The Eastern Michigan bench erupts after a teammate dunks the ball during a basketball game at Eastern Michigan University's Convocation center on Saturday Feb. 23, 2013. Missouri State defeated Eastern Michigan 57 to 54.

Joseph Tobianski | AnnArbor.com file

Eastern Michigan will once again challenge itself with a daunting non-conference men’s basketball schedule against some of the top programs in college basketball.

The Eagles will make trips to Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse, and Purdue in a stretch of a little more than a month between Nov. 27 and Dec. 31, according to its complete schedule, released Tuesday.

Eastern played Kentucky, Syracuse and Purdue last season, and swaps Duke for Michigan this year. On Dec. 8, Eastern topped Purdue at home for its first win over a Big Ten opponent since 1997.

The non-conference slate also includes a pair of games to be played at Bowen Field House, the team’s home for 43 years from 1955-1997. The Eagles will host Concordia University 7 p.m. Nov. 12 and Robert Morris 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14. In between, the EMU women’s basketball team wil play Butler, 7 p.m. Nov. 13.

This will mark Eastern’s first return to Bowen since 2004. The arena will be configured in its original setup, with the floor located in front of the balcony, running east-to-west, allowing for 2,000 spectators.

The Eagles open their regular season Nov. 8 against Albion. The 18-game Mid-American Conference slate begins Jan. 8 at Bowling Green.

Eastern finished fourth in the MAC West last year at 7-9 in league play, and fell to Western Michigan in the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament. It finished the year 16-18 overall.

Kyle Austin covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kyleaustin@annarbor.com or 734-623-2535. Follow him on Twitter @KAustin_AA.