THIS WEEK IN SEAWOLF BASKETBALL...
Thursday, Dec. 4 – 6 pm AST – Marcus Pavilion – Lacey, WA
Alaska Anchorage (2-4, 0-0 GNAC) at Saint Martin’s (2-5, 0-0 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Dec. 6 – 1 pm AST – New P.E. Building – Monmouth, OR
Alaska Anchorage at Western Oregon (5-2, 0-0 GNAC [12/4 vs UAF])
RADIO: Both games on FM-93.7 KAFC
ONLINE: Live video and stats, both games (free): http://portal.stretchinternet.com/uaa/
SOCIAL MEDIA: Get periodic updates for Seawolf games by following the @UAAMBB Twitter feed or like UAA’s main Facebook (Alaska Anchorage Seawolves) or Instagram (AlaskaAnchorage) pages.
GNAC SEASON GETS EARLY START: UAA kicks off the Great Northwest Athletic Conference season with a pair of road games along the I-5 corridor, taking on Saint Martin’s in Lacey, Wash., and Western Oregon in Monmouth, Ore., this week ... the Seawolves have a 5-game winning streak in GNAC openers and an 8-5 all-time record in such games ... UAA has only opened the GNAC season on the road once since 2008-08, winning a 98-93 2OT thriller at Central Washington in 2010-11.
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2014-15 stats)
G—Brian McGill, 6-2, Jr. (17.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 6.7 apg, .600 FG, 8-19 3FG)
G—Travis Thompson, 6-1, Sr. (14.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.3 apg, .450 3FG)
G—Boomer Blossom, 6-2, Sr. (1.4 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 2.2 apg)
F—Christian Leckband, 6-7, Jr. (5.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.5 apg, 5-7 3FG)
C—Kalidou Diouf, 6-9, Fr. (10.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.1 apg, .732 FG)
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Saint Martin’s started with five straight losses before defeating George Fox at home and winning at common opponent Concordia (73-72) on Saturday ... the Saints are led by Tyler Copp 11.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.8 apg, .368 3FG) and Trey Ingram (9.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 5.1 apg, .440 3FG) ... Western Oregon has won four straight, including three road games at West Region opponents last week ... the Wolves are led by 6-6 Jr. F Andy Avgi (15.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, .494 FG, .815 FT) and 6-2 Jr. G Julian Nichols (11.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 4.3 apg, .885 3FG).
THE SERIES vs SMU: UAA leads 26-7 (8-6 in Lacey)
Last Meeting: UAA 86-76 (2/20/14 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 2
Notes: UAA has won five of the last six meetings, including 79-78 victory in Lacey last year … UAA leads 19-7 in GNAC regular-season meetings (since 2001-02) … teams met twice as members of the Pac West (in 1999 and 2001) and four times between 1977-80.
THE SERIES vs WOU: UAA leads 18-9 (9-5 in Monmouth)
Last Meeting: WOU 94-88 (3/5/14 at SMU)
Streak: WOU 1
Notes: WOU snapped an 8-game losing skid to the Seawolves in the 2014 GNAC Tournament quarterfinals in Lacey, Wash. ... UAA has won 8 straight in Monmouth since an 81-76 WOU victory on Feb. 16, 2006 ... UAA earned a 92-58 win last season in Monmouth … UAA leads 19-7 in GNAC regular-season meetings … first and only non-GNAC meeting came when both teams were Pac West foes, with WOU winning 91-81, Jan. 28, 1999.
