BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team gets the season started this weekend at the Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational inside the Shirk Center on Saturday, Nov. 12. The Titans will play Yeshiva University, a highly anticipated matchup that will serve as the second half of a doubleheader with Webster University versus the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Tipoff of the IWU-YU game is scheduled for 8 p.m.
    IWU enters the season ranked No. 21 in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top-25 after making a memorable run to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament. The Titans finished last season 24-6 and won the regular season College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championship with a league record of 14-2. Yeshiva enters this season coming off of a historic two years, including a record-breaking winning streak that saw its peak reach 50 wins in a row before Illinois Wesleyan prevented the Macs 51st win on Dec. 30, 2021. The Sikma Tourney matchup will serve as the second game of the Mac's 2022-23 campaign, as Yeshiva was defeated by No. 13 St. Joseph 69-60 on Wednesday, Nov. 9.
    Fans can tune into the game via live stats or audio broadcast. Links on how to follow along can be found on the men's basketball schedule page of IWUsports.com.

REMEMBERING THE TITANS: Illinois Wesleyan will welcome back several of the program's 16 All-Americans this weekend for a special recognition. IWU will recognize the group prior to Saturday's contest against Yeshiva, with a majority of the group in attendance.

SECOND INSTALLMENT OF THE SIKMA HALL OF FAME INVITATIONAL: Last season was the inaugural Jack Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational, and it did not disappoint. The Titans defeated Hope College in the first round 87-74, where Cody Mitchell had a breakout game with a career-high 29 points and 10 boards. In the championship game, IWU faced annual powerhouse UW-Oshkosh and won in a nail biter, 65-63.  The tournament is sponsored by Greg & Coe Gardner '60.

WE LOVE LID LIFTERS: Illinois Wesleyan has made a habit of starting of the season on the right foot in recent years, as evident by the Titans' six-game win streak in season openers. Illinois Wesleyan defeated Lake Forest, 81-61, to begin the 2021-22 campaign most recently. IWU's last season-opening loss came in the 2015-16 season, where the Green and White were edged, 88-86, by Benedictine.

MACS VERSUS TITANS: The Titans and Macs have only matched up against one another once before in the 2021-2022 season. No. 4 IWU traveled to No. 1 Yeshiva's home court to take on a Macs team that had not seen defeat in 783 days. Illinois Wesleyan ended the Maccabees 50-game winning streak with a 73-59 victory.
Defense was the story of the Titans win over Yeshiva last season. Mattew Leritz had a record-breaking performance, recording 25 rebounds and 14 points. Peter Lambesis defensively locked down the eventual Division III national player of the year and current NBA G-Leaguer Ryan Turrell by holding him to 22 points, six points below his season average. Offensively, the Titans saw five players in double digits, including Cody Mitchell who had 10 points.

AGAINST WEBSTER AND UWSP: The Titans will play either Webster or UW-Stevens Point on Sunday, Nov. 12 based on the outcomes of Saturday nights' games. IWU is deadlocked with UW-Stevens Point at three games apiece in the all-time series record. The Titans last played UWSP in the 2018-19 season over holiday break in Thousand Oaks, Calif. where IWU was defeated 76-70.
    All-time against the Webster Gorlocks, the Titans are undefeated at 7-0. Most recently, IWU dominated the Gorlocks at home in the 2016-2017 season, 82-69. Before that, in the 2014 NCAA tournament, the Titans edged the Gorlocks 71-70 in the first round to fuel IWU's run to the Final Four, where they would fall to the eventual national champion UW-Whitewater.

FROM THE 314 TO THE 309: It's no secret that IWU's coaching staff has had great success in recruiting in recent years, especially in the St. Louis area. If 2022 graduate and All-American Matthew Leritz foreshadows the success that St. Louis natives can have at Illinois Wesleyan, there will be much success to be had for three current players on the IWU roster. Nick Roper, who is poised for a breakout sophomore campaign also hails from the Lou, along with sophomore Harrison Wilmsen and junior Evan Schneider, who look to add to the list of successful St. Louis big men.

LAST TIME OUT…: While Saturday's lid lifter will serve as the Titan's regular season opener, it will not serve as IWU's first time competing on the court this season. On Nov. 2, the Titans traveled down I-74 for an exhibition battle with Division I opponent Bradley University. IWU ultimately fell to the Braves, who were picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley conference, 79-64. The Green and White led by as many as six in the contest and were led by senior point guard Lucas Heflen with 12 points, followed by Harrison Wilmsen with 10. Nick Roper added six points and a team-high six rebounds.

HOW'S THE WEATHER UP THERE?: The Titans will have one of the taller teams in the CCIW and possibly across Division III this season. Senior point guard Lucas Heflen, who stands at six-foot-two, will be the shortest player in the Titans rotation. Six-foot-five guard Ryan Sroka and six-seven guard Nick Roper will serve as two of the taller wings in the league. In the post, the Titans will likely rotate five guys over six-foot-six including Cody Mitchell, Harrison Wilmsen, Evan Schneider, Marko Anderson, and six-foot-10 freshman Nathan Boldt.

POLLING STATION: Illinois Wesleyan enters the season ranked No. 21 in the D3hoops Preseason Poll. The announcement marks the 186th time IWU has been nationally ranked by the publication, putting the Titans in rare company. In fact, IWU's 186 appearances in the poll are the most in the CCIW and eighth nationally.

ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS: Matthew Leritz became the program's 26th Academic All-America honoree at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season. His selection increased IWU's national lead on UCLA, Indiana, Kansas, and Duke who have 20 all-time men's basketball awardees each.
Furthermore, IWU's all-time Academic All-American list currently sits at 142, which ranks in the top-25 across NCAA Division I, II, and III, as well as inside the top-10 in Division III.

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 32 CCIW championships, made 26 tournament appearances, advanced to 18 "Sweet Sixteens," appeared in 12 "Elite Eights," and gone to six final fours.