EASTERN ILLINOIS (7-8, 1-1 OVC) at Little Rock (8-8, 2-1 OVC)
Saturday, Jan. 6 • 3 pm
Little Rock, Ark. • Stephens Center
GAME INFO
RADIO: Hit Mix 88.9 WEIU
TV: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: www.eiupanthers.com
SERIES RECORD: Series Tied 2-2
LAST MEETING: @LR 81, EIU 77 (ot) on Feb. 18, 2023
NOTES: EIU Complete Game Notes
GAME 16
Eastern Illinois climbed to 1-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference on Thursday night with their first true road win of the season as the Panthers are now 7-8 overall. EIU had been 0-7 on the road entering the game at UT Martin with one neutral site win over Coppin State back in mid-November. EIU looks for back-to-back road wins for the first time since last December when they won at IUPUI and Iowa. Little Rock won for the fourth time in the last six games beating SIUE on Thursday to improve to 8-8 overall, 2-1 in the OVC.
TWO GUYS WITH TWENTY IN THE WIN
It has been just over two and half years since Eastern Illinois had two players score 20 or more points in a game. On Thursday night at UT Martin that stretch came to an end on national TV as Tiger Booker and
Corey Sawyer Jr both reached the 20-point plateau. Booker scored a season high 21 points going 8-of-14 from the floor and 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Sawyer also had a season high finishing with 20 points as he was 7-of-15 from the floor and 5-of-5 from the foul line. The last time EIU had two players over the 20-point mark in a game was Feb. 24, 2021 when Mack Smith and Jordan Skipper-Brown both hit the threshold against Southeast Missouri.
STEALS CONTINUE TO COME AND WITH BALANCE
Eastern Illinois had ten steals in Thursday's win at UT Martin marking the sixth time this season that the Panthers have posted double figure steals in a game. EIU is currently averaging 8.1 steals per game as a team which ranks first in the OVC and 77th in the NCAA. In the win at UT Martin, eight different players had a steal with
Kooper Jacobi and
Corey Sawyer Jr both tied for the team lead with two steals in the game. Balance in steals has come all season for the Panthers with Tiger Booker leading the league with 2.4 steals per game. Teammates Sawyer,
Sincere Malone and
Kyndall Davis currently rank 19th through 21st in the conference in steals. Last season Malone led the OVC in steals while the Panthers set a single season school record with 260 (8.4 per game, leading the OVC).
UP NEXT
Thursday, January 11 vs. Morehead State - 7:30 pm (ESPN+)
