Tennessee Tech’s Daniel Northern and Amadi McKenzie shattered a backboard in the Golden Eagles last game following a dunk on an offensive rebound.

Whether they’ll do that again tonight at Lantz Arena when Eastern (1-6, 0-0 Ohio Valley Conference) hosts Tech (2-6, 0-1) at 7:15 p.m. is yet to be seen.

The inside duo also combined for 28 points and 21 rebounds in Tech’s 79-76 loss against Austin Peay on Saturday.

“If there is a stronger front line in the OVC, I’m not sure who has it in terms of big and physicalness and how they play,” Eastern head coach Mike Miller said. “I think they create a lot of problems for an opponent.”

The 6-foot-7, 230-pound McKenzie averages 14.9 points per game and 6.6 rebounds. Northern, a 6-foot-9, 210-pound junior transfer from South Alabama, averages 14 points and 8.4 rebounds.

Which is a far contrast from what Miller has in his post players so far this season.

Starters Jake Byrne and Ousmane Cisse combined for two points and seven rebounds in the Panthers 57-45 loss at Iowa on Saturday.

The 6-foot-8, 230-pound Byrne and the 6-foot-8, 250-pound Cisse have not registered double figures in either rebounding or scoring in any of the Panthers’ first seven games this season.

But even with the post-production of McKenzie and Northern, and the contribution of senior guard Anthony Fisher (16.9 ppg), Tech’s only two wins have come against NAIA opponents Bluefield College and Union College (Ky.).

“We feel we hopefully have a lot of room to grow,” Tech head coach Mike Sutton said. “Anthony Fisher and Amadi Mckenzie have been through the battles. We just have to continue to get contributions from other guys besides those two good returning players we have.”

Coupled with injuries to 6-foot-8 sophomore Justin Brock (foot) and 6-foot-11 freshman Matt Dorlack (knee), the play of Eastern’s post players, something Miller said before the season would be a strong point, is suddenly an emerging weakness for the 1-6 Panthers.

And the lack of production from Byrne and Cisse has lagged at times.

Byrne, who averaged 7.7 points per game last season, is currently at 4.8 after not scoring last Saturday against Iowa.

Byrne, who himself is recovering from an Achilles’ injury he sustained in November, said he is not too worried about his lack of scoring this early in the season.

“It doesn’t bother me so much,” he said. “I’m really focused on contributing more in the beginning. I’d much rather not be scoring all these points and getting rebounds and things like that.”

But Byrne has only averaged 3.5 rebounds, fourth on the team. Cisse is second on the team with 4.1 rebounds but has only scored five points in his last three games.

Sophomore forward Bobby Joliff emerged this past weekend as an offensive threat, scoring 14 points in the Panthers losses to Rice and Iowa.

But the biggest area lacking for the Panthers is a win. Eastern has not won in a game in nearly three weeks since its Nov. 10 win against NAIA opponent Harris-Stowe.

“We’ve played five straight road games and had a chance in those road games,” Miller said. “If we’d made a couple more plays, we’d have a couple more wins on the board there. Now we turn our attention to conference play and hopefully be able to use that experience and play better basketball as we move into December.”

Tennessee Tech (2-6, 0-1 Ohio Valley Conference) at Eastern Illinois (1-6)

When: Tonight at 7:15

Where: Lantz Arena – Charleston

Capacity: 5,300

Tennessee Tech head coach: Mike Sutton (91-69 in sixth season at Tech and sixth overall)

Eastern head coach: Mike Miller (17-47 at Eastern in third season; 104-126 in ninth year overall)

Series History: Tennessee Tech leads 16-9; Tech won the last meeting, 76-64, in 2006.

On air:

TV: WEIU TV with Mike Bradd (play-by-play) and Jack Ashmore (analyst)

Radio: WEIU 88.9 FM with Mike Bradd (play-by-play) and Jack Ashmore (analyst)

Probable Starting Lineups

Eastern

Pos. Name Ht. Yr. PPG

F Bobby Catchings 6-6 Sr. 11.3

F Jake Byrne 6-8 Sr. 4.8

C Ousmane Cisse 6-8 So. 4.1

G Romain Martin 6-3 So. 13.3

G Mike Robinson 5-11 Jr. 6.0

Top Reserves

G Bam Willhite 6-1 Sr. 4.9

G Julio Anthony 6-4 Sr. 5.4

Last Game: Eastern lost 57-45 on Saturday night at Iowa. It was the third straight game the Panthers did not eclipse the 50-point mark. Romain Martin led Eastern with 18 points, and was 4-of-8 from 3-point range. Bobby Catchings and sophomore forward Bobby Joliff added eight points each. But guards Mike Robinson and Tyler Laser each had five turnovers in the loss.

Eastern’s Results

Date Team Result

Nov. 10 Harris-Stowe W 85-63

Nov. 13 Loyola (Chicago) L 65-72

Nov. 20 at Western Illinois L 57-75

Nov. 24 at Arkansas State L 60-74

Nov. 27 at Wisconsin Green Bay L 47-63

(at Hawkeye Classic; Iowa City.)

Nov. 30 Rice L 49-55

Dec. 1 Iowa L 45-57

Probable Starting Lineups

Tennessee Tech

Pos. Name Ht. Yr. PPG

F Amadi McKenzie 6-7 Sr. 14.9

C Daniel Northern 6-9 Jr. 14.0

G Anthony Fisher 6-3 Sr. 6.9

G Mario Stowers 6-4 Jr. 2.4

G Frank Davis 6-2 So. 7.3

Top Reserves

G Rashaud Nixon 6-4 So. 5.2

G Ra’shun Bryant 6-9 Jr. 4.6

Last Game: Tennessee Tech lost 79-76 against Austin Peay on Saturday night in Cookeville, Tenn. Anthony Fisher’s 24 points led the Golden Eagles. The inside duo of Amadi McKenzie (10 points, 11 rebounds) and Daniel Northern (The Golden Eagles were led by Anthony Fisher’s 24 points. The inside combination of Amadi McKenzie (10 points, 11 rebounds) and Daniel Northern (18 points, 10 rebounds) had strong games but combined to go 8 of 17 from the free throw line.

Tech’s Results

Date Team Result

Nov. 9 at Rutgers L 64-70

Nov. 11 at Florida L 65-93

Nov. 13 Union College (Ky.) W 97-54

Nov. 19 North Dakota State L 72-90

Nov. 21 at North Carolina Central L 70-73

Nov. 24 at Northwestern State L 81-83

Nov. 27 Bluefield College W 117-88

Dec. 1 Austin Peay L 76-79

Numbers to remember

1,314…points Tech’s Anthony Fisher has coming into tonight’s game. The left-handed guard is the all-time leader in points among active OVC players.

129…career steals Eastern guard Mike Robinson has coming into tonight’s game. He needs one more to crack the all-time Top 10 list at Eastern.

12…losses combined that both teams have against Division I opponents this year.

3…wins combined by both teams against non-Division I opponents.

0…wins combined by both teams against Division I opponents.