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EASTERN ILLINOIS (3-6) vs. Western Illinois (5-4)

Dec. 11, 2010 • 6 p.m. (CST)
Lantz Arena • Charleston, Ill.
Radio: Hit Mix 88.9 FM  
TV: WEIU

GAME 10
Eastern Illinois ends its four game home stand on Saturday night hosting long time rival Western Illinois. The Panthers have let two second half leads slip away in the last two home games falling to 3-6 on the season. EIU will be off the next week for finals before playing two Ohio Valley Conference road games prior to Christmas. Western Illinois is 5-4 on the year following a win over NAIA member Culver-Stockton on Wednesday night.

EIU-WESTERN ILLINOIS SERIES
In what stands as one of the longest rivalry for both schools Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois will meet on the hardwood for the 154th time. The series has been nearly deadlocked with EIU holding a slight 77-76 series lead following a 44-41 win at Western Illinois last year. The Panthers have won two straight in the series which dates back to Feb. 10, 1928 when EIU won the first meeting 38-25.

SCOUTING WESTERN ILLINOIS
Western Illinois is off to a 5-4 start to the season following a 68-44 win over NAIA member Culver-Stockton on Wednesday night. The Leathernecks are also off to a 1-1 start in Summit League play after they split the opening weekend with Oral Roberts and Centenary. Matt Landers leads WIU with 18.4 points per game with 77 trips to the free throw line this year. Ceola Clark is averaging 10.7 points per game but has been limited to only six games due to an injury.

EIU - TENNESSEE TECH GAME PICKED UP BY TELEVISION
Eastern Illinois next game following their Saturday night contest with Western Illinois will be broadcast on Comcast Sports South with additional coverage on WEIU TV in the Coles County market. The December 19 game at Tennessee Tech will remain a 4 p.m. start but will be televised as part of the Ohio Valley Conference weekly television package. The Panthers will also have a shot of playing a regular season game on ESPNU as their Jan. 20 game at Murray State may be picked up as the OVC Game of the Week for that Thursday.

HOLLOWELL CLEANS THE GLASS / CRACKS BLOCKS CHART
James Hollowell nearly collected his second career double-double as he pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds to go along with eight points. The 16 rebounds are the highest individual total for an EIU player this season and moved Hollowell's season average up to 6.1 rebounds per game to rank 9th in the OVC. The 16 rebounds were the highest individual total by a Panthers player since Henry Domercant pulled down 17 rebounds on Dec. 2, 2000 in a 86-67 win at Arkansas State. (Domercant also scored 32 in that game). In addition to his big night on the boards Hollowell passed Kyle Hill (1998-01) for 10th place on the EIU career blocked shots list as he swatted away three Ball State shots to move his career total to 51. Next up on the list is Derek Kelly (1990-93) with 54 blocks.

FREE THROW PERCENTAGES HOVER
A free throw made or free throw missed may not seem like it would have a great impact on the OVC standings but for Tyler Laser and Jeremy Granger their performance on Wednesday shifted the league rankings. Laser was 2-of-2 which raised his season average to 90.9 percent and moved him up to third in the OVC rankings. Granger was 5-of-6 which actually dropped his season percentage to 88.9 and saw him fall to fifth in the OVC standings. Granger led the OVC in free throw shooting last year and his miss ended a string of 16 straight made free throws. Laser is at 87.3 percent for his career which ranks 3rd in the OVC. Laser needs 21 more made free throws for his career to qualify for the EIU career rankings where he would be first.

LOW ASSIST NUMBERS AGAINST BALL STATE
For the second time this season Eastern Illinois was held to single digit assists against Ball State as they fell to the Cardinals. EIU finished with eight assists on Wednesday during the 58-51 loss. Earlier this year in Muncie, Ind., the Panthers were limited to a season low six assists during a 77-46 loss. Entering the Ball State game EIU had come off of back-to-back games in which they passed out 20 and 19 assists against Tennessee State and Austin Peay. As a team EIU is still second in the OVC in assists per game at 13.4 while Jeremy Granger is fourth at 3.8 assists per game and Curry McKinney ranks 10th at 2.7 per game.

LASER LOGGING MINUTES
Tyler Laser enters Saturday's game with Western Illinois averaging 35.8 minutes per game which ranks first among OVC players. On Wednesday Laser played 33 against Ball State but had an off shooting night going 1-of-13 from the floor. The last time Laser had that poor of a shooting night was Jan. 4, 2010 when he was 0-for-7 against Tennessee Tech. In the game against BSU, Laser added four points to his career total to stand at 1,082 points. He needs seven points to catch Dean Brauer (1953-56) for 31st place on the career list and 18 points to catch Dave Olson (1989-92) for 30th on the list. Laser is currently third among active OVC scorers.

BENCH PLAYERS CONTRIBUTE FROM OUTSIDE
Eastern Illinois was only 4-of-15 from 3-point range on Wednesday against Ball State but half of that production came off the bench as Taylor Jones and Nick McFarlin both drained 3-point baskets. For Jones it was his second long ball of the season after hitting a 3-pointer in the win over IU South Bend. For McFarlin it was his first 3-point attempt and make of his EIU career. McFarlin has now scored in three straight games off the bench averaging 2.4 points per game in 11.9 minutes per game.