What to watch for: Eastern is coming off a big loss to No. 18 Murray State at Lantz Arena, and that loss will do one of two things to the Panthers, who were previously 5-0 at home. It can energize them and help to easily put away the Cougars and their frustrations or it can derail them tonight and for quite a while. It all depends on how mentally tough of a team they are. It's an interesting dynamic. On the other hand, the Cougars are hot. They have won two straight in the conference and are at home again. It's hard to bet against the Cougars, and Vegas has the Panthers as a two-point favorite on the road.
Who to watch for: For SIUE, it's Kris Davis. Davis leads the nation in 3-point field goal percentage and Eastern Illinois is an OVC-worst in opponent 3-point percentage. It seems a little cliche at this point to say the Cougars live and die with the three, but in this match-up it very well could be. For EIU, Jeremy Granger averages 16.9 points per game.
RPI: SIUE (322) Eastern Illinois (190)
Two of the Cougars wins do not figure into the RPI numbers, because they came against Hannibal LaGrange and RMU-S. Eastern gets a little bit of love at 4-6 with a strength-of-schedule rating of 174. The Cougars SOS is 248. That will go up when the Cougars take on Murray. Keep in mind, Illinois was unranked when the Cougars played in Champaign.
In state this year: The Cougars are 0-3 against teams from Illinois...well, 1-3 if you count Robert Morris-Springfield.
What worries me: Eastern averages more assists, blocks and rebounds per game than the Cougars. Granger is a handful, and the Panthers certainly have other guys who can score.
- From EIU Panthers.com:
Eastern Illinois was limited to a season low four assists as a team on Friday against Murray State. Jeremy Granger was held without an assist ending a streak of 16 straight games with at least one assist. The last time EIU was held to five assists or less was last season at Morehead State when EIU had four assists.
• The Panthers played their sixth straight game without James Hollowell who has now missed half of the regular season games. On Friday against Murray State, Malcolm Herron missed the game giving EIU seven missed games due to injury this year.
• Sophomore Alex Lubsey came off the bench on Friday against Murray State and responded with a season high five rebounds in ten minutes of action. Three of Lubsey's five rebounds were on the offensive glass. He now has nine rebounds on the year.
• Sophomore Morris Woods earned his first start on Friday against Murray State. He opened the game making his first two baskets giving him a streak of seven straight made field goals. Woods has only missed three shots on the year with his minutes increasing to double digits in the last two contests.
• Zavier Sanders led the Panthers with seven rebounds against Murray State marking the first time this season the senior has led EIU in a game. It snapped a streak of six straight games in which Alfonzo McKinnie had led EIU in rebounds. Sanders is third on the team with 4.0 rebounds per game. McKinnie leads EIU and is fourth in the OVC at 7.4 rebounds per contest.
• After hitting 46 percent from 3-point range at Northwestern, Eastern Illinois has cooled off from beyond the arc in the last two games hitting 5-of-25. EIU's top 3-pointer shooters on the season have also cooled off as L.C. Doss has hit two of his last ten 3-pointers over four games. Joey Miller has hit five of his last 19 3-pointers over four games and Taylor Jones has hit two 3-pointers in the last seven games.
• EIU's bench was outscored by Murray State 32-6 on Friday. It ended a four game streak in which EIU's bench had outscored its opponents. On the season EIU holds a 50 point advantage over its opponents in terms of bench production 284-to-234.
What gives us hope: Three point shooting, defense and momentum.
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