Team #126 - IPFW

 On Thursday February 23rd, 2023, I saw my 126th Division One College Basketball teams. On this occasion, I saw the Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne Mastadons take on the Milwaukee. IPFW is the 11th team and final team out of the Horizon that I have seen. IPFW has a 17-13 record on the year. They most recently played Wright State and they won 77-75. The leading scorer for IPFW is Jarred Godfrey and he is averaging 17.8 PPG. Milwaukee has a 18-10 record on the year. They most recently played Robert Morris and they won 80-60. The leading scorer for the Panthers is BJ Freeman and he is averaging 16.4 PPG. 

The first half of this game was awesome. Both offenses were making shots. Defenses were just there. It was a really up and down first half. IPFW shot 60% from the field and lead by as many as 10 points. They also shot 42% from 3 in the first half. IPFW was clearly the better team in the first half. Deonte Billups was the leading scorer with ten points in the first half for the Mastodons. He scored most of these in the first five minutes of the game. 5'8" guard Quinton Morton-Richardson also had a strong half for IPFW with eight points and three assists. For the Panthers, it was a very balanced approach. BJ Freeman was the leading scorer with nine points, eight rebounds, and four assist. Justin Thomas had eight points, Kentrell Pullian had seven points, Elijah Jamison had six points and Ahmad Rand had five points. After the mess of it year it was last year for the Panthers, it is crazy how deep this team is. At the half, IPFW lead by a score of 46-40.

The second half was much of the same in this game. Free flowing offenses, poor defensive schemes and a lot of made shots. The big turning point in this game, was when Milwaukee put a press on and scored stole the ball three straight times and dunked it every time. The crowd in the much smaller Klotsche Center was going crazy. Milwaukee and IPFW probably played the game of the night but nobody is likely talking about it. IPFW was led in scoring by Jarred Godfrey who had 21 points, six rebounds and five assists. He did everything in his power to keep IPFW in this game. All five starters scored at least 11 points for IPFW. For the Panthers, all five starters were also in double figures as well. Not sure I have seen a game like that before. Kentell Pullian led the Panthers with 25 points on five made three's. The star of the night for the Panthers was BJ Freeman. He finished with a triple-double. He had 19 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. What a performance from Freeman. Unfortunately, I fear he may transfer up at year's end. I really like this Panther team and I think they could make some noise in the Horizon League tournament.  When the final buzzer sounded the Panthers won 96-94 to improve to 19-10 on the year. What a first year for Bart Lundy.

For my final game of the year, I will be making a trip to Columbia, Missouri to see the Missouri Tigers take on the Ole Miss Rebels.