THIS WEEK IN SEAWOLF BASKETBALL...
Saturday, Feb. 7 – 7:30 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, AK
Alaska Fairbanks (5-14, 2-9 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (12-9, 8-3 GNAC)
TV: Tape delayed on GCI Cable (Ch. 1 in Anchorage) at 5 pm on Sunday, Feb. 8
RADIO: Live FM-93.7 KAFC
FREE LIVE VIDEO & STATS: 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.
F.I.S.H. FOOD DRIVE: Help those less fortunate in our community by bringing non-perishable food items to donate to the FISH (Fellowship in Serving Humanity) food bank during Saturday’s doubleheader. Those donating items will receive raffle tickets for prizes to be drawn during the games.
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2014-15 stats)
G—Brian McGill, 6-2, Jr. (15.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 5.6 apg, .533 FG, .403 3FG, .798 FT)
G—Travis Thompson, 6-1, Sr. (16.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.5 spg, .428 3FG, .785 FT)
G—Derrick Fain, 6-4, Sr. (7.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.1 apg, .369 3FG, .895 FT)
F—Travis Parrish, 6-3, So. (3.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.1 apg, .600 FG)
C—Brad Mears, 6-10, Sr. (2.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg, .432 FG)
SCOUTING THE NANOOKS: Alaska Fairbanks comes south on a 7-game losing skid, although four of those losses have come by eight points or less, including one overtime game ... the Nanooks, who are 1-9 away from home this season, are led by 6-1 Jr. G Ashton Edwards (14.1 ppg, 2.8 apg, .397 3FG, .895 FT) and 6-8 Jr. C Almir Hadzisehovic (11.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 0.8 bpg, .563 FG).
THE SERIES vs UAF: UAA leads 74-22
At UAA: UAA leads 42-5
Last Meeting: UAA 76-64 (1/10/15 at UAF)
Streak: UAA 1
Notes: UAF’s win to close the 2013-14 regular season snapped UAA’s series-record 16-game winning streak, marking the Nanooks’
first triumph since 2006 ... UAF has lost 11 straight in Anchorage since a 73-70 win, Feb. 22, 2003 ... five of the last seven games have been decided by six points or less … UAA leads 21-6 in GNAC meetings (since 2001-02) and 44-10 since 1990 … teams have met at least twice each year since both became NCAA Div. II programs in 1977-78.
TEAM COMPARISONS UAA UAF
UAA Home/UAF Road 7-5 1-6
Points per Game 78.7 69.8
Points Allowed/Game 72.1 75.2
Rebounding Diff. +4.5 -1.9
Assists per Game 17.7 13.4
Turnovers per Game 12.9 12.5
Steals per Game 5.8 4.7
Blocks per Game 2.2 2.6
FG% .473 .433
3-pt FG% .371 .340
FT% .757 .694
SEAWOLVES SWEEP BORDER WARS: UAA drew into a 2nd-place tie in the GNAC standings by earning its first-ever road sweep of Western Washington and Simon Fraser on Jan. 29 & 31 ... on Thursday, Jr. G Dom Hunter matched his career-high with 22 points (12-13 FT) as the Seawolves built a 25-point lead and hung on, 81-76, to earn their first win in Bellingham since 2009 ... UAA also got career-high efforts from Sr. G Derrick Fain (19 pts, 6-8 FG, 4-6 3FG) and So. F Travis Parrish (10 pts, 4-5 FG, 6 rebs, 1 blk) in a game that featured 70 total free throws ... Jr. PG Brian McGill had 10 points (6-6 FT) and a game-high 6 assists, and Sr. G Travis Thompson contributed 15 points, 3 assists and no turnovers in 34 minutes ... two nights later, UAA went north of the border to earn its 13th win in as many matchups against SFU, getting 30 points (8-11 FG, 7-10 3FG, 7-10 FT) and 6 assists from Thompson in a 115-98 scorefest ... McGill scored 25 of his 29 points (10-13 FG, 2-3 3FG, 7-8 FT) in the first half and finished with 9 assists, while Fain recorded his first double-double with career-highs of 23 points (5-9 3FG, 4-4 FT) and 10 rebounds ... Hunter added 12 points and Parrish had a career-high 4 assists as the Seawolves shot .603 from the field and a season-best .625 (20-32) from 3FG range.
