Skip To Main Content

Upcoming Events and Recent Results

Western Illinois University Athletics

Bench
Sarah Twidwell

Men's Basketball Fired Up for Final Regular Season Road Trip

| By: WIU Athletic Communications

With a win over the weekend, the Leathernecks can clinch a spot in the 2019 Summit League Tournament.

Western Illinois (9-18, 4-10) at Denver (7-21, 2-12)                                    
Date/Tipoff: Feb. 28, 2019 | 8 p.m. (CT)
Location: Denver, Colo.
Site: Magness Arena
Radio: Danny Frey on the Leatherneck Sports Network (WRMS 94.3 & WJEQ 102.7)
TV: Altitude
 
Last Time Out: The Western Illinois men's basketball team controlled the game from the opening tip for a 75-66 senior night victory over Oral Roberts (10-20, 6-9) on Saturday night (Feb. 23). Otis Dortch, Brandon Gilbeck, Jordan Hughes and Ryan Maas were honored before the game.
 
The Leathernecks got off to a 12-0 start after a Kobe Webster drilled a 3-pointer from straight on with 12:18 to go in the first half. Oral Roberts did not score until the 10:47 mark and later cut the deficit to 27-23 with 3:20 left after an Aidan Saunders triple. Western closed the first half on a 10-2 run for a 37-25 halftime lead.
 
After the Golden Eagles trimmed the deficit to one possession, 42-39 with 12:56 to go, Isaac Johnson provided a spark off of the bench by hitting back-to-back mid-range jumpers. Hughes connected on back-to-back shots in the paint to help extend the advantage back to double-digits, 57-47 (8:31). The Purple and Gold contained Oral Roberts the rest of the way to snap a five-game losing streak.
 
Webster led a balanced attack with 13 points, six rebounds and five assists. Hughes and Johnson both delivered 10 points off the bench. C.J. Duff also scored 10 points while Zion Young added 12. Gilbeck nearly missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds. 20 team assists are one shy of the season-high and the Leathernecks has five scorers in double figures for the first time since Dec. 30, 2018, against Denver.
 
Series History against Denver: The Pioneers lead the all-time series 10-3 and have won four of the last five meetings. However, the Leathernecks won the last matchup against Denver after a 78-60 victory inside Western Hall on Dec. 30, 2018.
 
Denver tied things at 42-all in the second half but the basket was quickly countered by a connection between Ben Pyle and Jordan Hughes. Coming off the bench, Hughes made a wide-open layup with 13:52 left that propelled the Leathernecks on a 9-0 run and 51-42 lead.
 
The Western Illinois advantage grew to as large as 21 points (74-53) on a jumper in the paint by Isaac Johnson with 2:53 left in regulation.
 
Webster led the way with a game-high 22 points with four assists while Pyle finished with 15 points. C.J. Duff added 11 with three assists and Johnson totaled 10 points. Hughes recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. As a team, Western Illinois shot 50 percent for the field while going 13-for-17 at the charity stripe.
 
Scouting the Pioneers: Denver has lost seven consecutive games and last won on Jan. 20 at home against Oral Roberts after an 0-5 start in Summit League play. The Pioneers were picked to finish third in the Summit League preseason poll including one first-place vote. On Saturday (Feb. 23) North Dakota used a strong first half to pull away for an 81-63 victory over Denver even after David Nzekwesi had 19 points and five rebounds. He is the younger brother of Oral Roberts forward Emmanuel Nzekwesi.

Creighton transfer Ronnie Harrell Jr. is the team's leading scorer with 23.3 points per game and his 5.5 rebounds a night is also a team high. Preseason All-Summit League first team member Joe Rosga averages 11.9 points per game and his 56 assists pace the squad. Ade Murkey rounds out the double-digit scoring with an 11.4 points average.
 
Western Illinois (9-18, 4-10) at South Dakota State (23-7, 13-2)                                    
Date/Tipoff: March 2, 2019 | 4:15 p.m.
Location: Brookings, S.D.
Site: Frost Arena
Radio: Danny Frey on the Leatherneck Sports Network (WRMS 94.3 & WJEQ 102.7)
 
Series History against South Dakota State: The Jackrabbits lead the all-time series 24-4 and have won the last five meetings. Western's last win over South Dakota State came inside Western Hall on Jan. 4, 2017 when the Leathernecks came out on top, 82-74 to snap a 16-game losing streak against the Jackrabbits. SDSU is the last team to score in triple-digits against WIU when the Jacks won 100-58 on Dec. 28, 2018, earlier this season in Macomb.
 
Scouting the Jackrabbits: South Dakota State has a half-game lead in the Summit League standings with Omaha. The Jackrabbits have won three straight after claiming a 94-89 comeback victory over rival South Dakota on Saturday (Feb. 23). Mike Daum scored a game-high 25 points en route to eclipsing the 3,000-career point mark. Tevin King put together a final stat line of 22 points and four assists while Skyler Flatten knocked down four triples for 18 points.

Last Saturday, Daum was right around his average (25.8 PPG) and the preseason Summit League Player of the Year also averages 11.8 rebounds a contest. Sophomore guard David Jenkins averages 19.6 points per game while Flatten adds 15.3. King has distributed a team-high 131 total assists this season.
 
Gilbeck Doing Gilbeck Things: Brandon Gilbeck recorded the first triple-double in Summit League history since Demetrius Johnson of IPFW in 2007. The senior center put together a stat line of 12 points, 16 rebounds and 10 blocks at Purdue Fort Wayne on Thursday (Feb. 7). The 10 blocked shots tied JaKeenan Gant of Louisiana for the most blocks amongst NCAA Division I players this season and are tied for fifth most in Summit League history.
 
The 7-footer leads the nation with 99 blocks and recently broke his own previous Western Illinois program blocked shots record for the 2016-17 season (85). His 3.67 blocks per game also tops the nation.
 
For Threeeee!: Western Illinois ranks 28th in the nation with a 38.2 percent team 3-point field goal shooting percentage. C.J. Duff leads the way shooting an impressive 44.0 percent (55-for-125) from deep.
 
Eating Your Wheaties and Smarties: For his efforts on the court and in the classroom, Western Illinois sophomore guard Kobe Webster was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District First-team, CoSIDA announced Thursday (Feb. 21).  
 
Webster is a management major with a 3.94 cumulative grade point average. The sophomore was selected in District 5 which includes the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the Google Cloud Academic All-America ballot with honorees announced in the middle of March.
 
20-Something: Kobe Webster has eclipsed the 20-point scoring plateau nine 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.
 
Take Them, They're Free: The Leathernecks rank 56th among NCAA Division I teams in free throw percentage by connecting on 74.0 percent of their shots from the charity stripe this season. 
 
Protect The Rock: The Leathernecks have turned over the ball 303 times this season which tied for the 31st fewest in NCAA Division I.
 
Rip It Down!: In addition to being the top shot blocker in the nation, Brandon Gilbeck is tied for 67th in the nation with 231 total rebounds and is alone in 60th for rebounds per game (8.6). 
 
Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Now Playing:

Related Stories