Jacobi and the Eastern Illinois Panthers take on conference foe Tennessee State

By Canadian Press on January 18, 2025.

Eastern Illinois Panthers (5-12, 1-5 OVC) at Tennessee State Tigers (6-12, 2-5 OVC)

Nashville, Tennessee; Saturday, 4:30 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Tigers -5.5; over/under is 142.5

BOTTOM LINE: Kooper Jacobi and Eastern Illinois visit Brandon Weston and Tennessee State in OVC play Saturday.

The Tigers are 5-3 in home games. Tennessee State is fourth in college basketball with 39.8 rebounds led by Weston averaging 5.3.

The Panthers have gone 1-5 against OVC opponents. Eastern Illinois has a 0-1 record in games decided by less than 4 points.

Tennessee State makes 45.4% of its shots from the field this season, which is 3.0 percentage points higher than Eastern Illinois has allowed to its opponents (42.4%). Eastern Illinois has shot at a 43.1% rate from the field this season, 1.3 percentage points higher than the 41.8% shooting opponents of Tennessee State have averaged.

The matchup Saturday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Weston is averaging 16.2 points and 5.3 rebounds for the Tigers.

Nakyel Shelton is shooting 42.4% and averaging 17.1 points for the Panthers.

LAST 10 GAMES: Tigers: 3-7, averaging 74.0 points, 36.8 rebounds, 12.4 assists, 6.8 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 44.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.9 points per game.

Panthers: 3-7, averaging 71.1 points, 32.8 rebounds, 12.4 assists, 9.0 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 43.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.1 points.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press