THIS WEEK IN SEAWOLF BASKETBALL...
Thursday, Feb. 12 – 7 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, AK
Montana State Billings (5-18, 3-10 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (13-9, 9-3 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Feb. 14 – 2 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, AK
Seattle Pacific (16-7, 8-5 GNAC [2/12 @UAF]) at Alaska Anchorage
TV: Both games will be shown tape delayed on GCI Cable (Ch. 1 in Anchorage), with Thursday’s game airing at 10 pm and Saturday’s at 6 pm.
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.
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2014-15 stats)
G—Brian McGill, 6-2, Jr. (15.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 5.4 apg, .523 FG, .400 3FG, .798 FT)
G—Travis Thompson, 6-1, Sr. (16.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.5 spg, .431 3FG, .788 FT)
G—Derrick Fain, 6-4, Sr. (7.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.2 apg, .367 3FG, .905 FT)
F—Travis Parrish, 6-3, So. (3.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.2 apg, .617 FG)
C—Brad Mears, 6-10, Sr. (2.7 ppg, 1.5 rpg, .463 FG)
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Montana State Billings has dropped five of its last six to reach the verge of being mathematically eliminated from GNAC Tournament contention ... the Yellowjackets’ GNAC wins have come over Simon Fraser (twice) and at home against UAF in overtime ... MSUB is led by 6-0 Sr. G Antoine Hosley (12.7 ppg, .454 FG, .714 FT) and 6-5 Jr. G/F Momir Gataric (11.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.2 apg, .516 FG) ... after ripping off 10 wins in 11 games, Seattle Pacific has fallen on tough times with three straight losses, including 82-72 against Western Washington and 84-83 against Simon Fraser at home last week ... the Falcons are led by 6-8 Sr. C Cory Hutsen (15.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, .569 FG) and 6-5 Jr. F Mitch Penner (13.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.1 apg, .718 FT [112-156]).
THE SERIES vs MSUB: UAA leads 40-29 overall
In Anchorage: UAA leads 27-5
Last Meeting: UAA 70-62 (1/17/15 at MSUB)
Streak: UAA 1
Notes: UAA is looking to sweep the regular-season series for the fifth time since MSUB joined the GNAC in 2007-08 ... UAA leads 11-4 in GNAC regular-season meetings … MSUB is UAA’s 2nd-most common opponent (69 meetings) … teams met at least twice per season each year between 1981-82 and 2000-01 as members of the Great Northwest and Pacific West conferences ... first meeting was in 1977-78.
THE SERIES vs SPU: UAA leads 35-33 overall
In Anchorage: UAA leads 27-8
Last Meeting: SPU 73-51 (1/15/15 at SPU)
Streak: SPU 6
Notes: SPU’s current win streak is its longest in the series and the most for either team since UAA won 11 straight from 1986-90 … it is also UAA’s longest current losing streak against an opponent ... UAA’s last win was a 78-69 home decision, Feb. 2, 2012 … 12 of the last 17 games have been decided by 11 points or fewer … SPU leads 19-8 in GNAC regular-season meetings (since 2001-02), with four games going to overtime … SPU is UAA’s 3rd-most common opponent (68 meetings) ... series started in UAA’s first year of Div. II competition in 1977-78.
TEAM COMPARISONS UAA MSUB SPU
UAA Home/Opp. Road 8-5 1-8 5-4
Points per Game 78.5 69.7 80.8
Points Allowed/Game 72.1 76.2 64.9
Rebounding Diff. +4.4 -0.3 +12.7
Assists per Game 17.7 11.9 14.2
Turnovers per Game 12.6 13.0 12.1
Steals per Game 5.7 4.2 6.1
Blocks per Game 2.2 2.0 2.4
FG% .470 .444 .518
3-pt FG% .371 .341 .389
FT% .757 .628 .667
SEAWOLVES DODGE NANOOKS: An Alaska Airlines Center record crowd of 2,128 watched UAA emerge with a heart-pounding 74-72 home victory over Alaska Fairbanks in its lone game last week, clinching a GNAC Tournament bid in the process ... Sr. G Travis Thompson had 23 points (4-8 3FG, 5-6 FT), 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and no turnovers as he moved into No. 3 on UAA’s all-time scoring list, while Sr. G Derrick Fain provided 14 points, 4 assists and no turnovers to help UAA win the first ever in-state rivalry battle at the Alaska Airlines Center ... Jr. G Dom Hunter posted 13 points and a pair of assists, and So. F Travis Parrish had 5 points (2-2 FG), a team-high 6 rebounds and 3 assists as the Seawolves won despite being outshot .549 to .407 ... UAA committed a season-low 6 turnovers and outscored UAF by 12 points from the three-point line ... the game featured 13 lead changes and wasn’t decided until UAF’s Ashton Edwards missed a long trey at the buzzer.
