Tuesday will be an unfamiliar scene for the Eastern Illinois men’s basketball team.

The Panthers will be hosting their first home playoff game in the Ohio Valley Conference since 2001 against Eastern Kentucky at 7:30 p.m. in Lantz Arena.

Riding a program-high seven-game winning streak, Eastern Illinois (18-11, 11-7 OVC) has clawed its way to the No. 4 seed by upsetting the Colonels (20-11, 11-7 OVC) and No. 2 Morehead State (21-9, 15-3 OVC) during that stretch.

With those wins, the Panthers gained the tiebreaker over Eastern Kentucky.

Red-shirt freshman forward James Hollowell said he thinks hosting a home playoff game is a huge advantage.

“We’ve been winning here,” Hollowell said of the team’s six straight home wins. “We’ve got a little streak going on so I think that is good momentum going into Tuesday.”

Tennessee State head coach John Cooper said the Panthers have players stepping up at the right time after they beat his

Tigers 66-61 Saturday.

“I think they are playing their best ball right now, which is the time you want to be playing it,” Cooper said. “They are going to be a tough out just because of their ability to execute and they run a lot of different sets. They get the ball to the hands of the shooters.”

Eastern Illinois dropped a 67-59 contest to the Colonels Jan. 14 at Richmond, Ky.; however, the Panthers surprised Eastern Kentucky by beating them 77-54 Feb. 13 in Lantz Arena.

During an Ohio Valley Conference teleconference, both coaches evaluated the differences from both contests.

“We did think we played really well here in Richmond the first game; our defense was pretty good,” Eastern Kentucky head coach Jeff Neubauer said. “The second game, they controlled the game.

“Eastern Illinois has improved a lot as a team. Eastern Illinois did a good job with defending guys we usually depend on.”

Eastern Illinois head coach Mike Miller said his squad was flat out beat the first game.

“When we played at EKU, we didn’t feel like we were much of a factor,” Miller said. “We were a step behind the play and our offense was not in sync.”

During the Jan. 14 game, Eastern Illinois shot 41.5 percent from the field while no player besides junior guard Tyler Laser (21 points) had more than eight points.

“There are not going to be surprises from either side,” Miller said of the third meeting this season.

Miller said preparing for Eastern Kentucky’s 1-3-1 zone defense is challenging because the Panthers cannot simulate it well in practice.

“I’ve seen teams around the country trying to do it on television and I think they are one of the best in the country running it,” Miller said. “They are so disruptive and their reactions and rotations are very fast.”

The game will ultimately come done to who is more mentally prepared, senior guard Jay Smith said.

“You’ve got to be focused,” Smith said. “You’ve got to be focused for the whole game. Right now, it’s really about team and like coach (Miller) keeps saying, ‘The one with the better team wins.'”

Hollowell said he believes the team needs to play its game to beat the Colonels.

“It’s just like we did the whole month of February, just going to practice, executing and working hard and going out and playing our best,” Hollowell said.

If the Panthers win, they will travel to Nashville, Tenn. at Bridgestone Arena and will presumably face No. 1 Murray State (27-4, 17-1 OVC) in the semifinals.

The Racers will face No. 8 Tennessee State (9-22, 6-13 OVC) 7 p.m. Tuesday in Murray, Ky.

Bob Bajek can be reached at 581-7944 or [email protected].