked within the conference's top five in average steals per game, totaling 121 thefts thus far.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern opens up the New Year and Mid-American Conference play at Ball State, Jan. 2 with a 7 p.m. game. The Eagles return to the Convocation Center Saturday, Jan. 6 for its first bit of home #MACtion, taking on Bowling Green at 12 p.m. as part of a double header with EMU's women's team, who takes on Toledo.

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Players Mentioned

Tim Bond

Paul Jackson

Elijah Minnie

James Thompson IV

Eastern Michigan Athletics