EASTERN ILLINOIS (10-8, 3-1 OVC) vs. Austin Peay (13-5, 5-0 OVC)
Saturday, January 19 • 3:15 pm
Charleston, Ill. • Lantz Arena
EIU GAME NOTES: PDF Link
RADIO: Hit Mix 88.9 FM
TV: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: www.eiupanthers.com
SERIES RECORD: 50th meeting, APSU leads 32-17
LAST MEETING: APSU 73, EIU 66 on March 1, 2018 at OVC Tournament (Evansville, Ind.)
GAME 19
Eastern Illinois continues its two-game homestand on Saturday afternoon as the Panthers host one of the first place teams in the OVC for the second straight game with Austin Peay visiting Lantz Arena. EIU suffered its first home conference loss on Thursday night to Murray State as the Panthers lost 83-61 to fall to 10-8 overall, 3-2 in the OVC. Austin Peay won on the road at SIUE to improved to 13-5 overall, 5-0 in the league. With Saturday's contest EIU will have played all three of the OVC league leaders in the last four games. EIU was at Jacksonville State last Thursday (1/10).
MACK SMITH OVER 20 POINTS AGAIN
Mack Smith finished with a team high 22 points on Thursday against Murray State. Smith was 9-of-14 from the floor including 3-of-7 from 3-point range. It was the third time this season Smith has scored 20 or more points with 20 against Bradley and 21 against North Alabama. Smith extended his streak of consecutive games with a 3-pointer made to 35 games, which ranks as the longest active streak in the OVC. He ranks seventh in the OVC this season with 40 made 3-pointers.
KUKOBAT BACK IN DOUBLE FIGURES
Rade Kukobat finished with 12 points and six rebounds on Thursday night against Murray State as he scored in double figures for the first time since the North Alabama contest when he had 14 points. Kukobat was 4-of-8 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the foul line. The junior college transfer opened the season with 12 points at Texas and 18 points at IUPUI ranking as the Panthers leading scorer on the season through the first five games of the year. Kukobat is the Panthers leading rebounder this season averaging 5.6 per game. His season high was nine vs. Arkansas State.
UP NEXT
Thursday, January 24 at UT Martin - 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
