It will be a battle between Big Sky opponents when the Eastern Washington Eagles (7-8) welcome the Southern Utah Thunderbirds (4-10) to Reese Court. The game starts at 9:05 pm ET on Thursday, Jan. 14.
The Eagles beat Idaho 74-60 in their last game. Austin McBroom was the game’s high scorer with 26 points on 8-for-14 shooting. The Thunderbirds, meanwhile, are coming off a 73-63 loss to Northern Arizona in their last outing. Trey Kennedy had a team-high 15 points.
Felix Von Hofe has been playing at a high level as of late for the Eagles, averaging 24.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.6 blocks, and 5.4 three-pointers over the last five games.
The high-powered offense of Eastern Washington (26th in the nation with an offensive efficiency of 115.9) will square off against the porous defense of Southern Utah (337th in the nation with a defensive efficiency of 113.2), a matchup that should favor the Eagles.
Eastern Washington is a heavy 11-point favorite at home and the Over/Under (O/U) for this matchup is set at 153 points. The Eagles are looking to improve on their records of 7-8 Straight Up (SU) and 5-6 Against The Spread (ATS). The Eagles are an incredibly accurate shooting team with a .483 field-goal percentage, one of the highest marks in Division I. Transitioning to the Eastern Washington defense, teams really have to fight for three-pointers against the Eagles, who have allowed only 5.0 three-pointers to opponents per game.
On the other side, the Thunderbirds head into the game with records of 2-9 ATS and 4-10 SU. Southern Utah has been particularly bad ATS over its past 10 matchups, going 1-6. The Thunderbirds are shooting lights out from the foul line so far, with a .739 free throw percentage that ranks 34th in Division I.
These conference rivals will be facing off in their first head-to-head clash of the season. When they last met the Eagles were winners, bringing their SU record to 4-1 over Southern Utah in the most recent games. However, with a 3-2 record, Southern Utah has the advantage ATS. Southern Utah topped the Eagles in three key areas (field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers) once over the last five matchups. Eastern Washington has never had the edge in all three categories.
Predictions: SU Winner – EastWa, ATS Winner – EastWa, O/U – Over
Notes
Eastern Washington is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games.
Eastern Washington is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home.
Eastern Washington is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Southern Utah.
Ranked 26th, the Eastern Washington Eagles have an offensive rating of 115.9. The Southern Utah Thunderbirds rank 337th with a defensive rating of just 113.2.
The Southern Utah Thunderbirds average a field goal percentage of 44.5% this season. The Eastern Washington Eagles have a subpar record of 2-8 when opponents have a FG% of 44.5% or greater.
On average, the Eastern Washington Eagles attempt 27.0 three point field goals per game and the Southern Utah Thunderbirds attempt 19.0. In games where they attempt at least 20 threes, Eastern Washington is 7-8, while Southern Utah has a poor record of 2-4.
Eastern Washington has forced an average turnover percentage of 18.1% this season. Southern Utah has an abysmal 2-6 record when its TO% is 18.1% or higher.
