MACOMB, Ill. -Â Â Western Illinois (8-16, 5-8) continues its Summit League slate on the road on Saturday (Feb. 18) in Fargo, N.D. against North Dakota State who is tied for first in the league... The Leathernecks and Bison are slated to tipoff at 4 p.m. on ESPN3.
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- OPENING TIPÂ -
-Â Western Illinois most recently fell to Denver at home, 78-72, Tuesday (Feb. 14) and dropped to 5-8 in league play... WIU trailed by 26 in the second half and was able to get within one point thanks to a 28-3 run, but the Pioneers were able to hold off the Leathernecks down the stretch.
- With only one week left in The Summit League's regular season schedule remaining, here is a look at the standings: NDSU and South Dakota are tied for first place in the league at 9-4... Denver sits third at 8-5... Fort Wayne is 7-6 and ranks fourth... Fifth, sixth and tied for seventh are Omaha (7-7), South Dakota State (6-8), and WIU (5-8) and IUPUI (5-8), respectively... Oral Roberts is in last at 4-10 in league play.
- Sophomore center Brandon Gilbeck averages 2.9 blocks per game which ranks first in The Summit League and 6th nationally... His 70 total blocks ranks eighth nationally.
- After scoring 20-plus points in nine of WIU's first 15 games, senior guard Garret Covington had a streak of seven straight games without reaching 20 points in a game... WIU went 1-6 during that stretch... He snapped that streak at ORU (Feb. 8) with 20 points and then scored 22 versus Denver (Feb. 14).
- After missing five games, sophomore guard Delo Bruster played briefly against Denver (Feb. 14) before aggravating his leg injury... He is questionable for Saturday's game at NDSU.
WHAT IS NEXT?: After the Leathernecks travel to Fargo, N.D. to face the first-place North Dakota State Bison on Feb. 18, Western concludes the regular season with two games at home, first against South Dakota on Feb. 23 and then the regular season finale against Fort Wayne on Feb. 25.
LEATHERNECKS VS. BISON SERIES HISTORY: North Dakota State leads the all-time seriesÂ
14-7... Earlier this season (Jan. 21), WIU fell to NDSU at home, 89-57... The series was tied prior to the beginning of the 2013-14 season before NDSU topped Western in the league tournament in 2013 and swept WIU in each of the last three seasons (13-14, 14-15, 15-16)... All games have been Summit League regular season league games or Summit League Tournament games, with the Leathernecks winning the first-ever meeting on January 12, 2008, 83-67, in Macomb... After the first meeting, the Bison went on to win six of the next seven meetings before WIU earned five consecutive during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.
A LOOK AT THE NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON: The North Dakota State Bison are 17-9 overall and 9-4 in Summit League play... Paul Miller leads NDSU with 15.4 points per game, and has made 58 3-pointers on the season... Dexter Werner leads the Bison on rebounds (7.2), steals (1.4) and blocks (1.1)... Khy Kabellis leads North Dakota State with 2.7 assists per game... North Dakota State is coached by David Richman (NDSU, 2002) who is in his 3rd year at the helm and has a 60-32 record while coach of the Bison.
GILBECK'S BLOCK PARTY:Â Sophomore center Brandon Gilbeck has a Summit League-high 70 blocks (2.9 per game)... His 70 blocks also ranks 8th nationally and his 2.9 per game ranks 6th in the country... His 70 blocks rank third most ever in a season at WIU... He is six blocks away from moving into sole possession of second place and 14 away from recording more blocks in a season than anyone in program history... The sophomore also already has 92 blocks during his two years which ranks sixth all-time at Western Illinois... He is eight blocks from moving into fifth place.
1. 83 - Shelby Thurmond (92-93)
2. 75 - James Granstra (09-10)
3. 70 - Brandon Gilbeck (16-17)Â
4. 66 - Shelby Thurmond (94-95)
#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 1,783 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 444 (18.5 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 all-time in 3-pointers at Western Illinois... Covington enters the weekend with 276 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 66 (2.8 per game | 36.5%) 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 49-29 (.628) 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 5-6 on LeRoy A. Ufkes Court inside Western Hall so far this season.
ON THE ROAD: WIU is 20-63 (.241) on the road since the beginning of the 2011-12 season, and 7-47 (.129) 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 3-10 on the road.
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