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Post by eaglefan on Jan 24, 2024 9:27:57 GMT -6
Date: 1/25, tomorrow Time: 8:00 pm CT Where: Screaming Eagles Arena Watch: Nationally televised game on ESPNU!!
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Post by aujarhead on Jan 24, 2024 9:48:26 GMT -6
Wear White! See everyone at SEA!
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Post by eagle87 on Jan 24, 2024 9:51:44 GMT -6
I’m going to predict a big upset and say
USI. 73 WIU. 70
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Post by shorthaircut on Jan 24, 2024 10:38:25 GMT -6
When looking at Western and their stats the biggest thing that jumps out is they flat out dominate the backboards. Basketball is all about matchups and ironically I think we match up reasonably well with this team. Home court advantage will be the difference here:
USI 72 WIU 70
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Post by eagle87 on Jan 24, 2024 10:53:24 GMT -6
They beat us at their place last year and if I remember correctly they kinda screwed us on the calls. I hope the guys remember that and hopefully we can get a fair whistle. It would be nice to get a home court whistle but that just never happens for us, so a fair whistle would be a positive for us. They have a center that rebounds like JP did for us last year so we need to have our bigs blocking his butt out every miss. I haven’t watched them play this year but obviously they are doing well in the conference so it would be huge if we can knock them off. We need to have a game where shots are dropping for us…something we haven’t seen all year. We are due so let’s get over the hump and get the win.
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Post by shorthaircut on Jan 24, 2024 16:54:59 GMT -6
USI opens as a 2.5 pt underdog.
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Post by sandtiger on Jan 24, 2024 19:32:38 GMT -6
I just watched the Tennessee State game from Saturday where TNS gave Western Illinois their first loss of the season. The only thing I saw that they did was crisp passes and attacking the rim, Western missed a few foul shots as well and that might have been the difference maker.
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Post by letsgoeagles on Jan 24, 2024 19:52:56 GMT -6
I'm kind of happy for the year WIU is having. They are a very good addition to our league. I agree with all the reason given for a possible upset. Plus, USI is so due to have a strong game in which they win. Despite our crappy record there is not one team that can actually destroy us. USI 78 WIU 71.
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Post by shorthaircut on Jan 24, 2024 19:58:33 GMT -6
I'm kind of happy for the year WIU is having. They are a very good addition to our league. I agree with all the reason given for a possible upset. Plus, USI is so due to have a strong game in which they win. Despite our crappy record there is not one team that can actually destroy us. USI 78 WIU 71. Not at home but I expect the backside of our schedule will be a bit ugly.
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Post by letsgoeagles on Jan 25, 2024 7:39:45 GMT -6
The backside of our schedule is ugly for sure. But I have a hunch the games will be competitive. Would love to pull an upset or two...I desperately want USI to make the end of season tournament but will take a pretty quick turnaround for that to happen.
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Post by eagle87 on Jan 25, 2024 8:11:25 GMT -6
The backside of our schedule is ugly for sure. But I have a hunch the games will be competitive. Would love to pull an upset or two...I desperately want USI to make the end of season tournament but will take a pretty quick turnaround for that to happen. Like the old saying goes “it’s better to be lucky than good”, we sure haven’t been lucky or good this year. Hopefully one of those will change soon and we can become good or at least lucky. Losing 5 games by one possession is devastating to the ego of an athlete and we just need a few bounces to go our way for a change. I really don’t think we are horrible because if we were we wouldn’t be competitive…but we are in almost every game. Yes, we had a few terrible games like ISU and SIU, but I think at least part of that was intentional on those teams part to pay us back for beating them last year. They both ran up the score to try and prove a point, plus Stan assisted them both by playing walk ons and the end of the bench for 15-20 minutes which made it worse. No question we are not a great team, but we play hard and usually have a chance in the end to get a win. It’s statistically absurd to lose every close game, so it’s about time we end up on the right side. Let’s do it tonight and pull off a national tv appearance win.
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Post by eaglefan on Jan 25, 2024 9:30:12 GMT -6
WIU Projected Starters
G 6’4 195 Quinlan Bennett (7.9 PPG) G 6’1 180 Ryan Meyers (13.0 PPG) G 6’5 195 JJ Kalakon (7.2 PPG) F 6’5 205 Jesiah West (8.5 PPG) C 6’11 230 Drew Cisse (8.4 PPG)
This starting lineup has gone 9-1 together and one of the most effective lineups in the OVC. A lot of balanced scoring for WIU between the starters and some of the reserves. Their guards do not shoot the 3 that well, however, Meyers is their best shooter at 46% at a high volume. The starting guards are very balance as either of them can drop a 20 piece at any given night. Liked mentioned above, they are a menace on the backboard. I don’t know the national leader, but Cisse is averaging 12 rebounds per game this season and has multiple 15+ rebounds in a game. Other than Cisse and West, their starting guards are not in foul trouble. However, all them usually play long minutes in the game, especially in closer games (which is obvious).
Other than G 6’5 185 James Dent Jr, who leads the team in points at 13.7 PPG, there is not many scoring threats off the bench. They have been play a tight 7 man rotation the last couple of games.
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Post by shorthaircut on Jan 25, 2024 9:36:06 GMT -6
The backside of our schedule is ugly for sure. But I have a hunch the games will be competitive. Would love to pull an upset or two...I desperately want USI to make the end of season tournament but will take a pretty quick turnaround for that to happen. Must win tonight and have to split next road trip or the hole will be too big to come out of.
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Post by eaglefan on Jan 25, 2024 10:04:14 GMT -6
Just like us, WIU also turns over the ball a lot in their games
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Post by Screagle1214 on Jan 25, 2024 13:18:34 GMT -6
USI by a game winning buzzer beater. Time to manifest some good and exciting vibes for this team and the home crowd.
66 - 64 big upset W for USI against a very respectable opponent
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