THIS WEEK IN SEAWOLF MEN’S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Dec. 31 – 3 pm AST – Royal Brougham Pavilion – Seattle, WA
Alaska Anchorage (9-4, 2-0 GNAC) at #9 Seattle Pacific (9-1, 2-0 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Jan. 2 – 6 pm AST – Marcus Pavilion – Lacey, WA
Alaska Anchorage at Saint Martin’s (7-3, 1-1 GNAC [12/31 vs UAF])
LIVE VIDEOSTREAM: Both games at portal.stretchinternet.com/uaa
LIVE STATS: Thursday at http://www.sidearmstats.com/spu/mbball/
Saturday at portal.stretchinternet.com/uaa
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2015-16 stats)
G—Diante Mitchell, 6-1, Jr. (12.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 3.8 apg, 1.2 spg, .516 FG, .558 3FG, .853 FT)
G—Sekou ‘Suki’ Wiggs, 6-4, Jr. (23.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 4.2 apg, 1.8 spg, .459 FG, .329 3FG, .752 FT)
G—Spencer Svejcar, 6-4, Jr. (12.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.5 apg, .403 FG, .861 FT)
F—Corey Hammell, 6-6, Jr. (14.5 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 1.5 apg, .490 FG, .794 FT)
F—Tayler Thompson, 6-8, Jr. (5.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, .644 FG, 6-8 FT, 14.3 mpg)
SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: @UAAMBB (for in-game updates) and @UAASeawolves
Facebook: Alaska Anchorage Seawolves
Instagram: UAA_Seawolves
YouTube & SnapChat: UAA Seawolves
Hashtags: #SeawolfHoops #UAASeawolves
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Ranked No. 9 in the NABC and No. 19 in the D2SIDA national polls, Seattle Pacific has won nine in a row since a 68-60 overtime loss to Concordia (Calif.) in its season-opener ... the Falcons are 4-0 at home and have earned impressive wins vs. defending region champ Azusa Pacific (71-54), at Western Washington (83-64) and at Chico State (62-50) ... last year’s GNAC regular-season runners-up and postseason tourney champs are led by 6-5 Sr. F Mitch Penner (14.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.9 apg, .769 FT) and 6-4 Sr. G Bryce Leavitt (11.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 4.8 apg, .526 FG, .757 FT) ... Saint Martin’s has gone 3-3 against fellow NCAA Div. II competition so far, including a split of its opening GNAC road series against WWU (L, 71-68) and Simon Fraser (W, 73-66) ... the Saints feature eight players scoring at least 4.0 ppg, led by 7-0 Jr. C Fred Jorg (10.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg, .468 FG) and 6-4 Jr. G Cole Preston (7.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4.0 apg, .868 FT).
TEAM COMPARISONS UAA SPU SMU
UAA Road/Opp. Home 0-0 4-0 5-1
Points per Game 86.8 76.2 77.0
Points Allowed/Game 70.5 61.9 67.2
Rebounding Diff. +8.2 +11.8 +7.7
Assists per Game 18.2 14.4 15.0
Turnovers per Game 12.1 8.6 11.8
Steals per Game 6.5 3.5 6.7
Blocks per Game 2.7 3.5 3.2
FG% .473 .488 .425
3-pt FG% .370 .355 .386
FT% .776 .730 .777
THE SERIES vs SPU: UAA leads 35-34 overall
In Seattle: SPU leads 24-8
Last Meeting: SPU 73-72, OT (2/14/15 at UAA)
Streak: SPU 7
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 ... the Falcons have won 11 straight in Seattle ... UAA’s last win was a 78-69 home decision, Feb. 2, 2012, and its win in Seattle came by a 75-73 count, Mar. 6, 2004 … 13 of the last 18 games have been decided by 11 points or fewer … SPU leads 20-8 in GNAC regular-season meetings (since 2001-02), with five games going to overtime … SPU is UAA’s 3rd-most common opponent (69 meetings) ... series started in UAA’s first year of Div. II competition in 1977-78.
THE SERIES vs SMU: UAA leads 28-7 overall
In Lacey: UAA leads 9-6
Last Meeting: UAA 101-67 (2/28/15 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 4
Notes: UAA has won seven of the last eight meetings, including a 75-68 OT victory in last year’s GNAC opener in Lacey ... UAA has won two straight in Lacey, with SMU’s last victory being a 60-52 decision, Feb. 7, 2013 at Marcus Pavilion ... UAA leads 21-7 in GNAC regular-season meetings … teams met twice as members of the Pac West (in 1999 and 2001) and four times between 1977-80.
