| MACOMB, Ill. -Â The Fighting Leatherneck men's basketball team (2-6) continues the non-league portion of its schedule Saturday afternoon (Dec. 10) at 2 p.m. versus Eastern Illinois (5-4)... The men's game is the first of two WIU versus EIU games inside Western Hall on Saturday as the Western women tipoff against the Panthers at 4:30 p.m. following the men's game. Both games will stream live on ESPN3.
-Â OPENING TIP -
- Garret Covington scored a season-high 30 points, one shy of his career high, but Western Illinois men's basketball dropped its non-league tilt at home last Saturday afternoon (Dec. 3) in overtime, 83-76. There were a total of 10 ties and 17 lead changes in the game. Mike Miklusak tallied 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 from long range.
- Miklusak is off to a fast start this season averaging 14.3 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds per game... After recording the team's first double-double of the season at Miami (14 points, 11 rebounds) in his first game of the season... The senior then scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds at American before recording 19 points and six rebounds at home vs. Chicago State (Dec. 3).
-Â Covington leads WIU in scoring, averaging 22.3 points per game... He has scored 15-plus points in all eight games this season, and 20-plus points in each of WIU's last five games (22 at EIU | 26 vs. Crown | 29 at Miami | 20 at American | 30 vs. Chicago State).
- Covington has 1,517 career points and most recently moved from eighth place to sixth place all-time at WIU... The Edwardsville, Ill. native passed both Chuck Schramm (1,496) and Brad Bainter (1,508)... Covington is the program's NCAA DI era and is eight points away from sole possession of fifth place.
- Covington, who also ranks second all-time in career 3-pointers (238 3-pointers), is only 10 triples away from being the program's all-time leader.
Senior guard Jabari Sandifer has 361 career assists and is one assist away from sole possession of third place all-time in WIU's program history.
SERIES HISTORY:Â The Leathernecks have not faced any other team as many times as the Panthers... Eastern leads the all-time series 78-77... WIU dropped its game at Eastern earlier this season (Nov. 19) 74-64... Prior to this year's loss the Leathernecks had won the last five meetings... Western defeated Eastern in the 2011-12 season, 64-48, at home... Then again during the 2012-13 season on the road, 57-45... During the 2013-14 season, 60-32, at home... In last season's home-and-home series, WIU defeated EIU 83-63 on the road on Nov. 21, and then again at home on Dec. 12, 64-57... According to Western Illinois records, the first-ever regular season meeting between the two teams took place on February 10, 1928 when Eastern defeated Western, 38-25... The two teams have met five times in the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament when the Panthers were a member of the league... EIU leads that series 3-2... Four of those five meetings took place in the first round of the conference tournament, and the other game took place in the semifinals.
A LOOK AT EASTERN ILLINOIS:Â Eastern Illinois enters Saturday's game with a 5-4 overall record having most recently dropped a road contest at Northern Kentucky on Wednesday night (Dec. 7), 80-70... The Panthers and Leathernecks have already faced one another earlier this season in Charleston, Ill... EIU defeated WIU 74-64... EIU is led by Demetrius McReynolds who is averaging 14.8 points per game... The Panthers also have three others players scoring 10 or more points per game: Montell Goodwin (13.3), Cornell Johnston (12.6) and Ray Crossland (11.0)... Muusa Dama leads the Panthers in rebounds per game (9.4)... Johnston, who sits third on the team in points, leads the team with 5.0 assists per game... EIU is coached by Jay Spoonhour (Pittsburg State '94) who is in the midst of his fifth year at the helm and owns a 58-76 record... Overall as a head coach he is in his 10th year and has a 164-108 record.
WHAT'S NEXT?:Â The Leathernecks play four straight road games to conclude non-league play and open Summit League play... Western plays at Milwaukee on Dec. 17 and at Purdue on Dec. 19 to close out nonconference action... WIU then opens Summit League action on Dec. 29 at Fort Wayne and finishes its four-game road swing at IUPUI on New Year's Eve (Dec. 31).
THE LAST TIME OUT:Â Garret Covington scored a season-high 30 points, one shy of his career high, but Western Illinois men's basketball dropped its non-league tilt at home last Saturday afternoon (Dec. 3) in overtime, 83-76. There were a total of 10 ties and 17 lead changes in the game. The Leathernecks dropped to 2-6 after the defeat and Chicago State improved to 3-4 overall. Covington's 30 points moved him from eighth all-time in career points at Western Illinois to sixth. His 14 free throws made was a career best, and was only three shy of tying WIU's record for free throws in a game. After today's contest the senior guard has 1,517 career points. Covington was also one rebound shy of a double-double, and recorded four assists and two steals. Mike Miklusak tallied 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 from long range. He also grabbed six rebounds in 33 minutes of action before fouling out late in the second half.
AT HOME: Western is 46-25 (.648) inside Western Hall since the beginning of the 2011-12 season... The Leathernecks went 10-4 (.714) during their 2011-12 campaign, 12-2 (.857) during the 2012-13 league slate, 7-5 in 2013-14 (.583), 8-6 (.571) in 2014-15, 7-6 (.500) in 2015-16, and WIU is 2-2 on LeRoy A. Ufkes Court inside Western Hall so far this season.
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