Men's Hoops Opens MAC Play at Ball State Tuesday

Men's Basketball at Ball State
Date	Tuesday, Jan. 2 \| 7 p.m.
Venue	Muncie, Ind. \| Worthen Arena (11,500)
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 opens up 2018 and Mid-American Conference play Tuesday, Jan. 2 with a roadtrip to Muncie, Ind. to take on Ball State.
   Fans can watch Tuesday's game on ESPN3, while Chad Bush will handle the broadcast duties for WEMU, joined by Kyler Ludlow as analyst.

LAST TIME OUT: EMU concluded the non-conference portion of its schedule with a comfortable 67-48 victory over Rochester College Friday, Dec. 29, inside the Convocation Center.
   The Eagles (9-4) snapped a brief two-game slide and improved to 10-0 all-time against the Warriors (11-7).
   Freshman Kevin McAdoo netted a career-high 12 points off the bench on 4-of-4 shooting, including a pair of triples. Redshirt junior Paul Jackson also added 12 points, while fellow junior James Thompson IV contributed six points, three blocks, and a team-best eight rebounds. Senior Tim Bond tallied seven points, four boards, and paced EMU with four steals.
   The Eagles shot 47.1 percent from the field on 24-of-51 shooting, while the Warriors connected on 19-of-60 field goal attempts for a 31.7 percent clip. EMU's defensive discipline paid off as the Eagles committed nine fouls compared to Rochester's total of 22. The Green and White also out-blocked the Warriors, 11-1 and earned 12 thefts.

ALL TIME VS BALL STATE: The Eagles are 42-61 all-time against the Cardinals, with Ball State having won four straight against Eastern. Both teams come in with records of 9-4 on the season, with Eastern's RPI at 145 and Ball State's at 124. Eastern Michigan's non-conference strength of schedule was ranked slightly better than Ball States according to the NCAA (252 vs. 290), but the Cardinals held the edge according to KenPom ratings (163 to 190).
   EMU last win over BSU was also the last time the Green and White won in Muncie, winning 67-60 March 3, 2015.
   In the Rob Murphy era of Eastern Michigan basketball, the Eagles are 4-6 against Ball State.

AMONG THE LEADING LEADERS: Eastern Michigan leads the Mid-American Conference in steals per game (10.2), blocks per game (5.9), turnover margin (1st - + 3.0), and team field goal percentage (.479). The Eagles are also in the top three in scoring margin (2nd - +7.9), defensive field goal percentage (.415), scoring defense (69.7), 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 10 in blocks per game (3rd) and scoring (9th). Redshirt junior Elijah Minnie currently ranks eighth 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 (16.1), while lone senior Tim Bond is leading the conference in steals per game (2.85)

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 sixth in steals per game (2.85) and ninth in total steals with 37, while Dailey is ranked 11th in steals per game (3.50) and 16th in steals (42). The duo joins Lamar University's Chastadie Barrs and Zjori Bosha.

JAMES THOMPSON IV IS GOOD: Junior James Thompson IV, who comes into the game averaging 16.4 points and 11.8 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 fifth in rebounds per game (11.8), he's also sixth in double-doubles (9), and is 11th in field goal percentage (66.7).
   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 (863), 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).

SLICE AND DICE: Redshirt junior Paul Jackson has established himself as one of the top point guards in the Mid-American Conference, averaging 16.1 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, fifth in steals per game (1.69), 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 point guard has scored in double-digits in 12 of 13 games on the season, reaching the 20-point plateau three times.

CLOSING IN ON 1,000: Two Eagles are closing in on coveted thresholds, as junior James Thompson IV is just 137 rebounds away from 1,000, while senior Tim Bond is 141 points away from becoming the 31st player to don the Green and White and join the 1,000 point club.
   Thompson became the 30th Eagle to eclipse the 1,000 point threshold earlier this season, and would become just the 3rd player all-time to join the exclusive 1,000 point, 1,000 rebound club. Only all-time leading scorer Kennedy McIntosh (1967-71) and Brandon Bowdry (2006-2011) hold spots in both 1,000 clubs.

MINNIE STAYS HOT: With his 13-point performance at Syracuse, Dec. 27, Elijah Minnie has scored double-digits in 10 out of the 13 Eagles' games this season. He currently ranks eighth in the conference in scoring average at 16.5 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.

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 10.2 steals per game through its first 13 contests. Led by Tim Bond's 2.85 steal per game average, the Eagles have three players ranked within the conference's top five in average steals per game, totaling 133 thefts thus far.

ON THE HORIZON: 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

Kevin McAdoo

Elijah Minnie

James Thompson IV

Eastern Michigan Athletics