Eastern Illinois Panthers (13-6, 10-0 OVC) at Western Illinois Leathernecks (10-9, 4-6 OVC)

Macomb, Illinois; Thursday, 6 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Western Illinois hosts Eastern Illinois after Mia Nicastro scored 29 points in Western Illinois' 94-66 victory against the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks.

The Leathernecks are 5-4 on their home court. Western Illinois ranks seventh in the OVC in rebounding averaging 31.4 rebounds. Raegan McCowan leads the Leathernecks with 7.8 boards.

The Panthers have gone 10-0 against OVC opponents. Eastern Illinois ranks fifth in the OVC with 32.4 rebounds per game led by Macy McGlone averaging 11.1.

Western Illinois makes 42.9% of its shots from the field this season, which is 2.9 percentage points higher than Eastern Illinois has allowed to its opponents (40.0%). Eastern Illinois has shot at a 42.0% rate from the field this season, 4.1 percentage points greater than the 37.9% shooting opponents of Western Illinois have averaged.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: McCowan is averaging 21.3 points and 7.8 rebounds for the Leathernecks. Nicastro is averaging 12.2 points over the last 10 games.

McGlone is scoring 18.4 points per game and averaging 11.1 rebounds for the Panthers. Alex Rouse is averaging 9.3 points and 2.7 rebounds over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Leathernecks: 5-5, averaging 74.3 points, 30.1 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 4.6 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 44.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.5 points per game.

Panthers: 10-0, averaging 68.6 points, 36.0 rebounds, 16.2 assists, 9.7 steals and 4.0 blocks per game while shooting 46.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 52.9 points.

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