LAST TIME OUT: The Seawolves have not taken the court since a 108-67 home win over Northwest Indian in their non-conference finale on Dec. 14 ... Jr. F Corey Hammell nabbed his eighth double-double with 20 points (7-8 FG, 10-12 FT) and 12 rebounds, Jr. G Suki Wiggs had 21 points (5-11 FG, 10-13 FT), 3 assists and 3 steals and Sr. F Christian Leckband recorded 16 points (7-9 FG, 2-2 3FG), 5 rebounds and 2 blocks to propel a 55 percent shooting effort.
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves rank among the top four in 13 of 21 the GNAC’s statistical categories, including 2nd in scoring margin (+16.3), FT% (.776), rebound margin (+8.2) and offensive rebound pct. (.364) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, UAA boasts top-50 ranks in FT% (12th), scoring margin (13th), assists per game (15th, 18.2), assist/turnover ratio (17th, +1.51), rebound margin (21st) and scoring offense (34th, 86.8 ppg) ... UAA is seeking the program’s 11th straight winning season and the 33rd in 39 years … last year’s Seawolves earned the the program’s fifth straight top-4 GNAC finish and plus-.500 league record ... UAA has qualified for the GNAC Tournament each year since the event was instituted in 2011.
SUKI SMOOTH: Div. I transfer Sekou ‘Suki’ Wiggs has lived up to his billing as a Preseason All-GNAC selection so far, setting Seawolf program records by scoring at least 20 points in 13 straight games -- both overall and to start a season ... in the early GNAC stats, he paces the 11-team league by more than four points per contests with 23.9 ppg, along with ranks of 5th in rebounding (7.0 rpg), 7th in assists (4.2 apg) and 1st in defensive rebounds per game (5.8) ... the former Seattle O’Dea High star set the CCA Div. II Tip-Off Classic single-game scoring record with 34 points against Cal Baptist on Oct. 31, and he tallied a combined 50 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists in UAA’s 2- and 4-point wins over Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific ... in late November, he earned GNAC Player of the Week and GCI Great Alaska Shootout all-tourney honors after breaking the 38-year-old tournament’s scoring record with 98 points, surpassing the 97 by Purdue legend Glenn Robinson from 1993 ... Wiggs tied for the 2nd-highest scoring game by a Seawolf in Shootout history with 35 in the opener against eventual champ Middle Tennessee, and he led the tourney in scoring by more than 10 ppg, becoming first player to tally at least 30 in all three games ... a double-digit career scorer in two seasons at Idaho, Wiggs was the Western Athletic Conference’s Sixth Man of the Year as a freshman in 2013-14.
HAMMELL TIME: Jr. F Corey Hammell has shown why he averaged a double-double as a sophomore last season at Santa Rosa Junior College, tallying eight such performances in his first eight games as a Seawolf ... Hammell leads the nation in offensive rebounds per game (5.0) and is No. 2 in double-doubles and 21st in rebounds per game (10.0) ... the Californian is on pace to become the fifth Seawolf to average on a double-double and the first since Peter Bullock in 2002-03 ... Hammell is also on pace for one of the most productive free-throw campaigns in program history, getting to the line 102 times in his first 13 games and ranking 13th in the GNAC with a .794 FT%; he has made at least 4 FTs in every game and had a streak of 27 in a row from Nov. 28-Dec. 14 ... Hammell scored a season-high 24 points and matched UAA’s best rebounding total of 2014-15 with 15 boards in the 69-65 win over Hawaii Pacific, converting a key three-point play with 15 seconds left ... in the GNAC openers against Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene, he averaged a crazily efficient 19.5 ppg, 14.5 rpg and 2.5 apg in 26 minutes per contest, shooting 12-15 FG, 2-2 3FG and 15-17 FT ... with 17 points and 17 rebounds against NNU, Hammell grabbed the most boards for a Seawolf since 2009 and matched UAA’s program-best in a GNAC game (Bullock, twice, 2002-03).
LECKBAND TOGETHER: Sr. F Christian Leckband is the most experienced Seawolf on the roster, with his 96 career games now ranking 19th in program history ... coming off the bench in 12 of 13 contests so far, he has improved on his career scoring (11.2 ppg from 5.3 ppg) and rebounding (4.8 rpg from 3.2 rpg) averages, boosted by a career-high 27 points in the win over Life Pacific ... after a slow start in the first two games this year, Leckband has averaged 12.9 ppg on .534 FG% since then ... the Nome native equaled the second-most rebounds of his career with 9 in the win over HPU, and he dished a season-high 4 assists in the loss to Div. I San Jose State.
