THIS WEEK IN SEAWOLF BASKETBALL...
22nd annual Seawolf Jamboree
Dec. 12 & 13, 2014 – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, AK
Friday’s Games
6 pm - #16 BYU-Hawaii (6-0, 2-0 Pac West) vs Alaska Fairbanks (2-5, 0-2 GNAC)
8 pm - Humboldt State (3-4, 0-4 CCAA) at Alaska Anchorage (3-5, 1-1 GNAC)
Saturday’s Games
5 pm - Humboldt State vs Alaska Fairbanks
7 pm - #16 BYU-Hawaii at Alaska Anchorage
ON TV: GCI broadcasts all UAA regular-season home games live statewide (check local listings for channel number), except for the Anchorage and Mat-Su viewing areas. In Anchorage and Mat-Su, this week’s tape-delayed broadcasts will air on GCI Ch. 1 at 11 a.m. Saturday (vs HSU) and 10 a.m. Sunday (vs BYUH).
RADIO: UAA games on FM-93.7 KAFC
ONLINE: Live video and stats, all four 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.
TICKETS: $10 regular / $8 for UAA staff/faculty/alumni or military, youth (3-18) and seniors (60+) ... single-game tickets can be purchased online at GoSeawolves.com or AlaskaAirlinesCenter.com.
JAMBOREE TIME: UAA will host the 22nd incarnation of the Seawolf Jamboree with four key NCAA West Region games at the Alaska Airlines Center this weekend ... the Seawolves’ contests against former conference rivals Humboldt State and BYU-Hawaii will be their final chance to earn NCAA Div. II West Region victories during the non-league season ... UAA has a 40-7 all-time record in the Jamboree, which originated in the 1991-92 season and has taken on several formats ... the Seawolves have a current 16-game Jamboree win streak since a 70-66 loss to Grand Canyon, Nov. 19, 2004 ... BYU-Hawaii is 2-2 in two previous trips (2001, 2006) to the Jamboree, while Humboldt State is making its first appearance ... UAF is 10-7 at the Jamboree.
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2014-15 stats)
G—Brian McGill, 6-2, Jr. (17.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 6.3 apg, .562 FG, .333 3FG)
G—Travis Thompson, 6-1, Sr. (12.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.0 apg, .432 3FG)
G—Boomer Blossom, 6-2, Sr. (2.0 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.0 apg, 3-3 FT)
F—Christian Leckband, 6-7, Jr. (6.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.0 apg, .619 FG)
C—Kalidou Diouf, 6-9, Fr. (12.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, .694 FG, .846 FT)
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Humboldt State has dropped its only four games against D-II competition thus far, including road losses to San Francisco State (67-58) and UAA common opponent Sonoma State (80-70) last week ... the Lumberjacks, from Arcata, Calif., feature 11 players who average between 15.5 and 25.7 minutes per game, led by Allan Guei (12.4 ppg, 2.8 apg, .600 FG, .875 FT) and Austin Bryan (11.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.1 apg, .405 3FG) ... the only unbeaten team remainingin the NCAA Div. II West Region, BYU-Hawaii – ranked No. 16 in the NABC (coaches) and No. 12 in the D2SIDA (sports information directors) top-25 polls – is coming off Pac West Conference opening wins over rivals Hawaii Pacific (75-61) and Chaminade (104-87) last week ... the Seasiders, who are leaving Oahu for the first time this year, are led by 6-3 Sr. G Pablo Coro (18.5 ppg, 3.8 apg, .438 3FG, .900 FT) and 6-5 Jr. G Scott Friel (13.2 ppg, 9.0 rpg, .554 FG).
THE SERIES vs HSU: HSU leads 11-5 overall, 4-3 in Anchorage
Last Meeting: UAA 76-70 (3/11/11 at Ellensburg, WA)
Streak: UAA 1
Notes: Two of the last three meetings have come in the NCAA Tournament First Round, with UAA winning in 2011 at Central Washington and HSU defending home court in a 1-vs-8 matchup in 2007 (68-61) ... HSU has not played in Anchorage since an 85-67 Seawolf victory, Jan. 19, 2006 ... HSU led 8-2 in meetings between 2001-06 when it was an original member of the GNAC ... series started Nov. 22, 1985 with a 74-70 UAA home win.
THE SERIES vs BYUH: UAA leads 15-6 overall, 6-2 in Anchorage
Last Meeting: UAA 73-67 (3/17/08 at UAA) / Streak: UAA 4
Notes: Last meeting occured in the 2008 NCAA Div. II West Regional Finals (Sweet 16) in Anchorage ... UAA also took a 95-90 double-OT thriller from the Seasiders in Laie that season ... BYUH’s last win came 67-61 in an NCAA First Round game, Mar. 12, 2004 in Seattle ... teams met four times when teams overlapped Pacific West Conference membership from 1998-2001 ... first meeting was a 114-82 UAA road win, Feb. 20, 1979.
