EIU Game Notes  |  NIU Game Notes  |  Listen Live  |  Live Stats  |

EASTERN ILLINOIS (1-1) at Northern Illinois (0-3)

Nov. 20, 2011  •  1 p.m. (CST)
NIU Convocation Center  •  DeKalb, Ill.
Radio: Hit Mix 88.9 FM  •  TV: None
Mike Bradd & Jack Ashmore

GAME 3
Eastern Illinois hits the road on Sunday to play at Northern Illinois.  The game is a return from the ESPN Bracketbuster contest played in Lantz Arena in 2010.  EIU is coming off a win against Loyola-Chicago in the Panthers home opener.  Northern Illinois is looking for its first win of the season after losses at Big Ten members Purdue and Iowa coupled with a home loss to UW Milwaukee.

EIU-NORTHERN ILLINOIS SERIES
This will be the 87th meeting between Eastern Illinois and Northern Illinois.  The two schools last played on Feb. 20, 2010 as part of the ESPNU Bracketbuster with EIU winning 73-70 in Lantz Arena.  Prior to that the two schools had not played since 2004.  Over the years EIU and NIU have met numerous times as conference foes including as members of the Mid-Continent Conference.

SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Under first year head coach Mark Montgomery the Northern Illinois Huskies feature one of the youngest teams in America with seven freshman and two sophomores on the roster.  Freshman Abdel Nader (11 ppg) and senior Tim Toler (10.7 ppg) both average in double figures early in the season  NIU is shooting 32 percent from the floor and 21 percent from 3-point range this season.

GRANGER NAMED OVC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior Jeremy Granger scored 26 points in the season opener at Indiana State and was named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week on Monday.  Granger was 10-of-16 from the floor including 1-of-3 from 3-point range.  He knocked down all five free throw attempts.   Last season Granger ranked 8th in the NCAA in free throw percentage making 90.4 percent.  He added three rebounds one assist and one steal.  It was Granger's 9th career game with 20 or more points.  His career high is 29 points which came on two occasions last season at home against Tennessee Tech and Southeast Missouri.

MILLER INSTRUMENTAL IN EIU WIN OVER LOYOLA-CHICAGO
Freshman Joey Miller had an assist on a James Hollowell dunk to tie the game in the final two minutes and then gave the Panthers a three point lead with 53 seconds remaining by making a bucket and free throw.  The Panthers extended the final margin to four points as they knocked off Loyola-Chicago 65-61 in the home opener for EIU.  Alfonzo McKinnie led EIU with 13 points while Jeremy Granger added 10.  Miller finished with five points.

EASTERN ILLINOIS LEADS NATION FROM THE LINE
Eastern Illinois currently leads the NCAA in free throw shooting percentage through two games this season.  The Panthers were a perfect 12-of-12 in the opener at Indiana State Nov. 11.  They continued to have the hot hand in Wednesday's win over Loyola-Chicago knocking down 9-of-11.  For the season EIU is hitting at a 91.3 percent rate.  The only other NCAA team currently over 90 percent for the season is Dayton which has made 9-of-10 through two games.  Last season EIU shot 72.4 percent with Jeremy Granger ranking 8th nationally at 90.4 percent.

BENCH POINTS BIG IN WIN
Eastern Illinois outscored Loyola-Chicago 24-3 in bench production during Wednesday's win over the Ramblers.  EIU had all but one of its bench players score in the contest with James Hollowell leading that group with 8 points.  The Panthers were outscored by Indiana State's bench in the opener 27-22 as Hollowell was again the top point man off the bench with 10 points. 

EIU ONE LINERS
• James Hollowell blocked a shot for the sixth straight game as the junior moved into sole possession of third place on the EIU career blocked shots list passing Jesse Mackinson (2001-04).  Hollowell now has 74 career blocked shots.

• Alfonzo McKinnie was a force for the Panthers in terms of blocked shots as he swatted away four Loyola shot attempts on Wednesday.  McKinnie has five blocked shots for the season which is tied for first in the OVC and 54th in the NCAA.

• In addition to being a force in blocked shots, Alfonzo McKinnie was the Panthers top scorer in the win over Loyola finishing with 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the floor and 5-of-5 from the free throw line.  It was McKinnie's fourth career game with double figure scoring.  His career high is 14 against Anderson University.

• Austin Akers opened the season with five assists and one turnover at Indiana State.  On Wednesday against Loyola he added three more assists with just two turnovers.  For the season Akers is first in the OVC and 44th in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.7 per game.

