Eastern Illinois (13-12, 6-6) vs. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (8-16, 4-8)
Sam M. Vadalabene Center, Edwardsville, Illinois; Thursday, 5:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Eastern Illinois goes for the season sweep over Southern Illinois-Edwardsville after winning the previous matchup in Charleston. The teams last met on Jan. 5, when the Panthers shot 45.5 percent from the field while holding Southern Illinois-Edwardsville's shooters to just 39.2 percent en route to a three-point victory.
BIG MEN ON CAMPUS: Josiah Wallace is averaging 15.2 points to lead the way for the Panthers. Mack Smith is also a primary contributor, accounting for 12.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. The Cougars have been led by Tyresse Williford, who is averaging 14.3 points and four rebounds.
TAKING IT UP A NOTCH: The Panthers have scored 73.5 points per game across 12 conference games. That's an improvement from the 69.9 per game they managed over 12 non-conference games.
JUMPING FOR JOSIAH: Wallace has connected on 35.9 percent of the 128 3-pointers he's attempted and has made 5 of 17 over the last three games. He's also made 80 percent of his foul shots this season.
YET TO WIN: The Panthers are 0-8 when they score 65 points or fewer and 13-4 when they exceed 65 points. The Cougars are 0-13 when they fail to score more than 73 points and 8-3 on the season, otherwise.
STREAK STATS: Eastern Illinois has scored 73.3 points per game and allowed 81.3 over its three-game road losing streak.
DID YOU KNOW: Southern Illinois-Edwardsville has attempted the second-most free throws among all OVC teams. The Cougars have averaged 22.3 free throws per game this season and 25.7 per game over their last three games.
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This was generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com
