Western Illinois Leathernecks (7-7, 1-2 OVC) at Eastern Illinois Panthers (5-8, 1-1 OVC)
Charleston, Illinois; Saturday, 4:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Western Illinois visits Eastern Illinois after Marko Maletic scored 28 points in Western Illinois’ 77-66 loss to the SIU-Edwardsville Cougars.
The Panthers are 5-0 in home games. Eastern Illinois is 3-7 against opponents with a winning record.
The Leathernecks have gone 1-2 against OVC opponents. Western Illinois has a 3-6 record in games decided by 10 points or more.
Eastern Illinois averages 71.6 points per game, 2.0 more points than the 69.6 Western Illinois gives up. Western Illinois averages 8.4 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.4 fewer made shots on average than the 9.8 per game Eastern Illinois gives up.
The Panthers and Leathernecks square off Saturday for the first time in OVC play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Zion Fruster is shooting 44.9% from beyond the arc with 1.7 made 3-pointers per game for the Panthers, while averaging 12.7 points.
Maletic is scoring 17.3 points per game with 2.7 rebounds and 0.6 assists for the Leathernecks.
LAST 10 GAMES: Panthers: 4-6, averaging 71.2 points, 32.8 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 9.5 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 44.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.4 points per game.
Leathernecks: 5-5, averaging 72.9 points, 33.9 rebounds, 11.8 assists, 5.3 steals and 4.0 blocks per game while shooting 45.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.5 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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