Mastodons To Face No. 8 Kentucky On The SEC Network

Who: No. 8 Kentucky Wildcats
When: Wednesday, Nov. 22 | 8:00 PM ET
Where: Rupp Arena (23,500) | Lexington, Ky.
All-Time Series: First meeting
Radio:  ESPN 1380 AM/100.9 FM
    Talent: Brett Rump Link
Live Stats: Link
TV: SEC Network Link
   Talent: Richard Cross, Dane Bradshaw, Stormy Buonantony
Game Notes (PDF): Fort Wayne | Kentucky

ADOLPH RUPP CLASSIC
The Mastodons are in the middle of a four-game stretch of contests all part of the Adolph Rupp Classic. Fort Wayne's games at UIC, Kentucky and East Tennessee State are all in the event, as well as Fort Wayne's home game with Delaware State last Wednesday.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Kentucky is 4-1. They own wins over Utah Valley, Vermont, East Tennessee State and Troy. They fell to Kansas 65-61 in Chicago.

LAST TIME OUT
Fort Wayne picked up a 67-51 road win at UIC. The Flames, picked for third in the Horizon League, were limited to 26.8 percent shooting.

ONE YEAR
Fort Wayne's game with Kentucky comes exactly one year to the date of Fort Wayne's win over Indiana last year.

ON THE UIC WIN...
- Fort Wayne limited UIC to 15-of-56 shooting (26.8 percent). The last time the 'Dons held a Division I opponent to under 30 percent shooting was Feb. 6, 2016 at North Dakota State.
- Saturday was the first time the 'Dons have held an opponent on the road under 60 since UNC Greensboro scored 58 against the 'Dons on Nov. 28, 2015.
- The 51 points given up to UIC were the fewest the 'Dons have allowed since Feb. 19, 2015 when Denver scored 47 against the 'Dons.
- Fort Wayne limited UIC to three field goals over the final 10 minutes of the first half and first 10 minutes of the second half. The 20 minute defensive stretch saw the 'Dons turn an eight-point deficit into a seven-point lead.
- The 'Dons shot 32.3 percent from the floor in the win over UIC. The last time the 'Dons shot under 40 percent in a contest and won was Feb. 13, 2014 vs. South Dakota.

KONCHAR ON THE BOARDS VS. UIC
John Konchar grabbed 16 rebounds vs. UIC on Saturday. Impressive, but if you were wondering if it was his career high, you haven't seen much of John Konchar. Konchar's career high is 19 rebounds against North Dakota State on Jan. 21, 2016. In addition to Saturday, he owns two other games with 16 rebounds (vs. South Dakota on March 5, 2016 and vs. Omaha on Feb. 11, 2017) and also notched 18 at San Diego State on March 15, 2016 in the NIT. Konchar is second in program history in rebounds with 647.

VS. THE SEC
Wednesday will be Fort Wayne's first ever contest against Kentucky. The Mastodons have previously played at SEC members Auburn (L, 61-50 on Nov. 9, 2012) and Arkansas (L, 92-83 on Nov. 11, 2016).

UP NEXT
Fort Wayne travels to East Tennessee State on Saturday (Nov. 25) for a 4 p.m. ET tip.

FRESHY FRESH
Fort Wayne's six freshmen have combined to play 228 minutes this season, accounting for 28.5 percent of a possible 800 minutes of court time this season. Included in that group are true freshman guard Matt Weir (24.0 minutes per game) and redshirt freshman forward Dylan Carl (16.5 minutes per game). In the win over UIC, five of the six freshmen saw playing time.

JAX ATTAX
Not included among the freshmen is sophomore Jax Levitch. The sophomore has moved into a starting role this year after averaging 9.8 minutes per game as a freshman last season. This year he is playing 22.5 minutes per game and averaging 5.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists.

MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME
Jax Levitch knows a thing or two about basketball in Kentucky. The sophomore grew up in Louisville, attending Trinity High School. His brother David played at Louisville for the Cardinals from 2013-17.

