By MIKE SMITH
FORT WAYNE, Ind -- The Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne Mastodons drew national attention nearly two weeks ago when they knocked off No. 3 Indiana, 71-68, in overtime at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. That was the second of five straight wins for a team that averages 89 points a game and has eclipsed 100 points on three different occasions.
Given all that, it’s not like the Mastodons could sneak up on a young Miami team Saturday. Still, the RedHawks can serve as witnesses in attesting to Fort Wayne’s talent after absorbing an 87-71 loss on the Mastodon’s floor.
It got ugly quick . . .
FORT WAYNE, Ind -- The Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne Mastodons drew national attention nearly two weeks ago when they knocked off No. 3 Indiana, 71-68, in overtime at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. That was the second of five straight wins for a team that averages 89 points a game and has eclipsed 100 points on three different occasions.
Given all that, it’s not like the Mastodons could sneak up on a young Miami team Saturday. Still, the RedHawks can serve as witnesses in attesting to Fort Wayne’s talent after absorbing an 87-71 loss on the Mastodon’s floor.
It got ugly quick . . .
. . . for Miami as the hosts raced out to a 12-2 lead. Michael Weathers provided the RedHawks only score during that opening run with a basket at 16:48. The freshman point guard, in fact, provided MU’s first seven points, However, after averaging 23 ppg. through six contests, Weathers finished with just over half (12) that on Saturday.
Fort Wayne, meanwhile, got seven of its first 12 points from Bryson Scott. It was the beginning of a career-high day for the 6-1 hometown junior. His 24 points was a game high.
Three other Mastodon players joined him in double figures. Mo Evans, another 6-1 guard, was right behind Scott with 23 points. That total included 15 markers from behind the arc as Evans was a perfect 5 of 5 on treys. Sophomore John Konchar contributed 14 points, while classmate Kason Harrell hit 3 of 5 threes on the way to 11 points.
As a team, Fort Wayne converted 12 of 20 treys (60%) and was 30 of 60 (50%) from the floor overall.
By contrast, Miami hit 26 of 69 (37.7%) from the field and 6 of 22 (27.3%) from beyond the arc. Jared Wright was the only Miami player with more than one 3-point goal, and he made just two of 11 tries from distance. Those six points, along with four free throws, enabled him to reach double figures.
Logan McLane and Marcus Weathers led MU with 13 points apiece, with the latter grabbing nine rebounds to just miss a double-double.
Fort Wayne pushed its opening stanza lead to as many as 18 points (44-26), with that occurring at 3:09 following a Konchar steal and layup. It turned out to be the Mastadons’ last basket of the half, and Miami managed just one Michael Weathers bucket over the same span.
Fort Wayne took a 44-28 lead into the break and used a pair of treys on an 8-2 opening run to go up by 22 points at 18:02. Miami never was able to significantly dent its deficit and trailed by a game-high 24 (80-56) with 5:40 remaining. MU could get no closer than the final 16 point differential. 87-71.
It was Fort Wayne’s sixth straight win, moving the Mastodons to 7-2 on the year. Miami, winner of two straight, fell to 4-4 and is 0-2 on the road.
The RedHawks return to action Tuesday at Missouri (8 p.m. ET)
Three other Mastodon players joined him in double figures. Mo Evans, another 6-1 guard, was right behind Scott with 23 points. That total included 15 markers from behind the arc as Evans was a perfect 5 of 5 on treys. Sophomore John Konchar contributed 14 points, while classmate Kason Harrell hit 3 of 5 threes on the way to 11 points.
As a team, Fort Wayne converted 12 of 20 treys (60%) and was 30 of 60 (50%) from the floor overall.
By contrast, Miami hit 26 of 69 (37.7%) from the field and 6 of 22 (27.3%) from beyond the arc. Jared Wright was the only Miami player with more than one 3-point goal, and he made just two of 11 tries from distance. Those six points, along with four free throws, enabled him to reach double figures.
Logan McLane and Marcus Weathers led MU with 13 points apiece, with the latter grabbing nine rebounds to just miss a double-double.
Fort Wayne pushed its opening stanza lead to as many as 18 points (44-26), with that occurring at 3:09 following a Konchar steal and layup. It turned out to be the Mastadons’ last basket of the half, and Miami managed just one Michael Weathers bucket over the same span.
Fort Wayne took a 44-28 lead into the break and used a pair of treys on an 8-2 opening run to go up by 22 points at 18:02. Miami never was able to significantly dent its deficit and trailed by a game-high 24 (80-56) with 5:40 remaining. MU could get no closer than the final 16 point differential. 87-71.
It was Fort Wayne’s sixth straight win, moving the Mastodons to 7-2 on the year. Miami, winner of two straight, fell to 4-4 and is 0-2 on the road.
The RedHawks return to action Tuesday at Missouri (8 p.m. ET)
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