Wednesday, November 27
Charleston, Ill.
8 p.m.
Purdue Fort Wayne
at
Eastern Illinois
Photo by: Lucas Carter
Men's Basketball Kicks Off Thanksgiving Weekend Pair
11/26/2013 8:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball
GAME NOTES (.pdf)
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The IPFW Mastodon men's basketball team kicks off its Thanksgiving Weekend doubleheader on Wednesday evening as the squad faces off against the Eastern Illinois Panthers, before traveling to Champaign for a match-up with the Illinois Illini on Friday.
Opponent: Eastern Illinois Panthers (3-2)
When: Wednesday, November 27 | 8 p.m. EST
Where: Charleston, Ill. | Lantz Arena (5,300)
Radio: WKJG 1380 AM The Fan | Brett Rump, play-by-play
Live Stats: Eastern Illinois Sidearm Live Stats
Live Stream: OVC Digital Network
For the season, Smith paces the squad by averaging 15.5 points per game, with Austin just off the pace at 9.8 points per game. Anderson and Dennis Green each average eight, as Blanford pours in 7.2 points per game.
Anderson is the team's leading rebounder with 27 in five games, as the Panters get out-rebounded by an average of almost one and a half rebounds per game. Smith also leads the team with 15 assists, while Jach Dickerson has given out 11 scores. Smith leads the team with 10 steals, as Matt Piotrowski has a team-best 10 blocked shots.
The team's 5-2 start is the second-best of the program's NCAA Division I era, behind only the 7-2 start of the 2010-11 squad, and tied for the second-best start in the last 20 seasons of the program.
The Mastodons hit 24-of-50 shots from the field (48.0%) and 3-of-11 (27.3%) from long range, while converting on 78.1 percent (25-of-32) from the charity stripe, holding the Owls to 38.6 percent (22-of-57) from the field and 36.4 percent (8-of-22) beyond the arc.
QUICK HITTERS
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The IPFW Mastodon men's basketball team kicks off its Thanksgiving Weekend doubleheader on Wednesday evening as the squad faces off against the Eastern Illinois Panthers, before traveling to Champaign for a match-up with the Illinois Illini on Friday.
Opponent: Eastern Illinois Panthers (3-2)
When: Wednesday, November 27 | 8 p.m. EST
Where: Charleston, Ill. | Lantz Arena (5,300)
Radio: WKJG 1380 AM The Fan | Brett Rump, play-by-play
Live Stats: Eastern Illinois Sidearm Live Stats
Live Stream: OVC Digital Network
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
Eastern Illinois comes into the meeting with a 3-2 overall record, winning their most recent game 89-67 over Roosevelt.
In the Roosevelt win, the Panthers put three players into double-figure scoring, with three others finishing with nine points. Alex Austin led the team with 16 points, while Kennen Anderson scored 13 and Sherman Blanford 10. Blanford pulled down a team-best seven rebounds. Reggie Smith dished out seven assists to go with his nine points, while also leading the team with three steals.
For the season, Smith paces the squad by averaging 15.5 points per game, with Austin just off the pace at 9.8 points per game. Anderson and Dennis Green each average eight, as Blanford pours in 7.2 points per game.
Anderson is the team's leading rebounder with 27 in five games, as the Panters get out-rebounded by an average of almost one and a half rebounds per game. Smith also leads the team with 15 assists, while Jach Dickerson has given out 11 scores. Smith leads the team with 10 steals, as Matt Piotrowski has a team-best 10 blocked shots.
IPFW VS. THE OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE
IPFW has faced off against eight of the 12 teams currently in the Ohio Valley Conference, including 17 times against SIU Edwardsville, a team which IPFW holds a 9-8 advantage in the all-time series. This season IPFW will face or has faced four teams in the Ohio Valley Conference including Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, SIU Edwardsville, and Tennessee Tech.
LAST TIME OUT
The IPFW Mastodons led wire-to-wire as the team won its fourth straight, improving to 5-2 on the season with a 76-66 win over the Kennesaw State Owls on Sunday afternoon.
Pierre Bland was a perfect 7-of-7 from the field and 8-of-8 from the charity stripe, scoring a career-high 23 points while pulling down six rebounds and dishing out six assists. Joe Reed scored 16 points, as Luis Jacobo added 11. IPFW out-rebounded the Owls 34-30, while Isaiah McCray pulled down seven rebounds, with Reed adding six rebounds.
The team's 5-2 start is the second-best of the program's NCAA Division I era, behind only the 7-2 start of the 2010-11 squad, and tied for the second-best start in the last 20 seasons of the program.
The Mastodons hit 24-of-50 shots from the field (48.0%) and 3-of-11 (27.3%) from long range, while converting on 78.1 percent (25-of-32) from the charity stripe, holding the Owls to 38.6 percent (22-of-57) from the field and 36.4 percent (8-of-22) beyond the arc.
• IPFW has had eight players score in double figures in at least one game this season for IPFW, while five of the team's seven games have had a different leading scorer.
• IPFW senior Luis Jacobo earned his first Summit League Player of the Week honor of his career after averaging 22.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in the final two games of the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Tournament.
• This season IPFW has trailed for just 35 minutes and 14 seconds of game-play time, while leading for 3 hours, 49 minutes and 58 seconds.
• This is the third meeting between the teams in each program's history, as the teams will meet again on December 21 in Fort Wayne
• Under head coach Tony Jasick, the Mastodons are 25-8 when leading at halftime, and 19-16 when scoring first.
• IPFW had their streak of six straight games with more assists than turnovers snapped at Kennesaw State.
• IPFW's 106 points against Purdue Calumet are the first time since January 11 (SIU Edwardsville / 107 points) that the team has reached the 100-point plateau.
• IPFW is 4-0 all-time on November 27
• The Mastodons have five players who have scored at least 20 points in a game this year
• IPFW is 17-16 all-time against teams currently in the Ohio Valley Conference, and are 1-0 this year with a win over Tennessee Tech, and will face off against SIU Edwardsville, and Eastern Kentucky this year.
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