Big Sky country part 2 - Eagle men face Montana State

Eastern will have plenty more time to savor its last victory, but head coach Shantay Legans prefers to embrace the extra rest and practice time afforded his team. 

With a full eight days between games, the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team plays its second-straight game at Reese Court in Cheney when Montana State visits EWU on Saturday (Jan. 19) for a Big Sky Conference showdown at 2:05 p.m.

The game will be aired live regionally by SWX. All Eastern games are carried live via radio on 700-AM ESPN and 105.3-FM in the Spokane/Cheney area. Fans can also watch the webcast of all league games via PlutoTV and at watchbigsky.com. 

The Eagles knocked off Montana 78-71 last Thursday (Jan. 10) to help EWU improve to 2-3 in the league and 4-12 overall. A win over the Bobcats would further help get the Eagles back in the league championship hunt.

The Bobcats feature senior high-scoring guard Tyler Hall, who comes in averaging 18.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. Junior guard Harald Frey is averaging 15.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists.

The lone common opponent for the Eagles and Bobcats thus far has been Idaho, a team MSU beat 77-67 in Moscow where EWU fell 74-71.

Eastern had lost its last two games prior to the win over UM, including a roller-coaster of a ride at Idaho on Jan. 3 when the Eagles lost despite scoring runs of 16-9, 11-2 and 15-4.

Following the MSU game, Eastern plays a pair of games on the road next week, starting Thursday (Jan. 24) at Portland State at 7:05 p.m. The Eagles play at Sacramento State two days later, also at 7:05 p.m.

The Vikings are 1-3 in the league and 6-9 overall heading into games this week at Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. The Hornets play the same two foes, and are 0-4 in the league and 6-7 overall thus far. 

After missing EWU's first 10 games of the season with an injury, junior Mason Peatling has been EWU's leading scorer in five of six games since and has also led in rebounds three times. An honorable mention All-Big Sky selection a year ago, Peatling is averaging 18.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.0 blocks in five league games thus far. He's shooting at a 60.7 percent clip in league play, making 5-of-9 3-point attempts and 15-of-21 free throws (71.4 percent). 

Eastern senior Jesse Hunt, who will play in his 100th career game when the Eagles take on MSU, has four double-doubles this season and averages of 14.3 points, a team-leading 8.3 rebounds to rank second in the league and 2.9 assists per game.

Sophomore Jacob Davison is averaging 10.4 points per game while senior guard Cody Benzel averages 7.1 points with a team-leading 34 3-pointers made. Luka Vulikic averages 6.6 points, 2.9 assists and 3.6 rebounds.

"That's what I envisioned last spring after last season," Legans said of the balanced scoring against Montana. "This is such a huge win for us, but we have to keep building on this. We can't have any letdowns. We have to make sure we stay focused."

However, Eastern is still being out-shot 47.2 percent to 39.4 percent overall this season, including 38.5 percent to 31.7 percent from the 3-point stripe. The Eagles are 2-2 when out-shooting opponents from the field, but are 2-10 when they are out-shot.