Eastern Illinois Panthers vs SIU Edwardsville Cougars Prediction, 2/28/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Eastern Illinois Panthers vs SIU Edwardsville Cougars

Date: Saturday, February 28, 2026

Location: First Community Arena in Edwardsville, IL

TV: ESPN+

The SIU Edwardsville Cougars (18-12) welcome the Eastern Illinois Panthers (12-18) at First Community Arena on Saturday.

The Eastern Illinois Panthers played Lindenwood and went home with a win by a final score of 71-67 in their last game. When it comes to personal fouls, the Panthers walked away with 14 and Lindenwood racked up 21 personal fouls. They also converted 7 of their 24 shots from three-point range. Lindenwood finished the contest at 71.4% when shooting free throws by making 10 of their 14 attempts. On top of that, Lindenwood snagged 39 rebounds (17 offensive, 22 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. Lindenwood recorded 11 dimes and had 9 steals for this game. With respect to defense, Eastern Illinois allowed their opponent to shoot 37.9% from the field on 25 out of 66 shooting. They also distributed 12 assists in this matchup while forcing the opposition into 14 turnovers and having 12 steals. With respect to grabbing boards, they compiled 28 with 7 of them being of the offensive variety. From the charity stripe, the Panthers converted 25 of 33 shots for a percentage of 75.8%. Eastern Illinois walked away from the game having earned a 40.8% FG percentage (20 out of 49) and converted 6 of their 9 3-pointers.

Kooper Jacobi is someone who played a role in this matchup. He left the arena with 30 points on 11 of 16 shooting. He played for 36 mins and snagged 13 boards. He went 68.8% from the floor but didn't record a dime.

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Eastern Illinois comes into this game with a record of 12-18 this season. They lose possession by turning the ball over 12.6 times per game and as a group are committing 16.5 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Eastern Illinois is grabbing 32.9 boards per game and has accounted for 373 dimes this season, which has them ranked 253rd in the nation in terms of passing. The Panthers are hitting 32.6% on shots from beyond the arc (165 of 506) and 74.1% from the charity stripe. They average 67.5 points per contest (342nd in D-1) while hitting 42.6% from the field.

When they are on the defensive end, the Panthers have forced 13.6 turnovers per contest while drawing 16.1 personal fouls. They rank 275th in the country in giving up assists to the opposition with 418 surrendered for the campaign. The Panthers defense is giving up a FG percentage of 43.2% (730 of 1,689) and they relinquish 35.2 rebounds per game as a unit. They are surrendering 30.7% on 3-point shots and they are ranked 81st in the country in points per game allowed (70.2).

For their last game, the SIU Edwardsville Cougars walked away with a victory by a final of 67-47 against Western Illinois. In regard to cleaning the glass, SIU Edwardsville permitted Western Illinois to collect 30 in total (7 offensive). They shot 35.0% from beyond the perimeter via 7 of 20 and ended up going 10 of 23 at the charity stripe (43.5%). The Cougars allowed Western Illinois to convert 15 of their 52 attempts from the floor which had them at 28.8% for the matchup. Overall, the Cougars finished the game shooting 27 out of 55 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 49.1%. In regard to shooting from distance, SIU Edwardsville made 3 of their 16 tries (18.8%). They were able to knock down 10 of them for a rate of 71.4%. Western Illinois was called for 9 personal fouls in the matchup which got the Cougars to the charity stripe for 14 attempts. They turned it over 11 times, while earning 11 steals for the game. The Cougars recorded 36 defensive rebounds and 5 offensive boards totaling 41 for the game.

Tyler King was important for the Cougars for this contest. He made 7 of 15 for the contest giving him a field goal percentage of 46.7%, and had 4 rebounds. He had 18 points in his 28 mins on the court, but went home with no dimes.

SIU Edwardsville has a record of 18-12 on the year. The Cougars commit 16.1 fouls every game and they hit 67.6% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 12.9 times per game (256th in college hoops) and they turn it over 11.7 times per contest. SIU Edwardsville has accumulated 2,123 points this year (70.8 per contest) and they snag 36.7 rebounds per contest. As an offense, the Cougars are shooting 44.4% from the field, which ranks them 229th in college.

The SIU Edwardsville defense gives up 30.2% on shots from 3-point land (201 of 666) and opponents are making 70.8% of their shots from the free throw line. They relinquish 10.2 assists and 35.2 boards per contest, which is 5th and 235th in those categories. The Cougars on the defensive end are ranked 12th in D-1 in PPG given up with 64.8. They are able to force 12.3 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 39.1% from the field (8th in college hoops).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Eastern Illinois

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