Eastern Illinois Panthers (5-11, 1-4 OVC) at UT Martin Skyhawks (7-10, 3-3 OVC)
Martin, Tennessee; Thursday, 8:30 p.m. EST
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Skyhawks -5.5; over/under is 135.5
BOTTOM LINE: Eastern Illinois faces UT Martin after Nakyel Shelton scored 20 points in Eastern Illinois’ 69-64 loss to the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles.
The Skyhawks have gone 4-1 in home games. UT Martin has a 3-4 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.
The Panthers are 1-4 against OVC opponents. Eastern Illinois is 0-1 in games decided by less than 4 points.
UT Martin’s average of 10.1 made 3-pointers per game this season is only 0.5 more made shots on average than the 9.6 per game Eastern Illinois allows. Eastern Illinois averages 4.9 made 3-pointers per game this season, 3.6 fewer made shots on average than the 8.5 per game UT Martin gives up.
The matchup Thursday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams in conference play.
TOP PERFORMERS: Tarence Guinyard is scoring 16.6 points per game with 4.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists for the Skyhawks.
Zion Fruster averages 1.6 made 3-pointers per game for the Panthers, scoring 13.2 points while shooting 40.3% from beyond the arc.
LAST 10 GAMES: Skyhawks: 5-5, averaging 83.0 points, 39.2 rebounds, 14.3 assists, 7.9 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 45.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.3 points per game.
Panthers: 4-6, averaging 72.0 points, 33.5 rebounds, 12.1 assists, 9.5 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 44.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.2 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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