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EASTERN ILLINOIS (6-6, 0-1) at SIU Edwardsville (4-7, 2-0)

Jan. 4, 2012  •  7 p.m. (CST)
Vadalabene Center  •  Edwardsville, Ill.
Internet Radio: EIU Odyssey  •  TV: None
Mike Bradd & Jack Ashmore

GAME 13
Eastern Illinois hits the road for a two game trip starting with Wednesday's Ohio Valley Conference game at SIU Edwardsville.  The Panthers will then travel to play Houston Baptist on Saturday before facing the heart of the conference schedule.  EIU is on a four-game losing streak after dropping its first home game of the year on Friday to No. 20 Murray State.  EIU is 0-1 in the OVC.  The Panthers have struggled on the road with a 1-5 record, the lone win coming at Northern Illinois.  SIUE is off to a 2-0 start in their inaugural season in the OVC with home wins over Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State.  SIUE is 4-7 overall with a 4-2 record at home.

EIU-SIU EDWARDSVILLE SERIES
This will be only the fourth meeting between Eastern Illinois and SIU Edwardsville in what will now become EIU's closest OVC rival.  The Panthers lead the series 2-1 with the last meeting taking place on Feb. 12, 1983 with EIU winning 80-57 in Lantz Arena.  SIUE was a long time NCAA Division II member before recently making the transition to Division I.  This is their first season playing an OVC conference schedule but the Cougars are not eligible for the OVC Tournament.

SCOUTING SIU EDWARDSVILLE
SIU Edwardsville is 2-0 as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference after the Cougars picked up home wins over Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State.  Jerome Jones, Mark Yelovich and Kris Davis all average between 12 and 14 points per game but have increased those averages in their two OVC games.  Jones is the team leader at 13.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.  SIUE is averaging 64.1 points per game on the season but has upped that average to 74.5 in the two OVC contests. 

GRANGER JUMPS INTO ONE TOP TEN LIST
Jeremy Granger stepped to the free throw line four times on Friday against Murray State and with each of those four makes moved from 11th to 8th on the EIU career free throws made list passing Rick Kaye, Louis Jordan and Gary Yoder with each make.  Granger is the EIU career leader in free throw percentage at 87 percent.  He needs seven assists to join the EIU career top ten in that category.

NATIONALLY RANKED MURRAY STATE PULLS AWAY EARLY
Eastern Illinois held a lead in the first three minutes of the game with nationally ranked Murray State.  The Racers then shot 60 percent from 3-point range in the first half and 55 percent from beyond the arc for the game as they won 73-40.  It was the first time EIU had been held to 40 points or less since Nov. 19, 2005 when the Panthers lost 80-35 at Xavier in Mike Miller's first game as head coach.  EIU shot 27 percent for the game as they fell to 5-1 at home.  Jeremy Granger was the lone EIU player in double figures with 12 points. 

COLD NIGHT FROM THE FLOOR
Murray State was red hot from the floor on Friday night, unfortunately Eastern Illinois was not as the Panthers finished the game shooting 27.1 percent.  The last time EIU shot 27 percent was in last year's home loss to Ball State in which they made 18-of-65 shots.  EIU made only 13 shots against Murray State but was bolstered by a 12-of-15 night from the free throw line.  The last time EIU made 13 or fewer field goals in a game was Nov. 19, 2005 when EIU made only nine field goals while scoring 35 points at Xavier.  Despite the cold night from the floor EIU is still fourth in the OVC in field goal percentage for the season making 44.5 percent as a team.

AMONG THE NATION'S BEST AT THE STRIPE
Freshman Joey Miller and senior Jeremy Granger currently rank second and third in the Ohio Valley Conference in free throw shooting.  However as a team Eastern Illinois also ranks among the nation's best free throw shooting teams.  Entering the week EIU is ranked 13th in the nation at 75.7 percent.  Denver is the nation's leader at 80.8 percent as three teams are currently at 80 percent or better.  The Panthers have shot 80 percent or better from the free throw line in three straight games and five times on the season.  EIU's best free throw percentage season was in 2001 when they shot 77.5 percent making 504 shots at the line.

EIU ONE LINERS
• Eastern Illinois was limited to a season low four assists as a team on Friday against Murray State.  Jeremy Granger was held without an assist ending a streak of 16 straight games with at least one assist.  The last time EIU was held to five assists or less was last season at Morehead State when EIU had four assists.

• The Panthers played their sixth straight game without James Hollowell who has now missed half of the regular season games.  On Friday against Murray State, Malcolm Herron missed the game giving EIU seven missed games due to injury this year.

• Sophomore Alex Lubsey came off the bench on Friday against Murray State and responded with a season high five rebounds in ten minutes of action.  Three of Lubsey's five rebounds were on the offensive glass.  He now has nine rebounds on the year.

• Sophomore Morris Woods earned his first start on Friday against Murray State.  He opened the game making his first two baskets giving him a streak of seven straight made field goals.  Woods has only missed three shots on the year with his minutes increasing to double digits in the last two contests.

• Zavier Sanders led the Panthers with seven rebounds against Murray State marking the first time this season the senior has led EIU in a game.  It snapped a streak of six straight games in which Alfonzo McKinnie had led EIU in rebounds.  Sanders is third on the team with 4.0 rebounds per game.  McKinnie leads EIU and is fourth in the OVC at 7.4 rebounds per contest.

• After hitting 46 percent from 3-point range at Northwestern, Eastern Illinois has cooled off from beyond the arc in the last two games hitting 5-of-25.  EIU's top 3-pointer shooters on the season have also cooled off as L.C. Doss has hit two of his last ten 3-pointers over four games.  Joey Miller has hit five of his last 19 3-pointers over four games and Taylor Jones has hit two 3-pointers in the last seven games.

• EIU's bench was outscored by Murray State 32-6 on Friday.  It ended a four game streak in which EIU's bench had outscored its opponents.  On the season EIU holds a 50 point advantage over its opponents in terms of bench production 284-to-234.

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 69-119 record at EIU.  The seven game OVC win streak was the best in school history as Miller has a 39-74 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 156-198 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.