THIS WEEK IN SEAWOLF BASKETBALL...
5th annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference
Men’s Basketball Championships
Alterowitz Gymnasium - Billings, MT
(All times listed Alaska Standard)
Thursday, March 5 - Quarterfinals
3:15 pm: #6 Northwest Nazarene (13-15, 11-7)
vs #3 Central Washington (17-8, 12-6)
5:30 pm: #5 Western Washington (18-10, 11-7)
vs #4 Alaska Anchorage (16-12, 12-6)
Friday, March 6 - Semifinals
Semifinal 1: NNU/CWU winner vs #2 Seattle Pacific (21-7, 13-5)
Semifinal 2: WWU/UAA winner vs #1 Western Oregon (23-5, 15-3)
Saturday, March 7 - Championship
Semifinal winners, 5:30 pm
TV: None.
RADIO: UAA games live on FM-93.7 KAFC
FREE LIVE VIDEO & STATS: All games at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/gnac/
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.
NCAA BERTH UP FOR GRABS AT GNACs: GNAC regular-season champ and regionally 4th-ranked Western Oregon was the only GNAC team among the among the top eight in the last week’s NCAA Regional rankings, which will be refreshed Wednesday ... with WOU being the only team likely to earn an at-large invitation, the other five teams would probably need to win the GNAC Tournament to earn the league’s automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament, set for Mar. 13-16.
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2014-15 stats)
G—Brian McGill, 6-2, Jr. (14.2 ppg, 5.4 apg, .506 FG, .429 3FG, .789 FT)
G—Travis Thompson, 6-1, Sr. (17.2 ppg, 3.4 apg, 1.3 spg, .441 3FG, .825 FT)
G—Derrick Fain, 6-4, Sr. (9.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.6 apg, .392 3FG, .921 FT)
F—Travis Parrish, 6-3, So. (3.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.4 apg, .557 FG)
C—Brad Mears, 6-10, Sr. (2.6 ppg, 1.6 rpg, .455 FG)
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Western Washington has been the hottest team in the league during the last month of the regular season, winning eight straight games (seven by double figures) since its 81-76 home loss to UAA on Jan. 29 ... the Vikings are led by All-GNAC Second Team guard Jeffrey Parker (16.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg, .506 FG, .444 3FG) and First Team All-GNAC forward Anye Turner (10.5 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 2.2 apg, 3.0 bpg, 1.3 spg, .537 FG) ... should the Seawolves get past the Vikings, they would play a Western Oregon team that has claimed its first-ever GNAC title this season, despite dropping two of its final four games ... the Wolves -- whose only league losses came at UAA, at Seattle Pacific and vs. WWU -- are led by GNAC Player of the Year Andy Avgi (18.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, .616 FG, .813 FT) and fellow First Team All-GNAC selection Julian Nichols (12.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 5.9 apg, 2.4 spg, .847 FT).
THE SERIES vs WWU: WWU leads 16-13
Neutral: First meeting
Last Meeting: UAA 81-76 (1/31/15 at WWU)
Streak: UAA 2
Notes: This will mark the teams’ first postesason meeting ... UAA’s regular-season sweep was its first over WWU since 2007-08 and snapped an 8-game losing skid against the Vikings ... .. WWU leads 16-12 in GNAC regular-season meetings (since 2001-02) … first and only non-GNAC meeting came when both teams were in the Pac West Conference, with UAA winning 89-77, Jan. 20, 2000.
