RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team opens the 2008-09 season Friday night at FIU. This is the first meeting between the two schools since 1997. Game time is set for 8 p.m.

Eastern Kentucky is 6-2 in season openers since the 2000-01 season. However, only three of those games were on the road (1-2). In 2004-05, the Colonels opened with a 73-66 win at Dayton. Six of the 14 players on the roster are new to the team this season. Eastern added four freshmen and two junior college transfers to the roster. Newcomers Dayvon Ellis and Papa Oppong are projected to start Friday at FIU.

FIU returns four of its five starters from a squad that went 9-20 overall and 6-12 in the Sun Belt in 2007-08. Top returnee Alex Galindo, who led the Panthers in scoring (13.3 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg) last year, has sat out most of the preseason due to an ankle injury. Senior 7-0 center Russell Hicks averaged 12.5 ppg and shot 53.9 percent from the floor as a junior.

Eastern is 1-1 all-time against FIU. The Colonels won the first ever meeting, 85-74, at home in 1996 before the Panthers returned the favor with a 99-77 victory in Miami, Fla., the following year.

Following the game at FIU, Eastern Kentucky will return home to open the home schedule against Winston-Salem State on Tuesday, Nov. 18.

GAMEDAY INFORMATION

Game Notes
--Click here for game notes! 

Basketball Media Day
--Click here to watch head coach Jeff Neubauer, and players Mike Rose and Josh Taylor at EKU's annual media day!

Television
--None

Video Streaming
--None

Live Audio
--Friday's game can be heard locally on WCYO 100.7 FM and WEKU 88.9 FM. Click here for live radio broadcast!

Live Stats
--None

Storylines
--Head coach Jeff Neubauer needs one more win to reach 50 career wins. Neubauer, the youngest coach in the OVC, is 49-44 (.527) in his fourth year as the Colonels coach.

--Eastern was picked to finish seventh in the Ohio Valley Conference this season. Senior Mike Rose was named to the preseason all-conference team. Rose averaged a team-high 15.3 ppg and reached the 1,000-point plateau as a junior. He will be shooting to be the first Colonel to earn back-to-back first team All-OVC accolades since Bruce Jones and James Tillman accomplished the feat in 1979 and 1980.