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EASTERN ILLINOIS (3-10) at Tennessee State (6-7)

Dec. 29, 2012  •  7:30 p.m.
Gentry Center  •  Nashville, Tenn.
Radio: Hit Mix 88.9 FM  •  TV: OVC Digital Network
Mike Bradd


GAME 14
Eastern Illinois opens its 17th season of play in the Ohio Valley Conference on Saturday evening at Tennessee State.  The Panthers enter the contest having lost six straight games to stand at 3-10 on the year.  This is the third of five straight road games for EIU including three straight road games to open OVC play.  EIU was picked to finish 5th in the West Division as the OVC split into two divisions for the 2012-13 season.  Tennessee State opens OVC play with a 6-7 record having won five of its last seven games.  TSU lost to Murray State in the OVC Tournament Championship game last season and was picked to finish second in the East Division this year.  EIU will play five of the six teams in the East Division to open the season.  The sixth team, Belmont, comes to Lantz Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 20.

OVC OPENERS
Eastern Illinois is 7-9 all-time in Ohio Valley Conference openers as the Panthers begin their 17th year as a league member.  EIU has won three of its last four OVC openers with all three wins coming over Tennessee State.  EIU won 68-67 to open the 2010-11 OVC season.  The Panthers won in triple overtime at TSU to open the 2009-10 season and opened the 2008-09 season with a win over TSU.  EIU has opened OVC play four times against TSU.  TSU won the other opener during the 1998-99 season.

ALEX AUSTIN NAMED OVC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Guard Alex Austin won his second Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Week award following his performance against Saint Louis and Drake.  At Saint Louis, Austin continued his hot shooting hitting 6-of-8 from the floor and 3-of-3 from 3-point range to finish with 17 points.  At Drake, Austin was limited to four points but helped the team in other ways finishing with three steals and two assists.  On the season he is averaging 8.8 points per game.  He won his other OVC Freshman Award following the season opener at Bradley.

UP NEXT
Saturday - January 3 at Eastern Kentucky - 6 p.m. (Central)

LAST TIME OUT
Eastern Illinois held the lead midway through the first half at Drake but the Panthers could not overcome a hot 3-point shooting day by Drake as they fell 74-56.  Sherman Blanford scored 11 of EIU's first 14 points but when he was hit with his second personal foul around the 9 minute mark, EIU's offense went cold.  The Panthers did not score a field goal for the last 9:13 of the first half and their first bucket of the second half was at 16:09 on a Morris Woods tip-in.  Drake shot 59 percent from 3-point range hitting 13-of-22 from beyond the arc.  EIU shot 45 percent for the game including 50 percent in the second half.  Blanford had a career high 18 points.

SCOUTING TENNESSEE STATE
Tennessee State opens Ohio Valley Conference play with a 6-7 record but has won five of its last seven games including a win over USC Upstate prior to the Christmas break.  TSU has four players that average in double figures led by Robert Covington at 17.4 points per game along with 7.7 rebounds.  TSU is shooting only 40 percent as a team but is fourth in the OVC in rebounding at 36.8 per game.  Patrick Miller is a dual threat with 10.5 points per game and an OVC leading 5.8 assists per game.  Travis Williams is in his first season as the TSU head coach.

SERIES INFORMATION
This will be the 46th meeting between Eastern Illinois and Tennessee State as the two schools first met back in 1959.  TSU won the first seven meetings between the two schools with EIU's first win coming in 1972.  Since EIU joined the OVC in 1997, the Panthers have a 17-15 series advantage.  TSU has won the last two meetings in the series including a 55-46 win in Lantz Arena last year.  EIU's last win in Nashville was on Dec. 3, 2009, a triple overtime 83-81 decision.  This marks the second straight year EIU has played TSU only one time.

BLANFORD BIG AT DRAKE
Sherman Blanford had one his best games of the season at Drake finishing with a season high 18 points.  Blanford opened the game 6-of-6 from the floor finishing with an 8-of-10 night.  The junior forward pulled down seven rebounds as he leads the Panthers in rebounding at 5.5 per game (15th in the OVC).  Blanford added three offensive rebounds to his season total as 29 of his 71 rebounds are on the offensive glass.  It was the sixth time this season that he had three or more offensive rebounds with a high of six offensive boards against Rochester College.

