MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois men's basketball (7-8, 0-4) will look to end its six-game losing skid at home when the Leathernecks continue Summit League play on Saturday (Jan. 16) against Oral Roberts (10-9, 2-3)... The two teams are slated to tipoff at 7 p.m inside Western Hall.
 OPENING TIP
- Western is 7-29 all-time against Denver... WIU has 14 of the 16 games vs. ORU... Four of WIU's seven wins have come at home.
- Garret Covington moved into sole possession of 4th place in career 3-pointers at Western after making four against Denver on Thursday... The junior has 174 and is 7 away from tying 3rd place.
- Last year, Garret Covington averaged 13.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game versus ORU... Jamie Batish 11.5 points per game... Jabari Sandifer 7.0 assists per game.
- ORU senior Obi Emegano played his freshman season at Western and led the Golden Eagles against Western last season, averaging 23.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.
- Western's opponents are shooting 29.5 percent better during the final five minutes of their last six games compared to Western's first nine games (53.8 - 24.3).
- WIU has only attempted 11.5 free throws in the last five games compared to 19.7 during the teams' first nine games.Â
- During the first nine games WIU had only committed one more foul than its opponents (177-176)... During the last five games the Leathernecks have committed 37 more fouls (126-89).
UP NEXT: WIU plays six of its next eight games on the road beginning with a midweek tilt at South Dakota on Jan. 20... The Leathernecks then host North Dakota State (Jan. 23) before heading to IUPUI and Fort Wayne the following weekend for a Friday/Sunday contests.
LEATHERNECKS VS. GOLDEN EAGLES SERIES HISTORY: Oral Roberts leads the all-time series 29-7... The first meeting between the two programs, and the only meeting that was a nonconference contest came during the 1968-69, a game Oral Roberts won 82-69... The Golden Eagles have won six of the last seven meetings and 14 of the last 16 games... That one game of the last seven WIU came out on top was when the Leathernecks upset first-seed ORU in the semifinals of the 2012 Summit League Tournament, 54-53.
LAST SIX GAMES: Western Illinois has dropped its last six outings, but all of the games came down to the end, as the Leathernecks were outscored by a total of 32 points (5.3 per game) during the stretch... The Leathernecks lost at Chicago State by seven (77-70), at Loyola by five (72-67), at Omaha by two (82-80), at South Dakota State by four (63-59), to IUPUI at home by seven (67-60), and to Denver by seven (76-69).
AS FULLER GOES?: In Western's wins J.C. Fuller averages 18.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, and shoots 51.7% (45-87) from the field and 57.1% (16-28) from long range... In WIU's losses J.C. Fuller averages 11.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists, and shoots 34.0% (36-106) from the field and 30.0% (12-40) from long range... Meaning Fuller averages 7.2 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 1.1 assists per game more in WIU victories, and makes 17.7% less of his shots from the field and 27.1% less of his shots from long range.
STENSGAARD ON FIRE: Senior forward Tate Stensgaard is having the best year of his career so far, and has been on fire as of late from the field... Heading into this season Stensgaard's career high in scoring was 14 points... In two of WIU's league games this year, the senior forward has had outings of 26 points (at Omaha) and 15 points (at SDSU)... For his career he has averaged 6.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per game while shooting 59.8 percent (149-249) from the field... This season he is averaging 8.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game this season while shooting 65.8 percent (52-79) from the field... During the last four games, WIU's Summit League slate, Stensgaard is averaging 13.5 points per game and is shooting 24-of-36 (66.7%) from the field, and has averaged 5.8 rebounds per game.
HOME SWEET HOME: Western is 42-19 (.689) 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 5-2 (.714) so far this season on LeRoy A. Ufkes Court inside Western Hall.
ROAD RAGE: Western is 2-6 so far this season on the road... WIU is 16-48 (.250) 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.
UNDEFEATED START/BEST START: This year WIU began its 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.
THE LAST TIME OUT: Western Illinois' rally in the second half came up short as the Leathernecks fell to the Denver Pioneers, 76-69, inside Western Hall Thursday evening (Jan. 14)... WIU (7-8, 0-4) trailed by 18 points at halftime thanks to Denver, who made 6-of-7 attempts from long range during the first 20 minutes, putting together a 21-3 run midway through the first. WIU, however, used an early 9-0 run to cut Denver's lead to nine points with 13:41 to play in regulation and get back in the game, 44-35... That would be as close as the Leathernecks would get until the final minute of the game when they cut their deficit to five points. The Pioneers would hold off Western's final push at the end with made free throws and pick up the Summit League victory.
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