THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL ...
 
Friday, Nov. 15, 4:30 pm AST – The Wolves' Den ­– Rohnert Park, Calif.
Alaska Anchorage (3-1) vs San Francisco State (2-0)
 
Saturday, Nov. 16, 6:30 pm — The Wolves' Den ­– Rohnert Park, Calif.
Alaska Anchorage at Sonoma State (1-1 [11/15 vs Angelo St.])
 
LIVE STATS: sonomaseawolves.com/sidearmstats/mbball
 
ONLINE VIDEO: None
 
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAMBB Twitter feed for in-game updates.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2019-20 stats)
G—DeAndre Osuigwe, 6-0, Jr. (7.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 4.0 apg, .455 FG, 4-8 3FG, 6-7 FT, 2/1 AT ratio)
G—Tobin Karlberg, 6-0, So. (15.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 3.3 apg, .575 FG, .524 3FG, 13/3 AT ratio)
C—Oggie Pantovic, 6-7, Jr. (9.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.5 bpg, .484 FG, 7-11 FT)
F—Tyler Brimhall, 6-5, Sr. (9.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.5 apg, 0.8 bpg, .350 FG, .240 3FG, 4-4 FT)
F—Niko Bevens, 6-6, Sr. (11.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 2.5 apg, .471 FG, .556 3FG, 10/3 AT ratio)
 
REGION FOES AWAIT: UAA will play the third and fourth of its five NCAA Div. II West Region non-conference opponents when it faces California Collegiate Athletic Association members San Francisco State and Sonoma State at Sonoma's Ron Logsdon Classic ... both contests hold added importance as regional contests are weighed more heavily by the NCAA when considering playoff rankings.
 
BUSY START: The Seawolves got the season under way with five games in a 10-day span, including three games in a row Nov. 8-10 ... in the Armed Forces Classic on Nov. 8 at the Alaska Airlines Center, UAA knocked off Coast Guard 88-78 in front of a national TV audience on ESPNU ... Sr. F Niko Bevens scored 24 points and broke the Seawolf 3FG% record with 8-of-9 accuracy, while So. G Tobin Karlberg added 15 points (4-5 3FG) and a career-high 5 assists to fend off the Div. III Bears ... on Friday, UAA got 15 points apiece from Bevens (5-11 3FG) and Jr. C Oggie Pantovic (7-9 FG, 7 rebs) to roll to a 77-48 win over Hawaii Pacific in their first matchup against a fellow NCAA Div. II squad ... Karlberg had 13 points (5-8 FG, 3-5 3FG), 3 assists and no turnovers as the Seawolves posted their largest margin against a D-II foe in 2.5 seasons ... on Saturday, 2019 NCAA qualifier Chaminade handed UAA its first loss of the season despite 14 points from Karlberg and 10 points, 7 rebounds from Pantovic, who each made the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team.
 
BRIEF SEASON PREVIEW: Looking to rebound from a 14-14 campaign, Alaska Anchorage returns three senior starters – all of whom averaged double-figure scoring as juniors – and a pair of seasoned sophomores in 2019-20 ... Sr. G/F Tyler Brimhall was 4th in the league in scoring and 7th in rebounding a year ago, and is one of two returning First Team All-GNAC performers ... Sr. F Niko Bevens and Sr. G Jack Macdonald bring a combined four seasons of NCAA Div. I and Div. II playing experience, while the Seawolves get a major infusion of talent with five high-level transfers.
 
2018-19 SEASON RECAP: The Seawolves posted a 14-14 overall record and tied for 6th place in the 11-game Great Northwest Athletic Conference in 2018-19 ... UAA showed a penchant for close games, playing 18 contests within a 10-point spread and nine games within six points and posting wins over NCAA qualifier Western Oregon and playoff contender Northwest Nazarene ... the Seawolves used a 5-game winning streak in January to make a push for the postseason but fell short of qualifying for the GNAC Tournament on a tiebreaker ... individually, Tyler Brimhall was voted First Team All-GNAC, while Jack Macdonald was a Google Cloud Academic All-District 8 selection.
 
