Tidbits: Eastern Michigan (game to be quite concerned about...)

[BigEastPhil]

- Eastern Michigan is 4-1 though 2 of the wins are against Non Div 1 foes - Rochester and Goshen.

- Other 2 wins were against Drexel 66-62 (common opponent) and Boston University 80-62 (who we play Friday). Guess there's a round robin occurring.

- Only loss was at Duke 84-46.

- Top 6 players average between 7 - 15 points and thus squad is well balanced in scoring.

- Top 3 players in scoring are Paul Jackson (15.4 PPG - SR); Elijah Minnie (12 PPG - SR) and Boubacore Toure (10.2 PPG- JR)

- Squad was pre season favorite to win MAC West.

- Very experienced team as top 6 scorers consist of 3 seniors; 2 juniors and a sophomore.

- Head Coach is Rob Murphy in is 8th year and has career record of 133-111.

- Boubacore Toure and Issa Thiam are both from Dakar, Senegal so I'm sure they know and/or are familiar with each other.

- Only other meeting with EMU was on 12/9/95 at the RAC when we lost to EMU 74-71 and EMU had Earl Boykins and that EMU squad also defeated Duke in the NCAA's and won the MAC.

 

[OntheBanks]

They beat us 23 years ago when, more than likely, none of the current players were born.

 

[knight82]

Didn't that EMU team have Gary Waters as an assistant coach? I think Wenzel was our coach for that game

 

[Tango Two]

Click pictures to enlarge:

 

[bowlgoal]

They had Boykins who only had 9 points but he played in the NBA. They don't have that kind of talent and I believe we bounce back tonight and beat them soundly by 12-15 points.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

If you want to be a serious team you can't lose at home to EMU tonight

 

[Sideline20]

Didn't that EMU team have Gary Waters as an assistant coach? I think Wenzel was our coach for that game

Yes and Yes - both are correct

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

wow Tim Thomas (RIP) came to the game. 52-52 at half meaning we were outscored 21-19 in 2nd half. offense was a foreshadowing of the next 20+ years

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

If you want to be a serious team you can't lose at home to EMU tonight

Well I guess we aren't a serious team then. If we play EMU 10 times we go 7-3. Hopefully that doesn't make me a non serious fan.

 

[Russ Wood]

Good luck solving their match-up zone defense. Will probably be the best zone defense Rutgers faces all season.

James Thompson IV is the NCAA's active career rebound leader with 1,150 during his three-plus seasons with EMU. Very skilled big man who is a double-double waiting to happen.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

You can't tell me that RU shouldn't beat them at home.

Come on now.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

wow Tim Thomas (RIP) came to the game. 52-52 at half meaning we were outscored 21-19 in 2nd half. offense was a foreshadowing of the next 20+ years

When did Tim Thomas pass away??

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Good luck solving their match-up zone defense. Will probably be the best zone defense Rutgers faces all season.

James Thompson IV is the NCAA's active career rebound leader with 1,150 during his three-plus seasons with EMU. Very skilled big man who is a double-double waiting to happen.

I'd be more concerned with a team that relies on dribble penetration vs. match up zone. We should have 5 guys who share the ball mostly on the perimeter and 4.5 of them can shoot it from the perimeter. we have length that can find the teeth of the zone and immediately look to pass.

This will be a game where Johnson + Doorson = 20 minutes AND lots of Harper at the "4"

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

When did Tim Thomas pass away??

Maybe i got this wrong. i google when did Tim Thomas die and nothing came back. Who the heck am i thinking of?

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

Maybe i got this wrong. i google when did Tim Thomas die and nothing came back. Who the heck am i thinking of?

Eddie Griffin?

 

[RU MAN]

This EMU team will play us tough. But even as young as we are, we have the kind of players to win this game by 10+ points. We need this win as we will be playing Miami and MSU in short order. We need to go 2-0 this week as we prepare for Miami, MSU and Wisconsin.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Eddie Griffin?

Yes....thanks.

 

[bac2therac]

with a daunting 3 game stretch on the horizon after Boston U, all likely losses, RU really cannot afford to lose this one as they will staring down 3-5 with a loss tonight

 

[BigEastPhil]

Great read down memory lane. Eric Clark with 20 and Billy Gilligan with 22. Wow. Brings back good memories indeed.

 

[FrankZ]

Good luck solving their match-up zone defense. Will probably be the best zone defense Rutgers faces all season.

James Thompson IV is the NCAA's active career rebound leader with 1,150 during his three-plus seasons with EMU. Very skilled big man who is a double-double waiting to happen.

We should go undefeated the rest of the way now then, right? :)

 

[knight82]

Good luck solving their match-up zone defense. Will probably be the best zone defense Rutgers faces all season.

James Thompson IV is the NCAA's active career rebound leader with 1,150 during his three-plus seasons with EMU. Very skilled big man who is a double-double waiting to happen.

We did ok

 

[cubuffsdoug]

Good luck solving their match-up zone defense. Will probably be the best zone defense Rutgers faces all season.

James Thompson IV is the NCAA's active career rebound leader with 1,150 during his three-plus seasons with EMU. Very skilled big man who is a double-double waiting to happen.

Well, that match-up zone wasn't as effective as Syracuse because EMU lacks length on the perimeter to make the other team struggle.

 

[APKnight]

Well that was easy, Russ Wood.

 

[SJScarlet]

Well that was easy, Russ Wood.

Upset City!

 

[APKnight]

Upset City!

LOL

 

[Scangg]

We are just at a point where we are going to beat down all these lesser conference teams. They have all been 20+ point blow outs and will be another complete beat down against Boston Colombia Maine

 

[DirtyRU]

Well that was easy, @Russ Wood.

FIFY.

 

[Russ Wood]

Just finished watching three FAMU games for a game preview I'm writing. I checked scores on ESPN's website and WOW, way to rebound from the St. John's loss.

We should go undefeated the rest of the way now then, right? :)

Oh absolutely. After a tremendous bounce-back win like this there is no way RU loses another game.

We did ok

Rutgers did MUCH better than okay.

Upset City!

Yessir!

Well that was easy, Russ Wood.

Sure was. Tied a NCAA record for fewest points allowed in a half. Pretty sure nobody saw that coming.

 

[RU848789]

Good luck solving their match-up zone defense. Will probably be the best zone defense Rutgers faces all season.

James Thompson IV is the NCAA's active career rebound leader with 1,150 during his three-plus seasons with EMU. Very skilled big man who is a double-double waiting to happen.

Not enough length at the guard position to be that good of a zone. I'm actually waiting for RU to play an aggressive 1-3-1 zone with our great length/athleticism in some combos: like Geo, Thiam, Harper, EO, and Myles. Could be a tough nut to crack for some teams.

 

[Westcoast]

What a great win tonight. Just dominant in the first half. Our offense struggled at times and it was clear EMU was a solid team with how much we struggled to find offense but the Scarlet came ready to play and found ways to get points while playing suffocating D. We are clearly much better than last year. Having so many offensive options is really an amazing feeling after so many years of pathetic displays.