TEAM COMPARISONS UAA HSU BYUH
UAA Home/Opp. Road 2-2 0-3 1-0
Points per Game 78.9 83.6 93.7
Points Allowed per Game 71.8 72.7 74.0
Rebounding Differential +7.4 +3.3 +11.5
Assists per Game 17.8 15.1 21.7
Turnovers per Game 14.0 16.0 15.7
Steals per Game 7,1 10.4 10.0
Blocks per Game 1.8 2.4 3.2
FG% .474 .473 .530
3-pt FG% .345 .345 .500
FT% .752 .715 .824
SEAWOLVES EARN GNAC ROAD SPLIT: UAA earned its first win over a fellow NCAA Div. II opponent with a 75-68 overtime victory at Saint Martin’s in both teams’ Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener on Dec. 4, before falling 87-66 at Western Oregon on Dec. 6 ... on Thursday, Jr. PG Brian McGill scored nine of his game-high 22 points in overtime to help UAA to its sixth win in the last seven meetings with SMU ... McGill shot 7 of 7 from the free-throw line, along with 4 assists and 2 steals, and the Seawolves outrebounded their hosts 43-34 ... Fr. C Kalidou Diouf finished with 16 points (4-4 FT) and 8 rebounds, scoring UAA’s final two baskets in regulation ... Jr. F Christian Leckband had 8 points (3-3 FG) and 5 rebounds, Fr. F Nicho Burgard had 9 points (3-5 FG) and 3 steals, and Sr. G Travis Thompson finished with 9 points and 3 steals ... Thompson played a team-high 36 minutes despite suffering a painful ankle sprain late in the second half ... on Saturday, Thompson’s ankle forced him to miss the first game of his 4-year career in a rare road loss in Monmouth ... Diouf led the Seawolves with 16 points (7-7 FG, 2-2 FT), 5 rebounds and 2 blocks, while Fr. F Sjur Berg was also had a perfect shooting day with 11 points (5-5 FG, 1-1 FT), but UAA lost at WOU for the first time since 2006 ... McGill scored all 14 of his points in the second half and dished 6 assists, and Sr. G Derrick Fain came off the bench to score 12 points.
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, Nov. 26-29, 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: The Seawolves rank 23rd nationally and 2nd in the GNAC with 17.8 assists per game ... UAA also holds top-40 national ranks in FT pct. (33rd, .752) and rebound margin (36th, +7.4) ... in the GNAC stats, the Seawolves lead the way in offensive rebound pct., grabbing 40.9 percent of their own misses; they are also 2nd in FT%, and rebounds allowed per game (28.9) ... 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.
THE THOMPSON TICKER: Sr. G Travis Thompson missed the first game of his 4-year career Saturday after suffering an ankle sprain late in Thursday’s victory at Saint Martin’s ... with 9 points at SMU, Thompson moved into 7th place on UAA’s career scoring list with 1,293, now trailing Jason Kaiser (1993-95) by just 70 points for 6th ... the former Dimon High star is also among UAA’s career leaders in assists (9th, 266), 3FGs made (4th, 235), FTs made (7th, 248), FT% (4th, .855), 3FG% (6th, .440) and steals (14th, 99) ... in the current GNAC stats, he leads the league in assist-turnover ratio (3.0-to-1) and ranks 13th in scoring (13.7 ppg), 12th in assists (3.0 apg), 6th in steals (1.9 spg), 4th in 3FGs per game (2.7), 9th in 3FG% (.432) and 2nd in minutes per game (33.7) ... 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.
McGILL THE THRILL: Jr. PG Brian McGill currently holds down GNAC top-12 ranks in seven different categories, including 2nd in scoring (17.6 ppg), 2nd in assists (6.3 apg), 3rd in minutes per game (31.8) and 6th in 3FG% (.444) ... the Clackamas, Ore., native 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 … after just 38 games, McGill already ranks 17th on UAA’s career list with 227 assists, needing just 12 more to break into the top 15.
MORE PLAYER NOTES: Redshirt Fr. C Kalidou Diouf ranks 10th nationally (2nd among freshmen) in FG% at .694, making 43 of his first 62 shots to start his career ... the 6-9, 270-pound German shot 7 of 7 at Western Oregon, 13 of 14 against Northwest ndian and 6 of 9 against defending West Region champion Chico State ... Diouf holds GNAC ranks of 18th in scoring (12.1 ppg), 19th in rebounding (5.0 rpg), 3rd in FG% and 9th in blocks (0.8 bpg) ... 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, and on Saturday he had his highest scoring output against D-II competition with 12 at WOU ... 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 70 percent (14 of 20) from the field and 9 of 10 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 ... Jr. F Christian Leckband is a red-hot 8 of 14 from three-point range, leading the GNAC thus far at his .571 clip ... on UAA’s career 3FG% list, the Nome product has risen to 13th at .404 ... since missing the Sonoma State trip, Leckband had scored 8 points in four consecutive games, adding 5 rebounds in the win over Saint Martin’s ... Sr. G Boomer Blossom stepped into the starting lineup for the first time in his career in the Nov. 22 Northwest Indian game and has stayed there since ... the Soldotna native had 4 points and 3 rebounds in the OT win at Saint Martin’s, and he played a season-high 20 minutes against Western Oregon.
THE OSBORNE FILE: Eleventh-year head coach Rusty Osborne (195-111) 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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