MACOMB, Ill. -Â The Western Illinois men's basketball team (6-13, 3-5) continues its Summit League slate at home Saturday (Jan. 28) when WIU welcomes IUPUI to Macomb... The Leathernecks and Jaguars are slated to tipoff at 7 p.m. inside Western Hall and the game is scheduled to air live on ESPN3.
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OPENING TIP
- After starting Summit League play out 3-1 with wins over Fort Wayne, South Dakota State and Oral Roberts and a loss at IUPUI, the Leathernecks have now lost four consecutive games: at Denver, at Omaha, at home versus league-leader North Dakota State, and at South Dakota.
- With the league schedule half over, the standings include seven of the nine teams are right around .500... NDSU leads the league at 7-1 and SDSU sits at the bottom with a 2-6 league mark... Every other team is either 5-3, 4-4 or 3-5.
- Garret Covington, who has scored more points and made more 3-pointers than anyone else at WIU during the program's DI era, ranks third in the league and 42nd nationally in 3-pointers made per game (3.06) and first in the league and 37th nationally in free throw percentage (.878)... His 19.4 points per game ranks second in the league.
- Brandon Gilbeck, who ranks first in the league and 12th nationally with 2.74 blocks per game (52 total), has improved during WIU's league slate... He averaged 4.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game during non-league play and is averaging 9.3 points and 7.6 rebounds per game and has scored 10-plus points in five of the last six games.
-Â Mike Miklusak has been relatively productive all season long, averaging 14.6 points and 9.1 rebounds per game... He has scored in double figures in all but two contests this season... He has five double-doubles on the year... His 9.1 rebounds per game leads The Summit League.
WHAT IS NEXT?: After Western Illinois welcomes the IUPUI Jaguars to Macomb to kick-off the second half of league action on Saturday night (Jan. 28) with tipoff slated for 7 p.m., the Leathernecks hit the road again next week for a midweek contest at South Dakota State on the first of February.
LEATHERNECKS VS. JAGUARS SERIES HISTORY: IUPUI leads the all-time series 32-14... Through the first nine meetings between the two programs, Western captured seven victories... IUPUI then proceeded to win 26-of-27 from 2000 to 2011... IUPUI has won the last four meetings, including one earlier this season, after the Leathernecks had won six consecutive (2012-2015).
A LOOK AT THE IUPUI JAGUARS:Â The IUPUI Jaguars enter Saturday's game 9-13 overall and 3-5 in Summit League play... The Jags have defeated WIU at home to open their league slate, and also have wins at Oral Roberts and at home over South Dakota State... IUPUI's losses have come at North Dakota State, at South Dakota, at home versus Omaha, at home versus Denver, and at Fort Wayne... IUPUI is led by Darell Combs who averages a team-best 16.5 points per game and leads the team in 3-pointers with 30...Matt O'Leary, who leads the Jags in rebounds per game (6.5), is the only other IUPUI player to average more than 10 points per game... Kellon Thomas averages a team-high 3.0 assists per game, Ron Patterson averages a team-best 1.3 steals per game, and Evan Hall leads the team with 1.1 blocks per game... IUPUI is coached by Jason Gardner (Arizona '11) who is in his third year at the helm... Entering Saturday's contest, Gardner owns a 32-53 record as a head coach of the Jaguars and a 18-22 mark in Summit League play.
GILBECK'S BLOCK PARTY:Â So far this season sophomore center Brandon Gilbeck has a Summit League-high 52 blocks (2.6 per game)... His 52 blocks also ranks 12th nationally... He is seven blocks away from moving into sole possession of fifth place on Western's blocks in a season top 10, and 14 away from fourth place.
1. 83 - Shelby Thurmond (1992-93)
2. 75 - James Granstra (2009-10)
3. 66 - Shelby Thurmond (1994-95)
4. 65 - Terell Parks (2012-13)
5. 58 - Janthony Joseph (1996-97)
6. 52 - Brandon Gilbeck (2016-17)
#1 IN CAREER POINTS: Garret Covington ranks first in points at Western Illinois during the program's NCAA Division I era... Covington enters the weekend with 1,707 career points (3rd in all of the program's history)... Covington scored 422 (14.6 PPG) as a freshman, 434 (15.5 PPG) as a sophomore, 483 (17.9 PPG) as a junior and has 368 (19.4 PPG) so far this season... He has scored 30-plus points four times during his career with 34 vs. Oral Roberts at home this season being his career best.
#1 IN 3-POINTERS: Garret Covington also ranks first in 3-pointers at Western Illinois during the program's NCAA Division I era... Covington enters the weekend with 266 career 3-pointers... He made 70 triples (2.5 per game | 38.7%) as a freshman, 63 (2.3 per game | 35.6%) as a sophomore, 77 (2.9 per game | 42.3%) as a junior, and 56 (2.9 per game | 38.4%) so far as a senior... He has made a career-high six 3-pointers three times, including twice this season (vs. SDSU and vs. ORU)... The first time he his six in a game was during his sophomore season vs. Idaho at home when he made them consecutively (tied WIU's record for consecutive threes in a game).
AT HOME: Western is 48-27 (.640) 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, 7-6 (.500) in 2015-16, and WIU is 4-4 on LeRoy A. Ufkes Court inside Western Hall so far this season.
ON THE ROAD: WIU is 19-62 (.235) on the road since the beginning of the 2011-12 season, and 6-46 (.115) since the beginning of the 2013-14 season... 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, went 0-13 (.000) in 2014-15, and finished the 2015-16 season 3-11 on the road... So far this season WIU is 2-9 on the road. |
