EASTERN ILLINOIS (12-19) at Valparaiso (15-19)
Tuesday, November 4  •  7 pm 
Valparaiso, Ind.  •  ARC

RADIO: Hit Mix 88.9 WEIU
TV: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: www.eiupanthers.com
SERIES RECORD: EIU leads 20-18
LAST MEETING: @VALPO 81, EIU 53 on Nov. 24, 2024)
NOTES: EIU Game Notes

GAME 1
Eastern Illinois opens the 2025-26 season facing a former conference rival as the Panthers travel to Valparaiso for the opening round game of the Kentucky BBN United Tipoff Classic.  The two schools met last season in the DePaul Blue Demon MTE.  EIU is coming off a 12-19 season that saw the Panthers just miss qualifying for the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.   Valparaiso was 15-19 last season getting to the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.  EIU will host Nicholls later this week and then travel to Kentucky on November 14 to complete play in the in-season tournament. 

LONG WINNING STREAK
Eastern Illinois enters the 2025-26 season among the NCAA leaders in active win streaks as the Panthers ended the year with four straight OVC wins over Southern Indiana, Morehead State, Little Rock and Southeast Missouri.  The active four-game win streak is tied for third longest in the NCAA with Nebraska which won the College Basketball Crown event in Las Vegas.  NCAA champion Florida has the longest active win streak at 12 games followed by NIT champion Chattanooga at 5 games. 

STEALS RECORD
Eastern Illinois smashed its school record for steals in a season last year as the Panthers finished with 278 steals for an average of 9.0 steals per game (23rd in the NCAA).  It marked the third straight season EIU has posted a top three single season steals total.  EIU set the school record with 260 steals in 2022-23 and then came up just short of passing that in 2023-24 with 278 steals.  Prior to those three seasons Eastern Illinois school record for steals of 250 had stood for 34 years (1988-89).  The Panthers have led the OVC in steals in two of the last three seasons and had the individual steals per game leader each of the last three years.

JACOBI ON THE GLASS
Graduate student Kooper Jacobi led the Ohio Valley Conference in rebounding last season at 8.9 rebounds per game with 277 total rebounds.  He ranked 37th in the NCAA in rebounds pulling down double figure rebounds in 13 games with a high of 16 against Northern Illinois.  The 277 rebounds for the season landed Jacobi in ninth place on the EIU single season rebounding list as just the second person in the last 40 years to join that top ten category.  He enters the season with 408 rebounds with a shot at the end of the year to become the 13th player in EIU's 600 rebound club.

UP NEXT
Friday - November 7, 2025 vs. Nicholls (7 p.m. on ESPN+)