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EASTERN ILLINOIS (8-20) at Northern Illinois (5-19)

Feb. 23, 2013  •  3 p.m.
NIU Convocation Center  •  DeKalb, Ill.
Radio: Hit Mix 88.9 FM  •  TV: None
Mike Bradd & Jack Ashmore

GAME 29
Eastern Illinois steps out of conference action traveling to Northern Illinois on Saturday for this year's Ramada Worldwide Bracketbuster game.  EIU will then travel to Chicago State on Tuesday for a non-conference game before wrapping up the regular-season on March 2 at home against SIU Edwardsville.  The Panthers are coming off back-to-back games against the two Ohio Valley Conference Division leaders.  EIU beat West Division leader Murray State on Saturday, 79-70, but fell to East Division leader Belmont on Wednesday, 80-49.  EIU is now 8-20, 5-10 in the OVC.  Northern Illinois is 5-19 overall, 3-9 in the Mid-American Conference.  NIU has lost five straight games.

BRACKETBUSTER ENDS AFTER 2013
Eastern Illinois will be playing in the Bracketbusters event for the eighth straight year when they travel to Northern Illinois this Saturday.  This will be the final year of the current Bracketbusters format and Northern Illinois will return the game to EIU either in the 2013-14 or 2014-15 season.  EIU is 3-4 in previous Bracketbuster contests having a three-game win streak in the event snapped last season with a loss to Illinois-Chicago.  In the previous seven games EIU has played Eastern Michigan, Loyola-Chicago, Evansville, Western Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo and UIC.  The Panthers beat NIU 73-70 in the 2010 Bracketbusters game played in Lantz Arena.

HERRON PULLS DOWN DOUBLE FIGURE REBOUNDS
Senior Malcolm Herron had his first start of the season on Wednesday against Belmont responding with a career high 10 rebounds.  Herron added seven points and one assist.  Four of Herron's ten rebounds were on the offensive glass as EIU out-rebounded Belmont on the night, 32-28.  Herron's previous high was eight rebounds on two occasions - at Stony Brook and vs. Southeast Missouri.  Herron is the fourth player this year to collect double figure rebounds in a game joining Sherman Blanford (4 times), Josh Piper (1 time) and Morris Woods (1 time).

UP NEXT
Tuesday - February 26 at Chicago State (7 p.m.) on ESPN3

LAST TIME OUT
Eastern Illinois committed 11 first half turnovers which Belmont converted into 18 first half points as the Bruins raced out to a 42-20 halftime lead during a 80-49 win over the Panthers.  Belmont shot 60 percent in the first half and 53 percent for the game.  The Panthers did limit Belmont's top two scorers to seven combined points but two other players both scored 21 to lead the Bruins.  EIU was led by Sherman Blanford who scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half.  Alex Austin scored in double figures for the fifth straight game finishing with 10 points.

SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Northern Illinois enters with a 5-19 record as the Huskies have lost five straight entering the game.  NIU is 3-8 at home this year.  Abdel Nader is the team's leading scorer at 13.2 points per game as NIU averages 55.8 points per game, ranking 342nd in the nation in scoring offense.  The Huskies second leading scorer is Aksel Bolin at 7.4 rebounds a team high 101 rebounds.  NIU is shooting 36.2 percent from the floor while holding opponents to 42.8 percent.

SERIES INFORMATION
This will be the 88th meeting between Eastern Illinois and Northern Illinois.  NIU holds a 44-43 all-time series lead.  The Panthers have won two straight in the series winning the Bracketbuster contest in February 2010 and the return Bracketbuster game in November 2011.  The two schools first met in 1921 and competed against each other for many years as members of the both the IIAC and Mid-Continent Conference.  EIU is 16-28 in games played in DeKalb.

IN THE PAINT
• Sherman Blanford scored in double figures for the 11th time in the last 13 games finishing with 14 points against Belmont.  Blanford scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half.  Blanford was 4-of-6 from the free throw line against Belmont and has hit 14 of his last 20 from the stripe.  For the season Blanford is leading the team with 10.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

• Freshman Alex Austin finished with 10 points against Belmont as he has put together five straight games with double figure scoring.  Austin was 3-of-5 from the floor as he is shooting 67.5 percent over the last five games including 56 percent from 3-point range (10-of-18).  Austin currently ranks first among OVC Freshmen in scoring at 9 points per game.  He has been named the OVC Freshman of the Week four times.

• Austin Akers was held to just one assist on Wednesday against Belmont, the fourth time this season the senior point guard has had just one assist.  Akers entered the week 8th in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio as he is now at 3-to-1 for the season.  In the last eight games Akers has 28 assists and only five turnovers.  He has not had multiple turnovers in a game since January 19 against Austin Peay.

• Josh Piper came off the bench for the first time this season against Belmont and scored all four of his points from the free throw line.  Piper is shooting 88.1 percent from the stripe and has now made nine straight.  He pulled down seven rebounds and blocked a shot for the fifth straight game. 

• Cameron Harvey scored off the bench for the fifth straight game making 1-of-2 from the field.  In the last five games Harvey has made 5-of-7 from the field and 2-of-3 from 3-point range.

• Morris Woods was held to 2-of-7 shooting against Belmont as his season field goal percentage dropped to 50 percent.  He is averaging 10.6 points, 13 ppg in the OVC.

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 12.2 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 114-52, 14-24 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