YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Eastern Michigan remained perfect to begin the 2017-18 campaign with a 76-59 victory over Arkansas State University Thursday inside the Convocation Center. EMU (3-0) defeated the Red Wolves (1-2) by a 17-point margin as both teams kicked off the 2017 Hoosier Tipoff Classic.
Junior James Thompson IV became . . .
Junior James Thompson IV became . . .
. . . the 30th Eagle to join the 1,000-point club, pacing the Green and White with 23 points and 11 rebounds for his 42nd career double-double and third straight to begin the season.
Redshirt junior Paul Jackson recorded career-highs in points (21) and steals (4), while matching his career-best with seven rebounds. Senior Tim Bond contributed 15 points and three steals, while redshirt freshman Ty Groce recorded eight points, eight boards, and a pair of blocks in a stat-stuffing showing.
The Red Wolves were led by Deven Simms, who tallied 23 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
EMU had the better shooting night, hitting 48.3 percent on 28-of-58 shooting and out-assisting Arkansas State, 14-10. Arkansas State struggled out of the gate, shooting 5-for-25 in the first half and finishing 39.2 percent (20-for-51) from the field. On the defensive end, the Eagles forced 15 steals and out-rebounded the Red Wolves, 37-36.
Trailing 10-7, the Eagles used a 13-0 run spanning nearly five minutes to jump ahead, 20-10. After a dunk from Thompson cut the deficit to one, Bond and Groce connected on back-to-back triples to give EMU a 15-10 edge with 12:28 to go in the first half.
The run continued as Bond completed a three-point play before Groce added an exclamation point with a two-handed slam to give the Eagles a 10-point cushion with 10:51 remaining in the opening frame.
Arkansas State scored the next five points, but the Green and White responded with a 7-1 run to take a commanding 27-16 lead with 5:01 left in the opening half.
As the half wound down, the pace slowed considerably as both sides combined for 21 fouls and 29 free throw attempts. Leading 30-24, Jackson added six more points as the Eagles closed out the half on a 7-0 run to take a 37-24 lead into the intermission.
Though the Red Wolves opened the second half on a 6-0 run, their positive swing in momentum proved to be short-lived. Eastern head coach Rob Murphy burned a full timeout exactly two minutes into the half, and the Eagles then stormed back with seven unanswered points to take a 44-30 lead with 16:30 left in the frame.
Leading 50-42 just past the midway point of the second half, Thompson drew a loose-ball foul before splitting a pair of free throws at the other end to earn his 1,000th career point, becoming the 30th Eagle to reach the milestone.
Arkansas State eventually trimmed EMU's lead to four with 7:44 left, but this was as close as the Red Wolves would get as Bond's three-pointer capped a 7-2 run to give the Eagles a 60-51 lead with under six minutes to play.
Coming out of an Arkansas State timeout, Bond raced to the basket and set up Thompson on an alley-oop for his 19th and 20th points of the night as the Eagles grabbed a 65-55 advantage with 3:26 to go in the second half.
EMU wrapped up the contest in entertaining fashion, going on a 13-4 run that included back-to-back dunks from redshirt junior Elijah Minnie (Pittsburgh, Pa.-Lincoln Park (Robert Morris)) and Thompson to seal a 76-59 win and give the Eagles their first 3-0 start since winning seven straight to begin the 2014-15 season.
Eastern Michigan finishes its early season home swing by welcoming Howard University to the Convocation Center Saturday, Nov. 18 as part of the 2017 Hoosier Tipoff Classic. Action against the Bison is set to begin at 2 p.m.
Redshirt junior Paul Jackson recorded career-highs in points (21) and steals (4), while matching his career-best with seven rebounds. Senior Tim Bond contributed 15 points and three steals, while redshirt freshman Ty Groce recorded eight points, eight boards, and a pair of blocks in a stat-stuffing showing.
The Red Wolves were led by Deven Simms, who tallied 23 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
EMU had the better shooting night, hitting 48.3 percent on 28-of-58 shooting and out-assisting Arkansas State, 14-10. Arkansas State struggled out of the gate, shooting 5-for-25 in the first half and finishing 39.2 percent (20-for-51) from the field. On the defensive end, the Eagles forced 15 steals and out-rebounded the Red Wolves, 37-36.
Trailing 10-7, the Eagles used a 13-0 run spanning nearly five minutes to jump ahead, 20-10. After a dunk from Thompson cut the deficit to one, Bond and Groce connected on back-to-back triples to give EMU a 15-10 edge with 12:28 to go in the first half.
The run continued as Bond completed a three-point play before Groce added an exclamation point with a two-handed slam to give the Eagles a 10-point cushion with 10:51 remaining in the opening frame.
Arkansas State scored the next five points, but the Green and White responded with a 7-1 run to take a commanding 27-16 lead with 5:01 left in the opening half.
As the half wound down, the pace slowed considerably as both sides combined for 21 fouls and 29 free throw attempts. Leading 30-24, Jackson added six more points as the Eagles closed out the half on a 7-0 run to take a 37-24 lead into the intermission.
Though the Red Wolves opened the second half on a 6-0 run, their positive swing in momentum proved to be short-lived. Eastern head coach Rob Murphy burned a full timeout exactly two minutes into the half, and the Eagles then stormed back with seven unanswered points to take a 44-30 lead with 16:30 left in the frame.
Leading 50-42 just past the midway point of the second half, Thompson drew a loose-ball foul before splitting a pair of free throws at the other end to earn his 1,000th career point, becoming the 30th Eagle to reach the milestone.
Arkansas State eventually trimmed EMU's lead to four with 7:44 left, but this was as close as the Red Wolves would get as Bond's three-pointer capped a 7-2 run to give the Eagles a 60-51 lead with under six minutes to play.
Coming out of an Arkansas State timeout, Bond raced to the basket and set up Thompson on an alley-oop for his 19th and 20th points of the night as the Eagles grabbed a 65-55 advantage with 3:26 to go in the second half.
EMU wrapped up the contest in entertaining fashion, going on a 13-4 run that included back-to-back dunks from redshirt junior Elijah Minnie (Pittsburgh, Pa.-Lincoln Park (Robert Morris)) and Thompson to seal a 76-59 win and give the Eagles their first 3-0 start since winning seven straight to begin the 2014-15 season.
Eastern Michigan finishes its early season home swing by welcoming Howard University to the Convocation Center Saturday, Nov. 18 as part of the 2017 Hoosier Tipoff Classic. Action against the Bison is set to begin at 2 p.m.
RSS Feed