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EASTERN ILLINOIS (2-1) at Purdue (3-0)

Nov. 20, 2013 • 6 p.m. CT
Mackey Arena (14,264) • West Lafayette, Ind.
Radio: Hit Mix 88.9 FM
(Mike Bradd & Jack Ashmore)

THE OPENING TIP
The Panther men's basketball team travels to Purdue for a midweek contest on Wednesday, Nov. 20. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT from Mackey Arena.
 
EIU is 2-1 on the year following a 20-point road victory at Illinois-Chicago on Nov. 16. The Panthers are led by second-year head coach Jay Spoonhour who has compiled a 119-55 overall record as a head coach.
 
Purdue is 3-0 this season after defeating Rider, 81-77, on Nov. 17. The Boilermakers are averaging 89 points per game and have played all three games in West Lafayette, Ind., this year.
 
Matt Painter is in his ninth season at the helm of the Purdue program and has a 204-100 overall record in 10 seasons as a head coach. Two Boilermaker coaches have ties to EIU as Painter was an assistant coach with the Panthers from 1995-98 while associate head coach Jack Owens is a 1999 graduate. Owens played at EIU from 1997-99 and was also an assistant coach from 2002-03.
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH PURDUE
Purdue leads the all-time series with EIU, 4-0. The Boilermakers defeated the Panthers, 87-67, in the last meeting between the two schools on Jan. 2, 2005 in West Lafayette, Ind.
 
SCOUTING THE BOILERMAKERS
The Boilermakers are led in scoring by a pair of brothers, Ronnie and Terone Johnson. Ronnie is averaging a team-best 15 points per game with a .607 field-goal percentage while Terone is averaging 13.7 points per game. Errick Peck leads the team on the glass with 5.7 rebounds per game.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Panthers are coming off 86-66 road win at Illinois-Chicago. EIU hit 57.1 percent of its shot attempts in the victory as seven players scored eight or more points for a balanced offensive attack. The Panthers also had a season-high 17 assists and nine blocks against the Flames.
 
UP NEXT
The Panthers play two home games against Roosevelt University (Nov. 23) and IPFW (Nov. 27) before traveling to Western Kentucky (Nov. 30) to end the month.
 
IN THE PAINT
• The Panthers had nine blocks in the win at Illinois-Chicago, the team's most blocks in a game since rejecting nine shots in a 50-48 win over Jacksonville State on Jan. 2, 2010.
 
• After recording only nine assist through their first two games this season, the Panthers dished out 17 assist in the win at Illinois-Chicago. Reggie Smith had a team-high six assists in the victory.
 
• The Panthers hit 57.1 percent of their field-goal attempts against the Flames, their highest field-goal percentage since draining 65.2 percent of their shots in a 93-65 win at UT Martin on Feb. 7, 2013. The 20-point road victory at Illinois-Chicago was only the Panthers third 20-point road win since Feb. 6, 2010.
 
• EIU currently leads the conference blocked shots with 22. Brothers Luke and Mat Piotrowski have led the way as the two first-year players have combined to block 12 shots.
 
• Through two weeks of basketball, the Panthers rank second in the conference in scoring defense (66.0 ppg). EIU led the OVC in the category (64.2 ppg) a year ago.
 
• After going 6-for-35 from behind the arc in their first two games, the Panthers hit 64.3 percent of their three pointers at Illinois-Chicago. EIU went 9-for-14 from behind the arc with Reggie Smith and Dylan Chatman both hitting three each.
 
• Keenen Anderson averaged 9.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game last week for the Panthers. He went 6-for-8 from the floor and 7-for-9 from the charity stripe while adding three blocks and one steal. The junior forward ranks eighth in the conference in rebounding, averaging 6.7 rebounds per game.
 
• Reggie Smith leads the team in scoring as the junior guard is averaging 21 points per game. He has added six assists, four steals and has gone 17-for-26 from the foul line.
 
• Redshirt-freshman Dennis Green averaged 10.5 points per game last week. The 6-foot-3 guard also went 6-for-15 from the floor and 9-for-15 from the foul line while adding three assists and two steals.
 
PRESEASON POLL
EIU was picked to finish fifth in the OVC's West Division while Southeast Missouri and Murray State were tied for first in the preseason poll. Austin Peay was third followed by UT Martin, EIU and SIUE. Eastern Kentucky was tabbed to win the east division followed by Belmont, Morehead State, Jacksonville State, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech.
 
EASTERN ILLINOIS HEAD COACH JAY SPOONHOUR
Jay Spoonhour enters his second season as the Panthers head coach having been hired on April 9, 2012.  Spoonhour was previously 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 119-55, 19-26 at NCAA Division I.
 
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 389 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 1,113 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
 
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.