THE SERIES vs WOU: UAA leads 19-10
Neutral: WOU leads 1-0
Last Meeting: UAA 80-78 (2/26/15 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 1
Notes: Teams have played once in the postseason, with WOU prevailing 94-88 in last year’s GNAC quarterfinals in Lacey, Wash. ... UAA leads 20-8 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 WWU WOU
Points per Game 79.3 82.1 79.7
Points Allowed/Game 73.3 71.2 68.8
Rebounding Diff. +3.9 +6.5 +4.3
Assists per Game 18.3 16.3 15.3
Turnovers per Game 12.9 12.3 11.7
Steals per Game 5.8 6.5 9.4
Blocks per Game 2.2 5.5 3.4
FG% .466 .479 .479
3-pt FG% .391 .353 .368
FT% .771 .650 .764
SENIOR SENDOFF SUCCESS EARNS TEAM OF WEEK: The Seawolves closed the regular season in style, sending their four seniors out with victories in their final two home games and earning GNAC Red Lion Hotels Team of the Week honors in the process ... Jr. F Christian Leckband sparked Thursday’s thrilling 80-78 victory over 20th-ranked Western Oregon with 16 points (6-7 FG, 4-4 3FG), while Sr. G Derrick Fain added 16 points (6-10 FG, 2-4 3FG) and Jr. PG Brian McGill dished 8 assists with just 1 turnover ... Jr. G Dom Hunter had 14 points (3-6 3FG) as the Seawolf bench outscored its counterparts 45-14, including 9 points and 6 rebounds from Fr. F Sjur Berg ... UAA survived for the win when a WOU layup attempt rolled off the rim in the final seconds ... on Saturday, Sr. G Travis Thompson poured in 22 points (6-13 3FG) and dished 5 assists to propel UAA to its largest win over a GNAC opponent this year, 101-67 vs. Saint Martin’s ... McGill sparked a first-half comeback with 16 of his 19 points (8-14 FG) before the break and finished with 9 assists and just a single turnover again ... Fain had 16 points, 9 rebounds and a career-high 8 assists, and Hunter added 15 points (4-5 3FG, 3-3 FT) off the bench ... the Seawolves’ 50-21 rebounding advantage against the Saints marked UAA’s largest plurality ever in a GNAC game.
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves have earned their fifth straight top-4 GNAC finish ... UAA has clinched the program’s 10th straight winning season and the 32nd in 38 years … the Seawolves earned their fifth consecutive plus-.500 league record and pulled the trick for the 27th time in 33 years of conference membership (all leagues) ... UAA has qualified for the GNAC Tournament each year since the event was instituted in 2011 ... UAA skyrocketed from No. 12 to No. 6 in the NCAA Div. II free-throw percentage rankings with by shooting 22 of 23 from the line last week, pushing its team average to a GNAC-best .771 ... UAA also holds top-20 NCAA stats ranks in assists per game (8th, 18.3), assist/turnover ratio (17th, 1.42) and 3FGs per game (9.8) ... in the GNAC stats, the Seawolves lead in A/T ratio, assists per game, FT%, and 3FG% (.391) ... 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 tied for the 3rd-most in a game in program history ... UAA’s five 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 Div. I 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: After earning Capital One Academic All-America Third Team honors last week, Sr. G Travis Thompson added yet another honor to his impressive resume when he was named First Team All-GNAC on Monday ... the only repeat selection on the first team, Thompson has lodged 11 20-plus scoring performances this year ... Thompson’s 33 points at Northwest Nazarene two week ago marked his eighth career 30-plus outing, third-most in Seawolf history behind Jesse Jackson (16, 1985-87) and Jason Kaiser (13, 1993-95) ... Thompson is within easy striking distance of No. 2 on UAA’s career scoring list with 1,662 points, needing just four more to catch Hansi Gnad (1,666 pts,1983-87) ... the Seawolves’ career record-holder in 3FGs (302) ranks in the top 10 in 13 different stats categories at UAA, including scoring, FTs made (3rd, 348), FT% (4th, .855), 3FG% (7th, .441), victories (2nd, 80), steals (t-7th, 120), assists (5th, 336), games played (t-2nd, 121) and games started (7th, 83) ... with 7-of-10 long-range shooting at NNU, Thompson also took over the GNAC record for three-pointers made, passing Jake Linton of St. Martin’s (292 3FGs, 2005-09); he holds other GNAC career ranks of 12th in scoring, 9th in FT%, 10th in 3FG%, 11th in 3FGs per game (2.5) and t-4th in games played ... in this year’s GNAC stats, he is 4th in scoring (17.2 ppg), 2nd in 3FGs per game (3.2, 18th nationally), 3rd in minutes per game (32.8), 5th in A/T ratio (2.8, 19th nationally), 7th in 3FG% (.442, 25th nationally), 6th in FT% (.825) and 11th in assists per game (3.4), 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 GNAC 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 ... in the classroom, Thompson has posted a 3.47 overall GPA, cpaturing Capital One Third Team All-America honors and making the GNAC All-Academic Team for this third time.
