EMU Hoops Hits Road for #MACtion at Northern Illinois Saturday

Men's Basketball vs. Northern Illinois
Date	Saturday, Jan. 13 \| 3:30 p.m. CT
Venue	Dekalb, Ill. \| NIU Convocation Center (9,100)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Fan 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 hits the road once again for Mid-American Conference play, traveling to Dekalb, Ill. to take on Northern Illinois University, Saturday, Jan. 13 at 3:30 p.m. CT.
   Fans can watch Wednesday's game on ESPN3, with Dave Bernhard (play-by-play) and Carl Armato (analyst) on the call. Chad Bush will handle the broadcast duties for 89.1FM WEMU.

SNAPPED THE STREAK: With Eastern picking up the win over Central Michigan, Jan. 9, the Eagles snapped a four-game losing streak against Division I opponents, dating back to its road victory at Long Beach State, Dec. 16.
   EMU did have a 19-point triumph over Rochester College to wrap up the non-conference schedule, but came out on the losing end at Oakland, at Syracuse, at Ball State, and against Bowling Green.

GOT IT DONE: EMU picked up its first win in MAC play with a 79-74 win over Central, Jan. 9, thanks to a tremendous all-around team performance. Coming into the matchup, CMU led the conference in defense by giving up just 65.7 points per game, while also holding opponents to a league-best .396 shooting percentage. Eastern shot a blistering .534 from the floor in the game (and over .500 in both halves) and scored 79 points, just the third time a team scored 79 or more points against the Chippewas this season.

ALL TIME VS NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Eagles are 41-53 all-time against the Huskies, with EMU winning two of three meetings in the 2016-17 season. Eastern lost in Dekalb, 81-69, but was able to avenge the setback twice, once in the regular season, 84-68, and the other in the opening round of the MAC Tournament in Ypsilanti, 72-69.
CLOSING IN ON 1,000: Two Eagles are closing in on coveted thresholds, as junior James Thompson IV is just 103 rebounds away from 1,000, while senior Tim Bond is 106 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 third 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 (2006-11) hold spots in both 1,000 clubs.

LAST TIME OUT: Eastern earned its first Mid-American Conference victory of the season, holding off Central Michigan University, 79-74, Tuesday, Jan. 9, inside the Convocation Center.
   The Eagles (10-6, 1-2 MAC) have won five consecutive matchups against the Chippewas (12-4, 1-2 MAC).
   Redshirt junior Elijah Minnie paced the Green and White with 25 points and a pair of blocks, and was one of four Eagles with at least two steals. Junior James Thompson IV secured his second consecutive double-double and 11th of the campaign, tallying 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting to go with a team-best 12 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass. Making his first career start, redshirt freshman Ty Groce matched career-highs with 15 points and eight boards. Senior Tim Bond added 10 points off the bench, while leading the Eagles with three thefts.
   EMU shot a blistering 53.4 percent from the field, connecting on 31-of-58 field goal attempts, including 7-of-19 tries from beyond the arc. The Green and White out-rebounded the Chippewas, 31-28, and grabbed nine steals on 15 CMU turnovers.

AMONG THE LEADING LEADERS: Eastern Michigan leads the Mid-American Conference in steals per game (9.7), blocks per game (5.8), and team field goal percentage (.472). The Eagles are also in the top three in scoring margin (2nd - +5.9), defensive field goal percentage (2nd - .418), scoring defense (3rd - 70.4), and turnover margin (3rd - +2.5).
   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 six in blocks per game. Redshirt junior Elijah Minnie currently ranks fifth in scoring with an average of 17.5 per game, and is second in the MAC in free throw shooting with a 88.4percentage. Fellow redshirt junior Paul Jackson is second in assists per game (4.7) and 12th in scoring (15.4).

#DEFENDTHENEST: Eastern Michigan's defense has been one of the keys to its success to start the 2017-18 season, with the Eagles swiping 155 steals and blocking 93 shots (both totals lead the MAC) in the first 16 games. EMU is third in the conference with a +2.5 turnover margin, and also ranks second in the league with a defensive field goal percentage of 41.8.

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 9.7 steals per game through its first 15 contests. Led by Tim Bond's MAC-leading 2.6 steal per game average, the Eagles have three players ranked within the conference's top seven in average steals per game, totaling 155 thefts thus far.

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 the only school 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 ninth in steals per game (2.63) and ninth in total steals with 42, while Dailey is ranked 14th in steals per game (3.27) and 16th in steals (49).

MINNIE STAYS HOT: With his 25-point performance against Central Michigan, Jan. 9, Elijah Minnie has scored double-digits in 14 out of the 16 Eagles' games this season. He currently ranks fifth in the conference in scoring average at 17.5 points per game.
That performance, combined with Minnie's 25-point output in the Mid-American Conference opener at Ball State, gives the redshirt junior 20-or-more points in eight of the Eagles' first 16 games.
Minnie 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.

JAMES THOMPSON IV IS GOOD: Junior James Thompson IV, who comes into the game averaging 15.8 points and 11.7 rebounds per contest, picked up his Mid-American Conference-leading 11th double-double of the season with a 17-point, 12-rebound performance in the Eagles' victory over Central Michigan.
   Thompson IV was named MAC West Division Player of the Week for the period ending Dec. 17 after he registered his ninth double-double in 10 games against Long Beach State, Dec. 16. The Baton Rouge, La. native scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while shooting 9-of-12 (.750) from the floor and adding 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 (11.7), he's also sixth in double-doubles (11), and is seventh in field goal percentage (67.1).
   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 (897), trailing four seniors.

DISHING IT OUT: Redshirt junior Paul Jackson has established himself as one of the top point guards in the Mid-American Conference, currently sitting in second in the league with a 4.8 assists per game average. The Stone Mountain, Ga. native has had four or more assists in 13 of Eastern's 16 games, and is also averaging 15.4 points per game.

MID-MAJOR TOP 25: Eastern Michigan saw itself ranked in the collegeinsider.com Top 25 for two weeks this season. The Eagles debuted in the poll as the no. 22 team in the week of Nov. 20, and slid to the no. 24 spot in the Nov. 27 poll. They have already played two opponents that have been ranked (Oakland and Ball State), and welcome No. 22 Central Michigan to the Convocation Center this week.

ON THE HORIZON: The Eagles return to the friendly confines of the Convocation Center for a pair of Mid-American Conference games, beginning with Akron University Tuesday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. Eastern will return to action Saturday, Jan. 20 when it takes on Ohio University at 2 p.m.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

EMU Hoops Hits Road for #MACtion at Northern Illinois Saturday

Players Mentioned

Tim Bond

Ty Groce

Paul Jackson

Elijah Minnie

James Thompson IV

Related Videos