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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eagles in California to begin road swing

From staff reports

Eastern Washington begins a difficult stretch of road games today when the Eagles men’s basketball team plays at UC Riverside at 4:05 p.m.

Though the Highlanders are 0-5, including an 86-55 loss at Washington State, they play a wide-open style that can be difficult for opponents. UC Riverside puts up 25 3-pointers a game, but is only making 20 percent and is shooting just 32 percent overall. It’s also the Highlanders’ home opener.

“They are a very dangerous offensive team,” EWU coach Mike Burns said. “They play a style similar to the Loyola Marymount teams of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. We’re definitely going to have to have a great defensive effort to try to slow them down.”

The Eagles are 3-3, coming off a pair of strong defensive efforts that produced wins over Idaho and Northridge.

Freshman Rodney Stuckey leads the Eagles, averaging 18.7 points, best in the Big Sky Conference, 3.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 4.8 rebounds. Sophomores Jake Beitinger and Kellen Williams are adding 11 points a game. Junior Paul Butorac is the top rebounder at 7.3.

Eastern’s next two games are against ranked teams, at No. 13 Washington on Friday and against No. 9 Gonzaga at the Arena on Dec. 19.

“We just have to keep getting better,” Burns said. “We have a stretch here where we play some really good teams. As it usually does, the schedule is just getting tougher and we have to get tougher to go along with that schedule. We have to keep improving our offensive and defensive execution. We are always evolving as a basketball team.”

Eastern’s next home game is Dec. 23 against Cal Poly.

UI faces another old rival

The University of Idaho, less than a month from making its Western Athletic Conference debut, is having a hard time against one of its former conference homes – the Big Sky.

The Vandals (1-5) are 0-2 against Big Sky teams this season with defending BSC regular-season champ Portland State (2-6) set to visit the Cowan Spectrum at 8:05 tonight. The later start is to allow time to set up the basketball arena following midyear graduation ceremonies at 1 in the Kibbie Dome.

Since leaving the Big Sky after the 1995-96 season, Idaho is 14-14 against the conference, with fifth-year coach Leonard Perry holding a 6-8 record.

Idaho and Portland State each lost by nine points at Gonzaga. Four Vikings starters average in double figures, including Washington transfer Anthony Washington (10 ppg). PSU is on a three-game losing streak.

North Idaho College transfer Paul Hafford, a junior guard at Portland State, is out for two months with a fractured foot.

Cougars in San Diego Slam

Washington State makes the second stop on its first road trip of the season tonight when the Cougars meet San Diego State in the San Diego Slam doubleheader.

San Diego and Fresno State play the opener.

Both the Cougars (4-2) and Aztecs (4-3) are coming off losses, WSU 67-53 at Gonzaga on Thursday and SDSU 82-64 to Cal on Tuesday.

WSU, which has split two games against members of SDSU’s Mountain West Conference this season, has relied on defense and a strong contribution off the bench. The Cougars lost to BYU 76-68, then beat Wyoming 63-47.