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Western Illinois hosts Eastern Illinois, aims to end home slide

Eastern Illinois Panthers (6-15, 2-8 OVC) at Western Illinois Leathernecks (8-13, 2-8 OVC)

Macomb, Illinois; Thursday, 8:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Western Illinois looks to stop its four-game home slide with a win over Eastern Illinois.

The Leathernecks are 5-5 on their home court. Western Illinois has a 3-10 record in games decided by at least 10 points.

The Panthers have gone 2-8 against OVC opponents. Eastern Illinois is 4-11 against opponents with a winning record.

Western Illinois is shooting 43.2% from the field this season, the same percentage Eastern Illinois allows to opponents. Eastern Illinois has shot at a 42.7% rate from the field this season, 1.7 percentage points below the 44.4% shooting opponents of Western Illinois have averaged.

TOP PERFORMERS: Marko Maletic is scoring 16.4 points per game and averaging 3.0 rebounds for the Leathernecks. Sean Smith is averaging 13.0 points and 4.6 rebounds over the last 10 games.

Nakyel Shelton averages 1.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Panthers, scoring 17.0 points while shooting 32.6% from beyond the arc. Zion Fruster is averaging 14.1 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Leathernecks: 2-8, averaging 62.7 points, 29.1 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 6.8 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 41.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.3 points per game.

Panthers: 3-7, averaging 67.5 points, 30.6 rebounds, 12.3 assists, 8.8 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 43.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.6 points.

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