UP NEXT: After Western Illinois plays its final two home games of the season against South Dakota State (Feb. 18) and Denver (Feb. 21) this week, WIU hits the road for its final two regular season games of the year at IUPUI (Feb. 26) and at Fort Wayne (Feb. 28).

INJURY UPDATE: Western Illinois has lost two starters to potentially season-ending injuries during league play... Sophomore Mike Miklusak injured his knee versus Oral Roberts on Jan. 10 and junior forward Tate Stensgaard hurt his wrist against North Dakota State on Feb. 1... Before the 2014-15 season began WIU lost two of its incoming freshmen to year-long injuries or illness in Jalen Morgan and Kendall Rollins... Morgan injured his knee during a preseason practice while Rollins was forced to miss the entire year due to an undisclosed illness... Senior guard Remy Roberts-Burnett also missed significant time due to a head injury.

J.C. FULLER HOT STREAK: Western Illinois junior guard J.C. Fuller, one of The Summit League's top newcomers, started off league play slow only averaging 5.0 points and shooting just 30 percent (9-of-30) from the field through the first five league games... Since then, through the last seven league games Fuller has shot 49.5 percent from the floor (52-of-105) and averaged a team-high 18.7 points.

BATISH FROM LONG RANGE: Junior guard Jamie Batish, who is shooting a team-best 44.0 percent from the three-point line, has made 14 of his last 23 attempts from long range (60.8 percent)... He has had two, four-game stretches this season where he has connected on 59.0 percent or better during stretches... He made 13-of-19 shots (68.4 percent) from three over a four-game span (Jan. 30 - Feb. 12)... He had one other four-game hot streak (Jan. 4-14) from long range when he made 13-of-22 (59.1 percent)... He is shooting 53.8 percent from three in league play which ranks near the top of the conference.

OBJECTS IN THE MIRROR: Sophomore guard Garret Covington has 755 career points which ranks tied for 53rd all-time, 10 points shy from sole possession of 50th all-time... David Nurse ranks 50th with 764 points... Covington has 120 career three pointers at WIU which ranks ninth all-time... J.D. Summers ranks 8th all-time with 121 three-pointers, and Troy Okeson ranks seventh with 132 triples made during his career.

LEATHERNECKS VS. JACKRABBITS SERIES HISTORY: South Dakota State leads the 19-game series 16-3, with SDSU having won 14-of-15 and the last 13 meetings... Prior to the Jackrabbits joining The Summit League, the two teams faced each other twice, first on December 31, 1948 when WIU won at home, 64-41, and then again on February 29, 1980 when SDSU won 98-86 on a neutral court... Western won the next meeting in Macomb, the two teams' first-ever league contest, 75-52... WIU's only other win over the Jackrabbits came on February 7, 2009, when the Leathernecks defeated SDSU inside Western Hall, 62-59.

HOME SWEET HOME: Western is 37-15 (.712) 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 8-4 on LeRoy A. Ufkes Court inside Western Hall.

ROAD RAGE: With all of its success at home, Western has struggled on the road the last four seasons... WIU is 14-40 (.259) on the road since the beginning of the 2011-12 season... The Leathernecks went 6-10 in 2011-12, they were above .500 in 2012-13 with a 7-6 road mark, struggled last season with a 1-13 record on the road, and are 0-11 so far this year.

MORE COVINGTON FOR THREE: Sophomore guard Garret Covington had 70 three-pointers as a freshman, and has 50 so far as a sophomore... He has played in 52 career games, has only had six games without at least one three pointer, meaning he has made at least one triple in 46 games... He has 33 games with multiple three pointers... He has 12 games with one trey, nine games with two triples, 11 games with three makes from long range, 10 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 755 career points and averages 14.5 points per game during his career... He has 39 games with 10 or more points, 30 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 199 assists in his young career, and averages 3.8 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 23 games this season and averages 4.7 per game (107 total)... He has at least one assist in all but two of his 53 career games played... He has multiple assists in 49 of those games... Three-plus assists in 41 career games... 24 games with four-plus... 11 games with five-plus... 10 games with six-plus... Five games with seven or more... Four 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. 

TEAM LEADERS: Sophomore Garret Covington is the only Leatherneck to have started all 23 games for the Leathernecks... Covington also leads the team in points per game (14.5), minutes per game (32.8), field goals (99), three-pointers (50), free throws (85), free throw percentage (83.3), steals (24) and defensive rebounds (84)... Senior Mohamed Conde leads the team in  field goal percentage (52.3), rebounds per game (6.1) and offensive rebounds (54)... Junior Jalen Chapman leads the team in blocks (14)... Junior Jamie Batish leads the team in three-point field goal percentage (44.0)... Sophomore Jabari Sandifer leads the team in assists per game (4.7).