To say Eastern Washington has taken a tough road this season would be an understatement.
The Eagles (4-6) have played just two home games thus far, both against non-NCAA Division I opponents, and they will travel to Seattle for a Thursday night matchup with Washington (7-3).
Eastern Washington has already made trips to Utah, Ole Miss, Cincinnati, Stanford, Washington State, Southern California and Air Force. According to ESPN, the Eagles have faced the 11th-most difficult schedule in the nation.
“It’s definitely disappointing to have a losing record, but all the losses we’ve taken, we’ve learned something from it,” said forward Cedric Coward, who leads the Eagles with averages of 12.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. “Obviously, we would rather learn from wins.”
After a 1-6 start, Eastern Washington has won three in a row, including a 62-53 victory at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, Calif., on Monday as Jake Kyman, who previously played at UCLA and Wyoming, scored 15 points.
Kyman scored a season-high 25 points in consecutive games, a loss to USC and a victory at Air Force.
“We know we were getting better those first seven games,” Eagles coach David Riley said. “For us to come back and get that one (at Air Force) on the road just sets the tone that we’re going to be just fine.”
The Huskies, who also have a three-game winning streak, will be going for a sweep of the state’s Division I programs not affiliated with the Pacific-12 Conference. They defeated then-No. 7 Gonzaga 78-73 on Dec. 9 and rallied from a 16-point deficit early in the second half to outlast Seattle University 100-99 in double overtime on Sunday.
Keion Brooks Jr. led the Huskies with 22 points and Sahvir Wheeler, like Brooks a transfer from Kentucky, came off the bench for the first time this season to add 19 points and 14 assists. Wheeler was named the Pac-12 player of the week.
“They came out and punched us in our face,” Washington coach Mike Hopkins said of the Redhawks. “Give our guys a lot of credit being down that much. It was tough, but we fought hard and showed a lot of resiliency and found a way to win.”
–Field Level Media