TEAM NOTES: For the second season in a row the Seawolves set a new record for three-pointers made in a road game, with their 20 at Simon Fraser topping the 19 at Western Oregon (1/23/14) and Central Washington (2/13/14) ... the 20 treys also tie for the 3rd-most in a game in program history ... the Seawolves improved their national stats rankings in all of their top categories last week, moving up in assists per game (14th, 17.7), FT% (20th, .757), assist/turnover ratio (24th, 1.37) and and 3FGs per game (32nd, 9.0) ... in the GNAC stats, the Seawolves lead in A/T ratio and are 2nd in assists per game, FT%, rebounds allowed per game (30.5) and 3FGs made per game (8.5) ... UAA’s four times reaching the century mark this year are the most under 11th-year head coach Rusty Osborne and the most since the 2000-01 squad did it seven times ... UAA is aiming for the program’s 10th straight winning season and the 32nd in 38 years … the Seawolves have also earned a plus-.500 league record for 26 of 32 years of conference membership ... 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 Nov. 22, breaking the previous record of 15 allowed (vs. NW Nazarene, 1/22/04).
THE THOMPSON TICKER: Sr. G Travis Thompson joined Jason Kaiser (1993-95), Jesse Jackson (1985-87) and Jeff Martin (1982-84) as the only players in Seawolf history with at least seven games of 30-plus points when he dropped 30 at Simon Fraser on Saturday ... with his seventh 20-plus performance this year, Thompson became the fourth Seawolf to reach 1,500 points (1,526) and is now within reach of Carl Arts (1,544, 2004-08) for No. 3 on the career list; he would need to average 17.5 points over the next eight games to catch Hansi Gnad (1,666,1983-87) for No. 2 ... the Seawolves’ career record-holder in 3FGs (278) ranks in the top 10 in 13 different stats categories at UAA, including scoring, FTs made (4th, 308), FT% (6th, .848), 3FG% (8th, .438), victories (t-6th, 76), steals (8th, 115), assists (7th, 306), games played (7th, 114) and games started (t-9th, 76) ... on the all-time GNAC lists, Thompson now trails only Saint Martin’s Jake Linton (292, 2005-09) in 3FGs made, along with ranks of 16th in scoring, 10th in FT%, 12th in 3FGs per game and 14th in 3FG% ... in this year’s GNAC stats, he leads in 3FGs per game (3.1, 21st nationally), along with ranks of 6th in scoring (16.5 ppg), 3rd in minutes per game (32.6), 6th in A/T ratio (2.2), 10th in steals per game (1.5), 10th in 3FG% (.428), 11th in FT% (.785) and 12th in assists per game (3.1), despite being the focus of opposing defenses ... the former Dimond High School star earned GCI Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team honors for the second straight season after leading the 8-team, all-Div. I GCI Great Alaska Shootout in scoring with 19.7 ppg in November ... 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 ... a First Team All-GNAC pick last year and a Second Teamer in 2011-12, he was also picked a Div. II Bulletin ‘Super 16’ Preseason All-American this fall.
McGILL THE THRILL: Jr. PG Brian McGill topped the 25-point mark for the seventh time in his career when he went for 29 in UAA’s win at Simon Fraser, including a 25-point explosion in the 1st half ... in the two 1st halves against SFU this year, McGill totaled 47 points (15-22 FG, 3-5 3FG, 14-17 FT) and 7 assists in 33 minutes ... the Preseason All-GNAC selection holds down top-15 ranks in seven different categories, including 3rd in assists (5.6 apg), 7th in scoring (15.8 ppg), 7th in minutes per game (30.4), and 9th in FT% (.798) … after just 50 games, McGill already ranks 10th on UAA’s career list with 289 assists, while his 5.8 assists per game rank No. 2 ... 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 earned GNAC Player of the Week for his performance Jan. 1 & 3 against Western Washington and SFU, and he was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Ron Logsdon Classic in November ... he garnered All-GNAC Second Team honors in 2013-14.
