MACOMB, Ill.- The Western Illinois men's basketball team begin Summit League Championship play against South Dakota State on Saturday at 6 p.m. The Leathernecks look to win their first tournament game since March 9, 2013 against South Dakota.
LAST TIME OUT: The Western Illinois Leathernecks fell 89-52 on Senior Night on Saturday (Feb. 24) to the Denver Pioneers. Western Illinois cut the lead to 12 points with just under four and a half minutes in the first half, but the Pioneers closed the half on a 14-0 run to take a 44-18 advantage at the break. Dalan Ancrum and Lynrick Moxey each registered three points and three rebounds in their last game in Western Hall.
LAST TIME AT THE FALLS: Western Illinois men's basketball dropped an overtime thriller on March 4, 2017 to the top-seeded South Dakota Coyotes, 78-69, in the opening round of The Summit League Championships. After the two teams were tied up 37-37 at halftime, USD used the first six minutes of the second half to build its lead up to nine points, 52-43. WIU would spend the next nine minutes chipping away at the Coyotes' advantage and eventually knotted the game up 63-63 with four minutes to play in regulation. South Dakota and Western then exchanged field goals before USD's Matt Mooney broke the tie by draining a 3-pointer with 32 seconds left, forcing WIU to call a timeout. The Leathernecks responded in dramatic fashion when freshman C.J. Duff drilled a triple from the corner with around 10 seconds to play, which proved to be the game-tying shot and sent the game to overtime. The Coyotes were able to grab an early lead and the momentum in overtime eventually grabbing the quarterfinals victory.
WIU'S LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: Western Illinois is 14-28 all-time in The Summit League postseason tournament. The Leathernecks have been the eighth seed seven times and are 0-7 in those games. Western's most recent tournament contest against South Dakota State came three years ago when they were the eighth seed and lost, 87-50. The Leathernecks won the first-ever Summit League Tournament in 1984 with wins over Eastern Illinois, UIC and Cleveland State. However, the league did not have an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament that year. WIU's most recent trip to the league championship game came in 2012 as the fourth seed when Western beat North Dakota State in the opening round, top-seeded Oral Roberts in the semifinals and lost to South Dakota State in overtime in the title game.
GOOD WORK, YOUNG FELLA: Kobe Webster ranks among one of the best freshmen in the nation in many statistical categories. Webster is only one of nine players, and the only freshman, in the country to average 16.3 points, 3.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds while shooting above 37.2 percent from 3-point land. If continued tonight, he will end as the only freshman (seventh player, regardless of class) to post these numbers in The Summit League since 1992-93. The Indianapolis native will go down as the only player in Western Illinois program history since at least 1990 claim this stat line.
HE CAN DO IT ALL: Kobe Webster ranks third in The Summit League in assists per game this season, dishing out 3.6 assists per contest. He is only 1.1 assists behind the league-leader John Konchar. This figure ranks 29th around the country among freshman players. Webster is the only player in the Summit League to be in the Top-7 (7th, 16.3) in scoring and Top-3 in assists (3rd, 3.7).
DIAPER DANDY: Kobe Webster is one of only two players, and the only underclassman, in The Summit League to average at least 17.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists during league play.
NOTHING DEEP: WIU has struggled from 3-point line in the last three games. After shooting above 30 percent from deep in its eight of 11 league games, the Leathernecks have not seen their 3-point percentage rise above 22.5 percent in its last three games. In the last two games alone, the Leathernecks are a combined 3-for-21 (14.2 percent) from beyond the arc.
CRASHIN' THE DEFENSIVE BOARDS: The Leathernecks crash the boards on defense, averaging 27.89 defensive rebounds per contest, a figure that ranks 30th in the country. On the offensive glass, the Leathernecks rank 335th with only 7.15 per game. WIU ranks 351st out of 351 teams in offensive rebounding percentage this season, pulling down only 18.3 percent of misses, over 10 percent less than the NCAA average (28.8 percent).
SPEED IT UP: When the Leathernecks have more than 73 or more possessions in a game, WIU is 6-4. When only having the ball fewer than 73 times, Western is 6-11.
ISOLATION: Western Illinois is ranked 348th in assist percentage so far this season, assisting on only 39.4 percent of makes. In league play, WIU drops to just 31.8 percent, over 20 percent below the national average of 52.5 percent. The Leathernecks have only recorded double-digit assists in only two of their last 11 games.
SWAT TEAM: The Leathernecks lead The Summit League in blocks per contest by swatting 3.8 blocks per games. Individually, Brandon Gilbeck is leading the way with 2.5 blocks per game (17th nationally, first in The Summit League) and is rejecting 9.5 percent of opponents' attempts. Out of 2,167 ranked players in the country, Gilbeck is 33rd in the NCAA in defensive block percentage.
MACHINE FROM SPRING GREEN: Spring Green, Wisconsin native Brandon Gilbeck is one of two players in the NCAA to average at least 10.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.5 blocks while shooting 65.4 percent from the field.
SHOW YOUR HANDS, MOVE YOUR FEET: Out of all 351 teams in D-I, WIU has committed the fourth-fewest personal fouls. The Leathernecks have only fouled opponents 340 times through 27 games this season. On the offensive end, WIU does not get many of its points from the free throw line, as only 17.4 percent of its points are from the stripe (258th nationally).
OUTLIER: After turning the ball over more than 10 times in seven out of its first eight league games, Western Illinois had commited fewer than 10 turnovers in five straight contests. However, against Denver on Feb. 24, the Leathernecks gave the ball away 16 times, their most since Jan. 17 against Fort Wayne.
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREVER: Three Leathernecks are averaging more than 10 points this season (Kobe Webster, 16.3, Dalan Ancrum, 13.6, Brandon Gilbeck, 10.7) for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
SCOUTING THE JACKRABBITS: South Dakota State comes into the game atop the league, claiming 25-6 record overall and 13-1 in Summit League play. The Jackrabbits are led by Player of The Year Mike Daum.
Tip-Ins
-This will be the 26th meeting between Western Illinois and South Dakota State, with the Jackrabbits claiming a 22-3 advantage in the all-time series.
-Earlier this season, the Leathernecks fell to the Jackrabbits, 98-70 in Macomb and 82-62 in Brookings. The 20 points that separated the two teams in Brookings was the smallest margin of victory for the Jackrabbits in their last four wins against WIU.
-The last time that Western Illinois claimed victory over South Dakota State was Jan. 4, 2017, a game in which the Leathernecks won 82-74. Before that game, the Jackrabbits had won 17 meetings in a row.
-The Leathernecks have their most wins (12) and highest winning percentage (.444) in a season since the 2012-13 season, when Western Illinois went 22-9 and 13-3 in league play.
-After not scoring more than eight points in his first seven contests of the season, C.J. Duff has scored more than eight in nine of his last eleven games.
-Isaac Johnson had an impressive February, as the freshman scored 20-plus points in three out of his last four contest, including leading the team with 20 against SDSU.
