The Western Illinois Leathernecks (2-1) and the Eastern Illinois Panthers (0-2) will write another chapter of their long rivalry in another edition of a Prairie State Showdown on Saturday, November 17th, 2018. The contest pits The Summit League against the Ohio Valley Conference. Despite being in different conferences, the Leathernecks and Panthers meet twice per year on each other’s courts to settle the score. In the last meeting, EIU edged out WIU by a mere point last December allowing the Leathernecks to cover as a four-point dog. The contest will be streamed on ESPN+ with a tip-off time of 8:00 PM ET.
Western Illinois Leathernecks at Eastern Illinois Panthers Overview
Western Illinois Leathernecks
The Leathernecks come into this contest with their second consecutive win earned to their credit. WIU last played three days ago when they hosted Dominican Milwaukee and defeated them handily by a score of 95-56. WIU is 1-0 ATS on the year.
Eastern Illinois Panthers
The Panthers have yet to win a game this season but have gone up against some premium competition on the road, including Texas and Indiana-Purdue. In both contests, the Panthers made a good showing even if they left with a “L”. The Panthers are 1-0-1 ATS as they have lost by a combined 18 points to the two aforementioned opponents.
Reasons To Back Eastern Illinois
The Panthers have had a week (four more days) to prepare for this game, and that is instrumental given the gravity of this rivalry contest. When you combine this with home court advantage being granted to EIU, this is also significant as the home team has won four of the last five meetings between the two combatants.
Reasons To Avoid Western Illinois
The Leathernecks very simply look too easy here with the small cushion of points as they bode the winning record yet are taking back a tag against a team that has yet to get a victory this season. The price accompanying WIU seems that much more absurd given the fact they own many advantages over the Panthers except for one key ingredient: defense. Eastern Illinois’ defense has been proven as it caused the Longhorns to turn the ball over 16 teams when the two met in Austin. The Panthers followed it up with cause Indiana-Purdue to turn the ball over 17 times and shoot just 38.6% from the field. Had WIU’s offense followed it up, perhaps they could have pulled an upset. Western Illinois, however, has been beating up on cupcakes since losing to Creighton in their season opener. In summation, EIU will be a step up for the Leathernecks compared to the two teams they won against while WIU will actually be a step down for the Panthers, thus why they are favored here. When you factor in day’s rest, WIU is definitely not the fresher of the two teams either.
