Eagles finally becoming team Hayford thought they would

When's the last time Eastern Washington showed up in a list ahead of basketball powers like Michigan, Duke, Indiana and Kansas?

Try never.

There has not been much the Eagles have done wrong lately in winning six consecutive Big Sky Conference games and nine of their last 11.

So the status, according to Synergy Sports Technology who rank the Eagles as the nation's most efficient scoring team is not surprising.

"Trust me, this got out to everyone we're recruiting because the names that are in that top-10, top-20 (are impressive)," head coach Jim Hayford said of his team being the nation's leader in offensive efficiency during the Feb. 15 coaches' show.

At 1.049 points per possession, the Eagles sit ahead of notables such as Michigan, Duke, Notre Dame, St. Mary's, Indiana and Iowa State in the top-10. Simply put, the number shows the pace you score when you have the ball.

It's just one of a number of factors that have been largely present since the calendar turned over a new year. Following a pair of losses on the road to start Big Sky play Dec. 31 and Jan. 2, this has been a new Eastern team.

Hayford ties the turnaround to a number of things, among them personnel and practice.

Having come through a preseason schedule that saw Eastern seemingly constantly on airplanes criss-crossing the country - they took trips to Mississippi, San Francisco and the East Coast to earn about $300,000 for the athletic department - 2016 slowed the frequent flier miles.

When you can make the mileage in the Big Sky seem puny, that's saying something.

Once the team was able to get in the gym to practice what Hayford and his staff were preaching, things began to change. "When you are out traveling like this you don't get to practice like you want to and bring guys into the gym for individual work," Hayford said.

Hired-gun point guard Austin McBroom has bloomed. The graduate transfer from St. Louis University is averaging 21 points per game in the recent span.

Only four times in the long history of Eastern basketball have players approach this level and they are Rodney Stuckey and Tyler Harvey, EWU broadcaster Larry Weir revealed in the Monday broadcast.

And McBroom's numbers got even better in the Reese Court sweep over North Dakota and Northern Colorado.

He had 35 points versus North Dakota and then 37 Saturday against Northern Colorado, numbers that earned him the Big Sky Conference's playoff of the week honors.

"I think all these fans, after watching Austin's weekend, are really glad we went out and got him," Hayford said.

No one is in the territory Venky Jois owns with his current scoring average of just under 17 points and nine rebounds per game.

Jois continues to chip away at the gap separating him from all-time leading EWU scorer, Ron Cox, with 1,741 and who has held the record for 39 years. Jois is just 63 points away from surpassing Cox.

Eastern's current good times have a solid supporting cast, including Bogdan Bliznyuk, last season's Freshman of the Year in the Big Sky, and Felix Von Hoffe.

The sophomore Bliznyuk, who started the season struggling, is scoring at a 17 point per game pace and just outside double-figures on rebounds. And Von Hoffe, a junior and a co-captain with Jois, has embraced his starting role, averaging 13 points per game.

Julian Harrell who missed much of the first half of the season with a hand injury seemed to be part of the catalyst that sparked Eastern's current run.

"People don't realize he's capable of 25-30 points per game," Hayford said. "He provides us another 3-point shooting threat on offense which gives us better spacing on offense." But he's willing to sacrifice that in a defensive role.

"Julian has embraced guarding the opponents' best player," Hayford added.

Sir Washington is a sophomore who Hayford tasks with being a solid offensive rebounder. "Guards aren't used to boxing out a guy like Sir with that kind of explosiveness," Hayford said.

Cody Benzel, Jesse Hunt, Will Ferris and Ty Gibson are also coming off the bench and contributing, "I said to these guys the good thing on the scouting report doesn't reflect on what you can really do," Hayford said.

Lost in the offensive numbers is a turnaround on defense. In 10 of the last 11 games, opponents have been held to under 50 percent from the field. In the first 14 games opponents shot 50 percent or better in nine of those contests.

Perfect at home so far and having just collected their first road wins two weeks ago, it would appear as they head out this weekend for games at Sacramento State tonight (Feb. 18) and Saturday at Portland State, things are meshing as Hayford thought they might.

The Eagles' coach was a bit prophetic in early January he said, "I do think this team is going to come together and be formidable in March."

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.