Eastern Washington basketball announces nonconference schedule full of road games

If it’s a crucible Eastern Washington wants in its nonconference schedule, it certainly seems to have it.

EWU released its full men’s basketball slate for the upcoming 2023-24 season on Thursday. It includes games at five Pac-12 programs plus trips to Mississippi, Cincinnati, Air Force, Cal Poly and South Dakota.

The Eagles, who won the regular-season Big Sky title last year, will play just three nonconference home games at Reese Court in Cheney: Walla Walla University (Nov. 22), Portland Bible College (Dec. 13) and North Dakota State (Jan. 6).

They will open the season at Utah on Nov. 6, followed by games at Mississippi (Nov. 10) and Cincinnati (Nov. 12). Five days later, they will play at Stanford.

In late November, they will play games at Washington State (Nov. 27) – where they won in the NIT in March – and at USC on Nov. 29.

After trips to Air Force (Dec. 9) and Cal Poly (Dec. 18), they are scheduled to play the Washington Huskies in Seattle on Dec. 21.

Following that, they will open Big Sky Conference play Dec. 28 against Portland State, followed by a game Dec. 30 against Sacramento State.

The early January games against South Dakota (Jan. 3) and NDSU (Jan. 6) are part of the Big Sky – Summit League Challenge.

At the conclusion of the regular season, the Big Sky Conference Tournament is scheduled to take place March 9-13 in Boise.

Eastern went 16-2 in Big Sky play and 23-11 overall last season, a mark that included a conference-record 18-game winning streak.

The Eagles lost their first game in the Big Sky Tournament to Northern Arizona. After beating WSU in the NIT, they lost to Oklahoma State in the second round.