Eastern Michigan vs. Western Michigan: Full Game Preview

Eastern Michigan

(9-9, 0-7 away)

Western Michigan

(10-7, 5-1 home)

Venue: University Arena (MI)

7:00PM ET / 4:00PM PT, January 23, 2013

Team Leaders

	Points	Rebounds	Assists
Eastern Michigan	D Thompson 11.7	D Riley 6.2	J Ross 3.3
Western Michigan	N Hutcheson 11.2	S Whittington 8.8	A Richie 3.2

Western Michigan hosts Eastern Michigan at University Arena (MI) on Wednesday. It gets started at 7:00 EST. The Broncos are 5-3 against the Eagles over the last four years. They fell 54-53 on 2/29/2012, the last time they met.

Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan share 3rd place in the MAC.

In a 71-34 dismantling of Northern Illinois on January 19th, David Brown put up 13 points for the Broncos. He leads the team in steals per game with 1.0 while also putting up 9.5 points per game. For the Eagles, Derek Thompson put up 16 points in the 65-58 win over Miami (OH) on January 19th. His 11.7 points per game is the highest mark on the team.

There is a single key statistical area where Western Michigan can exploit Eastern Michigan, scoring, where the Broncos have an edge over the Eagles, 66 points per game to 57 points per game.

Eastern Michigan StatSmack

Western Michigan can actually jump, with more rebounds (39.2 per game vs 35.2 per game) than Eastern Michigan this season.
People just expect us to beat you. Western Michigan has been the favorite 27 out of the last 35 times.
Darius Paul is ranked 7th in the MAC in rebounds.
The Western Michigan rebounding leader (Shayne Whittington) has more rebounds than the Eastern Michigan rebounding leader (DaShonte Riley).
Shayne Whittington is ranked 2nd in the MAC in rebounds and 5th in the MAC in blocks.
Western Michigan allows fewer rebounds (30.4 allowed per game vs 38.1 allowed per game) than Eastern Michigan this season.
It must sting. Western Michigan has blown out Eastern Michigan by 20 points or more on 6 occasions since 1997.
The Western Michigan assist leader (Austin Richie) has more assists than the Eastern Michigan assist leader (Jalen Ross).
Western Michigan has a much better overall winning percentage over the last 10 years (0.549 to 0.394).
We're so much better than you, we get lazy. Western Michigan has come back to win after being down at half against Eastern Michigan 4 times since 1997.
We just win. Western Michigan has more wins over the last 5 years than Eastern Michigan (91 vs 69).

Emich Players		Mins	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO
C	Glenn Bryant	27	10	5	1	1	1	2
C	Derek Thompson	24	12	2	1	1	0	1
C	Daylen Harrison	29	9	5	2	1	0	3
C-	Jamell Harris	22	5	5	1	1	1	1
C-	DaShonte Riley	23	4	6	1	1	2	2
C-	Jalen Ross	25	5	2	3	1	0	3
D	J.R. Sims	17	4	1	1	1	0	1
D	Matt Balkema	12	2	2	0	0	0	0
D	Austin Harper	7	2	1	1	0	0	1
D	A. Chandler	7	2	1	1	0	0	0
D	Ray Lee	14	6	1	2	1	0	3
D-	A. Strickland	6	1	1	0	0	0	0
F	Josh Lyle	6	1	1	0	0	0	0
F	James Still	14	3	4	0	1	0	1

WMU Players		Mins	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO
B	S. Whittington	26	11	9	1	1	2	2
B-	Darius Paul	27	11	6	2	0	1	2
C+	Nate Hutcheson	30	11	5	1	1	1	2
C	Brandon Pokley	29	9	3	1	0	0	1
C	David Brown	17	10	1	1	1	0	1
C	Austin Richie	26	6	2	3	0	0	2
C-	Connar Tava	16	4	3	1	0	0	1
D+	Jared Klein	17	5	2	1	1	0	2
D+	Nick Stapert	1	1	1	0	0	0	0
D+	Taylor Perry	10	3	2	0	0	0	1
D	Dan Loney	8	2	2	0	0	0	0
D	Tim Brennan	3	0	1	0	0	0	0
D	Charles Harris	6	2	1	0	0	0	0
D	A.J. Avery	6	1	1	0	0	0	0
D	H. Hoerdemann	3	0	0	0	0	0	0