# 2018–19 Eastern Illinois Panthers men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Eastern Illinois Panthers men's basketball team represented Eastern Illinois University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by seventh-year head coach Jay Spoonhour, played their home games at Lantz Arena as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 14–18, 7–11 in OVC play to finish in sixth place. They lost to UT Martin in the first round of the OVC tournament.

## Previous season

The Panthers finished the 2017–18 season 12–19, 7–11 in OVC play to finish in eighth place. They defeated Tennessee State in the first round of the OVC tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Austin Peay.

## Preseason

In a vote of conference coaches and sports information directors, EIU was picked to finish in 7th place in the OVC.

### Preseason All-OVC team

The Panthers had one player selected to the preseason all-OVC team.
* Terrell Lewis — Guard

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 2, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Eureka | W 79–44 | | Lantz Arena (708) Charleston, IL |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 6, 2018* 7:00 pm, LHN | | at Texas | L 59–71 | 0–1 | Frank Erwin Center (7,522) Austin, TX |
| Nov 10, 2018* 12:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at IUPUI | L 65–71 | 0–2 | Indiana Farmers Coliseum (1,350) Indianapolis, IN |
| Nov 17, 2018* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Western Illinois | W 68–66 $^{OT}$ | 1–2 | Lantz Arena (696) Charleston, IL |
| Nov 23, 2018* 4:00 p.m. | | vs. Gardner–Webb Battle in the Blue Ridge | W 79–78 | 2–2 | U.S. Cellular Center Asheville, NC |
| Nov 24, 2018* 4:00 p.m. | | vs. Arkansas State Battle in the Blue Ridge | W 90–86 $^{OT}$ | 3–2 | U.S. Cellular Center Asheville, NC |
| Nov 25, 2018* 12:00 p.m. | | vs. UNC Wilmington Battle in the Blue Ridge | L 65–82 | 3–3 | U.S. Cellular Center Asheville, NC |
| Nov 28, 2018* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Purdue Fort Wayne | L 60–104 | 3–4 | Lantz Arena (1,016) Charleston, IL |
| Dec 1, 2018* 2:00 pm | | at Chicago State | L 72–80 | 3–5 | Jones Convocation Center (550) Chicago, IL |
| Dec 4, 2018* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Fontbonne | W 90–37 | 4–5 | Lantz Arena (1,094) Charleston, IL |
| Dec 8, 2018* 7:00 pm | | at Western Illinois | W 74–67 | 5–5 | Western Hall (522) Macomb, IL |
| Dec 15, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Bradley | W 73–66 | 6–5 | Carver Arena (5,186) Peoria, IL |
| Dec 21, 2018* 6:00 pm | | at Iowa State | L 53–101 | 6–6 | Hilton Coliseum (13,616) Ames, IA |
| Dec 30, 2018* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | North Alabama | W 81–70 | 7–6 | Lantz Arena (1,010) Charleston, IL |
| Ohio Valley Conference regular season ||||||
| Jan 3, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | UT Martin | W 92–87 $^{OT}$ | 8–6 (1–0) | Lantz Arena (1,072) Charleston, IL |
| Jan 5, 2019 3:15 pm, ESPN+ | | SIU Edwardsville | W 84–81 $^{OT}$ | 9–6 (2–0) | Lantz Arena (1,088) Charleston, IL |
| Jan 10, 2019 7:15 pm, ESPN+ | | at Jacksonville State | L 62–69 | 9–7 (2–1) | Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,275) Jacksonville, AL |
| Jan 12, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Tennessee Tech | W 67–60 | 10–7 (3–1) | Eblen Center (3,079) Cookeville, TN |
| Jan 17, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Murray State | L 61–83 | 10–8 (3–2) | Lantz Arena (2,410) Charleston, IL |
| Jan 19, 2019 3:15 pm, ESPN+ | | Austin Peay | W 85–83 | 11–8 (4–2) | Lantz Arena (1,111) Charleston, IL |
| Jan 24, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at UT Martin | W 66–64 | 12–8 (5–2) | Skyhawk Arena (1,094) Martin, TN |
| Jan 26, 2019 4:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Southeast Missouri State | L 59–64 | 12–9 (5–3) | Show Me Center (1,636) Cape Girardeau, MO |
| Jan 31, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Eastern Kentucky | W 67–66 | 13–9 (6–3) | Lantz Arena (1,451) Charleston, IL |
| Feb 2, 2019 3:15 pm, ESPN+ | | Morehead State | L 78–84 | 13–10 (6–4) | Lantz Arena (1,333) Charleston, IL |
| Feb 7, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Murray State | L 75–86 | 13–11 (6–5) | CFSB Center (5,111) Murray, KY |
| Feb 9, 2019 3:45 pm, ESPN+ | | at Austin Peay | L 86–94 | 13–12 (6–6) | Dunn Center (2,124) Clarksville, TN |
| Feb 14, 2019 5:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at SIU Edwardsville | W 79–65 | 14–12 (7–6) | Vadalabene Center Edwardsville, IL |
| Feb 16, 2019 3:15 pm, ESPN+ | | Southeast Missouri State | L 79–88 | 14–13 (7–7) | Lantz Arena (1,615) Charleston, IL |
| Feb 21, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Belmont | L 58–99 | 14–14 (7–8) | Curb Event Center (2,468) Nashville, TN |
| Feb 23, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Tennessee State | L 60–75 | 14–15 (7–9) | Gentry Complex (1,511) Nashville, TN |
| Feb 28, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPNews | | Jacksonville State | L 84–89 $^{2OT}$ | 14–16 (7–10) | Lantz Arena (1,414) Charleston, IL |
| Mar 2, 2019 3:15 pm, ESPN+ | | Tennessee Tech | L 57–63 | 14–17 (7–11) | Lantz Arena (1,046) Charleston, IL |
| Ohio Valley tournament ||||||
| Mar 6, 2019 8:30, ESPN+ | (6) | vs. (7) UT Martin | L 71–78 | 14–18 | Ford Center (643) Evansville, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
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