Leatherneck Men's Basketball Continues Home Schedule Wednesday

Western Illinois plays host to Silver Lake College inside Western Hall with tipoff slated for 7 p.m. for Educator/Fan Appreciation Night

MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois men's basketball (5-1) continues its homestand Wednesday evening inside Western Hall when the Silver Lake Lakers (3-11) visit Macomb. The two teams are slated to tipoff at 7 p.m. All Western Illinois University faculty members, as well as faculty members from surrounding schools can receive free admission with faculty ID as apart of Educator Appreciation Day.

SERIES HISTORY: First meeting.

BEST START SINCE: Western Illinois' 5-1 start is only the fourth of its kind during the program's Division I era... The other three teams to start a season 5-1 were the program's first DI team, 1981-82 squad, along with the 1986-87 team and the 1989-90 team... WIU began the season 5-0, matching the program's best start during its NCAA Division I era... The only other team during the program's DI era to start a season 5-0 was the 1986-87 team... No WIU team had started better than 5-0 since the 1957-58 team which won its first 27 games played and earned the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship.

MID-MAJOR TOP 25: After the first week of basketball Western Illinois debuted at No. 24 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll and have ranked as high at #17...The No. 17 rating is the program's best-ever... This week the Leathernecks sit at #18.

PREVIOUS APPEARANCES IN THE POLL THIS SEASON:
Nov. 16 - #24
Nov. 23 - #17
Nov. 30 - #18

AS A TEAM IN THE NATION (Thru 11/30): Western Illinois is connecting on its attempts from long range better than any other team in the country, making 50.0 percent of his attempts (51-101)... The Leathernecks also rank in the 'Top 50' of the following categories: #15 in field goal percentage (51.5), #20 in field goal percentage defense (36.2), #25 turnovers per game (10.2), #31 in assist/turnover (1.51), #38 in win/loss percentage (83.3), and #43 in scoring margin (15.2).

INDIVIDUALLY IN THE NATION (Thru 11/30): Guard Garret Covington also ranks 15th in free throw percentage (94.4), #27 in three-point field goal percentage (51.6), #79 in total field goals made (39), and #88 in points per game (18.5)... Guard J.C. Fuller ranks #50 in free throw percentage (90.0), #67 in field goal percentage (58.2), #79 in total field goals made (39), and #97 in points per game (18.2)... Jalen Chapman ranks #96 in total blocks (10).

THE LAST TIME OUT: Western Illinois men's basketball suffered its first defeat of the 2015-16 season in Omaha last Saturday evening (Nov. 28) as Big East member Creighton topped the Fighting Leathernecks, 97-67... Both teams moved to 5-1 on the season after the contest... Junior Garret Covington and senior Jalen Chapman led Western with 14 and 13 points, respectively... Chapman, who shot 6-of-8 from the field, also grabbed four rebounds and recorded a team-high two blocks... Leading the team in assists for the fourth time this season and 38th time in his career was Jabari Sandifer who dished out six...The Naperville, Illinois native also grabbed a team-high five rebounds.

1,000 POINT CLUB: Garret Covington sits 30th all-time in Western Illinois career scoring with 967 points... He is only 33 points from becoming the 23rd player in WIU program history to join the 1,000 point club... The last player at Western to reach that milestone was Ceola Clark III who finished his career with 1,472 points.

MORE COVINGTON IN THE RECORD BOOK: Garret Covington has 967 career points which ranks 26th in program history, eight points away from sole possession of 25th... Bob Smith ranks 25th with 974 points... Covington is also in WIU's career three-pointers 'Top 10' having made 149 career three-pointers which ranks sixth all-time at WIU… David Nurse ranks sits fifth all-time with 160 career three-pointers.

#WIUGAMEDAY INFORMATION

THE GAME:
Western Illinois Leathernecks (5-1)
vs.
Silver Lake Lakers (3-11)

WHEN AND WHERE:
Wednesday, December 2, 7 p.m.
Macomb, Ill.
Western Hall (5,139)

WIU STATS:
HERE

OPPONENT WEBSITE:
SL.edu/Athletics

COVERAGE

RADIO:
Flagship: 94.3 FM WRMS
Affiliates: 102.7 FM WJEQ
106.7 FM WPWQ
107.5 FM KWBZ

AUDIO STREAM:
WRMSFM.com

VIDEO STREAM:
Fighting Leathernecks All-Access

LIVE STATS:
GoLeathernecks.com

SOCIAL MEDIA

TWITTER:
@WIUMensHoops
@WIUAthletics

FACEBOOK:
Western Illinois Men's Basketball
Western Illinois Athletics

INSTAGRAM:
Western Illinois Athletics

PRESEASON INFORMATION

2015-16 Quick Facts (.PDF)
2015-16 Record Book (.PDF)
2015-16 Schedule Release
2015-16 Media Day (Video)

Tweet #W1U

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Players Mentioned

#33 Jalen Chapman: F; 6' 7"; Senior; Eagle Academy / Western Oklahoma State College

#31 Garret Covington: G; 6' 5"; Junior; Edwardsville

#14 J.C. Fuller: G; 6' 4"; Senior; East / Kirkwood CC

#1 Jabari Sandifer: G; 6' 1"; Junior; Neuqua Valley

Players Mentioned

#33 Jalen Chapman
: 6' 7"; Senior; Eagle Academy / Western Oklahoma State College
: F

#31 Garret Covington
: 6' 5"; Junior; Edwardsville
: G

#14 J.C. Fuller
: 6' 4"; Senior; East / Kirkwood CC
: G

#1 Jabari Sandifer
: 6' 1"; Junior; Neuqua Valley
: G