Tennessee Tech hosts conference foe Eastern Illinois

Eastern Illinois Panthers (9-15, 5-8 OVC) at Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (10-14, 5-8 OVC)

Cookeville, Tennessee; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Meechie White and Eastern Illinois take on Mekhi Cameron and Tennessee Tech in OVC play Saturday.

The Golden Eagles have gone 6-5 at home. Tennessee Tech ranks seventh in the OVC with 13.3 assists per game led by Ty Owens averaging 3.7.

The Panthers are 5-8 in OVC play. Eastern Illinois is 1-1 in one-possession games.

Tennessee Tech averages 75.6 points, 5.1 more per game than the 70.5 Eastern Illinois allows. Eastern Illinois has shot at a 43.0% clip from the field this season, 1.5 percentage points fewer than the 44.5% shooting opponents of Tennessee Tech have averaged.

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

Zion Fruster is scoring 14.2 points per game and averaging 3.5 rebounds for the Panthers. Kooper Jacobi is averaging 9.8 points and 5.5 rebounds over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Eagles: 4-6, averaging 70.2 points, 31.7 rebounds, 10.5 assists, 4.9 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 42.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.4 points per game.

Panthers: 5-5, averaging 69.2 points, 29.2 rebounds, 12.6 assists, 8.0 steals and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 44.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.3 points.

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