Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles vs Eastern Illinois Panthers Prediction, 2/21/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles vs Eastern Illinois Panthers

Date: Saturday, February 21, 2026

Location: Groniger Arena in Charleston, IL

TV: ESPN+

The Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles (5-21) are hitting the road to Groniger Arena on Saturday where they will compete against the Eastern Illinois Panthers (11-16).

The Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles faced off with Tennessee Tech and took a loss by a score of 82-74 in their last contest. Southern Indiana finished the game having earned a 41.1% field goal percentage (23 of 56) and buried 8 of their 18 three-point attempts. From the charity stripe, the Screaming Eagles made 20 of their 27 shots for a rate of 74.1%. Regarding grabbing rebounds, they collected 26 with 10 of them being offensive. They also dished out 8 assists in this contest as well as forcing 9 turnovers and earning 6 steals. When talking about defense, Southern Indiana allowed the other team to go 54.4% from the floor on 31 out of 57 shooting. Tennessee Tech recorded 7 dimes and had 2 steals for this game. Furthermore, Tennessee Tech totaled 32 rebounds (8 offensive, 24 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. Tennessee Tech walked away from this one shooting 78.9% at the free throw line by converting 15 of 19 attempts. They also buried 5 of 15 attempts from beyond the arc. With respect to fouls, the Screaming Eagles finished with 20 and Tennessee Tech racked up 20 fouls.

Ismail Habib is one guy who was a major factor for the contest. He ended up going 45.5% from the floor and also earned 4 assists. He played for 33 mins played and also pulled down 5 boards. He walked away with 17 points on 5 out of 11 shooting.

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Southern Indiana comes into this matchup with a record of 5-21 so far this season. They average 68.5 points per game (332nd in the nation) while shooting 38.4% from the field. The Screaming Eagles are shooting 31.1% on three-point attempts (205 of 660) and 64.3% from the free throw line. As a unit, Southern Indiana is collecting 37.6 rebounds per game and is sitting with 264 assists this season, which has them ranked 362nd in the nation in terms of passing the ball. They turn the ball over 12.4 times per game and as a team they commit 17.5 fouls every game.

Defensively, the Screaming Eagles are able to force 11.7 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 17.8 personal fouls. They surrender 32.2% on 3-pointers and they rank 187th in D-1 in PPG allowed (73.8). The Screaming Eagles defense is giving up a shooting percentage of 43.8% (684 of 1,561) and they surrender 40.9 boards per game as a team. They are currently ranked 4th in the country in giving up assists to their opponents with 265 relinquished on the season.

The last time they took the hardwood, the Eastern Illinois Panthers took home the win by a final score of 78-72 when they faced Little Rock. The Panthers pulled down 19 defensive boards and 18 offensive boards for a total of 37 in this contest. They also coughed it up 8 times, while earning 7 steals for this game. Little Rock committed 20 fouls in this contest which got the Panthers to the charity stripe for 30 attempts. They were able to bury 22 of them for a clip of 73.3%. In relation to shots from 3-point land, Eastern Illinois made 6 of their 16 attempts (37.5%). When the final whistle blew, the Panthers shot 25 out of 64 from the floor which had them sitting at 39.1%. The Panthers permitted Little Rock to convert 27 out of their 60 attempts from the field which left them shooting 45.0% in this game. They shot 38.9% from beyond the perimeter by going 7 out of 18 and walked away from this one shooting 11 out of 18 from the charity stripe (61.1%). With respect to how they rebounded, Eastern Illinois permitted Little Rock to snag 29 overall (10 on the offensive side).

Meechie White ended up being a factor for the Panthers for this game. He recorded 19 points in his 32 minutes on the court and had 3 dimes in the game. He buried 5 of 12 for this game giving him a field goal percentage of 41.7%, and had 2 rebounds.

Eastern Illinois has a win-loss mark of 11-16 this year. On the offensive side of the ball, the Panthers are hitting on 42.7% from the floor, which has them ranked 309th in the nation. Eastern Illinois has earned 1,815 points for the campaign (67.2 per game) and they pull in 32.9 rebounds per contest. They are dishing out assists 12.4 times per game (299th in the nation) and they are losing possession via turnover 12.8 times per contest. The Panthers are committing 16.6 fouls every game and they go 73.3% from the charity stripe.

The Panthers defensively are ranked 84th in D-1 in points allowed per game with 70.3. They are able to force 13.6 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 43.2% from the field (126th in D-1). The Eastern Illinois defense gives up 30.0% on shots from behind the 3-point line (193 of 643) and their opponents are making 74.2% of their foul shots. They have relinquished 13.9 dimes and 35.3 rebounds on a nightly basis, which ranks 226th and 236th in those categories.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Southern Indiana

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