SIU-Edwardsville Cougars and Eastern Illinois Panthers square off in OVC Tournament

Eastern Illinois Panthers (12-19, 8-12 OVC) vs. SIU-Edwardsville Cougars (19-12, 12-8 OVC)

Evansville, Indiana; Wednesday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: SIU-Edwardsville plays in the OVC Tournament against Eastern Illinois.

The Cougars have gone 12-8 against OVC teams, with a 7-4 record in non-conference play. SIU-Edwardsville is 1-3 in games decided by less than 4 points.

The Panthers’ record in OVC play is 8-12. Eastern Illinois is 5-13 against opponents over .500.

SIU-Edwardsville averages 71.0 points per game, 0.5 more points than the 70.5 Eastern Illinois allows. Eastern Illinois averages 66.9 points per game, 2.6 more than the 64.3 SIU-Edwardsville gives up.

The teams meet for the third time this season. The Cougars won 77-50 in the last matchup on Feb. 28. Arnas Sakenis led the Cougars with 16 points, and Zion Fruster led the Panthers with 11 points.

TOP PERFORMERS: Tyler King is scoring 9.6 points per game and averaging 2.4 rebounds for the Cougars. Darrion Baker is averaging 1.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Fruster is averaging 14.8 points for the Panthers. Meechie White is averaging 12.5 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cougars: 6-4, averaging 67.1 points, 32.5 rebounds, 12.7 assists, 7.5 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 45.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 62.2 points per game.

Panthers: 3-7, averaging 66.2 points, 29.0 rebounds, 11.2 assists, 8.0 steals and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 41.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.2 points.

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

Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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