After a split of opening conference games last week, the Eastern men’s basketball team will return to action 7 p.m. Wednesday to play Evansville in Evansville, Ind.

The Panthers (2-5, 1-1 Ohio Valley Conference) are coming off a tough loss at home to Austin Peay.

The Panthers battled back from a 16 point deficit in the second half, but could not finish, losing to the Governors 71-63.

Eastern head coach Mike Miller said he felt there were many things the team needed to work on after the loss.

“We shot 51 percent in that game, but we think we could have done better offensively,” Miller said. “Defensively, I don’t think we did a good job defending the post. We worked on a couple of different zone coverages, which we think will help clean up some of the coverage issues we had in the game.”

Senior forward Billy Parrish said Eastern would take the feeling of the loss into the game.

“I think we had some defensive lapses and our offense lulled at times, but if we can fix those things up it will help against Evansville,” Parrish said.

Parrish said what the Panthers did well was fight back in the second half.

“We came back on a consistent basis – it wasn’t just two or three home runs,” Parrish said. “We got some big stops in there and some big baskets and got into a flow. We just can’t get ourselves into a big hole like that.”

Freshman forward Zarier Sanders said the team played well down the stretch against Austin Peay, and he said he thinks the team fixed things up in practice that will help them against the Purple Aces.

Miller said a lot of work done was video work to show the players areas they could improve on and focus on areas within the Panthers’ control they can improve.

The Purple Aces (5-1) have a balanced offensive attack with three players who average more than 10 points.

Senior forward Shy Ely leads the team with 14.7 points per game, while also leading the team with 6.5 rebounds per game.

“They’re going to be physical and aggressive on both ends,” Miller said. “That is what we are expecting. They like to play a lot of man (defense) and they are really physical in the scoring area.”

Senior guard Jason Holsinger is second on the team with 11.8 ppg., and senior forward Nate Garner is averaging 10 ppg. and is second on the team with 5.7 rpg.

Miller said Evansville also likes to be aggressive on the offensive side of the ball.

“They run multiple screen actions at you,” Miller said. “They are really aggressive with their drives and their post ups.”

Parish said Evansville has hard screeners and the Purple Aces have a number of players that can shoot the ball well.

“They have a lot of guys that can score off the dribble, and they play well together,” Sanders said.

Sanders said this is a good game for the Panthers to get back on track.

“This is not a conference game – we can fix some things,” Sanders said. “This could be a big road win for us, and hopefully we can come out with a win.”

Game 8: eastern VS. Evansville

When: 7 p.m. today

Where: Evansville, Ind.

Location: Roberts Stadium (11,600)

Series History: Eastern leads 11-7

Last Meeting: Evansville won 63-55 last season

Eastern (2-5)

Head Coach: Mike Miller (25-68 in fourth season)

Probable Starters

Pos. Name Yr.

C O. Cisse Jr.

F B. Parrish Sr.

F E. Suljic Jr.

G R. Martin Jr.

G T. Laser So.

Key Reserves

Pos. Name Yr.

G T. Marion Jr.

G D. Wright Jr. Jr.

Evansville (5-1)

Head Coach: Marty Simmons (14-22 in second season)

Probable Starters

Pos. Name Yr.

C P. van Tongeren So.

F N. Garner Sr.

G S. Ely Sr.

G J. Holsinger Sr.

G K. Williams Fr.

Key Reserves

Pos. Name Yr.

G K. Lacey So.

F J. Haarsma Fr.

Dan Cusack can be reached at 581-7944 or at dscusack@eiu.edu.

Junior forward Edin Suljic looks for the basket during Saturday night’s game in Lantz Arena. Despite a strong second-half defense, Eastern lost to Austin Peay 71-63. (Karla Browning / The Daily Eastern News)

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