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EASTERN ILLINOIS at Indiana State

Nov. 11, 2011  •  4 p.m. (CST)
Hulman Center  •  Terre Haute, Ind.
Radio: Hit Mix 88.9 FM  •  TV: None
Mike Bradd & Jack Ashmore

GAME 1
Eastern Illinois opens the season against regional foe Indiana State as the Panthers start the season on the road for the third time in the last four years.  EIU is 2-4 in previous season openers under head coach Mike Miller.  The last win to open a season was on the road at Toledo in 2009.  EIU has seven new players on its roster with five junior college transfers and a pair of freshmen.  The Panthers roster does feature four seniors in L.C. Doss, Jeremy Granger, Nick McFarlin and Zavier Sanders.

EIU-INDIANA STATE SERIES
This will be the 120th meeting between Eastern Illinois and Indiana State in a series that dates back to 1909-10.  The Sycamores have dominated the all-time series with a 83-36 lead.  The schools last met on Dec. 3, 2005 with ISU picking up a 66-58 win at EIU.  EIU's last win the series was Nov. 28, 2001, a 52-50 win in Lantz Arena.  EIU's last win in Terre Haute was Nov. 27, 1989 when the Panthers knocked off the Sycamores 60-58 to open the 1989-90 season. 

SCOUTING INDIANA STATE
Indiana State opens the season as one of the favorites in the Missouri Valley Conference after the Sycamores won the MVC Tournament last year to advance to the NCAA Tournament.  Head coach Greg Lansing is in his second season as the ISU head coach having guided the team to a 20-14 record last year.  Sophomore guard Jake Odum is a preseason All-MVC selection.   ISU beat Truman State 87-33 in its exhibition game with three players scoring in double figures.  Devonte Brown led the team with 13 points in the game.

JUST AROUND THE CORNER
Friday's opener at Indiana State will be a homecoming for one player on EIU's roster as junior guard Austin Akers is from Brazil, Ind., which is just a few miles outside of Terre Haute.  Akers played at Northview High School.

PANTHERS WIN BY 30 IN EXHIBITION
Eastern Illinois won its lone exhibition contest on Sunday night with a 78-48 win over Olivet Nazarene.  The Panthers had all 12 players score with Jeremy Granger and L.C. Doss leading the team with 13 points each.  Newcomer Josh Piper was the top rebounder pulling down six as EIU won the battle on the boards by a 43-30 margin.  EIU shot 55 percent in the first half and 48 percent for the game.  The Panther defense limited ONU to just 32 percent from the field.

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. 

HOLLOWELL OTHER RETURNING STARTER
James Hollowell is the other veteran starter returning for the Panthers this season joining Jeremy Granger.  Hollowell led EIU in rebounding at 5.6 rebounds per game.  Hollowell enters the season ranked fourth on the EIU career blocks list with 72 as he needs just one more block to tie Jesse Mackinson for third on the EIU career list.  Hollowell has blocked at least one shot in four straight games. 

EIU ONE LINERS
• Eastern Illinois is 1-3 against the Missouri Valley Conference under head coach Mike Miller.  EIU knocked off Bradley last year in Peoria after losing in previous match-ups with Evansville (0-2) and Indiana State (0-1).

• Junior college guard Austin Akers passed out three assists during the Panthers exhibition win to go along with eight points.  Akers ranked 53rd nationally in the JUCO ranks last year with 4.7 assists per game.

• Freshman Josh Piper pulled down a team-high six rebounds in the exhibition win.  Three of his rebounds were on the offensive glass resulting in nine points.  Piper averaged a double-double (19.2 pts, 10.4 reb) as a senior at Centennial HS.

• Alex Lubsey came off the bench for three rebounds and a bucket on a big put-back dunk.  Lubsey hails from Jamaica and becomes the third international product to play for Mike Miller.  The previous two were Ousmane Cisse and Edin Suljic.

• Sophomore Alfonzo McKinnie shot 60 percent from the field during the Panthers exhibition win picking up where he left off last season when he led EIU in field goal percentage at 54.5 percent.  McKinnie made five starts last season including the final three games of the year.

• EIU's defense limited Olivet Nazarene to 32 percent shooting and 48 points on Sunday.  Last season EIU was tied for first in the OVC in field goal percentage defense limiting opponents to 41.9 percent.  EIU was fourth in scoring defense limiting opponents to 64.7 points per game.

• Senior L.C. Doss showed signs of what could be a productive year as he scored 13 points in Sunday's exhibition win.  Doss missed a large portion of last season with a preseason ankle injury.  He returned in late December to average 4.6 points per game making six starts. 

• Freshman Joey Miller should have a good feel for the Panthers head coach as he is the son of Mike Miller.  The younger Miller played at Charleston High School earning honorable mention All-State honors as a senior averaging 21.3 points.

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 63-113 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 150-192 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.

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.