First-Half Surge Pushes Men’s Basketball Over Miami, 85-75
Postgame Press Conference Video.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — Despite the frigid temperatures outside, it was raining inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center – raining three-pointers that is. The Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball connected on 14 three-point field goals, tied for the second-most in program history, as the team bested Miami University, 85-75, Saturday, Jan. 29.
EMU connected on a Gervin Center record 12 triples in the first half, surpassing the previous standard of 10 set against Olivet College, as it hung 55 points in the opening 20 minutes of work.
Offensively, the Eagles were led by freshman Noah Farrakhan (Newark, N.J.-The Patrick School (East Carolina)), who scored 28 points and dished out a team-best seven assists. Senior Nate Scott (Naperville, Ill.-Neuqua Valley (Northern Illinois)) produced 25 points, shooting an electric 6-of-12 from deep. Junior Bryce McBride (Jackson, Tenn.-Southside (Dyersburg State C.C.)) added nine points and an assist off the bench.
Eastern Michigan took advantage of fantastic ball movement in Saturday’s game, piling up 15 assists on 29 made field goals.
The Eastern Michigan defense held Miami shooters to just 39.5 percent from the field. N. Scott hauled in 10 rebounds to give him his first double-double as a member of the Green and White, and recorded a pair of blocks and steals. Freshman Mo Njie (Centerville, Ohio-Centerville (DME Sports Academy)) was solid around the glass with nine boards. In total, EMU out-rebounded the RedHawks 45-to-34
How It Happened
After jumping out to a 16-15 advantage, Eastern Michigan went on an 18-0 run with 12:12 left in the first half, culminating in a three from McBride, to increase its lead to 34-15. The Eagles then added eight points to that advantage by the end of the period to enter halftime with a 55-28 advantage. Eastern relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down 12 shots to account for 36 of its 55 points.
Eastern Michigan kept its lead intact before going on an 8-0 run to make it 63-30 with 15:26 to go in the contest. The RedHawks narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Eagles still cruised the rest of the way for the 85-75 win. EMU made the most of three offensive rebounds to tack on five second chance points out of 30 total in the period.
Game Notes
» Nate Scott notched an impressive double-double for the Eagles with 25 points and 10 rebounds. He joins senior Monty Scott (Union, N.J.-St. Benedict’s Prep (Portland State)) and Njie as the only Eagles this season to record a double-double. M. Scott (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Njie (10 points, 11 rebounds) both produced double-doubles against Florida International, Dec. 11.
» The Eagles shot well from three-point range, knocking down 14-of-30 (46.7) long-range attempts. Moreover, the 46.7% shooting clip is the third-best for the Eagles this season, behind (Northern Illinois, 9-of-16 (56.3%), Jan. 15; Michigan State, 8-of-17 (47.1%), Nov. 20).
» EMU held the RedHawks to only 39.5 percent shooting from the field. Coming into the game, Miami came into the game shooting 45% from the floor, the third-best mark in the Mid-American Conference.
» Eastern Michigan never trailed in the second half on its way to victory.
» Eastern recorded 15 total assists in the game, the most for the Eagles this season. The last time the Eagles achieved 15-or-more assists was versus Northern Illinois, Feb. 27, 2021, when the team also recorded 15.
» Farrakhan added seven assists, a career-high for the freshman. Seven assists is the most by an Eagle so far this season.
» Farrakhan and N. Scott carried the load for the Eagles, accounting for 62 percent their points.
» EMU had a 45-34 edge on the boards in the win. This marked the fourth outing against a MAC-foe where the Eagles have out-rebounded their opponent.
» Farrakhan had a game-high 28 points and Scott added 25, marking the third time this season that the Eagles had at least two players score over 20 points in a game. The other two came Illinois State (M. Scott -28, McBride -23), Nov. 12, and Northern Kentucky (Farrakhan, M. Scott -28), Nov. 18.
» For Farrakhan, he got off to a real quick start for the Eagles, scoring 13 of the Green and White’s first 18 points. He would finish the first half with 18 points on a perfect 7 of 7 from the field. The guard finished the afternoon with 28 points, breaking a previous season high of 27 at Northern Illinois on Jan. 15. The effort was also the guard’s fifth effort this season with 20 or more points
» N. Scott had 19 points in the first half, with this performance, he also broke his season high of 15 points done at Northern Kentucky on Nov. 18, 2021. Scott would go on to finish the afternoon 25 points, smashing his previous mark by 10 points en route to the Eagles winning the game.
Historical Notes
» Today was the 79th all-time meeting between the Eagles and Miami. Miami still leads the all-time series, 27-52.
» Eastern Michigan defeated Miami at home for the first time in six years. The last such occurrence was on Feb. 2, 2016, when the Eagles defeated the RedHawks, 94-69. Today’s victory was also Eastern’s first win over Miami since Jan. 27, 2018, when the Eagles outlasted the RedHawks by a score of 58-48.
» Twelve of EMU’s 14 makes from deep is the most in a facility record. The previous record was 10 threes in the first half against Olivet, Dec. 27, 2020.
» Eastern Michigan as a team shot 60.6% (20-for-33) from the field in the first half, it is the best shooting performance in a half this season for the Eagles. The Eagles would finish the afternoon shooting 49.2% from the field, tied for their fourth-best of the season.
» The Eagles notched 55 points in the first half, a season-high in a single stanza this season. EMU’s 55 points ties for eighth for the most scored by EMU in the George Gervin GameAbove Center. Furthermore, it is the first time the Green and White have reached the feat since scoring 64 points in the first half versus Adrian, Dec. 9, 2020. It is also the highest-scoring half for the Eagles against a Division I opponent since EMU dropped 56 points in the second half against Kent State, Jan. 12, 2019.
» Eastern shot 60% from three (12-of-20) in the first half, it is EMU’s second best percentage from deep this season in a single half, shooting 66.7% (4-of-6) at Northern Illinois on Jan. 15.
Up Next
Eastern Michigan stays at home as it battles the Toledo Rockets, Feb. 1, at 7 p.m. The game can be streamed on ESPN3 and fans can listen to the game on WEMU (89.1 FM).
