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EASTERN ILLINOIS (9-17, 6-8) at Belmont (20-8, 11-2)

Feb. 20, 2014 • 7 p.m. 
Curb Event Center (5,000) • Nashville, Tenn.
Radio: Hit Mix 88.9 FM  
(Mike Bradd & Greg Lautzenheiser)

THE OPENING TIP
The Panther men's basketball team concludes a three-game road trip at Belmont on Thursday, Feb. 20. EIU is 9-17 (6-8 OVC) on the year and Belmont is 20-8 (11-2 OVC).
 
EIU has lost three consecutive conference games and sits in third place of the OVC West Division standings. The Panthers would be the seventh seed in the conference tournament if the regular season ended today.
 
The Panthers are led by second-year head coach Jay Spoonhour. He has posted a 126-70 record in seven seasons as a head coach and a 20-36 record at EIU.
 
Rick Byrd has a 683-354 overall record in 33 years as head coach with a 591-299 record in 28 seasons with the Bruins.
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH BELMONT
EIU trails the all-time series with Belmont, 2-1. The Panthers dropped the first meeting with Belmont as a member of the OVC last year inside Lantz Arena, 80-49, on Feb. 20.
 
The previous two meetings were played during the 2009-10 season in a home-and-home non-conference series. EIU lost at home, 95-62, on Nov. 28 before picking up a 63-60 road win on Dec. 10.
 
Sherman Blanford scored a team-high 14 points on 5-for-13 shooting with five rebounds and two blocks in last year's meeting with the Bruins. Alex Austin was the only other Panther in double figures with 10 points.  
 
SCOUTING THE BRUINS
Belmont is tied with Murray State with a conference-best 11-2 record. The Bruins are the only team in the OVC with 20 or more wins. Belmont has an 11-1 mark at home this season and have won 53 of its last 55 games at the Curb Event Center.
 
The Bruins have won three straight games and 12 of their last 14 outings. Belmont leads the OVC in field-goal percentage (.497) and three-point field-goal percentage (.393) and ranks second in scoring offense (79.8 ppg) and assists (15.2 apg).
 
JJ Mann is one of four players averaging 10 or more points per game with 18 points per game. He leads the conference in steals (2.2 spg) and ranks second on the team in rebounding (4.5 rpg). Blake Jenkins leads the team on the glass with 4.9 rebounds per game while adding 8.1 points per game and ranking fifth in the OVC in field-goal percentage (.628).
 
BLANFORD NAMED OVC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sherman Blanford was named the OVC Player of the Week on Monday, Feb. 17 for his on-court performance last week. He is the first Panther to earn the weekly award since Jeremy Granger on Dec. 5, 2011.
 
The senior forward averaged 29 points and 13 rebounds per game in two losses last week at Austin Peay (Feb. 13) and Murray State (Feb. 15). He posted a .595 field-goal percentage (22-for-37) and went 14-for-14 from the foul line on the week.
 
The Philadelphia, Pa., native scored a career-high 32 points and grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds at Austin Peay. He followed that performance with 26 points and eight rebounds at Murray State. Blanford has now scored 20 or more points in five consecutive games.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Panthers are coming off a 72-60 loss at Murray State, their third consecutive conference loss. EIU was out rebounded by three (31-28) in the loss and shot 41.2 percent from the floor (21-for-51).
 
UP NEXT
The Panthers play host to Chicago State in non-conference action on Monday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. The game will serve as Senior Night for the Panthers lone senior, Sherman Blanford. EIU then concludes regular-season action at SIUE on March 1 at 5 p.m. in a televised game on Fox Midwest.
 
IN THE PAINT
• Sherman Blanford has scored 20 or more points in five consecutive games. During that span, the senior forward has averaged 26.4 points and 11.2 rebounds per game with a .610 field-goal percentage (50-for-82) and a .821 free-throw percentage (32-for-39). He has 56 total rebounds in those games, including 28 offensive rebounds.
 
• Sherman Blanford ranks 10^th in the OVC in scoring (14.3 ppg) and sixth in rebounding (7.5 rpg). He has increased his average to 18.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game in OVC only contests.
 
• Dylan Chatman averaged 13.5 points and 5.5 assists per game last week. The junior guard dished out a career-high seven assists at Austin Peay and tied his career high in scoring with 19 points against the Governors.
 
• EIU posted a season-high .941 free-throw percentage at Murray State. The Panthers only missed two free throws last week as they went 26-for-28 from the charity stripe. EIU ranks fourth in the OVC in free-throw percentage (.724).
 
• The Panthers had eight steals at Murray State, their fourth game of the year with eight or more steals. Dylan Chatman paces the team with 32 steals while Reggie Smith has added 31 steals.
 
• EIU did not have a block at Murray State, the first time the Panthers have not had a block in a game this season. The Panthers ranks second in the conference in blocks (4.4 bpg) with Luke Piotrowski leading the team with 20 blocks. Sherman Blanford ranks second on the team with 19 blocks.
 
• Chris Olivier scored 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting with five rebounds in 22 minutes of action off the bench in his lone contest of the week at Murray State. He has averaged 9.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in OVC games.
 
• Jake Verhagen was held scoreless against Racers in 10 minutes of action off the bench. The freshman guard previously scored a career-high 12 points at Austin Peay, going 4-for-6 from behind the arc. He has a team-best .395 three-point field-goal percentage with 43 of his 50 shot attempts this season coming from behind the arc. He has gone 9-for-17 from three-point range in his last seven outings.
 
• The Panthers are 3-10 in road games this year and 2-4 in road OVC contests. EIU has averaged 62.4 points per game on the road this season.
 
• In six OVC road games this year, the Panthers have averaged 70.3 points per game with a .491 field-goal percentage. Sherman Blanford has averaged 16.7 points and 9.2 rebounds per game in those contests.
 
• EIU has already won six conference games this season, tying last year's win total in OVC action. A win on Thursday would give the Panthers their most conference wins since posting an 11-7 record during the 2009-10 season.
 
• The Panthers rank 11th in the conference in scoring offense (67.1 ppg), sixth in scoring defense (73.4 ppg) and 10th in scoring margin (- 6.3).
 
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. Spoonhour's career mark is 126-70, 26-42 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 as they have combined to win 395 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 1,124 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. (through games on Feb. 18, 2014)