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Sathya Sai Chilukuri

Leathernecks Hit the Road for Southern Indiana, Morehead State

| By: WIU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

Western Illinois plays next four on the road

MACOMB -- The Western Illinois men's basketball team begins a four-game road stretch with a pair of games this week. The Leathernecks open the trip on Thursday, heading to Southern Indiana to take on the Screaming Eagles at 8 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU along with the normal ESPN+ online stream and Q98.1 FM radio/online audio broadcast.

The Leathernecks (12-7, 5-1 in Ohio Valley Conference play) follow that with a Saturday match at OVC leader, Morehead State.

Western Illinois is coming off its first OVC loss of the season, a 58-57 defeat at the hands of Tennessee State inside Western Hall. The loss snapped a nine-game winning streak for the Leathernecks. Western Illinois' last two losses have come in the final seconds, the 58-57 defeat to Tennessee State and a 70-68 loss to South Dakota on December 3. The conference, and regular season winning streaks were the longest for the program since 2012-13 when the Leathernecks had an 11-game streak and a 6-0 start to Summit League play.

WHO | Western Illinois (12-7, 5-1) at Southern Indiana (5-15, 2-5); Western Illinois at Morehead State (15-5, 6-1)

WHEN | Thursday, January 25, 8 p.m.; Saturday, January 27, 2:30 p.m.

WHERE | Screaming Eagle Arena, Evansville, Indiana; Johnson Arena, Morehead, Kentucky

SOCIAL MEDIA | Instagram; Twitter; Facebook

FOLLOW ALONG | VS. USI: Stream; Listen; Live Stats; vs. MSU: Listen; Live Stats; Stream

ABOUT THE LEATHERNECKS | Western Illinois comes in winners of nine of their last 10. The Leathernecks had a nine-game winning streak dashed against Tennessee State in their last game, falling 58-57.

Western Illinois allows 65.4 points per game this season, second-best in the OVC. James Dent Jr. leads the offense, averaging 13.4 points per game while Ryan Myers adds 13.0. WIU scores 70.6 points per game.

ABOUT THE SCREAMING EAGLES | USI has lost four-straight games since opening OVC play 2-1 ... The Screaming Eagles average 67.3 points per game while allowing 71.9. Southern Indiana is led by Jeremiah Hernandez, who scored 16.3 points per game. AJ Smith adds 12.7. points and 9.1 rebounds per contest … Jordan Tillmon and Jack Mielke each score over eight points per game.

ABOUT THE EAGLES | Morehead State comes in on a hot streak, winning seven of their last eight. The Eagles are also unbeaten at home this season, starting the year 9-0.

Riley Minnix leads the team, averaging 18.9 points per game. Jordan Lathon adds 16.1 while Kalil Thomas chips in with 11.7.
MSU scores 77.4 points per game while allowing 63.1.

WHAT TO WATCH VS. USI | Watch the glass: The OVC's top two rebounders meet in WIU's Drew Cisse (12.0 rpg) and AJ Smith (9.1).

Shooting the rock: Points may be at a premium on Thursday as the Leathernecks and Screaming Eagles have the second and third lowest opponent field goal percentage in the league. WIU foes are shooting 40.2 from the field while USI opponents are making 41.4.

Taking care of the rock: Both teams have struggled with turnovers this season. WIU is second-to-last in the conference with 13.8 per game while USI is last in the OVC with 14.0 turnovers per game.

71 and Done: Western Illinois has held their last 13 opponents to 71 points or fewer. The Leathernecks are 10-3 in those 13 games and 11-3 overall. USI is 2-12 when scoring fewer than 71 points.

WHAT TO WATCH VS. MSU | D on Display: MSU and WIU are the top two defenses in the OVC. The Eagles allow 63.1 points per game while WIU allows 65.4. The teams are also the top two in opponent field goal percentage. Morehead State foes are shooting 38.5 from the field and Western Illinois opponents are making 40.2.

Hit the glass: The two are also the top two in rebounding. WIU leads the OVC with 44.3 rebounds per game while MSU averages 41.5.

Handing out rejection: The two teams are tops in the conference in block shots. WIU leads the conference with 6.4 per game while MSU is second with 5.1.

HISTORY | The Screaming Eagles and Leathernecks have met four times in their program history. Western Illinois is 3-1 all-time vs. Southern Indiana, including an 86-78 Leatherneck victory last season inside Western Hall.
 
Western Illinois is 5-3 all-time vs. Morehead State. The Eagles won the last meeting, 61-45 in November of 2007 at Morehead.
 
WHERE THEY RANK | Ryan Myers is 5th in the country in three-point percentage (46.5). Drew Cisse is 3rd in total rebounds (228), 14th in defensive rpg (7.37), 1st in offensive rpg (4.6) and 3rd in rpg (12.0). He's 11th in blocks per game (2.4) and 9th in blocks (46)

Western Illinois is 4th in blocks per game (6.4), 3rd in total blocks (122), 6th in rebound margin (+11.1 per game), 16th in defensive rebounds per game (29.3), 6th in offensive rebounds per game (15), 2nd in rebounds per game (44.3)
 
WHAT'S NEXT | After this week, the Leathernecks return to the road for a pair of games next week. Western Illinois is at Lindenwood next Thursday and SEMO on Saturday.

The Leathernecks are next inside Western Hall on February 8, when they host Little Rock at 7:30 p.m.
 
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