| Omaha (9-8,3-1)Â at Western Illinois (6-12, 1-4)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â |
| Date/Tipoff: |
Jan. 17, 2019 | 7 p.m. |
| Location: |
Macomb, Ill. |
| Site: |
Western Hall |
| Radio: |
Danny Frey (WRMS 94.3 & WJEQ 102.7) |
Last Time Out:Â The Western Illinois (6-12, 1-4) men's basketball team rallied late but fell short 71-65 at North Dakota (8-10,2-3) on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 12).
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The Leathernecks jumped out to an early 7-0 lead after a mid-range jumper by Ben Pyle nearly two minutes into the game. Back-to-back jumpers by Isaac Johnson and Kobe Webster handed Western a 28-18 advantage at the nine-minute mark of the first half. In the final two minutes, Jordan Hughes muscled inside for two consecutive buckets as the Leathernecks led 43-37 at halftime.
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An 8-0 run capped off by a Marlon Stewart layup put North Dakota in front 49-47 with 13:41 left in the second half. Western Illinois never regained the lead and fell behind 68-58 with 2:03 remaining in regulation.
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WIU forced turnovers to hang around followed by a Kobe Webster triple and a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to one possession, trailing 68-65 with 41 seconds still ticking. The Fighting Hawks sealed the game on a corner trey with 13.5 seconds left by Cortex Seales for a 71-65 margin.
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Johnson paced his squad with 16 points and Webster added 15 while C.J. Duff scored nine points in 39 minutes of play. Brandon Gilbeck scored 14 points with eight rebounds and two blocks.
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Series History against Omaha: The all-time series is all knotted up at 10-10 after Omaha won both contests last season. The last meeting was on Feb. 8 inside Baxter Arena as the Mavericks came from behind to win 71-68 even though Webster scored 20 points with five assists and Duff added 14.
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Scouting the Mavericks: Omaha (9-8) is coming off back-to-back wins including a thriller over North Dakota on Thursday (Jan. 10). Â Mitch Hahn's late three with eight seconds left put the Mavericks up, 92-90. Conner Avants of North Dakota missed the game-tying free throw with 0.6 seconds to go as Omaha escaped with a 92-91 victory.Â
Senior guard Zach Jackson leads the Mavericks with 17.6 points per game while junior guard JT Gibson adds 14.2 a night. Sophomore forward Matt Pile averages 11 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds. Hahn has been clutch lately while logging in 11 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per contest. Derrin Hansen is in his 14th season as the Omaha head coach and guided the Mavericks through the Division-I transition. Hansen owns a 215-196 overall coaching record. Â
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| Purdue Fort Wayne (12-8, 4-1)Â at Western Illinois (6-12, 1-4)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â |
| Date/Tipoff: |
Jan. 19, 2019 | 7 p.m. |
| Location: |
Macomb, Ill. |
| Site: |
Western Hall |
| Radio: |
Danny Frey (WRMS 94.3 & WJEQ 102.7) |
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Series History against Purdue Fort Wayne: The Mastodons lead the all-time series 17-9 after the two teams split last year. Western Illinois won its first Summit League game of the season on Jan. 17 in Macomb after holding on to a 75-74 victory in overtime before falling on the road on Valentine's Day by a final score of 90-74. Â
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Scouting the Mastodons: Purdue Fort Wayne had won six straight and was the last remaining unbeaten team in Summit League play before South Dakota topped the Mastodons, 87-73 on Sunday (Jan. 13). Matt Weir poured in 20 points off the bench while All-Summit League First Team guard John Konchar contributed 13 points.
Heading into Saturday, Konchar nearly averages a double-double with 19.6 points and 9.2 rebounds in addition to his team-high 4.9 assists. Senior guard Kason Harrell is no slouch either with 16.9 points per game and junior forward Matt Holba rounds out the double-digit scoring with 10.2 points a night. Jon Coffman is in his fifth season as the Mastodons head coach after an extensive assistant coaching background and has a 90-61 mark.
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Rejected: Brandon Gilbeck leads the nation in total blocked shots (70) and is second in blocks per game (3.89) as of Tuesday, Jan. 15. The senior recorded a career-high nine at Eastern Illinois on Nov. 17 to highlight a stellar outing where he also posted a career-high 19 rebounds.Â
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The road game at EIU marked Gilbeck's first time leading the team in rebounds this season. He became the first Leathernecks to post 15 or more since Tate Stensgaard pulled down 15 against Eastern on Dec. 12, 2015.Â
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How They Stack Up in The Summit League: Kobe Webster ranks fourth in The Summit League in scoring at 17.7 points per game and is sixth in assists (3.3 APG). He ranks fifth with 2.5 3-pointers made per game and is also fifth in the league with a 1.9 assist/turnover ratio while Brandon Gilbeck sits at fourth in the Summit with 8.3 rebounds a contest.
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Getting It Done in the Classroom: The Leathernecks put together a fall team grade point average of 3.206 which is the third highest in program history. Ten players earned a GPA of 3.0 or higher including three over a 3.6 and one 4.0.
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20-Something: Kobe Webster has eclipsed the 20-point scoring plateau seven times this season. The sophomore guard has also scored in double figures during every game this year except on Nov. 24 at Nebraska when he was limited to three points.
Protect The Hall: Western is 66-37 (.641) 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, 7-7 (.500) in 2015-16, in 2016-17, 5-8 and finished 11-5 on LeRoy A. Ufkes court in 2017-18.
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