PANTHERS SIGN WISCONSIN POST
Eastern Illinois head coach Jay Spoonhour signed Wisconsin post player Jake Verhagen as the first player in the 2013 class.  Verhagen is a 6'6 post at Appleton West HS where he averaged 16 points and 7 rebounds as a junior earning All-Fox Valley League honors.  He is rated the 26th best player in the state.  Verhagen is averaging 13 points per game for Appleton West as a senior.

ONE LINERS
• Austin Akers had two assists and three turnovers at Drake marking only the second time this year he has had more turnovers than assists in a game.  For the year Akers is 2nd in the OVC and 70th in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.3-to-1.

• Josh Piper knocked down a 3-pointer for the 11th straight game going 2-for-3 from beyond the arc.  Piper is shooting 45.5 percent from 3-point range this season to rank  7th in the OVC.  He is shooting 45.9 percent from 3-point range for his career.

• Malcolm Herron knocked down both of his free throw attempts at Drake as he has now made 11 of his last 12 free throws and 83.3 percent this season.  Herron's career free throw percentage is 82.1 after making 8-of-10 from the stripe last year.

• Morris Woods scored ten points off the bench at Drake giving his five double figure games this season.  Woods has been to the free throw line a team high 54 times including eight times at Drake.  He is shooting only 46.3 percent from the line.

EASTERN ILLINOIS HEAD COACH JAY SPOONHOUR
Jay Spoonhour enters his first season as the Panthers head coach having been hired on April 9, 2012.  Spoonhour was most recently the head coach at Moberly Area Community College where he coached for three seasons.  He is a long time assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level and served as the interim head coach at UNLV to complete the 2004 season posting a 6-4 record and taking the team to the finals of the Mountain West Conference along with an NIT appearance.  In 2001 Spoonhour was named the National Junior College Coach of the Year leading Wabash Valley College to the NJCAA National Championship with a 36-1 record.  He is the son of the late legendary coach Charlie Spoonhour.  Spoonhour played basketball at Pittsburg State earning his degree in 1994.  He was an honorable mention All-Conference selection.  He has assistant coaching stops at Central Missouri, Saint Louis, UNLV, Missouri and Texas San Antonio.  Spoohour's career mark is 109-42, 9-14 at NCAA Division I.

PANTHERS PICKED 5TH IN OVC WEST
Eastern Illinois was picked to finish in 5th place in the Ohio Valley Conference West Division this season.  The Panthers finished 10th last season in the one division format missing the OVC Tournament.  With the addition of Belmont to the OVC this season, the conference will play in two six team divisions.  Murray State was picked to win the West Division followed by Southeast Missouri, Austin Peay, SIU Edwardsville, EIU and UT Martin.  Belmont was selected to win the East Division after winning the Atlantic Sun Conference last year.

OVC GROWS, SPLITS TO DIVISIONS
The Ohio Valley Conference grew to 12 members with the addition of Belmont for the 2012-13 school year.  The OVC will now play in Divisions - East & West for men's and women's basketball.  Each school will play a home & home series within its division and one game against opponents from the opposite division (3 home games, 3 road games).  The two eight schools in the conference based on record will advance to the OVC Tournament in Nashville with the division winners seeded first and second.  SIU Edwardsville is now eligible to play in the OVC Tournament.  Due to NCAA APR penalties, Jacksonville State is not eligible for the OVC Tournament this season.

FATHER, SON COMBINATIONS
Jay Spoonhour and his late father, Charlie Spoonhour, are one of several father/son combinations that have coached in collegiate basketball.  Entering the season the two have combined to win 376 NCAA basketball games, all coming at the Division I level.  Only 17 father/son combinations have ever won 600 or more games with Eddie, Scott and Sean Sutton topping the list with 1,091 wins between the three.  Scott is currently the head coach at Oral Roberts.  Only three father/son combinations have ever won more than 1,000 games at the NCAA level.

OVC DIGITAL NETWORK
Basketball fans can watch each Eastern Illinois home game and all OVC road games for free online this year on the OVC Digital Network streaming platform.  Fans can view games by visiting - www.ovcdigitalnetwork.com