FAIN MAKES IT RAIN: Sr. G Derrick Fain earned GNAC co-Player of the Week honors Monday for his performances at Western Washington and Simon Fraser ... the Dallas native totaled 42 points on 13-of-22 shooting (9-15 3FG, 7-8 FT), tallying a career-high 19 points against the Vikings and topping that with 23 against the Clan ... he also added a career-high 10 rebounds at SFU for his first double-double ... a one-year transfer from The Master’s College, Fain entered the weekend averaging 6.0 ppg and 2.2 rpg ... he now ranks 19th in the GNAC with 1.5 3FGs per game.
MORE PLAYER NOTES: Jr. G Dom Hunter has made a major impact since missing 10 games from Nov. 22-Jan. 3 with a toe injury, with his 15.1 points per game in GNAC contests ranking 8th in the league ... the Eastern Arizona transfer has five scored double figures in five straight games (18.0 ppg), topping the 20-point mark three times ... he is also averaging 2.4 assists over the last five games, helping the Seawolves go 4-1 ... the Federal Way, Wash., native is shooting .873 from the FT line, with the third-most made (55) and attempted (63) on the team, despite playing only 10 of 21 games; Hunter is getting to the FT line once for every 3.7 minutes on the court ... Fr. F Sjur Berg has recently shown the rebounding prowess that earned him a reputation as one of Europe’s top juniors, averaging 6.0 rebounds per game over the last 11 contests, including a pair of double-figure efforts ... the Norwegian’s .610 FG% and 5.5 rebounds per game both rank second on the team, while his rebouding average is 14th in the GNAC ... Jr. F Christian Leckband has provided a big lift off the bench in league play, improving his stats to 7.0 ppg and 4.5 rpg in GNAC counters ... on Jan. 3, the Nome product tied his career-high and scored double figures for the third time this season with 16 points (6-9 FG, 2-3 3FG) against WWU ... the Nome native is also enjoying the most productive rebounding stretch of his career, averaging 5.4 rpg over the last seven games ... Leckband ranks 19th in the GNAC from long range with a .385 3FG% ... redshirt Fr. C Kalidou Diouf ranks in the top 10 on seven UAA freshman lists, including No. 1 on FG% (.633), No. 3 in scoring average (10.8 ppg) and No. 4 in rebounding average (5.5 rpg) ... the 6-9, 270-pound German has racked up several impressive shooting performances, including 7 of 7 at Western Oregon, 13 of 14 against Northwest Indian, 6 of 9 against defending West Region champion Chico State, and 9 of 11 against Simon Fraser ... he also pulled down a UAA season-high 15 rebounds against SFU, securing his second career double-double and the most boards for a Seawolf since former All-American Taylor Rohde had 15 at Central Washington on Dec. 30, 2010 ... Diouf holds GNAC ranks of 11th in rebounding, 2nd in FG% and 6th in blocks (0.9 bpg) ... So. F Travis Parrish has quietly been one of UAA’s most efficient players in his first season since switching from football (Utah State) to the hardcourt ... Parrish is one of three Seawolves shooting .600 or better, connecting at a .680 clip (17 of 25) since entering the starting lineup on Dec. 13 ... last week the Utah native had career-highs of 10 points (4-5 FG, 2-2 FT) at Western Washington and 4 assists at Simon Fraser ... UAA’s 3-game win streak has coincided with the entry of Sr. C Brad Mears into the starting lineup ... the former Snow (Utah) College transfer has put up quiet but effective performances in each victory, shooting 6 of 11 from the floor with 10 total rebounds and no turnovers in 58 minutes ... Mears has committed only one turnover in 150 total minutes this year, and he made his first career three-pointer in the win at Simon Fraser.
THE OSBORNE FILE: Eleventh-year head coach Rusty Osborne (204-115) 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 Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 10, he became the first UAA basketball coach to reach 200 career victories … 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.).
2014-15 SEAWOLF INDIVIDUAL HONORS
Kalidou Diouf
Seawolf Jamboree All-Tournament Team, 12/13
Derrick Fain
GNAC co-Player of the Week, 1/26-2/1
Brian McGill
Preseason All-GNAC Team
Ron Logsdon Classic All-Tournament Team, 11/15
GNAC Player of the Week, 12/29-1/4
Travis Thompson
Div. II Bulletin ‘Super 16’ All-American
Preseason GNAC Player of the Year
Preseason All-GNAC Team
GCI Great Alaska Shootout Player of the Game (vs Rice), 11/29
GCI Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team, 11/29
Seawolf Jamboree All-Tournament Team, 12/13
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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