EIU Game Notes  |  Listen Live  |  Live Stats  |  Watch Live - OVC Digital Network  |

EASTERN ILLINOIS (5-16, 2-6) vs. Southeast Missouri (11-11, 3-5)

Jan. 26, 2013  •  6 p.m.
Lantz Arena  •  Charleston, Ill.
Radio: Hit Mix 88.9 FM  •  TV: OVC Digital Network
Mike Bradd & Jack Ashmore


GAME 22
Eastern Illinois hosts Southeast Missouri as the Panthers are riding a two-game win streak with wins at Austin Peay and at home over UT Martin on Thursday night.  EIU has climbed to fourth in the OVC West Division standings with a 5-16 overall record, 2-6 in the OVC.  The game against Southeast Missouri will serve as the NABC Coaches vs. Cancer game in which the coaching staff for both schools will wear sneakers in support of the fight against cancer.  Following the game EIU will play three straight games on the road all against OVC West Division foes.  Southeast Missouri sits in third place in the OVC West Division just one game ahead of EIU in the standings.  SEMO fell to 11-11 overall, 3-5 in the OVC with Thursday's loss at SIU Edwardsville.  After opening league play at 2-0, SEMO has lost five of its last six conference contests.

WOODS POSTS A DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Morris Woods posted his first career double-double on Thursday in the win over UT Martin.  Woods had 15 points to go along with 11 rebounds.  Woods was 5-of-7 from the field and 5-of-9 from the free throw line.  Woods is currently 14th in the OVC in field goal percentage at 47.5 percent.  He is shooting 54.7 percent from the floor in league games.  Woods is 11th in the OVC in free throws attempted having been to the line 93 times.  The 11 rebounds is a career high while Woods career high in points is 25 earlier this year versus Tennessee Tech.

HERRON SCORES OFF THE BENCH
Malcolm Herron contributed 13 points off the bench in Thursday's win over UT Martin.  The 13 points matched Herron's career high set last season at Northwestern.  He was 3-of-4 from 3-point range and 5-of-6 from the field.  It marked the third time this season that Herron has scored in double figures.  He had 12 in the Panthers home win over Houston Baptist and 11 in the win over IPFW at the ICE Man Classic Tournament.  Herron is averaging 5.8 point per game and 6.1 points per game in OVC action.

UP NEXT
Saturday - February 2 at SIU Edwardsville (7 p.m.)

LAST TIME OUT
Eastern Illinois had four players score in double figures while shooting 52 percent from the floor as the Panthers powered their way to a 69-56 win over UT Martin.  EIU opened the game with a 13-2 run led by Morris Woods and Josh Piper.  Woods would go on to post his first career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.  UTM closed the first half with some hot shooting from 3-point range to lead 32-27 at the half.  EIU rallied early in the half taking the lead on an 8-0 run keyed by Sherman Blanford.  Blanford had 15 points, Piper had 10 points while Malcolm Herron added a career high 13.

SCOUTING SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
Southeast Missouri enters the weekend with an 11-11 overall record.  After opening OVC play with a 2-0 record, the Redhawks have lost five of their last six conference games including Thursday's loss at SIU Edwardsville.  Tyler Stone leads a group of three players averaging in double figures.  Stone is among the league leaders in scoring and reboundsing at 16.4 points and 8.3 rebounds.  Corey Wilford averages 13.9 points and Nino Johnson 11.8 points.  SEMO is limiting opponents to just 40 percent shooting from the field while shooting 45.7 percent.

SERIES INFORMATION
This will be 46th meeting between Eastern Illinois and Southeast Missouri.  The Panthers hold a slight 23-22 all-time series advantage including a 13-11 lead in home games.  SEMO has won four straight sweeping the regular season series each of the last two years.  Prior to that EIU had won five straight in the series.  The all-time series is tied at 10-10 in games played at Lantz Arena.

IN THE PAINT
• Sherman Blanford scored in double figures for the sixth straight game finishing with 15 points against UT Martin.  Blanford is leading the Panthers in scoring in OVC game at 11.6 points per game.  The current OVC Newcomer of the Week is averaging 14.2 points over the past six games shooting 53 percent from the field and 70 percent from the free throw line.  Blanford has added 19 assists in those games.

• Austin Akers had four assists and one turnover against UT Martin as he moved into first in the OVC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.6-to-1.  He ranks 24th in the NCAA heading into the weekend.  During OVC action Akers assist-to-turnover ratio has climbed to 3.3-to-1.  He has ten games with five or more assists this year.

• Taylor Jones has helped the Panthers close out the last two games at the free throw line.  On Thursday Jones was 4-of-4 from the line against UT Martin as EIU scored its final ten points from the line going 10-of-12 in the final two minutes of action.  Against Austin Peay, Jones closed out that contest making 7-of-8 from the line.

• Josh Piper finished with ten points on Thursday against UT Martin as he continues to lead the Panthers in scoring at 10.6 points per game.  Piper has twelve double figure games including a season high 28 points against Texas Pan American.  Piper is currently 7th in the OVC in 3-point field goal percentage and 13th in the field goal percentage.  He has made a 3-pointer in 18-of-21 games this season.

• Eastern Illinois shot over 50 percent from the field for the fourth time this season as the Panthers were 12-of-23 in both halves to finish at 52 percent for the game.  EIU is 3-1 in games shooting over 50 percent this year, the one loss was to Tennessee Tech.  Thursday's game was the first time EIU had trailed at the half and won this year.

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.

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 111-48, 11-20 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