GAME NOTES

MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois men's basketball treks to the Dakotas this weekend for a pair of Summit League contests. The Fighting Leathernecks take on North Dakota State on Thursday night (Feb. 10), tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. On Saturday night (Feb. 12), Western faces South Dakota State at 7:30 p.m.

The game can be heard on the Leatherneck Sports Network and on the internet at www.GoLeathernecks.com. The pregame show will air 30 minutes prior to tip.

A WESTERN WIN...: A win by Western would end a six-game overall losing streak and nine in a row for away games... The six-game streak matches the longest since six consecutive midseason of the 2008-09 campaign... A Leatherneck victory would extend their winning streak against the Bison to two, and be the first time Western has swept the regular season series... If Western wins it snaps a five-game Summit League losing streak and keep it in contention for a tournament berth next month.

CHANGING UP THE LINE-UP: The Leathernecks rank among the national leaders in different line-ups used as injuries have forced Coach Jim Molinari to use 12 different starting line-ups... The injury to Brandon Smith forced Western to use the same starting five against Oakland and IPFW as at Southern Utah: Matt Lander, Jelani Johnson, Kaimarr Price, Abdou Niang and Jack Houpt... Western using the same line-up for the second straight game was the first occurrence that happened in a month... Lander is the only Leatherneck to have started every game this year while Jelani Johnson and Jack Houpt have played in every game this season... According to research done by USC Upstate Media Relations, Western has used the third-most lineups in the nation this season.

SUMMIT LEAGUE LEADERS: Western continues to lead the Summit League in scoring defense (63.8 ppg) by a four-point margin. The Leathernecks also lead the way in field goal defense (.426) and narrowly in 3-point FG defense (.335)... Western is sixth in 3-point shooting (.356), turnover margin (-1.5) and fourth in defensive rebounds (23.0)... Individually Matt Lander ranks seventh in scoring (16.5 ppg), tied for ninth in assists (2.5) and has made the most free throws with 120... Kaimarr Price stands fifth in rebounding at 6.8 rpg. He is also eighth at 0.9 bgp, tied for ninth with 2.1 offensive rebounds and fifth grabbing 4.7 defensive boards... Jelani Johnson is tied for seventh averaging 1.2 steals per game.

FIRST HALF TELLING ALL: The first half has so far been the tell-tale sign of how the game will play out... Western is 6-0 when leading at the half... However, the Leathernecks are 1-1 when the score is tied and 0-15 when trailing after the first 20 minutes.

INJURY LIST: Senior guard Brandon Smith became the latest Leatherneck to join the injured list, suffering an ankle injury and sitting out the Oakland and IPFW games. That left five injured players on the bench with three substitutes... Smith, who had played in every game and started the previous three contests, became the seventh different Leatherneck to miss time or have missed time and started a game this season... Junior guard Tommie Tyler has been out since mid January, and preseason First Team All-Summit League selection Ceola Clark III has been out since early December with a toe injury. He also missed a game in November due to an ankle injury... Billy Molinari has missed all but three minutes in the season-opener due to a foot injury... David Gebru will miss the remainder of the season due to a knee injury suffered in December... In all eight Western players have combined to miss 69 games due to injuries... Already minus Molinari, the Leathernecks had a 3-3 record heading into the Oral Roberts game when Clark was injured. Since that home conference loss, Western has gone just 4-13... Then the following game since Gebru was lost for the year (at Eastern Illinois), Western is 2-12.

TEAM NOTES: Matt Lander scored 20-plus points for the seventh time this year in the Oakland game. He had 16 points by halftime, his highest total in the previous four games... Emeka Okafor, Jr. was named Papa John's Scholar-Athlete of the Week for his efforts last week. He scored 11 points in the previous 11 games combined before netting 11 against Oakland. Okafor followed with five points and four rebounds against IPFW... Kaimarr Price is averaging 11.5 points and 6.8 rebounds in Summit League play. He scored in double-figures in five straight games, and scored at least nine points in 12 of the last 14 games... Western turned the ball over 13 or fewer times in 10 of the last 15 contests, but is coming off a season-high 19 miscues against IPFW... The Leathernecks collected seven steals against IUPUI, the most since Jan. 8 at Oakland... In five of Western's seven wins, the opponent has committed more fouls. The two other Western wins (St. Francis and Savannah State), the Leathernecks committed just one more foul than the opponent.

PRICE IS RIGHT: Junior transfer Kaimarr Price recorded his third double-double this season, going for 13 points and 10 rebounds at UMKC while dishing out a career-high four assists... Price recorded his first career double-double (15 points/12 rebounds) at #14 Missouri and picked up his second with 14 points and season-high 13 rebounds against Purdue Calumet... He scored a then season-high 17 points at Oakland along with five rebounds. In the second meeting against NBA prospect Keith Benson and the Golden Grizzlies, Price netted 18 points and nine rebounds (bettering Benson in the points)...  Price scored a career-high 20 points against North Carolina Central and grabbed seven rebounds... Price leads the Leathernecks in rebounds (6.8 rpg) and blocks (18)... Price also came close to a double-double at Creighton (15 points/9 rebounds), versus South Dakota State (9 points/9 rebounds) and against Oakland... He has either led or shared team-high rebounding honors 15 times, including nine of the last 11 games.

NORTH DAKOTA STATE ROUND ONE: Western Illinois converted 21-of-24 free throws, including four by Jack Houpt in the final 17 seconds, as the Leathernecks pulled away for a 67-62 Summit League win over North Dakota State... The win ended a four-game conference losing streak - and five consecutive losses to North Dakota State... Matt Lander drove the lane with 1:03 left to go ahead by two, but NDSU responded with Michael Tveidt getting fouled. He made the first free throw but missed the second... TrayVonn Wright knocked the ball away from Jelani Johnson and passed ahead to Tveidt, but he missed the breakaway layup and Houpt came away with the rebound with 17 seconds left. The sophomore forward hit both attempts... Drew Lundberg missed a jumper, and once again Houpt came away with the defensive rebound. His final two free throws made it a two possession game, and accounted for the final margin... Lander made a career-high 13 free throws in 14 attempts, matching the Summit League individual season-high... Houpt was 4-for-4, and Kaimarr Price made 3-of-4 as Western converted 17-of-18 during the final 20 minutes... Lander scored a game-high 22 points with four assists while playing all 40 minutes. The senior guard played the final 11:44 with four fouls. Price and Emeka Okafor, Jr. also played the final nine minutes with four fouls each... Houpt added 15 points and six rebounds... Johnson scored a career-high 14 points, and was one off his rebound career-high grabbing seven boards in 39 minutes.

SCOUTING THE BISON: North Dakota State saw its three-game win streak snapped Saturday night at Oral Roberts falling 81-73... The Bison held a 10-point halftime lead but was outscored 47-29 over the final 20 minutes... Michael Tveidt led all scorers with 19 points and Eric Carlson added 15... NDSU committed 18 turnovers and was out-rebounded 40-28... Overall the Bison stand 33rd nationally scoring 76.9 points per game, 23rd in field goal percentage (.477), 34th in 3-point shooting (.386) and 74th in rebound margin (+3.3)... Tveidt averages a team-leading 15.2 points per game, and his 50.2 FG shooting ranks him 75th nationally. The senior forward also leads the team in 3-point shooting (.459) and free throws (.776)... NDSU's loss at Western last month was part of a four-game losing streak prior to the recent three-game win streak.