Neither Eastern nor No. 20 Illinois are coming into tonight’s game off their strongest performance of the year.

The Panthers (3-4) will go into Assembly Hall on the heels of a 57-63 loss at Indiana State Saturday. The Panthers never found their shooting touch and only made 37.1 percent of their field goals.

Illinois (5-0) still managed a win against Arkansas Saturday, but it was not pretty. Illinois defeated the Razorbacks by just four points. The Razorbacks beat Illinois on the boards 36-21 and dominated second chance points 19-4.

However, Eastern head coach Rick Samuels is optimistic going into Champaign to play the Panthers’ third nationally ranked opponent this season.

“Practice today was very good,” Samuels said. “If we can carry over our enthusiasm and intensity from today’s practice to tomorrow’s game, I will be very excited.”

On offense, the Panthers need senior guard J.R. Reynolds to rebound after an off-night against Indiana State. The team’s second leading scorer netted just one point. Prior to the Indiana State game, Reynolds scored over 20 points in the three previous games, including 23 points, one shy of his career high, against No. 13 Marquette.

The Panthers will need Reynolds to shoot well from the floor to take pressure off senior guard Henry Domercant. As Reynolds struggled against Indiana State, so did Domercant.

The Panthers leading scorer was held to 15 points, over ten points below his average going into the game of over 26 points per game.

On defense, the Panthers know they are up for a challenge. Illini senior forward Brian Cook is leading the team with 19 points per game, and sophomore forward Roger Powell is off to a good start averaging nearly 13 points a game. The two forwards combine to bring in nearly 12 rebounds a game.

The Panthers are at an obvious size disadvantage. The Illini have three players in their starting lineup weighing over 200 pounds and measuring in at 6-foot-6 or taller. Senior center Jan Thompson (6 feet 11 inches, 255) and junior forward Jesse Mackinson (6 feet 8 inches, 210) will need some help containing the pair of forwards and 7-foot-2 inch sophomore center Nick Smith.

“We are going to try to take as much away as we can realizing they will have a lot of advantages,” Samuels said.

Samuels believes the post will be a big factor in the game.

“We need to neutralize them on the boards,” he said. “If they get any kind of advantage, that will take away any chance that we have.”

The Panthers should fair better against the Illini this year than they did the last time the two teams met last season. The Illini handed the Panthers a 40-point loss, but have since lost the services of forward Frank Williams and guard Cory Bradford, while Eastern retained most of its roster.

“We’re better prepared mentally than we were last year,” Samuels said. “I think our players are looking forward to it.”

Illinois had dominated other mid-major schools so far this season, like in-state Western Illinois, who lost to the Illini 92-65 Dec. 3.

“I would like to make this competitive as deep into the game as we can and see how Illinois responds,” Samuels said.