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EASTERN ILLINOIS (6-17, 3-7) at UT Martin (6-16, 3-7)

Feb. 7, 2013  •  7 p.m.
Elam Center  •  Martin, Tenn.
Radio: Hit Mix 88.9 FM  •  TV: OVC Digital Network
Mike Bradd & Jack Ashmore

GAME 24
Eastern Illinois plays its final Ohio Valley Conference road games this week as the Panthers travel to UT Martin on Thursday night and Southeast Missouri on Saturday.  EIU will close out its conference schedule with four home games.  EIU does have two non-conference road contests the final week of the regular season.  EIU beat UTM and SEMO in Lantz Arena on Jan. 24 & 26 as they posted a three game conference win streak.  That winning streak was snapped on Saturday at SIU Edwardsville as EIU remains in third place in the OVC West Division standings with a 3-7 OVC record, 6-17 overall.  EIU is tied for third with UTM and SEMO but currently owns the tie-breaker over both schools.  UT Martin is 6-16, 3-7 in the OVC having won two straight games following their loss at Eastern Illinois.  UTM beat Eastern Kentucky last Thursday.

AKERS CLIMBING IN NATIONAL ASSIST-TO-TURNOVER RATIO
Austin Akers was held to only one assist on Saturday at SIU Edwardsville as the Panthers as a team were held to a season low six assists.  It was only the second time this season that Akers has had only one assist, the other was the season opener at Bradley.  The senior guard did play 33 minutes without committing a turnover as he moved up to 16th in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.7-to-1.  In OVC action this season Akers average is up to 3.5-to-1 per game.  Akers has 11 games with five or more assists with a season high of seven at Eastern Michigan.

EIU DRAWS NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOR BRACKETBUSTER GAME
For the second time in eight Bracketbuster appearances Eastern Illinois will play Northern Illinois as the pairings for this year's Ramada Worldwide Bracketbuster were announced on Monday.  EIU and NIU met in 2010 with the Panthers picking up a 73-70 victory in Lantz Arena.  EIU is 3-4 all-time in Bracketbuster contests as this will be the final year for Bracketbusters in its current format.  EIU and NIU will be meeting for the 88th time with NIU holding a slight 44-43 series lead.

UP NEXT
Saturday - February 9 at Southeast Missouri (5:30 p.m.)

LAST TIME OUT
Eastern Illinois opened the second half shooting 58 percent from the field to build a ten point lead before hitting a cold streak for the final 11 minutes falling to SIU Edwardsville 49-45 on Saturday night.  EIU led 43-42 in the final minutes before the Cougars sank a 3-pointer with 50 seconds left to take the lead.  Morris Woods was a bright spot for the Panthers with 16 points.  EIU was 0-for-9 from 3-point range in the second half and missed all four second half free throw chances.  EIU did out rebound its opponent for the fourth straight game.

SCOUTING UT MARTIN
UT Martin enters the game with the same Ohio Valley Conference record as Eastern Illinois with both schools sporting 3-7 conference records.  UTM has won two straight games including a win last Thursday over Eastern Kentucky.  The Skyhawks are led by Myles Taylor who won OVC Player of the Week honors this week.  He averages 16.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.   Mike Liabo is second on the team with 12.8 points per game having made 52 3-pointers.  UTM is shooting just 39 percent as a team and is being out scored by nearly 10 points per game. 

SERIES INFORMATION
This will be 36th meeting between Eastern Illinois and UT Martin.  EIU took the all-time series lead with its 69-56 win over the Skyhawks on Jan. 24.  The Panthers have won three straight in the series to now lead 18-17 all-time.  EIU swept the season series in 2012 after UTM swept the season series in 2011.  EIU is 6-10 in games played at the Elam Center.  Six of the 35 meetings have gone to overtime with the last a 80-70 win by EIU in overtime on Jan. 12, 2006.

IN THE PAINT
• Morris Woods led the Panthers with 16 points at SIU Edwardsville as he was the only EIU player in double figures.  Woods has scored in double figures in three straight games.  He is shooting 53.8 percent in OVC action and 48.2 percent for the season to rank 13th in the conference.  His season high was 25 points against Tennessee Tech.

• Sherman Blanford had his streak of seven straight games with double digit scoring end at SIU Edwardsville on Saturday.  While his scoring may have been down Blanford was active on the boards for the fourth straight game finishing with nine rebounds.  He has 42 rebounds in his last four games as he has moved into 10th in the OVC in rebounding at 6.2 per game.  His season high is 16 vs. SEMO.

• Taylor Jones was held scoreless for the first time this season as he went 0-for-5 from the floor.  Jones has not made a field goal since the UT Martin game on Jan. 24 but scored four points from the free throw line versus Southeast Missouri.  It ended a streak of 23 straight games in which Jones had scored dating back to last season.  Jones is 8th in 3-point field goal percentage in OVC games at 42.5 percent.

• Malcolm Herron knocked down a 3-pointer for the third straight game as he finished with five points at SIU Edwardsville.  Herron is shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc in the last three games and 34 percent for the year.  He has scored in seven straight games including double figure efforts against UT Martin and SEMO.

• Freshman Alex Austin scored six points with four coming from the free throw line at SIU Edwardsville on Saturday.  Austin has scored in all 23 games this season as his 7.8 points per game ranks second among OVC freshman 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 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 112-49, 12-21 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