Eastern men face Northern Arizona in Big Sky tournament opener

RENO, Nevada – Moments after losing a heartbreaker in the last home game of the year, Eastern Washington forward Felix Von Hofe didn’t seem overly concerned.

“We had a lot of fun today, and we’re heading into Reno on a positive note,” Von Hofe said Saturday, after the Eagles lost their fourth straight game, 79-77 to Weber State.

How’s that again?

Forward Venky Jois was even more self-assured going into this week’s Big Sky tournament. “Everyone here has a 100 percent confidence that we can go four games in a row the other way,” Jois said.

That’s the kind of rampant optimism Eastern men’s basketball coach Jim Hayford wants from his players – and himself.

“I’m the most confident coach in the world on a four-game losing streak,” Hayford joked as the sixth-seeded Eagles (16-14 overall and 10-8 in the Big Sky) held their last practice of the season at Reese Court ahead of their first-round game Tuesday night against Northern Arizona.

“As I look back on these last couple of weeks, I like that my team is hungry for what lies ahead,” said Hayford, whose club will play No. 3 Idaho on Thursday night if they get past NAU.

But what about those four straight losses, coach? In the last 15 days, the Eagles have lost at Portland State (as the Vikings shot 66 percent), at Idaho (EWU was 43 percent from the field), against Idaho State (the Eagles looked sluggish) and the finale against Weber (when they were shackled by 33 personal fouls).

“The funny thing about 18-to-22-year-olds is that they can hit the reset button really quick,” said Hayford, who jump-started that process on Saturday against Weber State. The reserves played heavy minutes in the early going, providing some energy that was lacking two nights earlier against ISU.

“I felt that the fire, the grit was reignited,” said Hayford, who a year ago led the Eagles to a trip to the NCAA tournament.

Offense hasn’t been a problem lately – EWU has shot 50 percent or better in six of its last eight games – but opponents are finding buckets too easily. “We’re going to have to come with some different (defensive) looks and intensity,” Hayford said.

A better performance at the foul line would be nice too; EWU was 22 of 42 at the foul line last weekend.

Still, the Eagles have every reason to feel confident against NAU, which is 5-24 overall and has lost 13 of its last 15 games.

Eastern defeated NAU 96-73 on Jan. 16 at home, then picked up its first league road victory of the season84-73 in Flagstaff. In those two games, Eastern outscored NAU by an average score of 90-73 and had a 51-percent to 45-percent shooting edge, as well as dominating 40-28 rebounding advantage.

However, the Lumberjacks own wins over Idaho and Idaho State, teams who’ve recently knocked off the Eagles

“I’m sure they’re looking at this game as fresh life,” Hayford said. “They’re going to come and play with passion.”