SIUE Cougars (6-8, 0-1 OVC) at Eastern Illinois Panthers (2-12, 0-1 OVC)

Thursday, January 13, 8:00 p.m.
Lantz Arena (4,000)
Charleston, Illinois

LAST TIME
Shaun Doss, Jr.'s 1,000th point highlighted a strong SIUE second half, before Murray State outlasted the Cougars 74-69 Saturday at First Community Arena.
The Racers knocked down shots at a 52 percent clip in the first half to build a 15-point lead at the break, before SIUE clamped down defensively. The Cougars limited the Racers to just 21 percent in the second half. Murray State was just 6-29 after halftime. The Cougars, meanwhile, connected on 47 percent (16-34) of their shots after the break following a first half where they hit just 9-26 (35 percent).

CONFERENCE CALL
SIUE is playing its 11th Ohio Valley Conference season. The Cougars are 53-117 in OVC play. Head Coach Brian Barone has a 12-26 record in OVC play. 

SIX PACK
Six nonconference wins are the most for SIUE since it began playing an OVC schedule in 2011-12.

FOUR SCORE
Ray'Sean Taylor has won the OVC Freshman of the Week award four times this season, incuding this week. He is the first SIUE player to win more than three weekly OVC awards in the same season. 

CLAMPING DOWN
SIUE is one of the OVC's best defensive teams, allowing 66.5 points per game, which is second. Cougars' opponents are shooting just .399 overall and .305 from three-point range, which both are the best marks in the OVC.

SHARP SHOOTERS
SIUE knocked down 47 percent of its shots against South Alabama. It marked the eighth time this year that the Cougars have hit at least 45 percent of its shots in a game. SIUE connected on a season-high 52 percent of its shots Dec. 8 vs. Purdue Fort Wayne. Last year, the team's season-best was 58 percent against Tennessee Tech.

CRASHING THE BOARDS
The Cougars are second in the OVC at 39.0 rebounds per game, which is 57th in the NCAA. SIUE is third in total rebounds at 546. The Cougars lead the OVC in offensive rebounds at 13.3 a game, which is 20th in the NCAA.