The Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Pacers' G League affiliate, handled their business in a pair of home games last weekend to improve to 14-10 on the year. Fort Wayne is just a half-game back of the Wisconsin Herd (Milwaukee's affiliate) for first place in the Central Division heading into this weekend's G League Showcase in Ontario.
Pacers rookie center Ike Anigbogu joined the Mad Ants on assignment last week. The 19-year-old center — the youngest player in the NBA — started both games in Fort Wayne. Though his offensive game is still developing, the 6-10 Anigbogu still manages to make an impact with his athleticism, particularly on the defensive end.
Anigbogu had four points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and four blocks in a 114-108 win over the Windy City Bulls (Chicago's affiliate) on Friday. He added two points, four rebounds, and one block in a 105-79 victory over the Lakeland Magic (Orlando's affiliate) on Friday.
Anigbogu currently remains on assignment with the Mad Ants.
Veteran guard Walter Lemon Jr. nearly registered a triple-double for the Mad Ants in their win over the Bulls, tallying 30 points, eight rebounds, seven assists. Jarrod Uthoff — who participated in training camp with the Pacers last fall — had 29 points, eight rebounds, two steals, and two blocks.
Six Mad Ants players scored in double figures in Sunday's win over the Magic. Uthoff recorded a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Lemon added 18 points, five boards, and six assists.
DeQuan Jones (17 points and eight rebounds), CJ Fair (13 points and 10 boards), Stephan Hicks (13 points), and Trey McKinney-Jones (10 points) all also finished in double figures in the balanced effort.
Now at roughly the midway point of the season, both Lemon and Uthoff rank among the league leaders in multiple statistical categories. Lemon is sixth in the G League in scoring (23.0 points per game), 13th in assists (6.5 per contest), and seventh in steals (2.1 per game). Uthoff is tied for 29th in scoring (18.1 points per game), tied for 17th in rebounding (8.4 per contest), and tied for 16th in blocks (1.4 per game).
The entire league will now descend upon Mississauga, Ontario for the annual G League Showcase, an event designed to allow NBA team scouts and team personnel the opportunity to evaluate up-and-coming talent across the G League. Each team plays twice in the Showcase. The Mad Ants will take on the Oklahoma City Blue (the Thunder's affiliate) on Thursday at 2:30 PM ET and the Salt Lake City Stars (the Jazz's affiliate) on Saturday at 1:00 PM ET. Both games will be televised, with the former on ESPNU and the latter on Eleven Sports.
Stay tuned to Pacers.com for continued updates on the Mad Ants, and make sure to check out Pacers.com/MadAntsTV » to watch Mad Ants games free online.