| MACOMB, Ill. -Â Western Illinois men's basketball (7-12, 0-8) continues Summit League play on the road Sunday (Jan. 31) at Fort Wayne (17-6, 6-2)... The two teams are slated to tipoff at 1 p.m. (CT).
OPENING TIP
- WIU most recently had its comeback effort fall short Friday afternoon (Jan. 29) in Indianapolis as the IUPUI Jaguars edged the Fighting Leathernecks, 69-67, inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
- IPFW most recently had senior Max Landis score a game-high 28 points to lead IPFW to a 68-63 come-from-behind Summit League road victory at Oral Roberts on Thursday in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
- Seniors Jalen Chapman and Tate Stensgaard combined for 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line... They also combined for 11 rebounds and zero turnovers.
- Western is 6-1 when shooting 47 percent or better from the field.
- Western is 6-1 when holding its opponents to less than 65 points.
- Junior guard Garret Covington recently moved into sole possession of 3rd place in career 3-pointers at Western... The junior has 184 and is 32 away from of 2nd place.
- Senior forward Tate Stensgaard leads The Summit League in field goal percentage, making his shots at a 62.7 percent clip (64-102)... The next best FG percentage is 58.7 (IPFW's John Konchar).
- During Western's 10-game skid, the Leathernecks have only lost by an average of 6.5 points (65 total)... WIU has also led for the majority of the game in four of its eight Summit League contests.
- In the four games WIU has led for the majority of the game (Omaha, SDSU, Oral Roberts, South Dakota) it has led for 118:34 of the 160 total minutes (74.1%).Â
COACHES VS. CANCER: Head coach Billy Wright and his staff will participate in the 2016 Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers awareness week during Sunday's game at IPFW... Suits and Sneakers is a national Coaches vs. Cancer event that is designed to raise awareness about the fight against cancer and the American Cancer Society by encouraging member coaches and their coaching staffs to wear sneakers with their suits at games held that weekend to show support for the Coaches vs. Cancer program... By wearing sneakers, participating coaches help raise awareness about cancer and the importance that nutrition and physical activity play in reducing one's risk of the disease... Additionally, this weekend helps promote the American Cancer Society as a resource for people facing cancer.
UP NEXT: After the Leathernecks game at IPFW on Sunday (Jan. 31), WIU plays host to Omaha on Wednesday (Feb. 3)... The Leathernecks then play three consecutive away games at Denver (Feb. 11), Oral Roberts (Feb. 13) and North Dakota State (Feb. 17).
LEATHERNECKS VS. MASTODONS SERIES HISTORY: Fort Wayne leads the all-time series 13-7...The Leathernecks won the first-ever meeting 74-63 on January 11, 1988... WIU then lost 10 of the next 11 meetings to IPFW, and found themselves trailing 10-2 in the series... Western then won four consecutive for losing three of the last four meetings.
INSIDE WESTERN HALL: Western is 42-21 (.667) 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 5-4 (.556) so far this season on LeRoy A. Ufkes Court inside Western Hall.
ROAD RAGE: Western is 2-8 so far this season on the road... WIU is 16-50 (.242) on the road since the beginning of the 2011-12 season, and 3-34 (.081) 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: Western Illinois' comeback effort fell short Friday afternoon (Jan. 29) in Indianapolis as the IUPUI Jaguars edged the Fighting Leathernecks, 69-67, inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum... The Leathernecks missed a desperation, half-court shot by Tate Stensgaard as time expired, falling to 7-12 overall and 0-8 in Summit League play after the loss... IUPUI, who is now tied for first in the league standings with a 6-2 Summit League mark, improves to 9-13 overall... Garret Covington led four Leathernecks in double figures with 23 points... He connected on 8-of-16 attempts from the field and 4-of-6 tries from long range... The four 3-pointers moved him into sole possession of third place all-time at Western, as he now owns 184 career triples... His 23 points also bumped him up from 19th to 17th on WIU's all-time career-points list... Jalen Chapman tallied 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and made all three of his free throw attempts... Stensgaard had 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and made 2-of-3 from the charity stripe... The two seniors combined for 49 total minutes played, zero turnovers, made 9-of-12 field goal attempts, and 5-of-6 free throw attempts. Stensgaard also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and recorded one block, while Chapman grabbed three rebounds and recorded an assist and a steal.
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