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EASTERN ILLINOIS (16-14, 9-9 OVC) vs. Jacksonville State (13-18, 8-10 OVC)
Wednesday, March 4 •  8:30 pm 
Evansville, Ind.  •  Ford Center
OVC Tournament Central 

EIU GAME NOTES: PDF File
RADIO: Hit Mix 88.9 FM
TV: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: www.ovcsports.com
SERIES RECORD: EIU leads 13-11
LAST MEETING: @EIU 70, JSU 69 on January 16, 2020

GAME 31
Eastern Illinois will open play in the 2020 Ohio Valley Conference presented by TicketSmarter on Wednesday evening as the Panthers will play as the No. 6 seed for the second straight season. EIU will face Jacksonville State in the opening round as the two schools will face each other in the OVC Tournament for the first time.  EIU ended the regular season on a four-game win streak to finish at 16-14, 9-9 in the OVC.  It marked only the third time in the last 20 seasons that EIU has finished the regular season over .500.  The last time was during the 2014-15 when EIU went 18-15 advancing to the second round of the CIT.  EIU's 9-9 record tied the Panthers for fifth in the OVC standings, the highest for the program since the 2009-10 season.  JSU closed the season with a home win over Tennessee Tech to end the year at 13-18 overall, 8-10 in the OVC.

OVC TOURNAMENT
Eastern Illinois advanced to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament for the third straight season as the Panthers have made the eight-team field in seven of the last eight years under head coach Jay Spoonhour.  EIU will be playing as the No. 6 seed with the Panthers holding a 1-3 all-time record in the field in that seeded position.  EIU has a 7-15 all-time record in the OVC Tournament including winning the event in 2001.  EIU is 1-2 in games played in Evansville with their last win in the event in 2018 with a 73-71 win over Tennessee State. 

CLOSING ON WIN STREAK
Eastern Illinois closed out the regular season with their fourth straight win as the Panthers beat SIUE 70-52.  The four-game win streak matches the Panthers previous longest win streak of the season from Jan. 16-25 which included a home win over Jacksonville State. The four wins to end the season are the most for the program since winning seven straight to wrap up the 2009-10 season. That year EIU advanced to the OVC Tournament semifinals posting a 19-12 overall record, 11-7 in the OVC.

CLOSE CALLS THIS SEASON
Eastern Illinois had five straight games decided by one possession before a convincing win in the regular season finale at SIUE.  EIU won the last three of those five games including back-to-back wins over then OVC co-leaders Murray State and Austin Peay.  For the season EIU is 5-9 in games decided by five points or less and 5-6 in games decided by three points or less.