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EASTERN ILLINOIS (9-6, 2-1) at Southeast Missouri (9-8, 4-1)

Jan. 14, 2012  •  7:30 p.m. (CST)
Show Me Center  •  Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Radio: Hit Mix 88.9 FM  •  TV: None
Mike Bradd & Jack Ashmore

GAME 16
Eastern Illinois won its third straight game with a 68-55 win over UT Martin on Thursday night.  It marks the third three-game winning streak for the Panthers this season as they improved to 9-6 overall, 2-1 in the OVC and 6-1 at home in Lantz Arena.  EIU is also on a two-game road win streak after victories at SIU Edwardsville and Houston Baptist last week.  EIU is looking for its first four game win streak since February of 2010 when the Panthers won eight straight.  Southeast Missouri improved to 9-8 overall, 4-1 in the OVC with a Thursday win over SIUE.  SEMO is now second in the OVC standings as they have won five of their last six games.

EIU-SOUTHEAST MISSOURI SERIES
This will be 44th meeting between Eastern Illinois and Southeast Missouri with the Panthers holding a 23-20 all-time series lead.  SEMO swept the season series last year winning by three in Cape Girardeau and by six in Charleston.  The Panthers have had some success on the road against the Redhawks winning four of the last six games in the Show Me Center and boasting an 8-8 record in Cape Girardeau since EIU joined the OVC in 1996-97.

SCOUTING SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
Southeast Missouri features a balanced offensive attack as the Redhawks have three players averaging in double figures.  Tyler Stone leads the team with 14.9 points per game but the man to stop inside is Leon Powell.  Powell is second in the nation in field goal percentage at 71.6 percent but is only hitting 50.7 percent from the free throw line.  SEMO is shooting just a shade under 50 percent as a team (49.7 percent) and has posted a 7-2 record at home.  Head coach Dickey Nutt is 3-5 all-time against EIU including his stint at Arkansas State.

DOSS STRINGS TOGETHER 3'S
Senior L.C. Doss made his first four 3-pointers against UT Martin giving him a string of seven made 3-pointers over two games before he finally missed.  Doss finished with a 5-of-7 night and has now made 11 of his last 14 3-pointers.  Doss is shooting 46.6 percent from 3-point range ranking third in the OVC.

PANTHERS DRAIN EARLY 3'S IN VICTORY OVER UT MARTIN
EIU shot 63 percent from 3-point range in the first half behind a strong night by L.C. Doss as the Panthers downed UT Martin 68-55.  EIU ended the night shooting 50 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range.  Doss led all scorers with 19 points making 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.  Jeremy Granger added 12 points and five assists.  EIU dominated play on the glass with Zavier Sanders and Alfonzo McKinnie each snagging nine rebounds.  EIU finished with a 38-22 rebounding margin.

SANDERS ON THE BOARDS
Senior Zavier Sanders has been a beast on the glass since returning from the holiday break.  Sanders has now led the Panthers in rebounding four straight games averaging 9.5 rebounds per game in that stint.  Sanders collected a career high 13 rebounds last week at SIU Edwardsville and has followed that up with nine rebounds at Houston Baptist and nine versus UT Martin.  Out of the 38 rebounds Sanders has pulled down in the last four games, 16 have been on the offensive glass.  Sanders is averaging 5.3 rebounds per game for the season, second on the EIU roster.

MILLER NAMED OVC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Joey Miller was named the Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Week after helping lead the Panthers to a pair of road wins at SIU Edwardsville and Houston Baptist.  Miller scored a career-high 24 points in the conference win at SIUE knocking down 7-of-14 shots and 8-of-9 free throws.  Miller was one of five players to score in double figures at Houston Baptist finishing with 12 points.  Miller added seven assists, three steals and seven rebounds for the week.

EIU ONE LINERS
• Freshman Josh Piper has hit six of his last nine shots as he added six points off the bench on Thursday.  Piper is shooting 56.9 percent for the season including an 88.2 percent clip from the free throw line.  For the season Piper has four double figure scoring games and has shot 50 percent or better from the field in 11 of 15 games.

• Darius Smith enrolled in classes at the winter break and is now a member of the EIU team.  He will redshirt this season.  Smith played his first season at UConn before helping the College of Southern Idaho win the Juco National Championship last year.

• Junior Austin Akers scored four points off the bench on Thursday playing 18 minutes.  It was the first time since the Dec. 21 game at Maine that Akers had scored.  Akers passed out two assists giving him at least one assist in 13 of 15 games this season.  Akers has a 2.3-to-1 assist to turnover ratio for the season ranking third on the team with 32 assists.

• Jeremy Granger scored 12 points to go along with five assists on Thursday.  It was Granger's seventh straight double figure effort and the ninth time this season he has passed out five or more assists.  Granger is second in the OVC in assists (4.1) and fifth in scoring (16.1).  He is 8th on the Panthers career list with 287 assists.  He moved up to 33rd on the career scoring list with 1,066 points.

• A cold night at the free throw line dropped EIU in the national rankings as the Panthers fell from fifth to eighth in the nation in free percentage at 76.3 percent.  EIU was 11-of-17 (64.7) on Thursday against UT Martin.  It marked only the third time this season that EIU has shot less than 70 percent at the free throw line. 

• Freshman Joey Miller has now scored in double figures in three straight games with 11 points against UT Martin.  Since returning from the holiday break Miller has been the Panthers leading scorer averaging 13.3 points over the last four games.  Miller's 10.3 points per game for the season is 24th in the OVC and third among OVC freshmen.

• Alfonzo McKinnie just missed his second career double-double on Thursday as he finished with 9 points and 9 rebounds.  McKinnie is third in the OVC in rebounding and also third in the OVC with 44 offensive rebounds.  The sophomore's first career double-double was earlier this season against Maine with 24 points and 14 rebounds.

• EIU shot 50 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range during Thursday's win over UT Martin.  It was the second time this season that EIU shot 50 percent or better from the field, the other time was a 59.3 night against Oakland City.  It was also the second time this year EIU was 50 percent or better from 3-point range.

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 72-119 record at EIU.  The seven game OVC win streak was the best in school history as Miller has a 41-74 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 159-198 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.