The Eastern Illinois Panthers and the Tennessee State Tigers meet Saturday in college basketball action from Gentry Complex. Eastern Illinois is coming off a Thursday matchup versus Belmont. In that one the Panthers lost in blowout fashion. As for Tennessee State, they played SIU Edwardsville in their Thursday game. The Tigers ended up winning by 16 points. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Eastern Illinois had an abysmal 2-17 run to start the year, but did manage a couple of consecutive wins in late January. After that came a 1-4 run with losses to Southeast Missouri State, Tennessee Tech (twice) and Austin Peay.
In the Belmont game on Thursday, Eastern Illinois was outscored 20-31 in the first half and 37-50 in the second. The Panthers limped to an 81-57 loss. Kashawn Charles managed 15 points, and Sammy Friday added 13 points in 13 minutes.
Over on the Tennessee State side, their year started out at a reasonable 5-7, but the Tigers have yet to win consecutive games since then. Tennessee State started February with a 1-3 stretch and losses to Belmont, Murray State and Austin Peay.
Matched up against SIU Edwardsville on Thursday, Tennessee State posted 44 points in the first half and another 37 after halftime during an 81-65 victory. Leading scorer Kassim Nicholson doubled up on 18 points with 10 rebounds in the win.
The Tigers are 6-1 ATS in the last seven at home and 3-1-1 ATS in their last five after an ATS win. Tennessee State is 5-1 ATS in their last six Saturday games.
Meanwhile, the Panthers are 4-1 ATS in their last five road games and 4-1 ATS in their last five after an ATS win. EIU is 6-2 ATS in their last eight overall.
PICK: I’m going to try Tennessee State here. The Tigers have been highly inconsistent during this 2-4 stretch, but they’ve faced a few tough teams in that run. Tennessee State’s last two losses have come by two to Austin Peay and by 11 to a great Murray State team.
The last time these teams met up on January 29, Eastern Illinois managed a 62-57 victory at home. This one should be equally competitive, and I like Tennessee State to keep their momentum going with a win/cover.