The EIU will take on the Iowa Hawkeyes in the NCAA at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Wednesday (December 21).
The EIU are off to a terrible 3-9 start to the 2022-23 NCAA Basketball season and are last in the Ohio Valley Conference. They're coming off a 70-59 win against the IUPUI Jaguars in their last outing.
Meanwhile, the Iowa Hawkeyes are 8-3 on the season and 11th in the Big 12 Conference. They beat the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks 106-75 in their last game.
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EIU vs Iowa Hawkeyes: Betting Odds
The Eastern Illinois Panthers have started the season on a terrible note, with only three wins but nine losses. The wins have come against the SMWC (102-40), Blackburn College Battlin' Beavers (93-43) and IUPUI Jaguars (70-59). They now have an extremely tough away game to contend with and are 1-4 away from home.
The team has been below par on offense, averaging only 66.9 points per game, which ranks 307th in the league. They're conceding more than what they're scoring, 67.8 points per game, which ranks 160th in the league.
The Hawkeyes, meanwhile, are off to a great start, with eight wins and three losses on the season. The losses have come against the No. 14 Duke Blue Devils (74-62), No. 17 Wisconsin Badgers (78-75) and No. 20 TCU Horned Frogs (79-66).
The team is averaging an impressive 83.9 points per game, which ranks 16th in the league, and is conceding 68.9 points per outing, which ranks 185th.
EIU vs Iowa Hawkeyes: Match Details
Fixture: EIU @ Iowa Hawkeyes
Date & Time: Wednesday, December 21; 03:30 pm ET
Venue: Carver-Hawkeye Arena
EIU vs Iowa Hawkeyes: Prediction
The last ten of the Hawkeyes' 12 games have crossed the total mark against a team with a winning percentage of below .400. Nine of their last 11 games have been over the total line when they scored more than 100 points in their previous game.
The two teams have met only once before in the league, in 2007, when the EIU lost 57-45. Iowa is too strong a team at the moment, so expect an easy outing for the home team.