UP NEXT: The Leathernecks head north to face the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State next Wednesday (Jan. 7) before returning home to battle the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles on Jan. 10.

A LOOK AT FORT WAYNE: The Mastodons, who were picked first in The Summit League's annual preseason poll of coaches and media, enter Friday night's league opener with a 7-6 overall record... Forward Steve Forbes tabbed Summit League Preseason First Team, while Mo Evans was named to the second team... Jon Coffman is in his first season as a head coach after spending the three previous seasons as an assistant at Fort Wayne... IPFW has lost three of its last four games heading into league play... The Mastodons most recently dropped a nonconference game to Cal Poly, 71-57... Fort Wayne has five players averaging more than 10 points per game: Steve Forbes (14.8), Joe Edwards (11.2), Isaiah McCray (10.3), Mo Evans (10.3) and Joe Reed (10.2)... Forbes also leads the team in rebounds per game (6.5), while Evans leads the Mastodons in assists per game (3.3).

LEATHERNECKS VS. MASTODONS SERIES HISTORY: Fort Wayne leads the all-time series 12-6...The Leathernecks won the first-ever meeting 74-63 on January 11, 1988...WIU then lost 10 of the next 11 meetings to IPFW, and found themselves trailing 10-2 in the series... Western, however, rattled off four consecutive victories before losing both of its games with the Mastodons last season.

HOME SWEET HOME: Western is 34-12 (.739) inside Western Hall since the beginning of the 2011-12 season... The Leathernecks went 10-4 during their 2011-12 campaign, 12-2 during the 2012-13 league slate, and 7-5 last season... So far this year WIU is 5-1 on LeRoy A. Ufkes Court.

COVINGTON FOR THREE: Sophomore guard Garret Covington had 70 three-pointers as a freshman, and has 28 so far as a sophomore... He has 98 in his career... He has played in 40 career games, has only had five games played without at least one three, and has made at least one triple in 36 games... He has 26 games with multiple three pointers... He has nine games with one trey, five games with two triples, nine games with three makes from long range, nine games with four three pointers, two games with five connections from beyond the arc, and a career-high six three-pointers in one game.

DOUBLE FIGURES: Sophomore guard Garret Covington has 595 career points and averages 14.9 points per game... He has 30 games with 10 or more points, 21 games having scored between 10-19 points, and nine games with 20-plus points... He finished the Leathernecks' win over Southeastern Louisiana (Nov. 22) with 29 points, a career-best... Those 29 points were the most by a member of the program since David Jackson scored 32 against Fort Wayne on Nov. 21, 2006.

SANDIFER'S ASSISTS: Sophomore guard Jabari Sandifer has 146 assists in his young career, and averages 3.6 per game during his career... As a freshman, he played in all 30 games and averaged 3.1 per game, and has played in all 11 games this season and averages 4.9 per game... He has at least one assist in all but one of his 41 career games played... He has multiple assists in 37 of those games... Three-plus assists in 31 career games... 16 games with four-plus... Six games with five-plus... Five games with six-plus... Three games with eight-plus, all of which have come this season... And a career-high 13 assists this season versus Greenville College (Nov. 29) while not turning the ball over in 29 minutes of play... His 13 helpers was two shy of WIU's single-game record.

20-PLUS ASSISTS AS A TEAM: As a team, Western Illinois has finished three games with 20 or more assists... Most recently, the Leathernecks had 20 assists on 29 made baskets in their win over Alabama State (Dec. 13)... WIU's first game of the season with 20-plus helpers came in its game at UIC (11/17) when the Leathernecks finished with 20 assists on 24 made baskets... The second game this season in which Western had 20 or more assists was in the Leathernecks win over Greenville College (11/29) when they dished out 24 helpers on 35 made baskets... Last season, WIU had three total games with 20-plus assists, all against non-Division I opponents... Before this season, the last time WIU had 20 or more assists against a Division I opponent was Jan. 29, 2012 versus Omaha when the Leathernecks recorded 25.

INDIVIDUALLY IN THE NATION (as of Dec. 31): Two Western Illinois players rank in the top 100 of four national statistical categories: Jabari Sandifer ranks 61st in assists per game (4.9) and 89th in total assists (54)... Garret Covington ranks 68th in three-point field goal percentage (39.4) and 83rd in three-pointers per game (2.5).

INDIVIDUALLY IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE (as of Dec. 28): Sophomore Garret Covington ranks: Second in three-pointers (28)... Fourth in free throw percentage (81.3)... Fifth in points per game (15.7)... 10th in three-point field goal percentage (39.4)... Sophomore Jabari Sandifer ranks first in assists per game (4.9) and total assists (54)... Second in assist/turnover ratio (1.7)... Mohamed Conde ranks tied for seventh in rebounds per game (6.5)... Eighth in steals per game (1.3)... Junior guard J.C. Fuller ranks 10th in free throw percentage (75.8).