Belmont (10-3, 0-0) vs. Eastern Illinois (2-12, 0-1)
Lantz Arena, Charleston, Illinois; Saturday, 4:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Belmont looks for its 10th straight win in the head-to-head series over Eastern Illinois. Belmont has won by an average of 24 points in its last nine wins over the Panthers. Eastern Illinois’ last win in the series came on Jan. 10, 2015, an 84-73 win.
TEAM LEADERS: Kejuan Clements has averaged 9.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists to lead the way for the Panthers. Rodolfo Rufino Bolis is also a primary contributor, putting up 6.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. The Bruins have been led by Ben Sheppard, who is averaging 16.1 points.SHEPPARD CAN SHOOT: Sheppard has connected on 35.8 percent of the 81 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 12 of 28 over his last five games. He’s also made 65.1 percent of his foul shots this season.
WINLESS WHEN: Eastern Illinois is 0-12 this year when it scores 62 points or fewer and 2-0 when it scores at least 63.
PASSING FOR POINTS: The Bruins have recently converted baskets via assists more often than the Panthers. Eastern Illinois has an assist on 36 of 61 field goals (59 percent) over its previous three contests while Belmont has assists on 62 of 92 field goals (67.4 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: The Belmont offense has scored 80.5 points per game, the 30th-highest figure in Division I. Eastern Illinois has only averaged 56.7 points per game, which ranks 294th nationally.
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