UT Martin hosts Shelton and Eastern Illinois

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

BOTTOM LINE: Eastern Illinois visits UT Martin after Nakyel Shelton scored 20 points in Eastern Illinois’ 69-64 loss to the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles.

The Skyhawks are 4-1 in home games. UT Martin ranks second in the OVC in rebounding with 38.4 rebounds. Vladimer Salaridze leads the Skyhawks with 8.6 boards.

The Panthers have gone 1-4 against OVC opponents. Eastern Illinois gives up 73.2 points to opponents while being outscored by 3.3 points per game.

UT Martin is shooting 42.1% from the field this season, 0.6 percentage points lower than the 42.7% Eastern Illinois allows to opponents. Eastern Illinois has shot at a 43.1% clip from the field this season, 2.1 percentage points greater than the 41.0% shooting opponents of UT Martin have averaged.

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

TOP PERFORMERS: Salaridze is averaging 8.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and two steals for the Skyhawks.

Zion Fruster is shooting 40.3% from beyond the arc with 1.6 made 3-pointers per game for the Panthers, while averaging 13.2 points.

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.

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 This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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