Purdue Fort Wayne
UIC
'Dons Open Keeps Horizon League Championship With UIC on Thursday
3/2/2022 3:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game Day Information
Who: No. 2 Purdue Fort Wayne (20-10) vs. No. 8 UIC (14-15)
When: Thursday, March 3 | 7 p.m. ET
Where: Fort Wayne, Ind. | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
Listen: 1380 The Fan
Live Stats: Link
Watch: ESPN+
Game Notes: Purdue Fort Wayne (PDF) | UIC
TICKET INFO:
// Tickets start at $10 and can be purchased at the box office or via Ticketmaster.
KNOW YOUR FOE:
// Leading scorer: Damaria Franklin (18.0)
// Head coach: Luke Yaklich
// The Flames won 80-69 at Milwaukee on in the first round of the 2022 Keeps Men's Basketball Championship.
// The Flames have won four consecutive games.
A WIN WOULD...
// ... send the 'Dons to the semifinals on Monday (March 7) in Indianapolis.
// ... be the Mastodons' 10th straight victory, extending the Division I era program streak.
// ... give the 'Dons a victory in the conference tournament for a fourth consecutive season.
ON THE NINE-GAME WIN STREAK:
// The Mastodons' nine-game win streak is the longest in Division I program history. The program record for consecutive wins is the 1988-89 team that opened the season 11-0.
// All nine wins came in February, marking the most wins in a single month in program history. Per sports-reference.com, only nine times since 2010-11 has a Division I team won nine or more games in the month of February.
// The 'Dons are giving up only 65.1 points per game in regulation in the streak, this excludes the 15 minutes of overtime against Cleveland State.
// The 'Dons are shooting 42.8 percent (95-of-222) from three.
// Four 'Dons are averaging in double-digits: Jalon Pipkins (15.7), Jarred Godfrey (13.7), Deonte Billups (11.4) and Damian Chong Qui (11.2).
// The 'Dons are forcing 15.9 turnovers per game and recording 9.2 steals a game.
// The 'Dons are out-rebounding opponents 32.9 to 31.3.
// The Mastodons overcame double-digit deficits in three games: Milwaukee at home (10), UIC (11) and Cleveland State (14).
// Deonte Billups has made two or more 3-pointers in each of the games.
// Five different players have led the team in scoring.
'DONS AND ENDS:
// The 'Dons are ranked No. 25 in the latest Mid Major Top 25 Poll.
// Jon Coffman owns a 138-112 career record. He is already the Mastodons' all-time leader in Division I coaching victories. However he is nearing the program record for career wins. That total is held by Andy Piazza who went 142-108 with the 'Dons from 1987 to 1996.
// Horizon League awards saw Jon Coffman named the 2022 Coach of the Year. It is his second career league coach of the year honor after winning the same award in the Summit League in 2015-2016
// The 'Dons finished the regular season 13-2 at home this season. The last time the 'Dons won 13 games at home in a season was 2017-18 when they went 13-3 in the Summit City. A year prior in 2016-17, the 'Dons were 14-3 at home.
// Cameron Benford set a new program record for games played when he entered the game on Feb. 10 against IUPUI. Benford has now played in 138 games. The previous record holder was current Memphis Grizzlies member John Konchar at 133.
// When Cameron Benford started on Senior Night on Monday, it broke a streak of the same starting five for 25 straight games. The 'Dons entered the contest as one of seven teams in the nation to make it that far in the season with the same starting five.
// Johnathan DeJurnett, who scored 12 total points last season in his freshman season, has 74 this season. He played a season-high 19 minutes on Feb. 18 at Green Bay.
// The 'Dons have held a lead for at least five minutes in every game this season except for losses at SIUE and at Wright State.
// Seven different players have led the team in scoring for a game this season. That ties a single-season high for a Mastodon team under head coach Jon Coffman. The 2019-20 team also had seven scoring leaders.
// When Jalon Pipkins shoots better than 50 percent from the floor, the 'Dons are 9-0 this season.
// Freshman JoJo Peterson scored a career-high 11 points at Milwaukee (Feb. 20). Over the last six games he is 9-of-15 from three. // Per KenPom, the 'Dons are the 20th most experienced team in the nation.
// The Mastodons rank 13th in the nation in 3-pointers per game (9.9).
// The 'Dons are the only team in the league with three players in the top 10 in made 3-pointers: Deonte Billups (3rd, 67), Jarred Godfrey (4th, 66) and Bobby Planutis (7th, 58).
// Per KenPom, the Mastodons recorded the highest Effective field goal percentage in program history (77 percent) in the home win over Robert Morris (Jan. 21).
~ Feel The Rumble ~
