Senior-less Eastern falls a victory shy of a postseason berth,
but the progress made has EWU eager for 2014-15 season
A near-miss left the
Eastern Washington University men’s basketball team only hungrier for its next
opportunity.
Although they came
a victory shy of a Big Sky Conference Tournament berth, the Eagles finished
with three more league wins and five more victories overall than a year ago.
Eastern established eight school records in the 2013-14 season, including one
league mark.
Eastern was 7-4 in its last 11 league games to
help EWU finish 15-16 overall and 10-10 in the league. The 15 victories equals
the most for the Eagles in 10 years since EWU finished 17-13 in the 2003-04
season. With 40 victories overall and 25 league wins in three seasons under
head coach Jim Hayford, this is the best three-year
stretch since 2005-08 when Eastern had 41 wins and the best in league play
since 2001-04 when the Eagles won 30.
The best news of all is that the Eagles had no
seniors on its 2013-14 roster, and the Eagles return highly-regarded
sophomores Tyler Harvey and Venky Jois. Harvey was
a first team All-Big Sky selection and earned second team honors on the
National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 6 team – EWU’s first
player honored on that team since Rodney Stuckey in 2007. Jois earned honorable
mention accolades for the second-straight year, as well as being the 2012-13
Freshman of the Year in the league. College Sports Madness named Jois (third
team) and junior point guard Drew Brandon (second team) to its
All-Big Sky Conference squad, and Jois earned first team All-BSC honors from
College Hoops Daily.
“We were the youngest
team, but starting next season you won’t hear me say that anymore,” said
Hayford. “We have balanced classes, depth and experience. We are going to have
upper classmen next year and will start juniors and seniors. We have the
building finished and had the two premier underclassmen in the league this year.”
Eastern Washington ended
the season with a 72-68 loss to Weber State in which the Eagles rallied from an
18-point second half deficit only to miss potential game-tying and game-winning
shots in the final seconds. The Eagles finished in a head-to-head tie with
Sacramento State for seventh, but were eliminated in the tiebreaker for the
final berth in the league tourney because the two teams split their season
series and the Hornets picked up a tie-breaking victory over Weber State.
“We were right there,”
said Hayford. “Unfortunately our conference tournament is one where every team
doesn’t qualify. I can’t judge this year’s team on not going to the postseason
tournament, although our goal is to be a perennial playoff team. Last year a
10-10 record tied for fourth in the league, and in my first year we were at
.500 (8-8) and hosted a first-round game. Go figure.”
Under Hayford, Eastern Has Best Three Seasons
All-Time for Most 3-Pointers and Fewest Turnovers . . .
En route to leading the
Big Sky in scoring with an average of 76.2 points per game, Eastern finished
with the third-most 3-pointers made in school history (251). The top two marks
– 283 in 2012 and 264 in 2013 – came in Hayford’s first two seasons at the
helm. The previous record was 242 in 2011.
And the Eagles did it
while averaging only 12.0 turnovers per game, ranking only behind the 11.8 the
Eagles averaged in Hayford’s first season as EWU’s head coach. Again, Eastern’s
top three seasons in school history have come under Hayford, having averaged
13.4 in 2013 (the previous record before 2012 was 13.5 in 2000).
Harvey’s 109 3-Pointers Headlines List of
School Records . . .
Harvey was the Big Sky’s
leading scorer with a 21.8 average, and ranked in the top 13 nationally in four
categories. Through games of March 9, his scoring average ranked eighth, and
his combined ranking of 18th in 3-pointers per game (5th, 3.52) and 3-point
shooting percentage (13th, 43.3) was third in NCAA Division I. He was also 10th
in free throw percentage (89.7).
Harvey set the school’s
single season record for 3-pointers made on Feb. 27 when he had seven against
UNC, breaking the previous record of 103 set by Shannon Taylor in the 1998-99
season. He finished with 109 for the season, ranking second in Big Sky
Conference history behind the league record of 124 (Stephen Sir, Northern
Arizona, 2006-07).
Jois, the Big Sky
Conference Freshman of the Year as a freshman, finished with averages of 13.4
points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game while making 52.8
percent of his shots from the field. He established a new school record for
career blocked shots, with a current total of 115.
Harvey’s perfect 20-of-20
free throw performance against Southern Utah on Jan. 23 was both a school and
conference record, and his 20 free throws made was a school mark. He also had
10 3-pointers versus Northern Colorado to set a school record.
The other school records established included
the career shooting percentage for Martin Seiferth (currently
64.4 percent to rank ahead of Ron Cox at .629 from 1974-77), and team records
for free throws made (38) and attempted (49) versus Southern Utah on Jan. 23,
2014.
“I want to shine a light
on all our players,” added Hayford. “I was proud of all of them.”
* The Eagles led the Big
Sky Conference in scoring offense (76.1), 3-pointers made per game (8.1),
rebounds (36.8), and blocked shots (4.3); were second in defensive field goal
percentage (.446); and finished third in assists (13.45) and defensive 3-point
field goal percentage (.345).
On All-Big Sky Performers Tyler Harvey and
Venky Jois: “Tyler had an outstanding season. He was
one of the top perimeter shooters not only in the Big Sky Conference, but in
the whole country. It’s fitting for him to be recognized as a first team
All-Big Sky player who led the Big Sky in scoring. We’re proud of him. And most
importantly, Eagle fans are excited we have to more great seasons ahead with
Tyler. I’m glad Venky was recognized as a sophomore too. To have two
underclassmen recognized in the all-conference voting really bodes well for
where our program is headed.”