EASTERN ILLINOIS (14-17) vs. UT Martin (11-18)
Wednesday, March 6 • 8:30 pmÂ
Evansville, Ind. • Ford Center
EIU Game Notes: PDF LinkÂ
RADIO: Hit Mix 88.9 FM
TV: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: www.ovcsports.com
SERIES RECORD: 49th meeting, EIU leads 26-22
LAST MEETING: EIU 66, @UTM 64 on Jan. 24, 2019
GAME 32
Eastern Illinois opens up play at the 2019 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament presented by Visit Evansville on Wednesday night at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. EIU will play as the No. 6 seed after finishing sixth in the OVC regular season standings at 14-17 overall, 7-11 in the OVC. The Panthers enter on a five-game losing streak having gone 1-8 in the month of February. UT Martin enters as the No. 7 seed after posting the best record in a four-way tie for seventh place. UTM snapped a three game losing streak on Saturday to finish 11-18 overall, 6-12 in the OVC.  This will be the first time the two schools have faced each other in the OVC Tournament. The winner will play No. 3 seed Jacksonville State on Thursday night at 8:30 p.m.Â
EIU IN THE OVC TOURNAMENT
Eastern Illinois will be playing in the OVC Tournament for the second straight season and the sixth time in seven years under head coach
Jay Spoonhour. EIU was the No. 7 seed last season beating Tennessee State in the first round before losing to Austin Peay in the second round. EIU is 7-14 all-time in the OVC Tournament winning the OVC Tournament title and NCAA automatic bid in 2001. Spoonhour is 2-5 in OVC Tournament games.Â
JOSIAH WALLACE NAMED FIRST TEAM ALL-OVC
Sophomore guard
Josiah Wallace was named a first team All-Ohio Valley Conference selection as the junior college transfer ranked eighth in the OVC in scoring at 15.2 points per game. Wallace had 23 double figure scoring games this season including a high of 31 against Arkansas State. He becomes just the sixth individual EIU player to earn OVC first team honors with the last being Trae Anderson in 2016. Wallace was also named to the OVC All-Newcomer team, the 11th time a Panther basketball player has been honored.
PANTHERS SET SCHOOL RECORD FOR 3-POINTERS
Eastern Illinois set the school record for 3-pointers made in a season on Feb. 28 against Jacksonville State. The Panthers added to that total on Saturday against Tennessee Tech as EIU has 265 3-pointers this season. EIU has made ten or more 3-pointers in a game 11 times and currently ranks fourth in the OVC in 3-pointers made per game (8.5).