Men's Basketball Looks to Snap Road Skid in Peoria

GAME NOTES

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The IPFW Mastodons will look to snap their modest two-game losing skid on Tuesday evening when the squad travels to Peoria, Ill., to take on the Braves of Bradley in an 8 p.m. tip-off.

Opponent: Bradley Braves (5-4)
When: Tuesday, December 10 | 8 p.m. EST
Where: Peoria, Ill. | Carver Arena
Radio: WKJG 1380 AM The Fan | Mike Maahs, play-by-play
Live Stats: Bradley Stat Broadcast
Live Video: Bradley All-Access (subscription required)

SCOUTING THE BRAVES

Bradley comes into the Tuesday evening game having dropped four of its last five contests with losses at Illinois, Arizona State, and Milwaukee, and a home loss to IUPUI, with the team's only win in the last five games coming with a 20-point win over Texas-Pan American.

In the team's last game, a 73-67 loss at Milwaukee, Walt Lemon Jr. and Tyshon Pickett each scored 20 points, while Auston Barnes scored 11. Barnes pulled down nine rebounds, as Pickett added seven, with the Braves out-rebounding the Panthers 39-to-28. Bradley had just five assists in the loss, with Barnes and Lemon Jr. each giving out two, while Pickett and Ka'Darryl Bell each picking up two steals.

This year Lemon Jr. and Pickett lead the team by averaging 17.2 and 15.0 points per game, each. Omari Grier averages 12.6, while Barnes pours in 9.9 points per game. Pickett and Barnes each have 65 rebounds this season, averaging 7.2 per game.

Lemon Jr. has dished out 37 assists, more than three times the total of the next highest player on the team. Lemon Jr. and Bell have 17 and 16 steals this year, as Xzavier Taylor leads the team with seven blocked shots.

BALANCING ACT

This season, IPFW has employed a balanced offensive attack that has seen six different players lead the team in scoring at least once in the team's eight games, with seven players scoring at least 19 points in a game this year, with five of those reaching the 20-point plateau.

STARTING STRONG

IPFW head coach Tony Jasick has used the same starting lineup: Pierre Bland, Isaiah McCray, Joe Edwards, Michael Kibiloski, and Steve Forbes; for each of the first 11 games of this season. Since 1987-88, the longest season-opening stretch of games for the same starting five was 12 games, where Frank Gaines, Zach Plackemeier, current graduate manager John Peckinpaugh, Ben Botts, and Trey McCorkle all found their way into the starting lineup for the first dozen games. The 2011-12 season-opening starting line-up of Gaines, McCorkle, Jason Smeathers, Johnny Marlin, and Peckinpaugh, started the first 11 games together.

DRAFTED STAR

Former Mastodon standout Frank Gaines, was been selected with the first pick in the second round by the Maine Red Claws in the 2013 NBA Development League draft. In five games with the Red Claws, Gaines has scored 85 points, averaging 17.0 points per game, which currently ranks second on his squad and 21st in the entire D-League. The Red Claws are 4-1 on the season, as Gaines has hit 52% of his three-point attempts, and 52.6% of his overall field goals this season.

IPFW vs. MISSOURI VALLEY

IPFW has faced off against four of the 10 schools in the Missouri Valley Conference, going 1-8 all-time against the league. IPFW's win came against Indiana State by a 54-46 win in Terre Haute on January 2, 2006 - as current head coach Tony Jasick was an assistant coach under Dane Fife.

~ Feel the Rumble ~

Purdue University Fort Wayne Athletics

Men's Basketball Looks to Snap Road Skid in Peoria

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos