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Eastern Michigan head coach Rob Murphy released the men's basketball team's 2014-15 non-conference schedule on Tuesday. Last season, the EMU Eagles played eight of their non-conference games on their home court. This season, they will play nine of them at home.
On Friday, November 14, the Eagles take on non-NCAA Division I opponent Saint Francis University (Ill.) to start the season. The game will take place on a weekday afternoon in EMU's Convocation Center, coinciding with the university's annual Education Day. The Saints will be the first to test an Eagles squad that will be without last year's MAC Defensive Player of the Year Da'Shonte Riley.
Three days after the season opener, Oakland University comes to town. The game takes place at 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center and will mark the third season in a row that the Eagles and the Golden Grizzlies have faced off against each other. The two teams have split the past two meetings.
On November 21-23, the EMU Showcase will be taking place. Ypsilanti will be the host site for the multi-team event that includes EMU, Longwood, UNC-Greensboro and Youngstown State. All four schools will play each other over the span of the three days. On Friday, November 21, EMU plays Youngstown State and UNC-Greensboro takes on Longwood. On Saturday, EMU plays Greensboro and Longwood takes on Youngstown State. Finally, on Sunday, the Eagles face Longwood while Greensboro plays YSU.
On November 26, the day before Thanksgiving, Rochester College (Mich.) visits Ypsilanti to take on Eastern. Tip-off for that game is set for noon. Then, on December 1, the Eagles host Marygrove (Mich.) at 7 p.m.
After their December 1 matchup, the Eagles go on the road for the first time during their 2014-15 campaign. They are scheduled to play four-straight away games in December. On Saturday, December 6, EMU visits Dayton. On December 9, EMU visits Big Ten Conference foe Michigan. Eight days later, the Eagles face off against another Big Ten Conference opponent when they play Michigan State. The Eagles conclude their road trip in Springfield, Mo. on Saturday, December 20 by taking on Missouri State.
EMU returns home to the Convocation Center to close out the remainder of the non-conference schedule with two final games. On Tuesday, December 23, the Eagles play Coppin State. On Sunday, December 28, they play Concordia (Mich.).
The Mid-American Conference has not yet released the full men's basketball schedule for 2014-15. EMU basketball fans at least have something to talk about for now though. Stay tuned.