MACOMB – The Western Illinois men's basketball team wraps the regular season portion of the schedule this week, hosting a pair of games inside Western Hall. On Thursday, the Leathernecks host Eastern Illinois. On Saturday, Western Illinois caps the regular season for Senior Day, taking on SIUE.
WHO | Eastern Illinois (14-16, 8-9) at Western Illinois (18-11, 11-5); SIUE (16-14, 9-8) at Western Illinois
WHEN | vs. EIU: Thursday, February 29, 7:30 p.m.; vs. SIUE: Saturday, March 1, 3:30 p.m.
WHERE | Western Hall, Macomb, Illinois
SOCIAL MEDIA | Instagram; Twitter; Facebook
FOLLOW ALONG | vs. EIU: Watch; Listen; Live Stats; Tickets; vs. SIUE: Watch; Listen; Live Stats; Tickets
LAST TIME OUT | Western Illinois snapped its four-game Western Hall losing streak, topping Southern Indiana 82-76 on Saturday. Jesiah West scored 18 points in the winning effort. Ryan Myers (14), Quinlan Bennett (12), JJ Kalakon (11), and Tay Knox (10) all scored in double digits. Drew Cisse added 12 rebounds and nine points.
WHERE THEY STAND | The Leathernecks are in fourth place in the OVC. The top two teams in the league get a double bye to the semifinals in the conference tournament. Teams that finish third and fourth get a bye to the quarterfinals. Teams that finish fifth through eighth play in the first round. (5v8; 6v7). The Leathernecks are one game back of Morehead State, UT Martin, and Little Rock, who are all tied for first. All three schools hold the tiebreakers on the Leathernecks. One game back of WIU for fourth is UT Martin. SIUE is in sixth, two games behind Western Illinois.
ABOUT THE LEATHERNECKS | The Leathernecks are coming off a win over Southern Indiana last Saturday. WIU is currently fourth in the OVC, one back of a three-way tie for first. WIU has won three of its last four games. In the OVC, the Leathernecks rank second in posts allowed, giving up an average of 63.94 points per conference game. WIU is eighth in points per game, scoring 67.06. Drew Cisse leads the conference in rebounding, averaging 10.6 boards per game. Ryan Myers is 14th in scoring, averaging 13.8 points per game.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS | Eastern Illinois is seventh in the OVC and is locked in as a six or seven-seed for next week's conference tournament. The Panthers are locked into facing SIUE in the conference tournament first round next Wednesday. EIU is coming off an 84-79 win over SIUE on Tuesday. EIU is 4-10 on the road this season, 4-4 on the road in OVC play but on a current three-game road conference losing streak. Tiger Booker leads the Panthers, scoring 16.2 points per game. Kyndall Davis, Kooper Jacobi, and Nakyel Shelton all average over 10 points per contest. Davis leads the squad with 7.7 rebounds per game.
ABOUT THE COUGARS | The Cougars are coming off an 84-79 loss at Eastern Illinois on Tuesday. SIUE and EIU match up again next Wednesday in the first round of the OVC Tournament as the sixth and seventh seeds. SIUE is 2-6 in OVC road games this season. Damarco Minor and Shamar Wright each average 14 points per game for SIUE. Ray-Sean Taylor adds 12. Minor leads the Cougars on the glass, averaging 8.2 rebounds per contest.
KEYS TO THE GAME VS. EASTERN ILLINOIS | Handle the Rock: The first game, Western Illinois committed 19 turnovers vs. the Panthers. EIU turned the miscues into 20 points. Conversely, WIU only forced four turnovers, scoring one point off EIU giveaways.
Eyes on the arc: EIU is 10th in the league in three-point percentage, shooting 30.8 from beyond the arc. EIU is 10th in opponent three-point percentage, with foes making 37.9 percent. In the first meeting, WIU went 7-13 (53.8) from three. EIU went 4-14 (28.6) on threes.
Eye of the Tiger: Tiger Booker leads Eastern in scoring, averaging 17.9 per game. In the first meeting, Booker finished with 13 on 4-11 shooting.
KEYS TO THE GAME VS. SIUE | Home is where the heart is: Western Illinois snapped a four-game Western Hall losing streak last Saturday, topping Southern Indiana. SIUE has struggled on the road this season, entering the week with a record of 2-12 away from home. The Cougars are 2-6 in OVC road games this season.
Minor a major problem: Damarco Minor leads the Cougars in scoring (17.1 ppg) and rebounding (7.8 rpg). The first meeting, WIU held Minor to nine points on 2-10 shooting.
Owning the paint: WIU outscored SIUE 32-18 in the paint in the first meeting. Quinlan Bennett and Jesiah West did the bulk of the work on the block, combining to score 27 points.
Myers is on a mission: Ryan Myers remains one of the top three-point shooters in the OVC, making over 40 percent of his treys. In the first meeting, Myers made five threes vs. SIU, scoring a team-high 21 points.
HISTORY | Western Illinois is 81-84 all-time vs. Eastern Illinois. The Leathernecks defeated the Panthers 63-60 on January 13 in Charleston. WIU has won three straight games vs. EIU. The Leathernecks are 7-2 all-time vs. SIUE. The Leathernecks won the first meeting this season in Edwardsville on December 31, 78-70.
WHERE THEY RANK | As a team: Nationally, Western Illinois ranks eighth in the country in block shots per game (5.6). WIU's 162 total blocks are tied for sixth. The Leathernecks are 32nd in the country in opponent field goal percentage (40.686), 27th in opponent points per game (65.3), and 11th in opponent three-point shooting percentage (29.1). When it comes to rebounding, WIU is among the nation's elite, ranking 10th in rebound margin (+8), tied for 33rd in defensive rebounds per game (27.55), sixth in offensive rebounds per game (14.52), fifth in rebounds per game (42.07) and first in total rebounds (1220).
Individual: Drew Cisse is 25th in the country in total blocks (57) and 33rd in blocks per game (1.97). Cisse is fourth in total rebounds (329), 25th in defensive rebounds per game (6.93), third in offensive rebounds per game (4.41), and fourth in rebounds per game (11.3). Ryan Myers is 11th in three-point percentage (42.69).
NEWS AND NOTES | WIU's 11 conference wins are the most for the program since the 2012-13 squad went 13-3. The 18 overall wins are the most for the program since 2012-13, when the team went 22-9. Western Illinois' 10 road wins are tied with UMass Lowell for most in the country.
WHAT'S NEXT | After the two games this week, the Leathernecks learn their fate for the OVC Tournament. The squad heads to Evansville, Indiana next week, playing Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.