THE SERIES...
vs. SFSU: UAA leads 4-0 overall, 2-0 on neutral courts
Last: UAA 109-97 (3-12-94 at Riverside, CA)
Notes: The last meeting came a quarter-century ago in an NCAA Tournament regional consolation contest at UC Riverside ... first meeting also came in the now-extinct NCAA Regional consolation round, an 89-84 UAA win, Mar. 6, 1982 in Bakersfield, Calif.
 
vs. Sonoma State: Sonoma leads 2-1 overall, 2-0 in Rohnert Park
Streak: SSU 2
Last: SSU 74, UAA 66 (11-14-14)
Notes: Last meeting also came at Sonoma's Ron Logsdon Classic ... Sonoma won at home, 71-70, on Dec. 23, 1983, and the first meeting was a 72-56 UAA victory, Dec. 15, 1980 in Anchorage.
 
SCOUTING REPORTS: Picked 8th of 13 teams in the California Collegiate Athletic Association preseason coaches' poll, San Francisco State got off to a strong start last week with West Region victories over Bay Area rivals Academy of Art (78-63) and Dominican (83-65) in San Rafael, Calif. ... the Gators have been paced so far by 6-6 Jr. F Linton Acliese (24.0 ppg, 8.5 rpg, .525 FG) and 6-6 Sr. F Zane Paddon (11.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 6-13 3FG) ... tabbed 12th in the CCAA preseason poll, Sonoma State earned an 87-82 win over Dominican on Friday and lost 64-60 to Academy of Art on Saturday on the same court in San Rafael last week ... the Seawolves are led by 6-7 Sr. F Isaac Davidson (21.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 3.5 apg, 1.5 spg, .500 FG, 6-11 3FG) and 6-2 So. G Michael Smith (15.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, .500 FG, 6-7 FT).
 
TEAM NOTES: After one week, UAA leads the GNAC in scoring margin (+14.0), assists per game (21.3), assist/turnover ratio (1.7) and 3FGs made per game (12.3) ... the 18 three-pointers in UAA's win over Coast Guard marked the 7th-most in program history against an NCAA opponent ... the Seawolves barely missed their 14th straight winning season and saw a string of eight straight winning GNAC records come to an end last year ... in 2018-19, UAA ranked in the top 30 of the NCAA national stats in assist/turnover ratio (26th, 1.40) and assists per game (20th, 17.1 apg) ... last year's Seawolves led the GNAC in assists per game and A/T ratio, and ranked 2nd in FT% (.747) and rebounding defense (32.2).
 
KILLER B's: The Seawolves got a predictably large impact in 2018-19 from its two players with Div. I experience, getting more than 31 points per game from the combo of Jr. Fs Tyler Brimhall (Idaho) and Niko Bevens (Montana) ... Brimhall, who transfered directly from North Idaho College, earned First Team All-GNAC honors, ranking 4th in the league in scoring (18.7 ppg) and 7th in rebounding (6.5 rpg), plus 4th in 3FGs per game (2.9), 5th in minutes per game (31.6), 10th in FT% (.832) and 9th in 3FG% (.423) ... sporting a team-high four double-doubles, the Utah native scored at least 21 points in 14 games, while grabbing at least seven rebounds in 14 of 28 contests ... Brimhall captured his first GNAC Player of the Week award for his home performances against CWU and NNU, tallying 43 points (12-21 FG, 8-11 3FG, 11-14 FT), 14 rebounds and 5 assists in the home sweep ... meanwhile, Bevens tallied double digits in 19 games, including 10 games with 15 points or more ... Bevens's season-high 28-point effort at Hawaii Pacific featured seven first-half treys – the most ever for a Seawolf before the break – and his eight total 3FGs in the victory tied for 7th on UAA's single-game list ... in the GNAC stats, he ranked 21st in scoring (12.5 ppg), 3rd in 3FGs per game (2.9, 53rd nationally) and 3rd in minutes per game (32.7).
 
A-PLUS AUSSIE: Now the most experienced player on the roster, Sr. G Jack Macdonald gives UAA three senior starters who averaged double digits last season ... Macdonald raised his scoring average from 8.7 to 10.7 ppg over the second half of the season, producing his best GNAC totals with 23 points (9-15 FG) in the home win over CWU, a career-high 24 points (7-9 FG, 6-7 3FG, 4-5 FT) in the win over UAF, 18 points (3-7 3FG, 9-10 FT) in the win over NNU and a team-high 17 points (6-11 FG, 3-5 3FG, 2-2 FT) at WWU ... the Melbourne native also dished a career-high 6 assists against NNU and finished with GNAC ranks of 31st in scoring, 15th in assist-turnover ratio (2.0) and 9th in FT% (.833) ... a double-major (accounting and marketing) with a 3.79 overall GPA, Macdonald is also a star in the classroom, earning Google Cloud Academic All-District Team honors.
 