TRANSFERS MAKING IMPACT: Five former junior college standouts are making a major impact on UAA’s new-look squad, with Corey Hammell (Santa Rosa JC) joined by combo guard Diante Mitchell (Western Nebraska CC), wings Spencer Svejcar (Laramie County [Wyo.] CC) and Drew Peterson (San Diego Miramar Coll.), and forward Tayler Thompson (Cuesta Coll.) boosting the frontcourt ... Svejcar was an NJCAA All-Region IX First Team selection as a sophomore after averaging 16.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg and 2.5 apg, while shooting .405 3FG ... the Colorado native has tallied double figures in nine of 13 games so far as a Seawolf, including 18 points (8-9 FT) in the win over Chaminade, 20 points (8-12 FG) against CSUDH and 19 points (7-9 FG, 4-5 3FG) against San Jose State... Svejcar also has a solid 33/12 assist/turnover ratio in 387 minutes (29.8 mpg) ... in his two years at WNCC, Mitchell averaged nearly 15 points and 3 assists per game, connecting at impressive rates of .508 FG, .408 3FG and .860 FT in 2014-15 ... the former NJCAA Academic All-American has been UAA’s primary ball-handler thus far, leading the GNAC in 3FG% (.558, 24-43) and ranking 10th in assists per game (3.8), 7th in A/T ratio (1.7) and 17th in FG% (.516) ... Mitchell had perhaps his most solid week in UAA’s GNAC-opening wins over CWU and NNU, totaling 41 points (15-20 FG, 6-8 3FG, 5-6 FT) and 10 assists ... Thompson was an All-Western States Conference performer at Cuesta last year, averaging 11.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.6 bpg and shooting .581 FG ... he premiered against Upper Iowa with 7 rebounds and had 6 points against UC Colorado Springs ... Thompson has been the Seawolves’ most accurate shooter (.644, 29-45) thus far and is tied for the team lead with 7 blocks ... Peterson, the final addition to UAA’s recruting class, was a 2-time All-PCAC honoree at San Diego Miramar, where he averaged 12.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg and shot .853 FT last season ... the Southern California native had a breakout showing against San Jose State in the GCI Great Alaska Shootout, scoring 10 points (4-7 FG, 2-4 3FG), along with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a steals in just 12 minutes.
RETURN OF B-MAC: Sr. G Brian McGill – the Seawolves’ leading returning scorer (13.8 ppg) and assist man (5.8 apg) from 2014-15 – has regained his eligibiity after missing the fall semester, making his season debut with a team-high 29 points in the Dec. 19 exhibition alumni game ... a Preseason All-GNAC selection, McGill was named honorable mention All-GNAC last season after posting top-15 GNAC ranks in six different categories ... the Oregon native was 3rd in assists (29th nationally), 12th in scoring, 9th in minutes per game (30.4), 9th in assist/turnover ratio (1.7), 11th in 3FG% (.419) and 11th in FT% (.794) … McGill scored double figures in 19 of his 28 outings last year, including eight times with 20-plus, and he dished 6-plus assists on 14 occasions ... after just 58 games, McGill is already 6th on UAA’s career list with 326 assists, while his 5.62 assists per game rank 3rd; he also holds UAA career ranks in scoring average (16th, 14.7 ppg), 3FG% (6th, .441), FTs made (12th, 214), FT% (14th, .820) and FTs per game (10th, 3.7) ... the former Western Oregon transfer garnered All-GNAC Second Team honors in 2013-14.
BERG SIDELINED: UAA suffered a blow Nov. 6 when So. F Sjur Berg suffered a broken elbow in the Seawolves’ home opener ... following surgery, Berg is expected to miss at least two months and possibly the rest of the season ... the Norwegian ranked second on the team (15th GNAC) last year with 5.2 rpg and was averaging 7.0 rpg through the first three games this year.
THE OSBORNE FILE: Now in his 12th year as head coach, Rusty Osborne (217-123) has 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, 2015, 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 in 2015-16 by Cameron Turner (5th season) and Kasey Riley (1st season).
SEAWOLVES TABBED 4TH: The Seawolves were picked to finish fourth in the 2015-16 Great Northwest Athletic Conference preseason coaches’ poll, released Oct. 15.
2015-16 Great Northwest Athletic Conference
Preseason Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Poll
Rk Team (1st-pl. votes) ‘14-15 Records Pts
1. Western Washington (5) 20-11/11-7 (t-5th) 114
2. Western Oregon (4) 23-7/15-3 (1st) 106
3. Seattle Pacific (2) 24-8/13-5 (2nd) 100
4. Alaska Anchorage 16-13/12-6 (t-3rd) 92
5. Central Washington 17-9/12-6 (t-3rd) 80
6. Alaska Fairbanks 7-19/4-14 (8th) 63
7. Saint Martin’s 6-22/3-15 (t-9th) 41
Montana State Billings 5-23/3-15 (t-9th) 41
9. Northwest Nazarene 14-16/11-7 (t-5th) 37
10. Concordia, Ore. 25-7 1st Yr in GNAC 32
11. Simon Fraser 11-15/6-12 (7th) 20
(Votes awarded on 11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis)
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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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