TEAM NOTES: UAA needs two more wins to clinch the program’s 10th straight winning season and the 32nd in 38 years … the Seawolves are also just one win shy of earning a plus-.500 league record for 27 of 33 years of conference membership ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, UAA holds top-50 ranks in assists per game (14th, 17.7), FT% (19th, .757), assist/turnover ratio (20th, 1.41) and and 3FGs per game (28th, 9.1) ... 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 ... for the second season in a row the Seawolves have 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 tied for the 3rd-most in a game in program history ... 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 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 notched his eighth 20-plus performance this year when he went for 23 points in UAA’s win over UAF on Saturday ... Thompson also moved past former All-American Carl Arts (1,544, 2004-08) for No. 3 on the UAA career scoring list, now with 1,549 points; he would need to average 16.7 points over the next seven games to catch Hansi Gnad (1,666,1983-87) for No. 2 ... the Seawolves’ career record-holder in 3FGs (282) ranks in the top 10 in 13 different stats categories at UAA, including scoring, FTs made (4th, 313), FT% (6th, .848), 3FG% (8th, .438), victories (t-5th, 77), steals (8th, 117), assists (7th, 313), games played (t-5th, 115) and games started (9th, 77) ... 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 15th in scoring, 10th in FT%, 12th in 3FGs per game and 14th in 3FG% ... in this year’s GNAC stats, he is 2nd in 3FGs per game (3.1, 21st nationally), along with ranks of 4th in scoring (16.8 ppg), 2nd in minutes per game (32.6), 6th in A/T ratio (2.4), 10th in steals per game (1.5), 9th in 3FG% (.431), 12th in FT% (.788) and 12th in assists per game (3.2), 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 ... most recently, Thompson added Capital One Academic All-District 8 honors to his resume, earning a spot on the 5-player squad with a 3.47 overall GPA in civil engineering.
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 ... the Preseason All-GNAC selection holds down top-15 ranks in seven different categories, including 3rd in assists (5.4 apg, 30th nationally), 7th in scoring (15.3 ppg), 7th in minutes per game (30.4), and 9th in FT% (.798) … after just 51 games, McGill already ranks 10th on UAA’s career list with 290 assists, while his 5.7 assists per game rank No. 3 ... 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.
MORE PLAYER NOTES: Coming off GNAC Player of the Week honors for the last week of January, Sr. G Derrick Fain posted his third straight double-figure outing with 14 points -- including two key late free throws -- against UAF ... after averaging 6.0 ppg through the first 19 contests, the Dallas native has totaled 56 points on 18-of-34 shooting (11-21 3FG, 9-10 FT) and 19 rebounds over the past three, tallying a career-high 23 points at Simon Fraser ... 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 now ranks 17th in the GNAC with 1.5 3FGs per game and 20th in 3FG% (.367) ... Jr. G Dom Hunter has made a major impact since missing 10 games from Nov. 22-Jan. 3 with a toe injury, with his 14.9 points per game in GNAC contests ranking 9th in the league ... the Eastern Arizona transfer has scored double figures in six straight games (17.2 ppg), topping the 20-point mark three times ... he is also averaging 2.3 assists over the last six games, helping the Seawolves go 5-1 ... the Federal Way, Wash., native is shooting .855 from the FT line, with the third-most made (59) and attempted (69) on the team, despite playing only 11 of 22 games; Hunter is getting to the FT line once for every 3.8 minutes on the court ... Fr. F Sjur Berg has shown the rebounding prowess that earned him a reputation as one of Europe’s top juniors, grabbing 13 rebounds against Western Washington (Jan. 3) and 9 at MSU Billings (Jan. 17) ... the Norwegian’s 5.5 rebounds per game are tied for the team lead and rank 11th in the GNAC, while his .617 FG% is tied for 2nd on the team and would be 3rd in the GNAC with enough attempts ... Jr. F Christian Leckband has provided a big lift off the bench in league play, posting 6.7 ppg and 4.2 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 ... Leckband ranks 18th in the GNAC from long range with a .382 3FG% ... 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 .704 clip (19 of 27) since entering the starting lineup on Dec. 13 ... two weeks ago the Utah native had career-highs of 10 points (4-5 FG, 2-2 FT) at Western Washington and 4 assists at Simon Fraser, and Saturday he added another solid showing with 5 points (2-2 FT) and a team-high 6 rebounds against UAF ... UAA’s 4-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 9 of 15 from the floor with no turnovers in 80 minutes ... Mears has committed only one turnover in 172 total minutes this year, and he made his first career three-pointer in the win at Simon Fraser... 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 8th in blocks (0.9 bpg).
THE OSBORNE FILE: Eleventh-year head coach Rusty Osborne (205-115) 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
Capital One Academic All-Distrcit 8 Team, 2/5
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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