RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team will host Manhattan College on Tuesday in its final non-conference game of the regular season. Tipoff from McBrayer Arena is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
WHAT TO KNOW
– EKU fell at No. 19 West Virginia, 84-59, on Dec. 21. The Colonels’ leading scorer and rebounder, senior Jarelle Reischel (back), did not play in the game.
– Junior JaVontae Hawkins led Eastern with 16 points in Morgantown. He has now scored in double figures a team-best 13 times in 14 games this season.
– Sophomore Greg King made his second-career start in Reischel’s absence and responded with seven points and a career-high six rebounds.
– Junior Jaylen Babb-Harrison came off the bench to score 15 points at WVU. He recorded season highs in minutes (18), field goal attempts (9), free throws (4), rebounds (4) and steals (2).
– Reischel ranks in the top-10 in the OVC in almost every major category: scoring (1st / 19.0 ppg), rebounding (5th / 7.9 rpg), assists (6th / 3.7 apg), steals (1st / 2.2 spg), field goal percentage (6th / 53.7), free throw percentage (5th / 83.5) and three-point field goal percentage (1st / 52.6).
– EKU ranks in the top-15 in the country in field goal percentage (14th / 50.2), three-point field goal percentage (12th / 42.4), assists (13th / 230) and steals (11th / 112).
– EKU head coach, Dan McHale, and Manhattan head coach, Steve Masiello, were both part of Kentucky’s 1998 national championship team – McHale as a student manager and Masiello as a player.
– Manhattan (3-7, 0-2 MAAC) arrives in Richmond having won two straight games. The Jaspers are led by Shane Richards (18.7 ppg) and Rich Williams (17.4 ppg).
– This is the second all-time meeting between EKU and Manhattan and the first since Feb. 11, 1947. The Jaspers defeated the Colonels, 62-56, at the Louisville Armory.
UP NEXT
Following Tuesday afternoon’s showdown, EKU opens conference play at Austin Peay on Saturday, January 2. Tip time is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.
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