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EASTERN ILLINOIS (7-17, 4-7) at Southeast Missouri (12-13, 4-7)

Feb. 9, 2013  •  5:30 p.m.
Show Me Center  •  Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Radio: Hit Mix 88.9 FM  •  TV: OVC Digital Network
Mike Bradd & Jack Ashmore


GAME 25
Eastern Illinois plays its final road Ohio Valley Conference game on Saturday at Southeast Missouri.  EIU has won two of its last three road conference games following Thursday's 93-65 victory at UT Martin.  EIU ends the season with four conference games at home in Lantz Arena.  EIU also plays two non-conference road games the final week of the year.  The Panthers improved to 7-17 overall, 4-7 in the OVC with the win at UTM.  EIU is currently tied for third place in the OVC West Division standings with Southeast Missouri but beat the Redhawks, 78-72, in Charleston just two weeks ago.  SEMO is 12-13 overall, 4-7 in the OVC after picking up a 76-67 win over SIU Edwardsville on Thursday.  SEMO is 8-4 at home this year with three of those losses in OVC play.  EIU is 2-10 on the road.

BLANFORD GETS THIRD DOUBLE-DOUBLE IN FIVE GAMES
Sherman Blanford collected his third double-double of the season all coming in the Panthers last five games as he finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds at UT Martin.  Blanford has pulled down 52 rebounds in his last five games to move into 10th in the OVC in rebounding at 6.3 per game.  The junior has increased that production in OVC games to 7.4 rebounds per game.  It marked the eighth time in nine games that Blanford has scored in double figures.  In that nine game stretch he is averaging 13.6 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.

AKERS CLIMBS INTO TOP TEN FOR ASSIST-TO-TURNOVER
Austin Akers matched his career high of eight assists in Thursday's win over UT Martin.  It was his season high as he finished the game without any turnovers.  Last season Akers had eight assists in a home game versus Morehead State.  It marked the second straight game Akers has not committed a turnover as he moved up to 7th in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio with a 2.97-to-1 average.  It was the fourth game this season that Akers has had five assists or more without a turnover.  In addition to his assist work, Akers finished with a career high 13 points and 7 rebounds at UT Martin.

UP NEXT
Thursday - February 14 vs. Austin Peay (7 p.m.)

LAST TIME OUT
Eastern Illinois shot 65 percent from the floor and 63 percent from 3-point range as the Panthers rolled past UT Martin 93-65 on Thursday night.  Five EIU players scored in double figures led by Morris Woods with 18.

SCOUTING SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
EIU will face Southeast Missouri for the second time in two weeks.  Tyler Stone leads the Redhawks with 16.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.  Corey Wilford adds 14.5 points per game while Nino Johnson averages 11.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.  Johnson has been to the free throw line 126 times this season but is only shooting 52.4 percent from the stripe.  SEMO averages 71.5 points per game.

SERIES INFORMATION
This will be 47th meeting between Eastern Illinois and Southeast Missouri.  EIU leads the all-time series 24-22 including a 78-72 overtime win over SEMO two weeks ago in Lantz Arena.  That win by EIU snapped a four game SEMO win streak in the series.  EIU is 10-11 in games played in Cape Girardeau with the last win at the Show Me Center on Feb. 6, 2010, a 75-49 victory.

HOT, HOT, HOT FROM 3-POINT LAND
Eastern Illinois shot a season best 63 percent from 3-point range on Thursday night at UT Martin making 12-of-19 shots from beyond the arc.  Five different players made at least one 3-pointer with Malcolm Herron leading the way at 4-for-5.  The 12 made 3-pointers is tied for the 7th most made in school history and the most made by an EIU team since a 12-of-22 3-point night at UMKC on Dec. 30, 2005.

WOODS DELIVERING IN LAST FOUR GAMES
Morris Woods has been the Panthers leading scorer in three of the last four games as he has reached double digits in all four contests.  He had a team high 18 points at UT Martin on Thursday making 6-of-9 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line.  Woods has moved up to 11th in the OVC in field goal percentage at 49.1 percent and is 6th in OVC contests at 55.2 percent.  Woods has reached double figures 11 times this season and averages 9.8 points per game.

ALEX AUSTIN LEADS OVC FRESHMAN SCORERS
Alex Austin has now scored in all 24 games as he broke out of a scoring rut on Thursday at UT Martin dropping in 16 points.  Austin is currently first among OVC freshmen in scoring at 8.2 points per game.  He has six double figure scoring games this season with a high of 21 against Toledo.  Austin was 6-of-8 from the floor and 2-of-3 from 3-point range at UTM.

HERRON WARMING UP FROM OUTSIDE
Malcolm Herron led all EIU outside shooters on Thursday at UT Martin making 4-of-5 from 3-point range to finish with 12 points.  It was Herron's third double figure game in the last four contests and fifth of the year.  He has made 11 of his last 19 3-pointers.

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.

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 113-49, 13-21 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