TEAM COMPARISONS UAA SMU WOU
UAA Road/Opp. Home 0-1 1-1 1-1
Points per Game 81.7 66.7 70.4
Points Allowed per Game 69.8 74.3 66.4
Rebounding Differential +9.3 -2.7 +1.7
Assists per Game 19.5 13.6 10.0
Turnovers per Game 14.7 11.4 15.1
Steals per Game 7.5 4.4 9.0
Blocks per Game 1.5 2.1 3.1
FG% .492 .418 .431
3-pt FG% .374 .382 .328
FT% .717 .604 .792
SEAWOLVES DICE RICE IN SOLID SHOOTOUT: UAA put together an impressive showing against its annual gauntlet of Div. I opponents in the GCI Great Alaska Shootout, taking Pacific and Missouri State down to the final minutes before knocking off Conference-USA foe Rice in the 7th-place game Saturday ... in the first game, Sr. G Travis Thompson scored 20 points on 4-of-5 3FG accuracy, but the Seawolves could not overcome an early deficit against the Tigers in a game broadcast nationlly on CBS Sports Network ... Jr. PG Brian McGill had 12 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, while Sr. G Derrick Fain chipped in 11 points as UAA shot 10 of 20 from long range in the 71-62 loss ... on Friday, Thompson scored 14 points, including a go-ahead three-pointer late in the second half, before the Missouri Valley Conference club pulled away in the final few minutes, 55-51 ... McGill scored 12 points and Fr. C Kalidou Diouf tallied 11 points (5-8 FG), 8 rebounds and a pair of blocks against the Bears ... in the finale vs. Rice, Thompson exploded for 28 points (9-14 FG, 6-9 3FG, 4-4 FT) and McGill nearly recorded a triple-double with 9 points (9-12 FT), 8 rebounds and 10 assists, helping UAA erase an early 12-0 deficit and record a double-digit victory, 65-54 ... Fr. F Nicho Burgard hit several clutch shots and finished with 11 points (4-8 FG, 3-6 3FG), and Fr. F Sjur Berg had 7 points and 6 rebounds as the Seawolves earned a Shootout victory for the 30th time in 37 tournaments (36-75 all-time).
TEAM NOTES: UAA held its opponents to a tournament-low .196 3FG% in the GCI Great Alaska Shootout, while tying for the second-most steals (15) ... the Seawolves held Northwest Indian to 12 rebounds on Saturday, breaking the previous record of 15 allowed (vs. NW Nazarene, 1/22/04) ... with the NW Indian results, UAA has reached the 100-point mark at least once in each of the last five seasons ... UAA’s 0-4 start was just the second such in program history (0-6 in 2001-02) ... UAA is aiming for the program’s 10th straight winning season and the program’s 32nd in 38 years … the Seawolves have also earned a plus-.500 league record for 26 of 32 years of conference membership.
TERRIFIC THOMPSON: Sr. G Travis Thompson earned GCI Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team honors for the second straight season after leading the 8-team, all-Div. I competition in scoring with 19.7 ppg ... Thompson’s 28 points in the finale vs. Rice was the second-most in this year’s tourney and pushed him into No. 4 on the Shootout’s all-time scoring list with 157 points, trailing only Peter Bullock (213), Ed Kirk (169) and Jason Kaiser (160) ... his 13 three-pointers were also tied for 6th-most in tourney history and set a new mark for a Seawolf ... Thompson was a unanimous selection for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year in voting by the league’s head coaches last month ... a First Team All-GNAC pick last year and a Second Teamer in 2011-12, he has also been picked a Div. II Bulletin ‘Super 16’ Preseason All-American this fall ... six games into his senior season, Thompson holds UAA career ranks of 8th in scoring (1,284 pts), 9th in assists (265), 4th in 3FGs made (234), 7th in FTs made (248), 4th in FT% (.858) and 6th in 3FG% (.442).
McGILL THE THRILL: Jr. PG Brian McGill tied for third in the GCI Great Alaska Shootout with 5.3 assists per game, along with a tie for fifth in rebounds at 6.3 rpg ... McGill made a huge impact in his first year of eligibility last season after transferring from Western Oregon, garnering All-GNAC Second Team honors in 2013-14 ... this season the Clackamas, Ore., native is a Preseason All-GNAC selection and has already been named to the All-Tournament Team at the Ron Logsdon Classic in California … McGill ranked No. 2 in the league last year with 5.9 apg, along with other GNAC ranks of 11th in scoring (15.6 ppg), 5th in asst-TO ratio (2.4), and 7th in minutes (33.7 mpg) and FT% (.835) … after just 36 games, McGill already ranks 18th on UAA’s career list with 217 assists.
