MACOMB, Ill. -Â Western Illinois men's basketball (7-4) opens Summit League play and 2016 on Friday, Jan. 1 (Jan. 1) against the Omaha Mavericks (8-6)... The two teams are slated to tipoff at 1 p.m. and fans can listen to the voice of the Leathernecks Scott Kornberg call the action live online at WRMSFM.com.
 OPENING TIP
- Western is receiving votes (the second most of all teams receiving votes) in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll this week and has a NCAA.com RPI of 214... It marks the sixth straight week WIU has either been ranked or receiving votes in the mid-major 'Top 25' of the mid-major poll.
- Earlier this season Western matched the program best undefeated start at 5-0... Only one other team started a season without a loss after five games in the program's DI era.
- The Leathernecks then kicked off the year 7-2 after nine games, the program's best start in DI history through nine games.
- Junior guard Garret Covington became the 23rd member of WIU's program to join the 1,000-point club in the Leathernecks' game vs. EIU (Dec. 12).
- Covington ranks #23 in WIU's all-time scoring with 1,044 points... He also ranks #5 in career 3-pointers made with 164.
- Junior guard Jabari Sandifer ranks #7 in career assists at WIU with 275.
- Senior forward Tate Stensgaard has averaged 9.3 points and 9.8 rebounds per game during the last four contests...During his career Stensgaard is averaging 5.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game... He is also shooting 57.1 (8-14) from the field and has only 1 turnover during the four games.
LEATHERNECKS VS. MAVERICKS SERIES HISTORY: The two programs have played one another 14 times... Western Illinois leads the all-time series 9-5... Since Omaha joined The Summit League, WIU leads the series 4-2... Western has won six of the last eight meetings all time... The two teams are 2-2 during the last two seasons... During the last two seasons the Leathernecks and Mavericks each earned victories on their home court... A complete listing of all 14 meetings is below:
vs. Omaha • Western leads 9-5
Dec 28, 1955, W, 89-65, A
Feb 24, 1975, W, 88-86, H
Dec 23, 1975, L, 65-75, A
Jan 22, 1976, W, 80-68, H
Dec 11, 1976, L, 81-90, A
Jan 10, 1977, L, 71-89, H
Jan 24, 2012, W, 81-70, A
Feb 29, 2012, W, 72-51, H
Jan 12, 2013, W, 89-74, A
Feb 7, 2013, W, 68-50, H
Jan 11, 2014, W-OT, 79-72, H
Feb 8, 2014, L, 60-71, A
Jan 4, 2015, W, 80-78, H
Feb. 14, 2015 L, 58-77, A
SUMMIT LEAGUE OPENERS: Western Illinois is 14-21 all-time in Summit League openers since joining the league in the 1981-82 season... The Leathernecks have won four straight league openers, are 4-1 in the last five years and 6-4 in the last 10 years.
SUMMIT LEAGUE RECORD: Heading into this year's league slate, Western Illinois is 205-301 all-time against Summit League play since joining the league in the 1981-82 season.
ROAD RAGE: Western is 2-4 so far this season on the road... WIU is 16-46 (.258) on the road since the beginning of the 2011-12 season, and 1-26 (.037) in the last two seasons... The Leathernecks went 6-10 (.375) in 2011-12, they were above .500 in 2012-13 with a 7-6 (.538) road mark, struggled again during the 2013-14 season with a 1-13 (.071) record on the road, and went 0-13 (.000) in 2014-15.
HOME SWEET HOME: Western is 42-17 (.712) inside Western Hall since the beginning of the 2011-12 season... The Leathernecks went 10-4 (.714) during their 2011-12 campaign, 12-2 (.857) during the 2012-13 league slate, 7-5 in 2013-14 (.583), 8-6 (.571) in 2014-15, and are 5-0 (100.0) so far this season on LeRoy A. Ufkes Court inside Western Hall.
UNDEFEATED START/BEST START: This year WIU began the season 5-0, matching the program's best start during its DI 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... Western Illinois opened the year 7-2 through nine games... The 7-2 start marked the program's best start during the Division I era.
 |
