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EASTERN ILLINOIS (12-16, 5-10) at Eastern Kentucky (15-15, 6-9)

Feb. 25, 2012  •  6 p.m. (CST)
McBrayer Arena  •  Richmond, Ky.
Radio: Hit Mix 88.9 FM  •  TV: None
Mike Bradd

GAME 29
Eastern Illinois wraps up the 2012 regular season on Saturday at Eastern Kentucky with the two teams playing an essential play-in game for the final spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.  EIU lost on Thursday at Morehead State falling to 12-16 overall, 5-10 in the OVC.  EKU lost on Thursday to SIU Edwardsville as the Colonels are now 15-15 overall, 6-9 in the OVC.  If EIU wins on Saturday and SIUE losses at Morehead State on Saturday then all three teams would finish at 6-10 in the OVC standings.  EIU would then win a three-way tie-breaker based on a 3-1 record against the EKU and SIUE. 

EIU-EASTERN KENTUCKY SERIES
This will be 33rd meeting between Eastern Illinois and Eastern Kentucky.  The Colonels hold an 19-13 series lead including wins in 13 of the last 16 meetings.  The Colonels won the first meeting this season in Charleston, 47-43.  EKU swept the season series last year winning 63-49 in Charleston and 67-47 in Richmond.  EIU's last win in the series was in the OVC Tournament first round in 2010 when EIU won 68-61 to advance to Nashville.  EIU's last win in Richmond was Jan. 27, 2001.

SCOUTING EASTERN KENTUCKY
Eastern Kentucky has lost six of its last seven Ohio Valley Conference games including four straight with Thursday's loss against SIU Edwardsville.  The Colonels are led by Jaron Jones with 16.5 points per game with Joshua Jones contributing 10.2 points per game.  Transfer guard Mike DiNunno is just under double figures at 9.9 per game and a team high 82 assists.  The Colonels are shooting 43.1 percent as a team and 33.5 percent from 3-point range. 

OVC TOURNAMENT SCENARIOS
Eastern Illinois enters the final game of the season still alive in the OVC Tournament race.  EIU needs to win at Eastern Kentucky on Saturday and also needs SIU Edwardsville to lose on Saturday at Morehead State.  Those two scenarios would create a three-way tie for 8th in the OVC standings at 6-10 between EIU, EKU and SIUE.  The Panthers would be 3-1 against those collective teams and win the bid.

SEASON LOW POINT TOTAL IN LOSS AT MOREHEAD STATE
Eastern Illinois scored a season low 39 points on Thursday as the Panthers suffered their worst loss of the season in a 75-39 set back at Morehead State.  EIU scored only 11 points in the first half with Jeremy Granger scoring eight of those points.  Granger finished with a team-high 16 points as the only EIU player to reach double figures.  The Panthers were cold from the field shooting 34 percent including an 0-for-17 effort from 3-point range. 

GRANGER RECORD BOOK NUMBERS
Senior Jeremy Granger will be playing his final regular season game on Saturday at Eastern Kentucky with his name securely in a number of EIU career record books.  Granger will finish as the Panthers career leader in free throw percentage shooting 87.3 percent for his career.  That number ranks third all-time in the Ohio Valley Conference.  Granger is 5th on the Panthers career free throws made list with 317.  He has 312 career assists which ranks third on the EIU career list.  Granger has scored 1,261 career points which ranks 17th on the career scoring list.  He needs 22 points on Saturday at EKU to tie Mark Polite for 16th with 1,283 points.  On Saturday Granger will be playing his 118th game which is tied for third on the all-time EIU list.  Only Ousmane Cisse and Henry Domercant both with 120 games played will rank ahead of Granger.

ONE LINERS
• Alex Lubsey came off the bench for the first time in nearly a month at Morehead State playing a season high 10 minutes.  Lubsey made his first free throw of the season while collecting one rebound and passing out one assist.

• Thursday night's loss to Morehead State marked only the second time in the NCAA Division I era that Eastern Illinois had failed to score 40 or more points in a game.  The other time was current head coach Mike Miller's first game, a 80-35 loss at Xavier.

• Alfonzo McKinnie blocked two shots on Thursday at Morehead State marking the second straight game the sophomore has blocked two shots in a game.  McKinnie has 24 blocks on the season and needs four more to move into 10th on the single season blocks list.  He enters the EKU game second in the OVC in field goal percentage at 57.1 percent and third in rebounding at 7.1 per game.

• Jeremy Granger is on pace to lead the Panthers in both scoring and assists for the second straight season.  If he accomplishes that he will be the only player in EIU's Division I era to lead the team in those categories at the same time in multiple years.  Ricky Robinson (1981), Kevin Jones (1982), Steve Rowe (1991) and Derrick Landrus (1994) all led the team in those categories one time in their careers.

• Eastern Illinois was 0-for-17 from 3-point range on Thursday night at Morehead State.  It was the second time this season that EIU did not knock down a shot from beyond the arc.  The other time was 0-for-4 at Jacksonville State.  It was the first time EIU had not made a 3-pointer with 10-or-more attempts since Dec. 18, 2006 when the Panthers were 0-for-12 from 3-point range in a loss to Eastern Kentucky.

• Alfonzo McKinnie and James Hollowell are both chasing mile stone numbers in rebounds in the final regular season game at Eastern Kentucky.  McKinnie needs 11 rebounds to reach 300 for his career.  Hollowell needs six to reach 400 rebounds for his career.  Of McKinnie's 289 career rebounds to date, 111 have been on the offensive glass.

• Austin Akers continued to have good assist numbers when playing against Morehead State.  In the game in Charleston in early February, Akers finished with eight assists and no turnovers.  On Thursday at MSU, Akers had three assists and two turnovers giving him 11 assists and two turnovers against the Eagles this year.  Since that Feb. 4 game against MSU, Akers has 21 assists and 6 turnovers in six games.

• Eastern Illinois enters the final game of the regular season shooting 75.3 percent from the free throw line.  The Panthers are currently 1st in the OVC and 18th in the NCAA in free throw percent.  EIU's best season free throw percentage was 77.5 percent set in the 2001 season.  Under head coach Mike Miller the Panthers have consistently shot free throws well knocking down 73 percent from the line since the 2005-06 season.

• Saturday's game will mark the final regular season games for EIU's four seniors - L.C. Doss, Jeremy Granger, Nick McFarlin and Zavier Sanders.

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 75-129 record at EIU.  The seven game OVC win streak was the best in school history as Miller has a 44-83 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 162-208 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.  The OVC recently announced that the conference will play in two divisions for basketball.  EIU will play in the West Division with Austin Peay, Murray State, SIU Edwardsville, Southeast Missouri and UT Martin.  The East Division will be comprised of Belmont, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Morehead State, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech.