THIS WEEK IN SEAWOLF MEN’S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Jan. 28 – 7 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
Saint Martin’s (8-10, 2-8 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (16-5, 9-1 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Jan. 30 – 2 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
Seattle Pacific (14-4, 7-3 GNAC [1/28 @UAF]) at Alaska Anchorage
TV: Both games, live throughout Alaska on GCI cable Ch. 1 (SD) and Ch. 999 (HD).
RADIO: None
LIVE VIDEOSTREAM & STATS: Both games free at portal.stretchinternet.com/uaa
TICKETS: $10 at the door, online at alaskaairlinescenter.com, or by calling 907-786-1562 ... discounts apply for UAA staff/faculty, alumni, senior (60+), youth (3-18) and military ... groups of 10 or more can purchase in bulk for $6 per ticket ... UAA students free with valid WolfCard ... more information at GoSeawolves.com.
TEXT TO WIN THURSDAY: Fans at Thursday night’s game will have the opportunity to win an MVP Gold upgrade in the Alaska Airlines text-to-win contest.
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2015-16 stats)
G—Diante Mitchell, 6-1, Jr. (10.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 3.0 apg, .500 FG, .468 3FG, .852 FT)
G—Sekou ‘Suki’ Wiggs, 6-4, Jr. (24.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 3.9 apg, 1.5 spg, .448 FG, .328 3FG, .769 FT)
G—Spencer Svejcar, 6-4, Jr. (13.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.3 apg, .454 FG, .369 3FG, .860 FT)
F—Corey Hammell, 6-6, Jr. (12.8 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 1.5 apg, .439 FG, .805 FT)
F—Tayler Thompson, 6-8, Jr. (4.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 0.8 apg, 0.6 bpg, .673 FG)
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: Saint Martin’s snapped a 7-game losing skid with Saturday’s 77-60 victory at Montana State Billings, recording its fourth Div. II victory of the season ... the Saints, from Lacey, Wash., are led by 7-0 Jr. C Fred Jorg (11.4 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.6 apg, .477 FG, .732 FT) and 6-4 Jr. G Cole Preston (8.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.9 apg, .838 FT) ... after going 0-3 in a tough stretch against UAA, UAF and Western Oregon, defending GNAC Tournament champ Seattle Pacific has bounced back with five straight wins – all by double figures ... heading into Thursday’s battle at UAF for sole possession of third place, the Falcons are led by 6-5 Sr. F Mitch Penner (14.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.6 apg, .451 FG, .795 FT) and 7-0 Sr. C Dierickx Giles (12.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.5 bpg, .599 FG).
TEAM COMPARISONS UAA SMU SPU
UAA Home/Opp. Road 9-2 2-4 6-1
Points per Game 85.8 72.3 75.9
Points Allowed/Game 72.2 69.8 63.8
Rebounding Diff. +7.0 +2.3 +12.6
Assists per Game 16.5 13.4 13.8
Turnovers per Game 11.5 11.0 13.1
Steals per Game 5.4 6.4 3.8
Blocks per Game 2.8 3.4 4.1
FG% .470 .403 .472
3-pt FG% .359 .350 .350
FT% .796 .744 .749
THE SERIES vs SMU: UAA leads 29-7
In Anchorage: UAA leads 19-1
Last Meeting: UAA 91-74 (1/2/16 at SMU)
Streak: UAA 5
Notes: UAA has won eight of the last nine meetings, including a 101-67 victory in last year’s regular-season finale in Anchorage ... SMU’s last win came by a 60-52 score in Lacey, Feb. 7, 2013 ... UAA has won 11 straight in Anchorage since the Saints’ lone victory (79-76) on Jan. 15, 2005 ... UAA leads 22-7 in GNAC regular-season meetings (since 2001-02) … teams met twice as members of the Pac West (in 1999 and 2001) and four times between 1977-80.
THE SERIES vs SEATTLE PACIFIC: UAA leads 36-34
In Anchorage: UAA leads 27-9
Last Meeting: UAA 61-59 (12/31/15 at SPU)
Streak: UAA 1
Notes: UAA snapped a 7-game losing streak against SPU with its New Year’s Eve win in Seattle ... the last two meetings have been decided by a total of three points, including last year’s 73-72 SPU overtime win in Anchorage ... SPU has won three straight in Anchorage since UAA’s 78-69 victory, Feb. 12, 2012 ... 14 of the last 19 games have been decided by 11 points or fewer … SPU leads 20-9 in GNAC regular-season meetings, 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.