FROM THE FLOOR IN HIS CAREER
John Konchar owns a career 59.6 percent field goal percentage. His mark is 10th among all active players in the nation.

KONCHAR ON THE BOARDS
John Konchar is averaging 9.1 rebounds per game in his career. That total is seventh among all active NCAA Division I players. If he finished his career with that average, he would rank fifth all-time in Summit League history for the statistic.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
John Konchar has 31 career double-doubles. Only three current players in the nation have more career double-doubles. Angel Delgado (Seton Hall, 53), James Thompson IV (Eastern Michigan, 43) and Rokas Gustys (Hofstra, 36) rank above Konchar. Both Delgado and Gustys are seniors this season. Thompson IV, like Konchar, is a junior.

KASON IN HIS CAREER
Kason Harrell's career 3-point percentage of 44.5 percent ranks eighth among all active NCAA Division I student-athletes.

ALL YOU NEED IS ONE
6-9 senior forward Xzavier Taylor made his first career 3-pointer against Defiance. It was also his first career attempt, making him Fort Wayne's career 3-point leader... (if you want to throw out minimum qualifications of any kind) ... at 100 percent.

WELCOME TO THE MACHINE
According to KenPom.com computer rankings, John Konchar was third in the nation last season in offensive rating, which is a measure of personal offensive efficiency. Konchar owned an ORtg of 137.2, only Devontae Cacok of UNC Wilmington (141.4) and Ty Gibson of Eastern Washington (139.8) ranked higher.

VS. RANKED
Fort Wayne is 1-15 all-time against nationally ranked opponents. The one victory was last season's win over Indiana.

CENTURY MARK
Since Jon Coffman became the Fort Wayne head coach in 2014-15, the 'Dons have scored 100 points in a game 10 times.

KONCHAR NEARING 1,000
John Konchar owns 978 career points. The Mastodons have 13 players in their history who have reached 1,000 career points.

SCOTT NEARING 1,000
Combined with the 291 points he scored at Purdue, Bryson Scott owns 911 career points.

PRO 'DONS
A pair of Mastodons from last season's squad are playing professionally. Mo Evans is playing in Hungary and Brent Calhoun is in Spain.

MR. EVERYTHING
Bryson Scott is leading the team in points (22.0 per game), total assists (17) and is second in rebounding (6.3 per game) and total steals (10).

LOU HENSON AWARD WATCH LIST
John Konchar was named to the Preseason Watch List for CollegeInsider.com's Lou Henson Award. The Lou Henson Award is presented annually to the nation's top Division I mid-major player.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
Fort Wayne freshman Jairus Stevens' father Barry Stevens was drafted by the Denver Nuggets and reached the NBA as a member of the Golden State Warriors in 1993. Barry Stevens finished his collegiate career (1982-85) as Iowa State's leading scorer in program history with 2,190 points. Now only Jeff Grayer (1985-88, 2,502 points) and Georges Niang (2013-16, 2,228 points) rank higher.

JOINING THE 'DONS
Tionne Rollins (Tallahassee, Fla./Lincoln High School) signed a National Letter of Intent to join the Fort Wayne men's basketball program for the 2018-19 campaign. Rollins (6-2, guard) helped Lincoln High School to a Class 8A State Runner-Up finish in 2017. He was named First Team All-Big Bend. In the classroom, Rollins is an honor roll student with a GPA above 4.00. He comes from a basketball family as his mother Demetria played at Florida A&M from 1989-93.

20 WINS AGAIN
Fort Wayne won 20 games last season. It was their third 20-win season in four years. It also marked their second consecutive 20-win season, which is a first for the program as an NCAA Division I squad. Only once previously in program history, 1988-89 & 1989-90, have the 'Dons won 20 games in consecutive seasons.

ONLY TWO
Fort Wayne and Valparaiso are the only two NCAA Division I men's basketball programs in the state of Indiana that have advanced to the postseason each of the last four years.

~ Feel the Rumble ~

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Players Mentioned

Dylan Carl

Kason Harrell

John Konchar

Jax Levitch

Bryson Scott

Jairus Stevens

Xzavier Taylor

Matt Weir