# 2018–19 Eastern Washington Eagles men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Eastern Washington Eagles men's basketball team represented Eastern Washington University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles were led by second-year head coach Shantay Legans and played their home games at Reese Court in Cheney, Washington as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 16–18, 12–8 in Big Sky play to finish in third place. They defeated Montana State and Southern Utah to advance to the championship game of the Big Sky tournament where they lost to Montana.

## Previous season

The Eagles finished the 2017–18 season 20–15, 13–5 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for third place. At the Big Sky tournament they defeated Portland State and Southern Utah to advance to the championship game where they lost to Montana. They were invited to the College Basketball Invitational where they lost in the first round to Utah Valley.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Sir Washington | 4 | G | 6'3" | 180 | RS Senior | Las Vegas, NV | Graduated |
| Richard Polanco | 5 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Freshman | Santiago de los Caballeros, DR | Transferred to Central Arizona College |
| Grant Gibb | 12 | G | 6'5" | 185 | RS Sophomore | Longview, WA | Walk-on; transferred to Linfield College |
| Benas Griciūnas | 15 | C | 7'0" | 244 | RS Senior | Šilutė, Lithuania | Graduated |
| Brendan Howard | 23 | F | 6'6" | 225 | Freshman | Great Falls, MT | Transferred to Montana State Billings |
| Bogdan Bliznyuk | 32 | F | 6'6" | 215 | Senior | Lutsk, Ukraine | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Ralueke Orizu | 4 | F | 6'8" | 180 | Freshman | Austell, GA | Transferred from Savannah State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Orizu will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |

### 2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Austin Fadal #98 SG | San Ramon, CA | Dougherty Valley High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Nov 30, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 64 ||||||
| Mike Meadows PG | Studio City, CA | Campbell Hall School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Jun 9, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Elijah Jackson SG | Seattle, WA | Chief Stealth High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Nov 9, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 30, 2018. ||||||