McGILL THE THRILL: UAA’s second-leading scorer and top assist man, Jr. PG Brian McGill was named honorable mention All-GNAC when the league announced its postseason awards Monday ... the Oregon native holds down top-15 GNAC stats ranks in six different categories, including 3rd in assists (5.4 apg, 26th nationally), 12th in scoring (14.2 ppg), 7th in minutes per game (30.5) and 13th in FT% (.789) … McGill has scored double figures in 19 of his 27 outings this year, including eight times with 20-plus, and he has dished 6-plus assists on 14 occasions, including each of the last three games ... he reached 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 ... after just 57 games, McGill is already 7th on UAA’s career list with 322 assists, while his 5.65 assists per game rank No. 3 ... against all-Div. I competition in the 8-team GCI Great Alaska Shootout, McGill ranked third with 5.3 assists per game and tied 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, and he was a unanimous Preseason All-GNAC pick this year.
MORE PLAYER NOTES: Sr. G Derrick Fain has taken his game to another level during the second half of the GNAC slate, starting with GNAC Player of the Week honors for his performance at Western Washington and Simon Fraser ... last week the Dallas native posted his eighth and ninth straight double-figure scoring efforts with 16 points apiece in the win over Western Oregon and Saint Martin’s ... after averaging 6.0 ppg through the first 19 contests, Fain has totaled 160 points on 53-of-106 shooting (29-61 3FG) over the past nine, including a 23-point outburst at Simon Fraser and a 32-point effort at NW Nazarene ... he also added a career-high 10 rebounds at SFU for his first double-double and nearly posted a triple double against St. Martin’s with 16 pts/9 rebounds/8 assists ... a one-year transfer from The Master’s College, Fain now ranks 15th in the GNAC with 1.8 3FGs per game and 17th in 3FG% at .392 ... Jr. G Dom Hunter has made a major impact since missing 10 games from Nov. 22-Jan. 3 with a toe injury, with his 14.4 points per game in GNAC contests ranking 12th in the league ... the Eastern Arizona transfer has scored double figures in 10 of his last 11 games, topping the 20-point mark four times ... the Federal Way, Wash., native is shooting .870 from the FT line with the 3rd-most made (67) and attempted (77) on the team, despite playing only 16 of 28 games ... in the overall GNAC stats, Hunter is 14th in scoring (13.5 ppg), 3rd in FT% and 8th in 3FGs per game (2.2) ... 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 5.2 rebounds per game are second-best on the team and rank 16th in the GNAC, while his .602 FG% is tied 2nd on the team and would be 5th in the GNAC with enough attempts ... Jr. F Christian Leckband has provided a big lift off the bench in league play, posting 7.5 ppg and 4.0 rpg in GNAC counters ... on Jan. 3, the Nome product tied his then-career-high with 16 points in the win over Western Washington, and he reached double figures for the fourth time this year with a career-high 19 points against SPU on Feb. 14 ... boosted by his 4-of-4 performance in the win over Western Oregon, Leckband has risen to 16th in the GNAC with his .394 3FG% ... redshirt Fr. C Kalidou Diouf ranks in the top 10 on seven UAA freshman lists, including No. 1 in FG% (.642), No. 3 in scoring average (10.4 ppg) and No. 4 in rebounding average (5.4 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 14th in rebounding, 2nd in FG% and 9th in blocks (0.8 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 four Seawolves shooting .550 or better, connecting at a .585 clip (24 of 41) since entering the starting lineup on Dec. 13 ... 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 Thursday he grabbed a career-high 9 rebounds at Central Washington ... Parrish also leads the Seawolves with 43 total offensive rebounds.
THE OSBORNE FILE: Eleventh-year head coach Rusty Osborne (208-118) has now led the Seawolves to 10 straight winning seasons, along with 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 2014-15 Great Northwest Athletic Conference preseason coaches’ poll, released Oct. 14. Here is a look at the poll, with actual finish denoted on the right:
2014-15 Great Northwest Athletic Conference
Preseason Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Poll
Rk Team (1st-place votes) ‘13-14 Records Pts Act
1. Western Washington (7) 20-8/13-5 78 5t
2. Alaska Anchorage (1) 17-13/;10-8 69 3t
3. Seattle Pacific (2) 26-6/15-3 68 2
4. Western Oregon 18-12/10-8 60 1
5. Montana State Billings 12-15/8-10 41 9t
6. Central Washington 12-14/8-10 39 3t
7. Alaska Fairbanks 18-10/12-6 38 8
8. Northwest Nazarene 7-19/5-13 21 5t
9. Simon Fraser 10-16/3-15 18 7
Saint Martin’s 9-17/6-12 18 9t
(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
Honorable Mention All-GNAC, 3/2
Brad Mears
GNAC All-Academic Team, 2/24
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
GNAC All-Academic Team, 2/24
Capital One Academic All-America 3rd Team, 2/25
First Team All-GNAC, 3/2
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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