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RICHMOND, Ky. – Two of the three remaining undefeated teams in the Ohio Valley Conference will meet Thursday when Eastern Kentucky hosts Eastern Illinois.
 
The game, sponsored by Hibu, will start at 7:30 p.m.  The live radio broadcast is available in the Richmond area on WCYO 100.7 FM, and can be heard worldwide on EKUSports.com.  A live free video broadcast is available on OVCDigitalNetwork.com.
 
The Colonels (10-5) began their conference schedule with two road wins last week at Tennessee-Martin and Southeast Missouri State.  The Panthers (10-6) are 4-0 against league teams, their best OVC start ever.  EIU had big second half comebacks to beat their first three conference opponents before beating Belmont by 11 at home on Saturday.
 
Eastern Illinois was down four to Tennessee Tech with 17 seconds left and won.  EIU was down 12 in the second half against Jacksonville State and Tennessee State, and won both.
 
Eastern Kentucky is 32-5 in its last 37 home games.  The Colonels are second in the OVC in scoring defense (60.9 ppg) and have held eight straight opponents to fewer than 70 points.  Only three of their 15 opponents this season have reached 70 points. 
 
Eastern Illinois leads the OVC in scoring defense (60.2 ppg) and only three of its 16 opponents have scored 70 or more.  EIU has held its four OVC opponents to 21 percent shooting from 3-point range.
 
Eastern Kentucky is second in the nation in turnover margin (+9.6).  Eastern Illinois averages only 12.4 turnovers per game.
 
EKU senior guard Corey Walden is shooting 56.2 percent from the field this season.  He has made 59.5 percent of his shots over the last eight games.  Timmy Knipp shot 90 percent (9-for-10) at the free throw line and averaged 10.5 points, four rebounds, three assists and 1.5 blocks in Eastern's first two OVC games combined.
 
EIU has won seven straight games, including an 84-73 victory over Belmont at home on Saturday.
     
Eastern Illinois is led by 6-foot-8, junior forward Chris Olivier.  He leads the team in scoring (12.3 ppg) and rebounding (5.3 rpg).  Trae Anderson, a 6-foot-4 junior college transfer, contributes 11.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.  LeTrell Viser, another junior college newcomer, was chosen as the OVC Co-Newcomer of the Week on Monday after averaging 10.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals and one block per game in two wins last week.  Freshman point guard Cornell Johnston is sixth in the OVC in assists (4.3 apg).
     
The Panthers held Belmont to 38 percent shooting from the field and 16 percent from behind the arc on Saturday.  Olivier finished with 16 points and nine rebounds.  Anderson and Viser each had 13 points.
 
The last time these two teams played, Glenn Cosey broke the school record, and tied the OVC mark, with 10 three-pointers as EKU rolled to a 100-81 victory at Eastern Illinois on Jan. 2, 2014.  Cosey finished with 34 points, going 11-of-14 from the field, including 10-for-12 from behind the arc.  Corey Walden added 17 points.
 
Sherman Blanford had a team-best 23 points and a game-best six rebounds for the Panthers.
 
EKU shot 60 percent from the field and 50 percent (16-of-32) from three-point range.  EIU connected on 53 percent of its shots from the field.
 
Eastern Kentucky leads the all-time series, 22-13.  EKU has won six straight against EIU and 16 of the last 19.  The Colonels are 14-3 in games played in Richmond, and have won 11 straight on their home court.