• Taylor Jones earned his second career start against Loyola on Wednesday.  Jones knocked down a pair of 3-pointers as he matched his career high of six points.  Jones has become a 3-point specialist for the Panthers with 15 of his 16 career made shots coming from behind the arc.

• Eastern Illinois was able to get solid production in the paint on Wednesday night as they won the battle down low by a 32-24 margin.  In the opener at Indiana State the Panthers had been outscored in the paint by a 32-18 margin.

• Jeremy Granger finished with 10 points against Loyola as his season average of 18 points per game leads the OVC.  Granger is fifth on the OVC active scorers list this season as he climbs towards becoming the 36th EIU player to score 1,000 points in his career.

• Jeremy Granger passed out five assists against Loyola to increase his career number to 231.  Granger is second on the OVC active player list in assists.

EASTERN ILLINOIS HEAD COACH MIKE MILLER
Mike Miller enters his seventh season as the head coach of the Eastern Illinois with what may be his most athletic team in his tenure at EIU.  Last year EIU battled through several injuries as EIU played 12 different starting line-up combinations, a figure ranking among the top ten in the nation.  The previous season Miller led the Panthers to their first winning season in 10-years as they finished 19-12 with an 11-7 mark in the OVC.  EIU advanced to the OVC Tournament semifinals after winning a school Division I record eight straight games in February.  The 19 wins were the third highest win total for EIU as a NCAA Division I member as Miller has posted a 64-114 record at EIU.  The seven game OVC win streak was the best in school history as Miller has a 39-73 OVC mark.  A 1987 graduate of East Texas State, Miller was hired with a history of helping to build programs after success as a head coach at Texas State and associate head coach at Kansas State.  While at Texas State, Miller coached the team to two Southland Conference championships and a 1997 NCAA Tournament appearance.  He owns a 151-193 career record. 

PANTHERS PICKED 9TH IN OVC RACE
Eastern Illinois was picked to finish ninth the preseason Ohio Valley Conference preseason predictions.  The Panthers finished in ninth place last year ending a two-year run of making the OVC post-season tournament.  The Panthers were picked ahead of Jacksonville State and SIU Edwardsville in the 11 team race.  Austin Peay was the preseason favorite just ahead of Tennessee Tech and Murray State.  The top eight teams will advance to this year's tournament at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville on Feb. 29 - March 3.  SIU Edwardsville will play a league schedule and games will be counted in the standings but the Cougars are not eligible for the conference tournament.

GRANGER A PRESEASON ALL-OVC SELECTION
Senior Jeremy Granger was named to the preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference team after earning second team NABC All-Region honors last year.  Granger led EIU in scoring at 14.5 points per game while passing out a team high 98 assists.  The senior was 8th in the NCAA in free throw shooting connecting on 90.4 percent from the stripe.  He enters the 2012 season as the Panthers career leader in free throw percentage at 87.4 percent.  Granger is on pace to finish the season over the 1,000 point mark for his career and in the top ten for career assists. 

PANTHERS SIGN THREE IN EARLY PERIOD
EIU head coach Mike Miller signed three players to National Letters of Intent during the early signing period.  Joining the Panthers next season will be Cameron Harvey, R.J. McGhee and Alex Phillips.  Harvey is a 6-3, 190 guard playing his senior season at Wheaton Academy in West Chicago.  McGhee is a 6-6, 190 guard who is currently a sophomore at Dodge City CC in Kansas.  Phillips is a 6-2, 185 guard who is currently a sophomore at New Mexico JC.

OVC GOES TO NEW SCHEDULE FORMAT
The Ohio Valley Conference will have a new format this season as all league schools will play a 16-game schedule.  Conference schools will play a home-and-home series against six opponents while playing the remaining four schools on their schedule only one time.  This season EIU will travel to Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech without a return visit from those two schools.  The Panthers will play host to Austin Peay and Tennessee State without having to pay a return visit to Clarksville or Nashville.  The OVC season will also start later than in year's past with the conference opener for EIU on Dec. 30 against Murray State.

OVC EXPANDING TO 12 TEAMS IN 2012
Much like many of the larger conferences, the Ohio Valley Conference will also be undergoing expansion next year as Belmont University (Nashville, Tenn.) will become the OVC's 12 member institution.  Belmont currently plays as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference.  EIU is 1-1 against Belmont splitting a home-and-home series in 2010.