MACOMB, Ill. -Â Western Illinois men's basketball (9-16, 2-12) continues Summit League play at home Thursday (Feb. 25) vs. Fort Wayne (22-7, 9-4)... The game is slated to tipoff at 8 p.m.
AGRICILTURE DAY: Join Western Illinois Athletics, the Western Illinois University School of Agriculture and the McDonough County Farm Bureau to celebrate the traditions of exciting winter hoops and the impact of agriculture in western Illinois and beyond! At Western Hall, Thursday, Feb. 25 "Agriculture Day" will include a double-header basketball event — WIU Women's Basketball tips off at 5:30 p.m. and Men's Basketball at 8 p.m. — and a number of agriculture-related educational activities and giveaways, as well as a pizza dinner at each game's half time and between the games, too.Â
 
UP NEXT: Western concludes its regular season at home against South Dakota on Saturday (Feb. 27)... The Coyotes currently own the eighth seed, one spot ahead of the Leathernecks... The two teams are slated to tipoff at 7 p.m.
CHASE FOR THE LEAGUE TOURNAMENT: Western Illinois has two games left in the regular season and is only 2.0 games out of eighth place in The Summit League standings with a 2-12 league mark... The top eight teams in the league journey to Sioux Falls, S.D. for the 2016 Summit League Tournament.. South Dakota is the eighth seed with a 4-11 in league record... If WIU wins Thursday vs. IPFW, and South Dakota were to lose Thursday at IUPUI, Saturday's game between the two teams will be for the eighth seed in The Summit League Tournament... Based on the last 10 years of the Summit League standings, the average number of wins for the eighth seed in the tournament is 4.4... The most wins by an eighth seed heading into the tournament over that time was seven during the 2010-11 season, and the next highest was six which happened twice (08-09 & 09-10)... The lowest win total came during the 2013-14 season when there was only eight teams in the league... The total was one... The next lowest eighth seed win total was three, which happened during both the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons.
THE SENIORS: Western Illinois has four senior Leatherneck student-athletes on the 2015-16 roster that will be honored prior to Saturday night's game against South Dakota... The senior class includes guards J.C. Fuller and Jamie Batish, as well as forward Tate Stesngaard and Jalen Chapman... The four have played in a combined 223 career games, and recorded 1,658 points, 792 rebounds, 212 assists, 109 steals and 81 blocks... The guards, Fuller and Batish, have combined to knock down 128 career 3-pointers... The forwards, Chapman and Stensgaard, have combined to grab 149 offensive rebounds.
COVINGTON'S THIRD YEAR AS A LEATHERNECK: Over the last three seasons, one constant for the WIU men's basketball team has been Garret Covington as the team's leader in multiple stat categories, including points and 3-point field goals, and he has shot effectively from the free throw line... His scoring average has increased every year so far: freshman- 14.6, sophomore- 15.5 and junior- 17.6... During his freshman season he made 70 triples (38.7 percent of his attempts) and shot 80.0 percent from free throw line (92-115)... As a sophomore he made 63 shots from long range (made 35.6 percent of his attempts) and shot 82.8 percent from the charity stripe (101-122)... With two regular season games remaining in his junior season, he has made 70 threes (41.9 percent of his attempts) and is shooting 80.2 percent from the free throw line (81-101).
LEATHERNECKS VS. MASTODONS SERIES HISTORY: Fort Wayne leads the all-time series 14-7... The Leathernecks won the first-ever meeting 74-63 on January 11, 1988... WIU then lost 11 of the next 12 meetings to IPFW, and found themselves trailing 10-2 in the series... Western then won four consecutive games before losing four of the last five meetings.
BETTER AT HOME: Western is 43-22 (.662) 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 6-5 (.545) so far this season on LeRoy A. Ufkes Court inside Western Hall.
ROAD RAGE: Western is 3-11 so far this season on the road... WIU is 17-53 (.243) 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: South Dakota State quickly grabbed an early advantage over Western Illinois last Saturday afternoon (Feb. 20) inside Western Hall, as the Jackrabbits topped the Leathernecks, 87-67, in Summit League action... The Jackrabbits scored the first five points of the game and never allowed WIU to possess the advantage throughout the first, taking a 47-29 lead into halftime... The second half was much of the same... Western was able to cut its deficit to 14 points with after five minutes of play in the second, but SDSU built its lead up to as much as 27 points, eventually topping WIU by 20... Junior guard Garret Covington led all scorers with 23 points while grabbing a team-best four rebounds and two steals... Also scoring in double figures was fellow junior Mike Miklusak who recorded 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 shooting from long range.
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