BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – A three-game roadtrip for the Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team comes to a close with a Thanksgiving Eve trip to Anderson, Ind. Wednesday night, Nov. 27. Tipoff between the Titans and Ravens is slated for 7 p.m. ET inside O.C. Lewis Gymnasium.
Illinois Wesleyan notched its third straight win with a 94-90 triumph at Lake Forest, Nov. 23, to go to 4-1 on the season. Anderson looks to get back on the right side of the ledger following an 82-64 road setback at Hope, Nov. 23. The Ravens enter the matchup 2-2 on the season with wins over Adrian (98-75, Nov. 15) and Calvin (87-81, Nov. 20).
Fans can tune into the games via live stats or live stream. Links on how to follow along can be found on the men's basketball schedule page of IWUsports.com.
EVERYONE GETS BUCKETS: In IWU's win at Lake Forest, all nine Titans who earned minutes scored a basket. Doug Wallen scored a season-high 20 points and Keondre Schumacher (18), Peter Lambesis (12), and Grant Wolfe (10) also finished in double figures. Charlie Bair, Luke Yoder, and Cory Noe chipped in eight points each, while Cody Mitchell and Alex O'Neill rounded out the scoring with six and four points, respectively.
It marked the first time every player scored since Illinois Wesleyan's 111-66 rout of North Park, Feb. 13, 2019. In that victory, 15 players registered points. Additionally, the last time IWU accomplished the feat on the road was in a 67-60 setback at Augustana, Dec. 8, 2018.
HEAT CHECK: Sophomore Keondre Schumacher has been a great addition to the Titans backcourt this season as IWU's leading scorer through five games. Perhaps more impressive though is his efficiency. Schumacher is converting 64.3 percent of his three-pointers, the best mark in the conference by a long shot. In fact, no other player in the CCIW is shooting better than 48 percent from distance. Nationally, the Bloomington native ranks sixth in three-point field goal percentage.
STUFFING ISN'T JUST FOR THANKSGIVING: Junior point guard Grant Wolfe has stuffed the stat sheet in his first season as the Titans' starting point guard. Wolfe is averaging 16.8 points, 3.6 assists, and 2.6 rebounds a game as IWU's floor general. The Effingham, Ill. native is one of four players in the conference to fill up with box score with averages of at least 15 points, 3.5 asssists, and 2.5 rebounds a contest, joining Kienan Baltimore (Carthage), Jordon Kedrowski (Carthage), and Nyameye Adom (Wheaton).
AGAINST ANDERSON ALL-TIME: Illinois Wesleyan and Anderson will square off on the hardwood for just the fourth time Wednesday night, with IWU having won each of the past three contests. The Titans took the inaugural clash 83-54 back during the 1993-94 campaign and followed with an 83-66 victory in the 1994-95 season.
More recently, Illinois Wesleyan cruised to a 93-70 win at the Shirk Center, Dec. 19, 2018. Brady Rose led the way with 23 points as five Titans notched double digit points. Colin Bonnett added 16, while Grant Wolfe and Peter Lambesis tallied 12 points apiece and Alex O'Neill finished with 10 points.
SCOUTING REPORT - ANDERSON: Anderson has been up and down to start the year, trading wins and losses to the tune of a 2-2 record. The Ravens are led by eighth-year head coach Owen Handy who played at Wheaton College in the late 90's.
All five starters average more than eight points a game for the Ravens, with Maurice Knight leading the way at 18.3 ppg. Malik Laffoon and Dalton DuBois add 14.5 and 10.5 points a contest, respectively, while Knight is also the team's top rebounder at 6.8 boards per game.
Anderson is shooting 45.9 percent from the floor this season, but is converting just 28.6 percent of its three-pointers. The Ravens have knocked down 75.5 percent (71-of-94) free throws this season, and average just 11 turnovers a game. Anderson's achilles heel is the boards, where the Ravens have been out-rebounded 157-120 and average nine caroms less than opponents per contest.
NOBODY HAS MORE: The Titans success on the court has been matched by their efforts in the classroom. IWU has seen 24 student-athletes named Academic All-Americans, the most of any school across all NCAA divisions.
STEPPING IN AND STEPPING UP: The biggest question surrounding Illinois Wesleyan entering the season was its ability to replace the production of Brady Rose, Colin Bonnett, and Jason Gregoire. Rose, Bonnett, and Gregoire combined to average around 43 points per game while shooting 48.0 percent from the field and 44.9 percent beyond the three-point line.
Through five games this season, the guard quartet of Keondre Schumacher, Grant Wolfe, and Peter Lambesis, and Doug Wallen have proved more than capable. Together, the four have combined for 60.8 points per contest and have converted 51.6 percent (114-of-221) of their shots from the floor and 50 percent (34-of-68) of their three-point attempts.
BAIR'S BOARDS: Junior Charlie Bair has owned the glass this season, pulling down 11.4 rebounds per game. Bair ranks second in the conference and 22nd nationally in rebounding average, while his 4.6 offensive boards per contest are 11th-most nationally and lead the CCIW. Additionally, Bair is one of two players in the conference with multiple double-doubles this season.
YEAR 111: Illinois Wesleyan has compiled a 1668-910 record in its history, good for a .648 winning percentage. Additionally, the Titans 1668 wins are the fourth-most all-time in NCAA Division III. Meanwhile, IWU's 740 CCIW wins are by-far-and-above the most in the league. In fact, the Titans have 118 more conference wins than any other school in the CCIW.
BUCKETS OFF THE BENCH: The Titans have benefited from steady production from their bench through their first three games of the season. IWU has averaged 19 bench points per game so far this season, roughly 21 percent of the teams scoring this season.
Cory Noe has scored 5.4 points per contest, while Luke Yoder has added 5.2 points per game.
BY THE NUMBERS: IWU has seen plenty of success on the hardwood in its storied history, highlighted by the Titans' NCAA National Championship in 1997. Overall, IWU has won 30 CCIW championships, made 25 tournament appearances, advanced to 17 "Sweet Sixteens", appeared in 11 "Elite Eights", and gone to six final fours.
ON THE HORIZON: IWU returns to the Shirk Center as it turns its focus to College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play. The Titans host Wheaton Wednesday night, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m. before clashing with Carthage Saturday, Dec. 7, in the second chapter of a double feature with the IWU women's basketball team.
