Eastern Illinois takes on Lindenwood, looks for 5th straight home win

Lindenwood Lions (6-7, 1-1 OVC) at Eastern Illinois Panthers (4-8, 0-1 OVC)

Charleston, Illinois; Thursday, 8:30 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Panthers -3.5; over/under is 137.5

BOTTOM LINE: Eastern Illinois hosts Lindenwood looking to prolong its four-game home winning streak.

The Panthers have gone 4-0 at home. Eastern Illinois is ninth in the OVC in rebounding averaging 32.2 rebounds. Kooper Jacobi leads the Panthers with 9.1 boards.

The Lions are 1-1 in OVC play. Lindenwood ranks sixth in the OVC with 13.0 assists per game led by Markeith Browning II averaging 3.4.

Eastern Illinois makes 43.9% of its shots from the field this season, which is 2.1 percentage points higher than Lindenwood has allowed to its opponents (41.8%). Lindenwood has shot at a 45.6% clip from the field this season, 2.2 percentage points greater than the 43.4% shooting opponents of Eastern Illinois have averaged.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting this season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Malik Olafioye is averaging 4.6 points for the Panthers.

Browning is scoring 12.4 points per game with 4.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists for the Lions.

LAST 10 GAMES: Panthers: 3-7, averaging 68.9 points, 31.5 rebounds, 12.4 assists, 9.5 steals and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting 43.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.0 points per game.

Lions: 5-5, averaging 73.2 points, 34.3 rebounds, 12.6 assists, 9.6 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 44.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.0 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Copyright © 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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