MORE PLAYER NOTES: Redshirt Fr. C Kalidou Diouf has connected at an .833 clip (25 of 30) from the field over the last three regular-season games, including 6-of-9 shooting against defending NCAA Div. II West Region champion Chico State ... Sr. G Derrick Fain got off to a strong start with 28 points, 12 rebounds and 5 stelas in his first two games against Concordia ... he averaged a team-high 24.5 ppg in UAA’s two exhibition games, shooting 61 percent from the field and dishing nine assists with just one turnover ... Fain is completing his collegiate career at UAA after transferring from NAIA program The Master’s in Southern California, where he played the last two seasons ... Fr. F Sjur Berg is one of four freshmen playing a key role in the Seawolf frontcourt, shooting 60 percent (9 of 15) from the field and 8 of 9 at the free-throw line so far ... the Norwegian brings extensive international experience with his national age-group squads and played his senior year at Southern California powerhouse Santa Margarita HS ... Berg missed the NW Indian games with concussion symptoms but returned to play three strong games in the GCI Great Alaska Shootout ... So. G/F Travis Parrish made his first two starts on the California trip, collecting 7 points (3-4 FG) and 2 steals in the game against Sonoma State ... Parrish is back on the court for the first time since high school, following a two-year Mormon mission and two years on the football team at Div. I Utah State ... Jr. F Christian Leckband is a red-hot 5 of 7 from three-point range thus far, rising last week from 21st to 14th on UAA’s career 3FG% list at .403.
THE OSBORNE FILE: Eleventh-year head coach Rusty Osborne (194-110) has led the Seawolves to nine straight winning seasons, five NCAA Tournaments and a trip to the 2008 NCAA D-II Semifinals in his tenure at the helm … with UAA’s victory over Saint Martin’s on Jan. 25, 2014, he also became the winningest coach in program history, surpassing former mentor Charlie Bruns … Osborne captured his first career GNAC and NABC West District coach-of-the-year awards in 2008 after becoming the second coach to lead UAA to three consecutive NCAA berths (2006-08), and in 2011-12 his Seawolves posted a 24-10 record to equal the 2nd-most victories in program history; Osborne’s 2007-08 club holds that record with a 29-6 mark … before taking over the head job in 2004-05, the Texas native previously served 13 seasons (1991-04) as a UAA assistant, including 11 years as the top assistant … the Seawolves have won over 60 percent of their games with Osborne on the staff, claiming four conference titles and eight trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament. Osborne is assisted by Cameron Turner (4th season) and graduate assistant Tim Mollerstrom (3rd season).
SEAWOLVES TABBED 2ND: The Seawolves were picked to finish second in the 2014 Great Northwest Athletic Conference preseason coaches’ poll, released Oct. 14. Here is a look at the poll:
2014-15 Great Northwest Athletic Conference
Preseason Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Poll
Rk Team (1st-place votes) 2013-14 Records Pts
1. Western Washington (7) 20-8 (13-5, 2nd) 78
2. Alaska Anchorage (1) 17-13 (10-8, 4th-T) 69
3. Seattle Pacific (2) 26-6 (15-3, 1st) 68
4. Western Oregon 18-12 (10-8, 4th-T) 60
5. Montana State Billings 12-15 (8-10, 6th-T) 41
6. Central Washington 12-14 (8-10, 6th-T) 39
7. Alaska Fairbanks 18-10 (12-6, 3rd) 38
8. Northwest Nazarene 7-19 (5-13, 9th) 21
9. Simon Fraser 10-16 (3-15, 10th) 18
Saint Martin’s 9-17 (6-12, 8th) 18
(Note: Each coach ranked other nine teams. First-place votes in parentheses. Points awarded on 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.).
Nate Sagan
Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations
University of Alaska Anchorage
3211 Providence Dr.
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 786-1295 / nate@uaa.alaska.edu
GoSeawolves.com
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