The Summit League’s top team will be on the road when the IPFW Mastodons (22-7) head to Western Hall to face off against the Western Illinois Leathernecks (9-16). Action begins at 9:00 pm ET on Thursday, Feb. 25 and can be seen on ES3.
The Leathernecks are hoping to rebound after their 87-67 loss to South Dakota State in their last matchup. Garret Covington was the game’s leading scorer with 23 points. The Mastodons, meanwhile, are coming off a 94-90 win against Omaha in their last game. John Konchar claimed his 11th double-double of the season with 19 points and 14 rebounds.
Konchar and Max Landis have upped their production over the last five games for the Mastodons. Konchar has averaged 14.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.6 blocks during that stretch, while Landis has put up 25.0 points, 1.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 0.6 steals, and 4.6 three-pointers.
This is the second game of the season between these two teams, with the Mastodons winning the first matchup 88-67. Max Landis had a stellar game with 19 points, two rebounds, six assists, and three three-pointers.
Notes
In its last game, Western Illinois lost by a margin of 20 points. IPFW is 5-2 in games decided by a margin of 18 points or more. Western Illinois has a 5-4 record in blowouts.
With 67.8 possessions and 1.026 points per possession, the Western Illinois Leathernecks perform worse on both metrics than the IPFW Mastodons. IPFW averages 70.3 possessions and 1.142 points per possession.
Ranked 17th in the nation, IPFW has an average effective field goal percentage of 55.6%. Western Illinois has not won a game this season when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage (0-8).
IPFW ranks 57th in assists, recording 15.5 per game. Western Illinois performs worse at 190th with 13.2 assists per game.
Western Illinois ranks 323rd in offensive rebounds, while IPFW ranks 95th in defensive rebounds.
On average, Western Illinois makes 5.8 steals per game. IPFW has a solid 16-6 record when it gives up at least 5 steals.
