Huskies seek to ground Eagles

Dec 14, 2014 - 3:48 PM Seattle, WA (SportsNetwork.com) - The Eastern Washington Eagles will be hoping that momentum from a current five-game win streak will be enough to take down the 17th-ranked Washington Huskies in a non-conference battle at Alaska Airlines Arena on Sunday.

Eastern Washington has won five straight games dating back to Nov. 22, and sports an 8-1 record coming into this clash. The Eagles, who haven't played a large contingent of notable opponents, are coming off an 81-76 victory over San Francisco.

EWU's in-state rival Washington has won all seven games this season, and is 2-0 at home. The Huskies took a defensive battle, 49-36, over San Diego State last Sunday, which was the team's last outing.

Washington holds a 12-1 all-time record over Eastern Washington in the series between the sides. The programs met last season in Seattle, which saw Washington come away with a 92-80 victory.

Eastern Washington used yet another offensive explosion to take a 40-30 advantage over San Francisco at the half of the team's latest contest. The Eagles finished the game shooting 42.4 percent from the field, going 12-of-25 from 3-point range and hitting 19-of-26 from the free-throw line. Ognjen Miljkovic paced the Eagles with 20 points in the game, while Tyler Harvey contributed 19 points in the win. Parker Kelly chipped in 15 points, and Venky Jois notched a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. EWU forced 16 San Francisco turnovers in the win.

The Eagles are led by two scorers this season who average over 20 points per outing. Jois tops the team at 21.1 ppg, adding in a team-best 8.4 rpg mark as well. Harvey, last season's go-to scorer for Eastern Washington, comes into the clash with Washington netting 20.4 ppg. Miljkovic rounds out the trio of double-digit scorers for EWU this season, coming in at 13.2 ppg. Drew Brandon's 5.0 apg is the best on the squad, along with his 2.0 spg margin. The Eagles are amassing an impressive 85.0 ppg as a unit.

It wasn't exactly a pretty offensive performance for either side offensively in Washington's win over San Diego State, but the Huskies got the job done on 37.5 percent shooting after the Aztecs netted a dismal 20.4 percent of their tries from the floor. Nigel Williams-Goss scored 15 points with six rebounds to lead the team in the win, followed by Andrew Andrews' 13 points. Robert Upshaw grabbed a team-high seven rebounds in the team's seventh win of the season.

Washington has prided itself on playing strong defense this season, as the Huskies hold their opponents to an average of 57.6 ppg on just 33.6 percent shooting. Meanwhile the team is scoring just over 70 points per outing, netting 70.1 ppg on 43.5 percent shooting from the floor. Williams-Goss leads the offensive charge with 14.7 ppg, adding in a team-best 48 assists on the year. Andrews checks in at 12.6 ppg, and Shawn Kemp Jr. adds 10.0 ppg on a 62.2 percent shooting touch. Upshaw and Mike Anderson each lead the team in rebounding at 5.7 rpg.