Eastern Michigan Eagles: Facts, Stats and Other Useless Information

The final round — Is it a round? — of the inaugural Keightley Classic is less than 24 hours away as your University of Kentucky Wildcats are set to face the Eagles of Eastern Michigan at 4:00 ET in Rupp Arena on Wednesday. It is the second meeting between the two schools this calendar year, with Kentucky taking the January showdown by an incredibly lopsided score of 90-38. For more interesting Eastern Michigan facts, stats and useless information like that little gem, scroll down and read what I whipped up for you below.

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Willie Cauley-Stein recorded his second career double-double against Eastern Michigan.

Kentucky’s sophomore big man scored 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as a freshman in that 90-38 whoopin’ back in January. Alex Poythress added 16 points and five rebounds.

The Eagles went 15-of-62 from the field in the last meeting.

Head coach Rob Murphy said after the game, “We ran into a really good college basketball team today.”

Ummm… If you think that team was really good, you’re in for a treat tomorrow, bud.

Eastern Michigan’s starters combined for 17 points in that game.

Four of the five returned this season.

EMU is currently ranked 25th in the mid-major poll.

Eastern Michigan earned a spot in the Nov. 25 CollegeInsider.com Men’s Mid-Major Top 25 rankings for the first time in program history. EMU is off to a 5-0 start this season, the best start since Earl Boykins ran the point in 1996-97.

Raven Lee scored 38 against UT-Arlington on Saturday.

Redshirt freshman guard Raven Lee put up 38 on UT-Arlington in Eastern Michigan’s 74-69 win over the Mavericks on Saturday. Lee went 12-for-15 from the field, 9-for-12 from the free throw line and a perfect 5-for-5 on three-point attempts.

Watch that guy. He’s hot.

The Eagles beat Cleveland State by 12.

That Cleveland State team that almost upset Kentucky last night lost by 12 to Eastern Michigan last week. EMU took the lead six and a half minutes into the game and never looked back.

George Gervin was kicked off the team in 1972 for punching an opponent.

The “Iceman” knocked an opposing player unconscious with a punch to the jaw in a semifinal of the NCAA College Division tournament in Evansville, Indiana. His head coach announced his resignation after the game, telling the AP, “Gervin may play for Eastern Michigan, but he will not play for me. I am resigning after tomorrow night’s game when we play for third place.”

Gervin was eventually kicked off the team, leading to a Hall of Fame career in the NBA.

Starting center Da’Shonte Riley was interested in Kentucky out of high school.

Riley signed with Syracuse, where he spent two seasons before transferring, but Kentucky was high on his list in high school. That was during the Billy Gillispie era, though. We don’t remember those days.

Eastern Michigan University was originally called Michigan State Normal School.

What a terrible name for a school.

Before becoming the “Eagles,” EMU athletic squads were known as the “Normalites,” “Men from Ypsi,” and the “Hurons.”

The Hurons lasted from 1929 through 1991, when the Huron Indian logo was replaced with the Eagle. The Michigan Department of Civil Rights issued a report in 1988 suggesting all schools using Native American names, logos and mascots drop them. Four colleges, 62 high schools and 33 junior high/middle schools in Michigan used Indian logos or names at that time.

The school’s motto is “Sonuerunt, et requiem non Julius Ranulphus”

Which means… “Good luck stopping Julius Randle.”

 

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