BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team heads to Rock Island, Ill. for its fourth road game in eight days against College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin foe Augustana College Saturday, Jan. 28. The Titans will serve as the second half of a doubleheader with the IWU women's team, with tipoff scheduled for 7:15 pm inside Carver P.E. Center.
    IWU enters the contest with a 10-8 record on the season (5-4 CCIW). The Titans are coming off two non-conference victories on the west coast against Linfield College Monday, Jan. 23, 76-68, and against George Fox University Tuesday, Jan. 24, 77-65. Augie sits at 6-13 on the season, and holds a 4-6 record in conference play. Last second free throws lifted the Vikings to a 75-74 road victory over North Central College in their most recent contest Wednesday, Jan. 25.
    Fans can tune into the game via live stats, live stream, or radio broadcast. Links on how to follow along can be found on the men's basketball schedule page of IWUsports.com.

DON'T HOLD IT AGAINST HIM: Illinois Wesleyan Athletic Director Mike Wagner, a 1992 Augie graduate, played football for the Vikings for four seasons. A Honorable Mention All-American by Dan Hansen's Football Gazette, Wagner was an All-CCIW linebacker for the Vikings. He led Augie to three NCAA Division III Playoff appearances during his playing career.

AGAINST AUGIE ALL-TIME: Illinois Wesleyan and Augustana will square off on the hardwood for the 177th time Saturday, in a series that dates back to the 1914-15 season. IWU leads the all-time tally, 99-77. Augie has won 11 of the last 17 meetings, but the Titans have come out victorious in five of the last six.
    The Titans and Vikings battled most recently just two weeks ago at the Shirk Center, where the Green and White sunk Augie 65-50. Senior Lucas Heflen hit six threes en route to a team high 21 points. Ryan Sroka also finished in double digits with 14 points, adding a team high nine rebounds. Cody Mitchell and Trey Bazzell finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

BALANCED BOX SCORE: Illinois Wesleyan has been at its best when the scoring has been balanced this season. In fact, IWU is 9-5 when three-or-more players score 10+ points, while the Titans are 0-3 when fewer than three players hit double figures.

THE MORE THE MERRIER: In Monday's 76-68 win over Linfield in Oregon, six players finished with double digit point totals: Lucas Heflen (17), Trey Bazzell (14), Cody Mitchell (12), Hakim Williams (12), Ryan Sroka (11), and Harrison Wilmsen (10).
    The last time a Titans team saw six-or-more players finish in double digits was on Nov. 17, 2015 in a 150-117 win over Greenville College. Seven Titans finished in double figures in that contest, as the team set a program record for points scored (150), which still stands.

HEATING UP ON THE BACK NINE: Senior Lucas Heflen saw the ball go in the hole often in the second half of each of the Titans' two wins in Oregon this week. On Monday against Linfield, Heflen scored all of his 17 points in the final 20 minutes, which included five triples. The following Tuesday afternoon, Heflen experienced deja vu, again scoring all 17 of his points in the second half and hitting five threes. Heflen's strong second half performances propelled the Titans to two wins over Linfield and George Fox.

NO NEED FOR WINDEX: Illinois Wesleyan has been dominant on the glass this season, out-rebounding its opponents 724 to 570. The strong effort on the glass has IWU holding a +8.6 rebounding margin on the season, the 16th-best in all of Division III. Senior Cody Mitchell leads the Green and White with 9.4 boards per contest. Ryan Sroka is second on the team with 5.2 rebounds per game.

MAKING THEM WORK: Illinois Wesleyan has one of the top-ranked defenses in the CCIW this season. In fact, IWU is holding opponents to a 40.0 field goal percentage, which not only leads the conference, but is also 49th nationally. Furthermore, the Titans are giving up just 67.6 points per game, the second-best scoring defense in the conference (75th nationally).

#23 IN 2023: Illinois Wesleyan has seen senior Cody Mitchell heat up inside the arc since the calendar turned to 2023. In fact, Mitchell is 36-for-59 inside the arc since Jan. 3, good for a two-point field goal percentage of 61.0 percent. The senior co-captain is averaging 14.1 points and 10.0 rebounds per contest over the eight-game span, both of which top the team.
Furthermore, Mitchell is shooting 63.8 percent (51-of-80) from two-point range in conference play compared to 26-for-58 (44.8 percent) in non-CCIW games.

ON THE HORIZON: The Titans finally return home after a four-game, 4,400 mile road trip, to face Elmhurst on Wednesday, Feb. 1. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 pm inside the Shirk Center.