EASTERN ILLINOIS (7-12, 3-3 OVC) at Tennessee State (10-9, 2-4 OVC)
Thursday, Jan. 19 • 8 pm
Nashville, Tenn. • Gentry Center
NOTES: EIU Game Notes
RADIO: Hit Mix 88.9 WEIU
TV: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: www.eiupanthers.com
SERIES RECORD: TSU leads 33-26
LAST MEETING: @TSU 63, EIU 49 on Feb. 19, 2022
GAME 20
Eastern Illinois opens the final third of the regular season with a road trip to Tennessee as the Panthers play at Tennessee State on Thursday before a Saturday afternoon game at UT Martin. EIU snapped a three-game OVC losing streak on Saturday with a 70-63 win over Little Rock as the Panthers moved to 3-3 in the conference and 7-12 overall. EIU has lost eight straight OVC road games with the last win coming at UT Martin last season with a 58-53 win on January 27. Tennessee State enters at 10-9 overall, 2-4 in the OVC after losing a pair of conference games last week.
HODGES NAMED OVC NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
Kinyon Hodges led the Panthers in scoring in both games last week averaging 21 points per game as the junior college transfer was named the Ohio Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week. Hodges opened the week with 19 points against SIUE including 7-of-7 from the foul line. He capped the week with his third 20-plus point performance finishing with 23 points in the win over Little Rock. Hodges leads the Panthers in scoring at 13.4 points per game and has reaching double figures in 14 of 17 games this season.
ELLINGTON BIG ON THE BLOCK
Nick Ellington came off the bench and provided a big spark on both ends of the floor in the Panthers win over Little Rock. Ellington scored a season high 13 points with all of them coming in the second half on a 5-of-7 shooting afternoon. He just missed collecting a double-double pulling down nine rebounds with three on the offensive glass. For the season Ellington leads the Panthers with 32 offensive rebounds (80 total). His biggest contribution may have been at the defensive rim as he had five blocked shots. The last Panther to block five shots in a game was teammate
Jermaine Hamlin in last year's season opener at Northwestern. Ellington ranks 8th in the OVC in blocked shots with 16.
UP NEXT
Saturday - January 21 at UT Martin ... 3:30 pm on ESPN+
