Men's Basketball Ready to Make Statement at The Summit League Tournament

Wednesday, March 06, 2019 | By: WIU Athletic Communications

The Leathernecks are seeking to make history in their rematch with South Dakota State.

No. 8 Western Illinois (9-20, 4-12) vs. No. 1 South Dakota State (24-7, 14-2)
Date/Tipoff:	March 9, 2019 \| 6 p.m.
Location:	Sioux Falls, S.D.
Site:	Denny Sanford PREMIER Center
Radio:	Danny Frey on the Leatherneck Sports Network (WRMS 94.3 & WJEQ 102.7)
TV:	MidcoSN & ESPN+

Last Time Out: The Western Illinois (9-20, 4-12) men's basketball team fought hard against the Summit League regular season champion South Dakota State (24-7, 14-2) in an 86-66 loss on Saturday (March 2).

After the Jackrabbits jumped out to an early lead, Kobe Webster helped the Leathernecks claw back with a wing triple behind 20-18 nearly halfway through the first half (10:31). A mid-range baseline jumper by Isaac Johnson kept Western within two possessions (37-31) with 5:31 left. South Dakota State closed out the opening half on a 12-2 run to take a 49-33 advantage into halftime.

The Leathernecks came out of the locker room on an 8-2 run capped off by a Brandon Gilbeck layup to cut the deficit to 51-44 at the 17:14 mark of the second half. From that point on, the Jackrabbits used timely baskets by Mike Daum on his senior day and a game-high 31 total points from Skyler Flatten to pull away.

Webster led the way with 17 points while tying his career-high of five 3-pointers made in a game. Off the bench, Johnson delivered 15 points and Ben Pyle added 10 in a starting role. Brandon Gilbeck tallied 10 points and ripped down six rebounds with two blocks.

Series History against South Dakota State: The Jackrabbits lead the all-time series 25-4 and have won the last six 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 finished as Summit League regular season champions in back-to-back seasons. The Jackrabbits have won four straight heading into Sioux Falls.

Last Saturday in the regular season finale, senior guard Skyler Flatten dropped a game-high 31 points with six rebounds. In his final game inside Frost Arena, Mike Daum collected a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Daum, the All-American candidate has averaged 25.6 points per game with 11.7 rebounds a contest. As just a sophomore, David Jenkins put up 19.4 points a night so far following by Flatten's line of 15.8 points per game. Senior point guard Tevin King has dished out a season-high 135 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 102 blocks and recently broke his own previous Western Illinois program blocked shots record for the 2016-17 season (85). Gilbeck became just the fourth player in Summit League history to record 100 or more blocks in one season. His 3.67 blocks per game also tops the nation.

For Threeeee!: Western Illinois ranks 19th in the nation as of March 6 with a 38.4 percent team 3-point field goal shooting percentage.

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.

Recent Summit League Tournament History: In 2017, Western Illinois took top-seeded South Dakota to overtime and almost won on a half-court shot that just missed by Dalan Ancrum before the Coyotes came on top, 78-69. Last season, the Leathernecks led at halftime against top-seeded South Dakota State and built a margin of as many as nine points in the second half before the Jackrabbits pulled away late for a 66-60 victory before eventually taking home the tournament crown.

The Ocho: The No. 8 seed has never won a game in the Summit League men's basksetball championships history.

Take Them, They're Free: Western Illinois ranks 70th among NCAA Division I teams in free throw percentage by connecting on 73.8 percent of their shots from the charity stripe this season as of March 6.

Protect The Rock: The Leathernecks have turned over the ball 333 times this season which is tied for the 45th fewest in NCAA Division I as of March 6.

What Could Be Next: The winner of the quarterfinal matchup advances to the semi-finals against the winner of No. 4 North Dakota State and No. 5 Oral Roberts.

Print Friendly Version

Upcoming Events and Recent Results

The Leathernecks are seeking to make history in their rematch with South Dakota State.

Related Videos

Related Stories