Feature: ‘Dons Getting Defensive as Postseason Nears
by Tom Davis
A glance at the Horizon League men’s basketball standings shows eight teams with 10 or more league wins, overall winning records and only four games separating the No. 1 seed and the No. 8 seed. Although the Purdue Fort Wayne men’s basketball squad is in a tie for seventh place (with Cleveland State) with one game to play, they are top four in point differential, Kenpom rankings and net rankings.
It’s clearly another wild year of parody in the Horizon League. The Mastodons know this well. In 2022 the 'Dons finished in a tie for the regular season title but could have finished as low as No. 5 going into the final weekend. Advancing in the upcoming league tournament is going to be a challenge.
However, the high-powered Mastodon offense ranked No. 29 nationally in points per game (81.5) is coupled with a defense that has shown it can be stifling throughout the year. In addition to forcing the 11th most turnovers in the country and recording the 14th most steals, the Mastodons have shown elite levels of defensive efficiency, including holding Wright State to less than one point per possession in Wednesday's 79-77 overtime win. Only one other Horizon League team has accomplished that this season.
Recently, the Mastodons (19-11, 10-9) topped the league’s second-place team, Green Bay, in Green Bay, no less, by an 85-59 score. It was the second win of this season over the Phoenix, and what it showed was when Purdue Fort Wayne is on top of its game defensively, it cannot just compete with, but also beat, any other team in the Horizon League.
“We are the third shortest team (in the country),” 10th-year Mastodon coach Jon Coffman said, “but we are strong, and we are fast.”
What that translates into is that Purdue Fort Wayne is rarely going to win the game of rebounding margin (though it outrebounded Wright State 44-41 in the road win). However, when it comes to turnover margin, Coffman’s group is elite, and that was evident on Wednesday, as Coffman’s squad topped the Raiders.
In their latest impressive road win, the Mastodons nabbed 11 steals and forced Wright State into 18 turnovers.
Anthony Roberts with a GAME-WINNING block to put this one in the win column for the 'Dons!#FeelTheRumble #HLMBB pic.twitter.com/0Gg3txAFhM
— Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons Basketball (@MastodonMBB) February 29, 2024
“I told our guys prior to the game that when we flood the half court and put teams in crowds,” Coffman said, “we are the best defensive team league. When we do that, it ignites our offense.
“If we can do that for 40 minutes, then we’re the best team in the league. However, doing that is a huge, huge challenge, but I believe we can do that. And I’m challenging you to put that on the floor.”
Of 362 NCAA Division I teams, Purdue Fort Wayne ranks third in turnover margin (6.7 per game) and leads the Horizon League in that category.
Against the Phoenix, Purdue Fort Wayne forced 10 turnovers while committing just four, and led the hosts by as many as 30 points.
“If a team has the ball on the wing,” Coffman explained of his philosophy, “my terminology is to flood and create crowds with 5 defending the ball, you must be on the midline to load up on the ball.”
The 'Dons generated eight steals and 18 turnovers against Wright State last night, which is the number one offense in the Horizon League. Also in a recent road win at Detroit-Mercy, Purdue Fort Wayne made eight steals and forced 11 turnovers.
“Some teams,” Coffman continued, “they can hang outside the lane, and because they are so long, they can clean up their mistakes. Our (players) cannot. If we cut a corner or take a short cut, then you’re going to be scoring lay-ups on us. Unfortunately, that was the case against Wright State at home in December but not on Wednesday in Dayton.”
Where the Mastodons have been effective is defending at the 3-point line who forced the top 3-point shooting team in the League (38 percent) to miss 12 of their 17 long shots (29.4 percent) in the road win.
Purdue Fort Wayne is the third-best team in the league at guarding on the perimeter, and limited Green Bay to just 25.9 percent shooting from beyond the arc after they came into the game hitting nearly 35 percent from that distance.
“We are really fast, and we can really keep guys in front of us,” Coffman said. “Our advantage it to make teams play from thirty feet out. When we disrupt their flow, we are elite defensively and need to do this for 40 minutes to make a run in March.”
Purdue Fort Wayne will earn a postseason opening round home game next Tuesday after senior night on Saturday’s home game against Robert Morris (10-20, 6-13) at the Gates Sports Center (7 p.m.). The parody in the league could not be clearer with Robert Morris, who is currently in ninth place, topping the Mastodons in January in overtime.
Oakland can clinch the outright regular season league title with a home win Saturday against Detroit Mercy, but to Coffman’s point, his team can play with any team in the conference.
Earlier this season, the Mastodons beat the Golden Grizzlies (98-77) and led by as many as 31 late in the second half, as well as second-place Youngstown State (82-78). The Mastodons have defeated every team in the top five of the current standings, which will make for an exciting Horizon League Championship for Mastodon supporters.
A win on Saturday will close the Mastodons’ regular season having won four of their final five games, as its defense is showing promise.
“What I’m excited about is we have gone through some in intense adversity in January after starting 13-2,” Coffman said. “We are a young group and the grind of going from June all the way to now, I have no doubt that is affecting us some because of our youth managing a season and figuring out who we are.
“However, we are all in. We are in great flow and have never hesitating in our preparation or our daily culture of how we operate. We have been very, very good in terms of recognizing how we must get better when we watch video. And we are built to compete in March with how we defend. I love coaching this team and am so proud of the basketball that they have placed on the court this year and responded under adversity”