TRANSFER STATION: With just 11 active players on this year's roster, the Seawolves will rely heavily on all five of their transfers in 2019-20, with five coming from the JC ranks and the other from an NAIA program ... a former football star at Portland Central Catholic HS, Jr. G Amari Hale averaged 13.2 points and 4.3 assists last season at Eastern Arizona, where he helped his team to the NJCAA Region I title game ... Sr. G Tyrus Hosley was an All-Cascade Conference performer at Northwest Christian, where he played for the last two seasons ... the brother of former MSU Billings standout Antoine Hosley, Tyrus averaged 16.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists at NCU last year, shooting .414 on 3FGs on .818 at the FT line ... another backcourt addition is Jr. G DeAndre Osuigwe, who played as a freshman at fellow D-II program Nyack, before earning All-Suncoast Conference honors last season at State College of Florida ... a graduate of prestigious IMG Academy in his hometown of Bradenton, Fla., Osuigwe averaged 11.2 ppg last year at SCF ... in the frontcourt, UAA features two big men who went head-to-head against one another in junior college, with Jr. F Oggie Pantovic and Jr. F David Riley ... originally from Serbia, Pantovic was a Second Team All-SWAC performer at Utah State-Eastern in 2018-19, averaging 12.9 ppg, 7.7 rpg and shooting .528 from the field ... from Farmington, N.M., Riley was a Second Team All-SWAC honoree as a freshman, and last year he averaged 9.9 ppg, 7.8 rpg and ranked second in the league with 1.3 blocks per contest.
 
LOCAL FLAVOR: The four Alaskans on this year's roster all hail from the Anchorage area, with So. G Tobin Karlberg (Grace Christian) bringing the most experience ... the 2018 Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year, Karlberg saw action in all 28 games last season, averaging 3.4 ppg ... So. F Eric Jenkins (Dimond) returns from an injury redshirt campaign, while Fr. G Danilo Guzman (Anchorage Christian) and Fr. F/C Evan Hoosier (Dimond) are slated to redshirt.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: Now in his 16th year at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (282-167) has led the Seawolves to 14 straight seasons of .500-plus records, along with five NCAA Tournaments and a trip to the 2008 NCAA D-II Semifinals … the longest tenured coach in program history and in the GNAC, he became the first UAA basketball coach to reach 200 career victories when the Seawolves beat Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 10, 2015 … 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 by Ryan Orton (6th season) and former Seawolf guard Kyle Fossman (1st season).
 
PICKED FOR 4TH: The Seawolves were predicted to finish 4th in the annual GNAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, released Oct. 22:
 
2019-20 GNAC PRESEASON MEN'S BASKETBALL COACHES POLL
Rk  Team (1st Place Votes)    Last Yr '18 GNAC (Pl.)  Pts.
 1. Western Washington (6)    15-15, 9-11 (t-6th)     112
 2. Seattle Pacific (5)       22-7, 16-4 (2nd)        107
 3. Simon Fraser              15-14, 9-11 (t-6th)      91
 4. Alaska Anchorage          14-14, 9-11 (t-6th)      90
 5. Montana State Billings    15-14, 10-10 (5th)       79
 6. Central Washington        11-17, 5-15 (10th)       63
 7. Northwest Nazarene        20-8, 14-6 (3rd)         59
 8. Western Oregon            22-11, 13-7 (4th)        56
 9. Concordia-Portland        11-17, 6-14 (9th)        25
10. Alaska Fairbanks          5-22, 2-18 (11th)        23
11. Saint Martin's            26-6, 17-3 (1st)         21
 
2019-20 SEAWOLF INDIVIDUAL HONORS
NIKO BEVENS
Preseason All-GNAC Team
TYLER BRIMHALL
Preseason All-GNAC Team (unanimous)
TOBIN KARLBERG
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
OGGIE PANTOVIC
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team