UAA FORGES OREGON SPLIT: The Seawolves saw their 9-game win streak come to an end in a hard-fought 76-66 loss at No. 8 Western Oregon on Jan. 21, before bouncing back to claim a 90-71 victory in their first-ever trip to GNAC newcomer Concordia in Portland ... against WOU, the Seawolves erased a double-digit deficit to take a 60-57 lead with 6 minutes left, only to see the Wolves end the game on a 19-6 run ... Jr. G Suki Wiggs led UAA with 26 points (4-7 3FG, 6-6 FT) and 9 rebounds, Sr. G Brian McGill had 17 points (6-12 FG, 5-5 FT) and Jr. G Spencer Svejcar tallied 16 points as the Seawolves lost despite a 37-33 rebounding edge and 16-of-16 free-throw shooting ... on Saturday, Wiggs scored 11 of his 24 points (8-16 FG, 7-9 FT) in the final 10 minutes to help the Seawolves pull away late against the Cavaliers ... Jr. F Corey Hammell also sparked the late charge with 19 points (5-9 FG, 9-10 FT) and 17 rebounds, while McGill added 17 points (6-11 FG, 2-4 3FG) and 3 assists in his home state ... UAA also got a big lift from Jr. F Tayler Thompson, who had a career-high 11 points (5-6 FG), plus 6 rebounds.
TEAM NOTES: At 8-0, UAA had its second-longest unbeaten start to GNAC play in the league’s 15-year history, trailing only the 2007-08 Final Four squad that won its first 11 league contests ... the Seawolves’ current 9-game winning streak tied for the 6th-longest in program history and was the longest since winning 10 straight early in the 2011-12 campaign ... the Seawolves remained in the D2SIDA NCAA West Region poll this week (see pg. 5) ... UAA leads the GNAC in both scoring margin (+13.6) and free throw percentage (.796), along with top-3 league ranks in scoring offense (3rd, 85.8 ppg), offensive rebound pct. (2nd, .344), rebound margin (2nd, +7.0), 3FG% defense (3rd, .327), FG% defense (3rd, .413) and assists (3rd, 16.5 apg) ... UAA ranks 3rd in the NCAA Div. II national stats in FT pct., along with top-40 marks in [1]scoring margin (15th), assist/turnover ratio (18th, +1.44), rebound margin (24th), defensive rebounding (28.3 drpg), scoring offense (36th) and fewest turnovers per game ... UAA needs two more wins to clinch the program’s 11th straight winning season and the 33rd in 39 years … the Seawolves are seeking the program’s sixth straight top-4 GNAC finish and plus-.500 league record ... UAA has also qualified for the GNAC Tournament each year since the event was instituted in 2011.
SUKI SMOOTH: Jr. G Sekou ‘Suki’ Wiggs has made a strong push for All-America honors in his first season since transfering from Div. I Idaho, leading the GNAC in scoring (24.1 ppg, 11th nationally) and defensive rebounding (6.3 drpg), along with league ranks of 2nd in rebounding (7.4 rpg), 5th in steals (1.5 spg), 8th in assists (3.9 apg) and 8th in A/T ratio (1.5) ... Wiggs has set UAA and GNAC records by scoring at least 20 points in 21 straight games – both overall and to start a season – including four 30-plus efforts; although the NCAA does not keep official records on streaks, Wiggs’s 20-plus string is known to be the longest in Div. II since at least the 2011-12 season ... the former Seattle O’Dea High star started early by setting 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 November ... more recently, Wiggs posted his fourth and fifth double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds in UAA’s 61-59 road win over then-No. 8 Seattle Pacific, and a 30-point, 11-rebound effort in the OT win at UAF ... at his current pace of 7.3 FTs made per game (140 of 184), Wiggs is on pace to break Jesse Jackson’s single-season UAA record of 167 FTs made (1986-87) on Saturday against SPU ... 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 ... the Preseason All-GNAC selection was a double-digit career scorer in two seasons at Idaho, winning 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 last season at Santa Rosa Junior College, leading the GNAC and ranking 6th nationally with 10 such performances ... Hammell leads the nation in offensive rebounds per game (4.7) and is 12th in rebounds per game (10.3) ... the Californian is on pace to become the fifth Seawolf to average 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 159 times in his first 21 games and ranking 13th in the GNAC with a .805 FT%; he had a streak of 27 in a row from Nov. 28-Dec. 14 ... the 6-6, 225-pounder leads the GNAC by nearly three rebounds per game and ranks 20th in scoring with 12.8 ppg ... 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), while his 19 points and 17 rebounds at Concordia marked his fourth ‘15/15’ outing.
