Pounds, Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles take on the Eastern Illinois Panthers

By Canadian Press on January 7, 2026.

Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (6-9, 1-3 OVC) at Eastern Illinois Panthers (4-10, 1-3 OVC)

Charleston, Illinois; Thursday, 8:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Dani Pounds and Tennessee Tech take on Kooper Jacobi and Eastern Illinois in OVC action.

The Panthers are 4-2 in home games. Eastern Illinois ranks ninth in the OVC with 21.8 defensive rebounds per game led by Terry McMorris averaging 4.9.

The Golden Eagles are 1-3 in OVC play. Tennessee Tech is third in the OVC scoring 78.0 points per game and is shooting 45.9%.

Eastern Illinois is shooting 41.9% from the field this season, 2.0 percentage points lower than the 43.9% Tennessee Tech allows to opponents. Tennessee Tech averages 78.0 points per game, 4.5 more than the 73.5 Eastern Illinois allows to opponents.

The Panthers and Golden Eagles match up Thursday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Zion Fruster is averaging 15.9 points for the Panthers. Meechie White is averaging 12.3 points over the last 10 games.

Brandon Muntu is shooting 34.5% from beyond the arc with 2.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Golden Eagles, while averaging 10.3 points. Pounds is averaging 12.1 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Panthers: 3-7, averaging 67.6 points, 30.2 rebounds, 13.6 assists, 8.1 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 43.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.9 points per game.

Golden Eagles: 4-6, averaging 77.2 points, 31.6 rebounds, 13.1 assists, 7.6 steals and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 44.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 84.7 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press

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