Spring Break
Column: Surprising OVC start for Panthers
Dan Cusack / Staff Reporter
Issue date: 1/14/09 Section: Sports
If the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament started tomorrow, the Eastern men's basketball team would be hosting a home playoff game.
The Panthers, who are 6-9 overall, stand alone at third in the conference with a 3-2 record with road victories against Jacksonville State and Southeast Missouri during Winter Break.
Two of Eastern's three conference wins, SEMO and Jacksonville State, were against teams predicted to finish eighth and 10th in the preseason coaches poll, respectively.
But either way, so far in the conference the Panthers have to be shocking the OVC.
Eastern finished last in the conference last season and was picked to finish ninth this year.
In their conference losses, the Panthers did not get blown out, but played competitive. The Panthers gave Austin Peay all it could handle in an 81-73 loss to the Governors on Dec. 6, battling back from a 16-point deficit to come within two points with only two minutes remaining.
In the 67-60 loss on the road to Tennessee Tech the Panthers led at half, but a scoreless streak in the second half ultimately did them in.
Eastern coach Mike Miller said the team took a step forward during the Winter Break. He said the team looked good after the stretch of games in November and early December, but after finals and a few days off after Winter Break they didn't play as well.
One of the differences Miller said during break has been bench play and defense.
In the win against SEMO, the Panthers bench scored 30 points and vaulted a Panther team that was in foul trouble.
Junior center Ousmane Cisse did it on both offense and defense in the Panthers' two conference wins. Cisse scored 12 points and nabbed 10 boards in the win against Jacksonville State and scored 16, while grabbing nine boards against SEMO.
Miller said the team needs to work on becoming more consistent. He compared the season so far to a wave as Eastern had an early push, leveled off and is continuing to move forward again.
Eastern does not play in the Atlantic Coast Conference or even the Missouri Valley Conference, so teams are unlikely to get at at-large bid for an NCAA Tournament berth.
The most they can hope for is get into the OVC Tournament and all they need to do is be better than two other teams in the conference. Right now they have put themselves in good position, beating teams they should beat and building momentum so they have the opportunity to compete in the conference tournament.
Dan Cusack can be reached at 581-7944 or at dscusack@eiu.edu.
The Panthers, who are 6-9 overall, stand alone at third in the conference with a 3-2 record with road victories against Jacksonville State and Southeast Missouri during Winter Break.
Two of Eastern's three conference wins, SEMO and Jacksonville State, were against teams predicted to finish eighth and 10th in the preseason coaches poll, respectively.
But either way, so far in the conference the Panthers have to be shocking the OVC.
Eastern finished last in the conference last season and was picked to finish ninth this year.
In their conference losses, the Panthers did not get blown out, but played competitive. The Panthers gave Austin Peay all it could handle in an 81-73 loss to the Governors on Dec. 6, battling back from a 16-point deficit to come within two points with only two minutes remaining.
In the 67-60 loss on the road to Tennessee Tech the Panthers led at half, but a scoreless streak in the second half ultimately did them in.
Eastern coach Mike Miller said the team took a step forward during the Winter Break. He said the team looked good after the stretch of games in November and early December, but after finals and a few days off after Winter Break they didn't play as well.
One of the differences Miller said during break has been bench play and defense.
In the win against SEMO, the Panthers bench scored 30 points and vaulted a Panther team that was in foul trouble.
Junior center Ousmane Cisse did it on both offense and defense in the Panthers' two conference wins. Cisse scored 12 points and nabbed 10 boards in the win against Jacksonville State and scored 16, while grabbing nine boards against SEMO.
Miller said the team needs to work on becoming more consistent. He compared the season so far to a wave as Eastern had an early push, leveled off and is continuing to move forward again.
Eastern does not play in the Atlantic Coast Conference or even the Missouri Valley Conference, so teams are unlikely to get at at-large bid for an NCAA Tournament berth.
The most they can hope for is get into the OVC Tournament and all they need to do is be better than two other teams in the conference. Right now they have put themselves in good position, beating teams they should beat and building momentum so they have the opportunity to compete in the conference tournament.
Dan Cusack can be reached at 581-7944 or at dscusack@eiu.edu.
The Daily Eastern News encourages on-topic, civil discussion on its articles posted online. It is our policy not to screen comments before they are posted or edit them after they are posted. However, we reserve the right to remove comments that are off-topic, malicious, libelous or include excessive foul language. The DEN also reserves the right to turn off all comments on any story it deems necessary.
Comments violating copyright law will also be removed.
Users who repeatedly violate this policy will be banned from commenting.
If you have any questions on our comment policy or wish to report a comment that you feel violates these standards, please e-mail a link to the article to our Online Editor at DENNews.com@gmail.com.
Be the first to comment on this story