MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois men's basketball (7-9, 0-5) will look to end its seven-game losing skid on the road when the Leathernecks continue Summit League play on Wednesday (Jan. 20) at South Dakota (9-10, 1-4)... The two teams are slated to tipoff at 7 p.m inside the DakotaDome.
UP NEXT: WIU plays six of its next eight games on the road beginning with Wednesday's 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. COYOTES SERIES HISTORY: Western Illinois leads the all-time series 6-5... The Leathernecks dropped the first two meetings between the two teams, first at home on Dec. 6, 1969, 82-74, and then again on December 12, 1970, when USD downed WIU in Vermillion, 83-82... The rest of the meetings between the two teams have been Summit League games... Western won the first five league meetings and has lost the last three meetings... Perhaps the most historic win over South Dakota came in WIU's 2013-14 regular season finale which gave the Leathernecks a share of the regular season title... Below is a look at all of the meetings between the two teams:
vs. South Dakota • Western leads 6-5
Dec 6, 1969 Â Â Â L 74-82 Â Â Â H
Dec 12, 1970 Â Â Â L 82-83 Â Â Â A
Jan 3, 2012 Â Â Â W 67-44 Â Â Â H
Jan 21, 2012 Â Â Â W 47-45 Â Â Â A
Nov 29, 2012 Â Â Â W 73-71 Â Â Â A
March 2, 2013 Â Â Â W 61-59 Â Â Â H
March 9, 2013 Â Â Â W 54-53 Â Â Â N
Jan 23, 2014 Â Â Â W 79-61 Â Â Â H
Feb 22, 2014 Â Â Â L 54-64 Â Â Â A
Jan. 22, 2015 Â Â Â L 58-68 Â Â Â H
Feb.14, 2015 Â Â Â L 61-75 Â Â Â A
THE SIXTH MAN?: As of late, Western Illinois senior forward Jalen Chapman would have to be considered the Leathernecks' sixth man as he has provided WIU with valuable minutes off of the bench... He has played the most minutes off of the bench for Western this season, averaging 15.3 per game and he has scored 10-plus points in each of those games... He tallied 13 points vs. IUPUI (6-12 FG), 11 points vs. Denver (4-8 FG), and 11 points vs. Oral Roberts (5-6 FG)... During the last three games he is averaging 11.7 points (third on the team), 6.7 rebounds (first on the team), and has shot a team-best 57.7 percent from the field (15-26).
SEVEN-GAME SKID: Western Illinois has dropped its last seven outings, but all of the games came down to the end, as the Leathernecks were outscored by a total of 41 points (5.9 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), to Denver by seven (76-69), and to Oral Roberts by nine (77-68).
AS FULLER GOES?: In Western's wins J.C. Fuller averages 18.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.7 turnovers 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 11.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 2.0 turnovers per game, and shoots 33.9% (39-115) from the field and 31.1% (13-45) from long range... Meaning Fuller averages 7.4 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.2 assists per game more in WIU victories, and makes 17.8% less of his shots from the field and 26.0% less of his shots from long range.
STENSGAARD'S SENIOR SEASON: Senior forward Tate Stensgaard is having the best year of his career so far... 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 6.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 59.7 percent (151-253) from the field... This season he is averaging 8.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game this season while shooting 65.1 percent (54-83) from the field... During the last five games, WIU's Summit League slate, Stensgaard is averaging 12.2 points per game and is shooting 26-of-40 (65.0%) from the field, and has averaged 5.2 rebounds per game.
HOME SWEET HOME: Western is 42-20 (.677) 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 5-3 (.625) 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.
THE LAST TIME OUT: Oral Roberts grabbed its first lead of the game midway through the second half as the Golden Eagles defeated Western Illinois Saturday evening (Jan. 16) in Macomb, 77-68... The Leathernecks fall to 7-9 overall and 0-5 in Summit League play after the loss, while ORU improves to 11-9 on the year and 3-3 in league action... Junior guard Garret Covington led Western with 22 points on 9-of-20 shooting from the field and 4-of-8 shooting from long range. He also tied for the team lead in rebounds with seven and tallied two assists in 35 minutes of play... Fellow junior Jabari Sandifer also grabbed seven boards and dished out a team-high seven assists... Jalen Chapman, a senior forward, gave WIU a solid 22 minutes off of the bench and scored in double-digits for the third consecutive game. He finished with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and pulled down four rebounds.
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