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Sarah Twidwell

Men's Basketball Heads to Purdue Fort Wayne for Thursday Test

| By: WIU Athletic Communications

The Leathernecks go for the season sweep of the Mastodons.

Western Illinois (8-15, 3-7) at Purdue Fort Wayne (15-10, 7-3)                                    
Date/Tipoff: Feb. 7, 2019 | 6 p.m. (CT)
Location: Fort Wayne, Ind.
Site: Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
Radio: Danny Frey (WRMS 94.3 & WJEQ 102.7)
TV: CN81
 

Last Time Out: The Western Illinois men's basketball team led by as many as 13 points but could not hold off a furious North Dakota State comeback in a 78-76 loss on Saturday night (Feb. 2).
 
The Leathernecks commanded a 12-5 lead at the first media timeout (15:30) but saw it slip away after a 9-0 Bison run. James Claar put an end to that stretch after working the boards for an offensive rebound and score, and by the under 10-minute timeout (7:52), Western was able to regain its advantage, 24-20.
 
Isaac Johnson's fadeaway jumper lifted the team ahead by double-digits with 6:45 on the clock and Western held a 42-35 edge at halftime. Both teams shot 48 percent from the field in the opening half, nearly identical in made 3-pointers and free throws, but Western converted four more field goals.
 
C.J. Duff opened the second half with a driving layup for his 10th point of the game to join Kobe Webster in double-figures. The basket followed a brief scoring drought for the Leathernecks, and while they were in search of offense, the Bison poured in 16 points to take a 51-48 edge (14:10). The score marked their first lead since the 11:07 mark of the first half and NDSU remained up by no more than two possessions through the rest of the game. 
 
A floater in the lane by Johnson tied the game at 67-67 before Vinnie Shahid answered with a 3-pointer from straight on to put the Bison back ahead by three with 4:15 left in regulation. Ben Pyle earned the hoop and the harm to cut the deficit to a single point, 71-70 with 3:47 to go but that was the closest the Leathernecks would come. Leading by three, North Dakota State made two late free throws to ice the game.
 
Duff and Webster each scored 21 points while Ben Pyle added 11. The Leathernecks finished shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from beyond the arc.
 
Series History against Purdue Fort Wayne: The Mastodons lead the all-time series 17-10 after the Leathernecks won earlier in the year inside Western Hall, 87-58. C.J. Duff finished the game with a career-high 30 points and eight 3-pointers, just one shy of tying Western's single-game record set by Quentin Mitchell against Eastern Illinois during the 1988-89 season. Kobe Webster added 16 points with seven assists while Brandon GIlbeck contributed 10 with five rebounds. Ben Pyle just missed a triple-double with nine points, eight rebounds and nine assists.
 
Scouting the Mastodons: Purdue Fort Wayne is currently on a three-game winning streak after losing three in a row before that. Most recently on Saturday (Feb. 2), Matt Holba drained a go-ahead triple with only seven seconds left in regulation to escape Tulsa with an 82-81 victory over Oral Roberts.

John Konchar is coming off his third Summit League Player of the Week honor while averaging 19.2 points per game and 8.5 rebounds a contest. Konchar also leads the Mastodons with 129 total assists this season. Kason Harrell puts in 16.1 points per game and Holba is shooting 42.2 percent from 3-point land to go along with 11.2 scoring average. Jon Coffman is in his fifth season as the Mastodons head coach after an extensive assistant coaching background and has a 93-63 mark.
For Threeeee!: Western Illinois ranks 18th in the nation with a 39.1 percent team 3-point field goal shooting percentage. C.J. Duff leads the way shooting an impressive 44.2 percent (46-for-104) from deep.
 
Block Watch: Brandon Gilbeck as of Feb. 5 leads the nation with 81 blocked shots and is second in the nation with 3.52 blocks per game. He is only five blocks away from breaking his own Western Illinois single-season blocked shots record.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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