Southeast Missouri (4-8, 2-4) vs. Eastern Kentucky (12-2, 6-1)
McBrayer Arena, Richmond, Kentucky; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Eastern Kentucky looks for its sixth straight conference win against Southeast Missouri. Eastern Kentucky’s last OVC loss came against the Morehead State Eagles 75-62 on Dec. 14, 2020. Southeast Missouri won 63-59 at Tennessee State on Tuesday.
SUPER SENIORS: Southeast Missouri has benefited heavily from its seniors. Chris Harris, DQ Nicholas, Nana Akenten and Nolan Taylor have combined to account for 60 percent all Redhawks scoring this season, though their output has dropped to 26 percent over the team’s last five games.
DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS: The Redhawks have given up just 70 points per game to Ohio Valley opponents thus far. That’s an improvement from the 74.7 per game they allowed over six non-conference games.
FACILITATING THE OFFENSE: Wendell Green Jr. has either made or assisted on 40 percent of all Eastern Kentucky field goals over the last three games. The freshman guard has accounted for 14 field goals and 24 assists in those games.
STREAK SCORING: Eastern Kentucky has scored 83.4 points per game and allowed 65.1 over its seven-game home winning streak.
ASSIST-TO-FG RATIO: The Redhawks have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Colonels. Eastern Kentucky has 54 assists on 95 field goals (56.8 percent) across its past three outings while Southeast Missouri has assists on 36 of 59 field goals (61 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: The Eastern Kentucky defense has forced opponents into turnovers on an impressive 26.9 percent of all possessions, which is the third-highest rate in the country. Southeast Missouri has turned the ball over on 22.3 percent of its possessions (ranked 305th among Division I teams).
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