### 2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2019 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jacob Groves SF | Spokane, WA | Shadle Park High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | N/A | Aug 26, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 |||||||
| Abdul Mohamed PF | Seattle, WA | West Seattle High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Jun 29, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 30, 2018. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 6, 2018* 4:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at No. 16 Syracuse 2K Classic campus-site game | L 34–66 | 0–1 | Carrier Dome (19,912) Syracuse, NY |
| Nov 9, 2018* 6:00 pm, P12N | | at No. 14 Oregon 2K Classic campus-site game | L 47–81 | 0–2 | Matthew Knight Arena (8,009) Eugene, OR |
| Nov 16, 2018* 4:45 pm | | Green Bay 2K Classic subregional semifinals | L 78–82 | 0–3 | Reese Court (1,076) Cheney, WA |
| Nov 17, 2018* 3:15 pm, Big Sky Network | | UMKC 2K Classic subregional | W 87–80 | 1–3 | Reese Court Cheney, WA |
| Nov 27, 2018* 6:00 pm, P12N | | at Washington | L 59–83 | 1–4 | Alaska Airlines Arena (6,054) Seattle, WA |
| Dec 1, 2018* 4:00 pm | | at Seattle | L 68–88 | 1–5 | Redhawk Center (999) Seattle, WA |
| Dec 8, 2018* 5:00 pm | | at North Dakota State | L 67–74 | 1–6 | Scheels Center (2,373) Fargo, ND |
| Dec 13, 2018* 7:00 pm | | at San Francisco | L 63–85 | 1–7 | War Memorial Gymnasium (1,439) San Francisco, CA |
| Dec 15, 2018* 4:00 pm, P12N | | at Stanford | L 62–78 | 1–8 | Maples Pavilion (3,663) Stanford, CA |
| Dec 18, 2018* 6:05 pm | | South Dakota State | L 64–74 | 1–9 | Reese Court (1,042) Cheney, WA |
| Dec 21, 2018* 2:05 pm | | Corban | W 92–73 | 2–9 | Reese Court (969) Cheney, WA |
| Big Sky regular season ||||||
| Dec 29, 2018 2:05 pm | | Weber State | L 72–84 | 2–10 (0–1) | Reese Court (1,051) Cheney, WA |
| Dec 31, 2018 1:05 pm | | Idaho State | W 65–55 | 3–10 (1–1) | Reese Court (1,011) Cheney, WA |
| Jan 3, 2019 7:30 pm | | at Idaho | L 71–74 | 3–11 (1–2) | Cowan Spectrum (1,069) Moscow, ID |
| Jan 7, 2019 6:05 pm | | at Northern Colorado | L 63–75 | 3–12 (1–3) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,389) Greeley, CO |
| Jan 10, 2019 6:05 pm | | Montana | W 78–71 | 4–12 (2–3) | Reese Court (1,578) Cheney, WA |
| Jan 19, 2019 2:05 pm | | Montana State | W 85–81 | 5–12 (3–3) | Reese Court (1,382) Cheney, WA |
| Jan 24, 2019 7:05 pm | | at Portland State | L 65–78 | 5–13 (3–4) | Viking Pavilion (1,088) Portland, OR |
| Jan 26, 2019 7:05 pm | | at Sacramento State | W 94–92 $^{OT}$ | 6–13 (4–4) | Hornets Nest (708) Sacramento, CA |
| Feb 2, 2019 2:05 pm | | Southern Utah | W 82–79 | 7–13 (5–4) | Reese Court (1,244) Cheney, WA |
| Feb 4, 2019 6:05 pm | | Northern Arizona | W 82–64 | 8–13 (6–4) | Reese Court (1,148) Cheney, WA |
| Feb 7, 2019 6:05 pm | | at Montana State | L 66–74 | 8–14 (6–5) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,267) Bozeman, MT |
| Feb 9, 2019 6:05 pm | | at Montana | L 74–75 | 8–15 (6–6) | Dahlberg Arena (5,005) Missoula, MT |
| Feb 16, 2019 2:05 pm | | Northern Colorado | W 88–78 $^{OT}$ | 9–15 (7–6) | Reese Court (1,481) Cheney, WA |
| Feb 18, 2018 4:15 pm | | Idaho | W 82–57 | 10–15 (8–6) | Reese Court (1,618) Cheney, WA |
| Feb 21, 2019 5:35 pm | | at Southern Utah | L 62–76 | 10–16 (8–7) | America First Events Center (1,578) Cedar City, UT |
| Feb 23, 2019 1:00 pm | | at Northern Arizona | W 86–73 | 11–16 (9–7) | Walkup Skydome (1,923) Flagstaff, AZ |
| Feb 28, 2019 6:05 pm | | Sacramento State | L 56–59 | 11–17 (9–8) | Reese Court (1,027) Cheney, WA |
| Mar 2, 2019 2:05 pm | | Portland State | W 68–66 | 12–17 (10–8) | Reese Court (1,502) Cheney, WA |
| Mar 7, 2018 6:05 pm | | at Idaho State | W 91–62 | 13–17 (11–8) | Holt Arena (1,484) Pocatello, ID |
| Mar 9, 2018 6:05 pm | | at Weber State | W 80–77 | 14–17 (12–8) | Dee Events Center (7,113) Ogden, UT |
| Big Sky tournament ||||||
| Mar 14, 2019 7:00 pm, ELVN | (3) | vs. (6) Montana State Quarterfinals | W 90–84 | 15–17 | CenturyLink Arena Boise, ID |
| Mar 15, 2019 7:00 pm, ELVN | (3) | vs. (7) Southern Utah Semifinals | W 77–61 | 16–17 | CenturyLink Arena (2,900) Boise, ID |
| Mar 16, 2019 5:05 pm, ESPNU | (3) | vs. (1) Montana Championship | L 62–68 | 16–18 | CenturyLink Arena (3,737) Boise, ID |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||
Source