Fort Wayne, IN – The Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (17-8, 10-4 Horizon) took care of business at home against the Wright State Raiders (12-13, 6-8 Horizon) in a much less thrilling and much shorter game than the last time these two squads met last month at Wright State. The Mastodons, rocking their “throwback” blue and white uniforms, only needed 40 minutes to dismantle the visiting Raiders 87-64. What was the difference between this 23 point victory and the 120-113 2OT for the ‘Dons back in January at Wright State?
Well, it wasn’t the three point shooting – neither team shot well enough to write back home about it. It could’ve been that the Mastodons kept the rebounding close, only allowing two more rebounds to the Raiders (33 to 35). It could’ve been the cranked up intensity of the on-ball defense by the Mastodons. The Purdue Fort Wayne squad forced 12 steals and 16 total turnovers which led to 20 points off of turnovers for the Mastodons. It could have been the alumni cheerleaders and the Herd creating a ruckus for the start of Mastodon Mania. It could have been that the Mastodons just don’t lose at home. The Mastodon men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, and soccer teams have posted a very impressive combined 44-6-2 record while playing in Fort Wayne over the last calendar year.
First Half: The first half proved to the viewers that this was not the run and gun, high paced, and high scoring action that they saw the last time these two teams matched up. The Raiders started the game on a 7-0 run by the ways of a Jack Doumbia jumper, a Brandon Noel layup, and a Keaton Norris three-pointer. The Norris three-pointer would be the last field goal made by Wright State for the next 7 minutes. A foul by WSU’s Solomon Callaghan sent Junior forward Eric Mulder to the free throw line. Mulder (who is up 26% on FT% from last year) hit the second free throw of two to finally put the Mastodons on the board with 16:31 remaining in the first half. Rasheed Bello made the first basket for PFW at 15:30, Chandler Cuthrell made his case for the Horizon League 6th Man of the Year Award. Cuthrell returned to the floor after missing last game with an injury, and immediate showed his impact on the floor. He started with stealing an off target pass and racing down the floor for the two-handed slam. Then on Wright State’s next trip down the floor, Chandler gets on the floor for the loose ball causing a jump ball. When the Mastodon’s got the ball back after the media timeout and a missed Raider shot, Chandler sinks a three-pointer of his own to give the Mastodons the lead. He did all of that in 40 seconds of gameplay.
The Raiders did a good job holding the Horizon League’s leading scorer, Jalen Jackson, scoreless in the beginning of the game. Jackson (20.1 PPG) was able to get a jumper to fall 7 minutes into the game. Jackson showed why the Fort Wayne native is leading the Horizon League in scoring while shooting 51.2% from the floor coming into the game. Jackson used a quick rip to the left to blow by his defender and launch off of two feet for the emphatic right-hand slam to get the Allen County Memorial Coliseum rocking. It was all Mastodons from here.
A 10-0 run by the Mastodons forced WSU to use a timeout with 2 minutes left in the half. At this point, Wright State had only scored 15 points in 14.5 minutes after a quick 7-0 start. Andrew Welage hit an in-rhythm three-pointer coming down the floor with 38 seconds left in the half for the first three-pointer in the half for WSU since Norris hit his to cap the 7-0 start 16 minutes earlier. The Mastodons took a 38-28 advantage into the locker room.
Second Half: The Mastodons came out of the locker room with the pedal to the floor, really pulling away from the Raiders at the Fort Wayne 500. Eric Mulder started 2nd half scoring with a dunk of his own to match Jackson’s. This was followed by a shifty move from Rasheed Bello slicing through the holes of the Raider defense. The Mastodons looked like they were staring at some Swiss cheese. The Mastodons used an 8-0 run to start the half. The Raiders were able to stop the bleeding a little bit with a Brandon Noel jumper just over 2.5 minutes into the half. Since their man-to-man defense was leading to Mulder layups and Jackson drives to the hoop, WSU tried a 2-3 zone only for Rasheed Bello to nail an NBA three-pointer to take a 20-point lead and force a Raider timeout.
After this point, the Raiders would never be closer than 14 points. With Jalen Jackson (4 fouls), Quinton Morton-Robinson (3 fouls), and Rasheed Bello (2 very early offensive fouls) all on the bench, the Mastodons showed the depth and maturity of their bench. The ‘Dons saw respectable minutes and gameplay from guards Chris Morgan and Trey Lewis, forwards Chandler Cuthrell and Maximum Nelson, and the second potential Horizon League 6th Man of the Year Corey Hadnot II. Hadnot ended the game playing more minutes than Jackson, Bello, and Morton-Robinson. Morton-Robinson was able to get into the scoring column with the last make of the game. As the shot clock was running down, he was able to put a patented QMR3 through the bottom of the net.
Leaders and Stats: The Raiders were led by the 2023-2024 Horizon League Player of the Year in Brandon Noel. Noel posted an impressive double-double (25 PTS, 10 REB) with a team leading 38 minutes. Jack Doumbia was the only other Raider to score in double figures with 15 PTS.
Similarly to the win over Milwaukee, the Mastodons were led in scoring by the backcourt duo of Rasheed Bello (22 PTS) and Jalen Jackson (20 PTS). Chandler Cuthrell scored 11 points and Trey Lewis scored 7 points both not missing a shot on a perfect shooting night. Both Eric Mulder (10 PTS, 8 REB) and Corey Hadnot II (11 PTS, 8 REB) posted a near double-double. Maximus Nelson and Quinton Morton-Robinson each added a three-pointer to round out the 87 points for the Mastodons.
The Mastodons ended the game with 12 steals while Wright State was never able to steal the ball in 40 minutes. Subsequently, the Mastodons won the turnover battle 8 to 16. The Mastodons were able to hold the Raiders to 4-of-22 shooting from beyond the arc and only allowed 5 fast break points. The Mastodons (25-31, 80.6%) shot much better from the free throw line than the Raiders (12-24, 50%).
What’s Next: Wright State returns home to face IU Indy on Saturday, February 8 at 7:00pm ET on ESPN+.
Purdue Fort Wayne continues Mastodon Mania on Saturday, February 8 with a game against the Green Bay Phoenix at 7:00pm ET at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum as the nightcap to a ‘Dons Doubleheader. The women’s basketball team takes on Wright State at 4:00pm ET. Both games will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