B-MAC IN TOWN: Sr. G Brian McGill – the Seawolves’ leading returning scorer and assist man from 2014-15 – didn’t take long to make an impact after returning to the lineup on Dec. 31, averaging 15.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists in eight GNAC games ... in the GNAC-only stats, he ranks 10th in scoring, 11th in FG% (.513), 8th in assists and 2nd in FT% (.921), boosted by his school-record 16-of-16 free-throw effort at UAF ... the Oregon native has scored double figures in seven of his eight appearances and is connecting at .640 (32-50) from inside the arc, including the game-winning layup at Seattle Pacific with 5 seconds left ... after tallying 17 points at Concordia, McGill has now scored double figures in 26 of his last 36 outings dating to last year, including nine times with 20-plus ... after just 66 games, the former Western Oregon transfer is already 4th on UAA’s career list with 356 assists, just two short of No. 3 (358, Bryan Anderson, 1991-94) and 15 shy of No. 2 (371, Jim Hajdukovich, 1995-99) ... on UAA’s other career lists, he is 3rd in assists per game (5.4), 16th in scoring average (14.8 ppg), 8th in FTs made (249), 12th in 3FG% (.414), 11th in FT% (.833) and 9th in FTs per game (3.8) ... a 2015-16 Preseason All-GNAC pick, McGill garnered All-GNAC Second Team honors in 2013-14 and was honorable mention last year.
TERRIFIC TRANSFERS: Junior college rivals for the past two seasons, Jr. G Diante Mitchell (Western Nebraska CC) and Jr. G/F Spencer Svejcar (Laramie County [Wyo.] CC) have been critical additions to UAA’s starting lineup this year, combining to average 23.7 ppg and 5.3 apg, with both shooting over 85 percent from the foul stripe ... a former NJCAA Academic All-American, Mitchell ranks 3rd in the GNAC in 3FG% (.468), along with 5th in FT% (.852), 10th in assists (3.0), and 12th in FG% (.500) ... 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 ... 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 last year ... the Colorado native has tallied double figures in 16 of 21 games as a Seawolf, including 22 points (7-13 FG, 4-6 3FG) at UAF, 18 points (8-9 FT) against Chaminade and 18 points (7-11 FG)/5 assists against Western Washington ... after starting the year 20 of 70 (.286) from 3FG range, he has nailed 21 of his last 41 (.512), including the game-tying trey at UAF to force overtime ... Svejcar has a solid 49/24 assist/turnover ratio in 647 minutes (30.8 mpg), and he holds GNAC overall ranks of 19th in scoring (13.0 ppg), 4th in FT% (.860), 9th in 3FGs per game (2.0), 19th in 3FG% (.369) and 20th in assists per game (2.3).
LECKBAND TOGETHER: Sr. F Christian Leckband is the most experienced Seawolf on the roster, with his 104 career games now tied for 14th in program history ... coming off the bench in 20 of 21 contests this year, he has improved on his career scoring (10.0 ppg from 5.3 ppg) and rebounding (4.1 rpg from 3.2 rpg) averages, boosted by his 21 points against Simon Fraser and 16 points against MSUB ... Leckband currently ranks 15th in the GNAC in FG% at .513, while on UAA’s career lists he is 38th in scoring (701 pts) and 21st in 3FGs made (104), needing just one more trey to move into the top 20 ... the Nome native has 10 double-figure scoring efforts this year, and he equaled the second-most rebounds of his career with 9 in the win over Hawaii Pacific.
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 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 (224-124) 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)
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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