Eastern Illinois Panthers (12-18, 8-11 OVC) at SIU-Edwardsville Cougars (18-12, 11-8 OVC)
Edwardsville, Illinois; Saturday, 4:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Eastern Illinois visits SIU-Edwardsville after Kooper Jacobi scored 30 points in Eastern Illinois’ 71-67 victory against the Lindenwood Lions.
The Cougars are 9-5 on their home court. SIU-Edwardsville scores 70.8 points while outscoring opponents by 6.0 points per game.
The Panthers are 8-11 in conference matchups. Eastern Illinois has a 4-7 record in games decided by 10 or more points.
SIU-Edwardsville’s average of 7.0 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.2 fewer made shots on average than the 7.2 per game Eastern Illinois allows. Eastern Illinois has shot at a 42.6% rate from the field this season, 3.4 percentage points greater than the 39.2% shooting opponents of SIU-Edwardsville have averaged.
The teams square off for the second time in conference play this season. Eastern Illinois won the last meeting 76-72 on Dec. 18. Zion Fruster scored 23 points to help lead the Panthers to the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Tyler King averages 1.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Cougars, scoring 9.4 points while shooting 34.3% from beyond the arc. Ring Malith is averaging 17 points and 5.4 rebounds over the past 10 games.
Preston Turner averages 1.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Panthers, scoring 7.8 points while shooting 44.2% from beyond the arc. Fruster is shooting 38.3% and averaging 13.5 points over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cougars: 6-4, averaging 65.6 points, 32.7 rebounds, 11.5 assists, 7.0 steals and 3.7 blocks per game while shooting 43.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 63.0 points per game.
Panthers: 3-7, averaging 68.0 points, 29.6 rebounds, 11.7 assists, 8.1 steals and 2.4 blocks per game while shooting 41.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.8 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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