MACOMB, Ill. - The Fighting Leathernecks will make their final road trip of the regular season, first to Brookings, S.D. to face the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State (22-7, 13-3) on Thursday, then to Fargo, N.D. to take on the Bison of North Dakota State (17-10, 9-7) on Saturday evening.
The Breakdown
Who: Western Illinois (14-12, 8-8) vs. South Dakota State (22-7, 13-3)
When:
Thursday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.
Where: Brookings, S.D.
Arena:
Frost Arena (6,500)
Live Stats:
HERE
Live Video:
HERE
Radio
Leatherneck Sports Network (88.3 FM)
Radio Talent:
Beau Spencer (play-by-play) & Adam Studzinski (color)
Listen for free HERE
A LOOK AT SOUTH DAKOTA STATE: The South Dakota State Jackrabbits enter Saturday night's game with a 22-7 overall record and 13-3 league mark...In its last action, South Dakota State made the most of its first nationally televised game at Frost Arena, defeating Buffalo, 86-65, before a crowd of 5,378 in a Sears BracketBusters game Saturday afternoon (Feb. 18)...The Jackrabbits have three players averaging 10-plus points per game in Nate Wolters (21.8), Griffan Callahan (11.3), and Jordan Dykstra (10.9)...The same three players lead the team in rebounds per game as well with Callahan averaging 5.1, and Wolters and Dykstra each averaging 5.0...Chad White (49.7) and Dykstra (49.5) are the owner of team-best field goal percentages...Wolters leads the team in free throw percentage having connected on 78.3% of them...As a team, South Dakota State has outscored its opponents, 78.9-68.5 per game...The Jackrabbits have shot 46.6 percent from the floor so far this season, 38.8 percent from behind the arch, and 72.7 percent from the stripe.
LEADER OF THE JACKRABBITS: The Jackrabbits are coached by Scott Nagy (Delta State '88) who is in the midst of his 17th season at SDSU and is the owner of a 311-197 record with the Jackrabbits.
THE SERIES: Heading into Thursday night's game, the Leathernecks trail the Jackrabbits in the all-time series, 7-3...The two teams first met in the 1948-49 season with the Leathernecks defeating SDSU 64-41 at home...After that non-conference tilt, the two team's did not meet until 2008 in Summit League action...Earlier this season Western played host to SDSU and dropped a heartbreaker, 67-66.
WHAT'S IN A WESTERN WIN?: A win would mark the team's 1,199th victory in program history...A win would mark head coach Jim Molinari's 44th victory at Western, and his 267th career victory...A win would be Western Illinois' win would clinch a 6th-seed or better in The Summit League tournament...A win would mark Western's fourth-ever against South Dakota State.
1,000 POINTS!: Senior guard Ceola Clark III entered the 2011-12 season with 672 career points, and has tallied a team-high 355 this season, making him the 19th player in Western Illinois program history to have earned 1,000 career points...Clark reached point #1,000 in the Leathernecks' road game at Oral Roberts on February 11th with 9:01 left in the game, his fifth-straight three-pointer that game Western a 1-point advantage...Clark currently has 1,027 career points.
HOT START: The Leathernecks' 13-9 start to the 2011-12 season is the best start for the program since the 1998-99 season when that team also started 13-9...The 1998-99 squad finished 16-12 overall and 9-5 in Summit League games...The season prior, 1997-98, the men's basketball team also started 13-9...The 1997-98 team finished 16-11 overall and 11-5 in league games.
SUMMIT LEAGUE WINS: This year's eight conference victories (8-8) are the most since the 1998-99 season, sitting one short of that team's league victory total (9-5) with two Summit League contests left this season.
COACH MO' AT WESTERN: This year's 14 wins marks head coach Jim Molinari's season-high while coaching the Leathernecks, one more than the 2009-10 squad that finished 13-17...The 14 wins is also the most earned by a team since the 1998-99 season that finished 16-12.
POINTS ALLOWED: Western is allowing only 59.9 points per game this season, in striking distance of the Western Illinois single-season record of 60.1 that was set in 2009-10 season.
DEFENSE IS ALWAYS KEY: Western's 59.9 points per game allowed ranks 23rd in the nation in the NCAA's last release of statistics, and first in The Summit League...The Leathernecks are allowing opponents to score only 60.0 points per game in Summit League contests which also ranks first in the Summit League.
HANDLE WITH CARE: In the NCAA's most recent release of stats, Western ranks 24th in the nation in turnovers per game, averaging just 11.3...In 12 of their games this season they have committed 10 or less turnovers.
MORE NATIONAL RANKINGS: The Leathernecks rank in the top-75 of five other categories, which include: 18th in three-point field goal percentage (38.9), 23rd in personal fouls per game (15.6), 56th in turnover margin (2.2), 71st in assist/turnover ratio (1.1), and 90th in field goal percentage (45.5).
