No. 7 IPFW Plays At No. 2 San Diego State In First-Ever NIT Appearance

Tuesday, March 15

San Diego, CA

10 P.M.

Purdue Fort Wayne

No. 2 San Diego State

Photo by: Lucas Carter

No. 7 IPFW Plays At No. 2 San Diego State In First-Ever NIT Appearance

3/14/2016 5:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball

SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- IPFW will play at San Diego State University of the Mountain West Conference in the first round of the 2016 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) Tuesday night, March 15 at 10 p.m. Eastern Time at the Viejas Arena in San Diego, California. The Mastodons gained an automatic bid to play in the oldest tournament in college basketball for the first time in school history as The Summit League regular season co-champions. IPFW enters the prestigious NIT with an overall record of 24-9, earning a No. 7 seed, while the Aztecs have a record of 25-9 as the Mountain West regular season champions, earning a No. 2 seed. The game will be televised exclusively on ESPN3.

GAMEDAY INFORMATION / 2016 NIT Electronic Game Program / 2016 NIT Bracket
TV: ESPN3
Play-by-Play: Trey Bender / Analyst: Richie Schueler
Radio: ESPN 1380 AM / 100.9 FM
Play-by-Play: Brett Rump
Video: espn.go.com
Stats: goaztecs.com
Audio: espnfortwayne.com (Listen Live)

Quick Hits
• IPFW is playing in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) for the first time in program history. The Summit League regular season co-champion Mastodons are a No. 7 seed, and are playing Mountain West Conference regular season champion San Diego State, a No. 2 seed.
• IPFW and San Diego State have met two times previously, and the Aztecs lead the series, 2-0, as the two teams played during consecutive seasons in 2001-02 and 2002-03. SDSU defeated the Mastodons 90-72 on January 2, 2002, and 74-58 on December 30, 2002 ... both games played in California during IPFW's first two seasons in Division I.
• IPFW is making its third-straight postseason tournament appearance after playing in the 2014 and 2015 CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT).
• IPFW is enjoying its finest season as a Division I program (2001-02) with its 24-9 record (.727), while only the second 20-win season in the program's Division I history (25-11, .694, 2013-14).
• IPFW was ranked No. 18 in last week's The CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, among the Top 25 for a record 10th-straight week. The Mastodons attained their highest-ever ranking at No. 14 on February 22.
• IPFW has four scoring in double figures, including Max Landis (19.5, 121 3FGs, 3.8 assists), John Konchar (13.1, 8.9 rebounds), Joe Reed (10.3, 4.8 rebounds) and Michael Calder (10.3, 3.9 rebounds).

Scouting The Aztecs
No. 2 seed San Diego State is 25-9 overall, following a Mountain West Conference Tournament final loss to Fresno State (68-63) March 12. The Aztecs are coached by Steve Fisher, who is in his 17th season as head coach at SDSU, and his 26th year overall as a collegiate head coach (Michigan, 1989-97). San Diego State has three scoring in double-figures, including Trey Kell (12.6), Jeremy Hemsley (12.4) and Winston Shepard (11.2). The Aztecs have averaged 68.1 points, while allowing 60.3 points, and are 13-4 in home games this season.

Scouting The Mastodons
No. 7 seed IPFW is 24-9 overall, following a Summit League Tournament semifinal loss to North Dakota State (69-68) March 7. The Mastodons are coached by Jon Coffman, who is in his second season as head coach, fifth year at the school and 19th overall. IPFW has four scoring in double-figures, including Landis (19.5), Konchar (13.1), Calder (10.3) and Reed (10.3). The Mastodons have averaged 80.2 points, while allowing 75.9 points, and are 10-6 in road games this season.

Last Time Out
Landis scored 19 points as top seed IPFW dropped a 69-68 Summit League Tournament semifinal contest to fifth seed North Dakota State. The Mastodons scored the first eight points of the contest behind three-point field goals by Calder and Landis, who added a layup, as well, and IPFW led 15-2 at 14:41 following a layup by Konchar. The advantage was up to 20-4 at 12:58 after a three-pointer from DeAngelo Stewart and a layup by Charles Ruise Jr. NDSU, however, battled back with a 9-2 run to close to within 22-13 at 9:33, but the 'Dons responded with three consecutive three-pointers by Landis, Konchar and Stewart, respectively, to take its largest lead of the contest at 31-13 with 5:59 on the first-half clock. IPFW led 36-21 at the intermission, 38-23 with 18:09 left following a steal and slam dunk by Konchar, and it was 48-35 with 13:08 remaining after a three-pointer by Landis. The Mastodons maintained a double-figure lead for much of the second half and still led 64-54 with 4:18 on the clock after an offensive rebound basket inside by Brent Calhoun. NDSU, though, refused to go away and fought back with a game-ending 15-4 run over the final 4:06 for the victory. A Bison three-pointer tied it for the first time at 65-65 with 2:08 to play. Landis drilled a three-pointer at 1:50 to make it 68-65, but NDSU scored inside at 0:43 to make it 68-67 and a layup with four seconds on the clock gave the Bison their first and only lead of the night. Landis missed a running three-point attempt from the right side of the floor at the final buzzer. Landis led IPFW with his 19 points, including 5-14 three-pointers to increase his new school season record to 121, adding three assists and two steals. Konchar finished with 17 points, a game and career-high seven steals, and three assists before fouling out late. Calder added 16 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Stewart contributed six points and seven rebounds. IPFW shot 39% (24-62) from the field, including 40% (14-35) on three-pointers and 46% (6-13) at the free throw line.

Who's Hot
IPFW … with 24 wins for its second-highest win total since moving up to Division I (2001-02). Landis ... averaging 23.4 points and 4.0 assists in his last 10 games, including one 40-point game and two 30-point games among seven 20-point games, while shooting 47% (73-157) from the field, 42% (44-104, 4.4) on three-point field goals and 83% (44-53) at the free throw line. Calder ... averaging 15.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists in his last 10 games, including two 20-point games among nine double-figure games, while shooting 44% (54-123) from the field, 41% (24-58) on three-pointers and 84% (27-32) at the line. Konchar ... averaging 13.8 points and 8.6 rebounds with five double-doubles in his last 10 games, while shooting 59% (51-86) from the field, 35% (7-20) on three-pointers and 74% (29-39) at the line. Stewart ... averaging 12.8 points and 5.3 rebounds in his last 10 games, including a career-high 23 points among six double-figure games, while shooting 48% (42-87) from the field, 50% (31-62) on three-pointers and 72% (13-18) at the line. Reed ... averaging 9.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in his last 10 games, including five double-figure games, while shooting 56% (32-57) from the field, 54% (7-13) on three-pointers and 76% (28-37) at the line.

NCAA RPI Ratings
IPFW has an NCAA RPI of 72 as of March 14, ranking 2nd among Summit League members behind only South Dakota State (28).

Raining 3's (#3Nation)
IPFW has made 347 three-point field goals this season, ranking 4th in Division I, and the Mastodons also rank 4th nationally in three-pointers per game (10.5), while 6th in three-point percentage (.414, 347-838). Landis ranks 2nd in Division I made three-pointers (121) and three-pointers per game (3.78), and is 8th in Division I three-point percentage (.457, 121-265). He has 15 games this season with at least four three-pointers.

What A Game By Landis
Landis scored a school-record 44 points at South Dakota on Feb. 4, tying the eighth-highest total in Division I this season, while also the sixth-most ever in a Summit League game. His 11 three-point field goals in that game equal the second-most in Division I this year, and ties the Summit League record, as well. Landis has two games this season with nine three-pointers (9-12 vs. Austin Peay, 12/12; 9-12 at Omaha, 1/16), tying for seventh-most in Division I in 2015-16.

Elite First-Year Player
Konchar is ranked 2nd among Division I freshmen in minutes played (1171), while 5th (among freshmen) nationally in double-doubles (13) and 6th in rebounding (8.9). If he qualified for field goal percentage (minimum 5.0 made per game-Konchar is just below at 4.82), he would rank 4th (.589, 159-270) among the nation's freshman class. Some names of those just ahead of him include Ben Simmons at LSU, Jamal Murray of Kentucky and Henry Ellenson at Marquette.

Among The Top 25
IPFW was ranked No. 18 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 with 254 voting points. The Mastodons are ranked among the Top 25 for a record 10th-straight week. It's previous high national ranking was No. 14 on Feb. 22.

Ironmen
IPFW has two starters who have ranked among the Division I leaders in minutes played all season, including Landis (20th, 1190) and Konchar (33rd, 1171). Landis has played 40 or more minutes 10 times this season, while Konchar has played 40 or more minutes four times.

Road Warriors
IPFW has played 20 games away from Fort Wayne, including 16 true road games (10-6) and four neutral-site contests (2-2). The Mastodons' brutal early-season schedule (10 of the first 14 away) included trips to Valparaiso; Clarksville, Tennessee; Oxford, Ohio; Greensboro, North Carolina; San Luis Obispo, California; Salt Lake City, Utah; Bloomington and Kalamazoo, Michigan -- all before Christmas. IPFW has since traveled to Denver, Colorado; Brookings, South Dakota; Omaha, Nebraska; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Vermillion, South Dakota; Fargo, North Dakota; Macomb, Illinois and Indianapolis for league games, along with this trip to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for the league tournament.

Frequent Flyers/Travelers
IPFW has flown 11,716 miles this season for games in North Carolina (1,402), California/Utah (3,599), Colorado (2,086), South Dakota/Nebraska (1,192), Oklahoma (1,486), South Dakota/North Dakota (1,332), along with South Dakota (619, yet again). In addition, the Mastodons have traveled 4,668 miles this season on Charter Buses for games in Indiana, Tennessee, Ohio, Michigan and the return from South Dakota after the league tournament. Over 2,000 miles (2,060) of the bus rides have occurred during the trips to California (700), South Dakota/Nebraska (238), South Dakota/North Dakota (364) and Illinois/Indiana. This trip to San Diego adds another 4,152 round trip air miles to total 15,868 miles flown upon return. IPFW has played games in 13 different states this year.

The Team Three-Point Stat
IPFW has made at least one three-point field goal in 390 consecutive games, dating back to a road game at Miami (Ohio) (12/21/03, 0-9). The Mastodons' 347 three-pointers this season include 21 games with at least 10 three-pointers, including a school-record 20 made three-pointers at South Dakota (2/4, 20-36, 56%). The season-low is six, three times, most recent vs. Navy (11/29, 6-26) in Greensboro, North Carolina. Through March 13, UNLV has the current Division I record at 973 straight games, dating back to Nov. 26, 1986.

Among Indiana / Mid-Majors
IPFW has posted 65 wins over the past three seasons since 2013-14, ranking 3rd among Indiana's 10 Division I programs, behind Valparaiso (72) and Notre Dame (68). The Mastodons are 2nd among those schools considered to be mid-major programs in Indiana (Valparaiso). The two-plus campaigns are also the most successful seasons in the program's Division I history, including consecutive post-season appearances in the 2014 and 2015 CollegeInsider.com Tournaments -- the first and only consecutive post-season appearances, as well.

Up Next
A win would advance IPFW to the second round of the 2016 NIT to play at either No. 3 seed Washington in Seattle, Wash. or No. 6 seed Long Beach State in Long Beach, Calif. between March 17-21.

Complete game notes available via the linked pdf at the top of the page.