THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL ...
 
Seawolf Thanksgiving Classic
Nov. 29 & 30 — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, AK
Friday's Games
5:15 pm: Northern Michigan (2-2) vs Alaska Fairbanks (1-5)
7:30 pm: Michigan Tech (2-2) at Alaska Anchorage (5-1)
Saturday's Games
5:15 pm: Michigan Tech vs Alaska Fairbanks
7:30 pm: Northern Michigan at Alaska Anchorage
 
LIVE STATS: goseawolves.com/sidearmstats/mbball
 
VIDEO: gnac.tv (all games)
 
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAMBB Twitter feed for in-game updates.
 
TICKETS: AlaskaAirlinesCenter.com
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2019-20 stats)
G—DeAndre Osuigwe, 6-0, Jr. (7.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 4.2 apg, .412 FG, .364 3FG, .769 FT)
G—Tobin Karlberg, 6-0, So. (13.2 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 2.5 apg, .517 FG, .419 3FG, .750 FT, 14/5 AT ratio)
C—David Riley, 6-8, Jr. (4.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.0 bpg, .588 FG, 4-8 FT)
F—Tyler Brimhall, 6-5, Sr. (7.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 0.5 bpg, .315 FG, .212 3FG, 4-4 FT)
F—Niko Bevens, 6-6, Sr. (13.3 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.6 apg, .467 FG, .478 3FG, 10/3 AT ratio)
 
'YOOPERS' INVADE: UAA meets the first of four out-of-region Div. II opponents this week when it hosts a pair of Great Lakes Intercollegiate Atheltic Conference foes from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the Seawolf Thanksgiving Classic ... both Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan will also face Alaska Fairbanks in 5:15 p.m. tips as part of the inaugural event.
 
TWIN WINS: The Seawolves posted a pair of wins by the identical score of 81-69 in their last games, defeating San Francisco State and Sonoma State Nov. 15-16 in Rohnert Park, Calif. ... in the first game, Sr. G Jack Macdonald scored 18 points (4-9 FG, 8-8 FT) and Sr. F Niko Bevens tallied 16 points to power UAA to a neutral-court win over the Gators in the programs' first meeting in 25 years ... Jr. C Oggie Pantovic collected 10 points and a season-high 8 rebounds, while So. G Tobin Karlberg had 8 points (2-5 3FG) and a career-high-tying 3 steals as UAA shot a solid 18 of 21 (.857) at the charity stripe ... in the first true road game of the season the next night, Bevens poured in 17 points (5-9 3FG) and Pantovic added 10 points (5-6 FG) and 7 rebounds to outlast Sonoma State ... Macdonald had 7 points and dished a career-high 8 assists without a turnover, and Jr. G Amari Hale scored a season-high 9 points (3-3 3FG), along with 2 assists and no turnovers ... UAA's 5 turnovers matched the 9th-fewest by a Seawolf club and set a program record against a non-conference opponent on the road.
 
THE SERIES...
vs. Michigan Tech: First meeting
 
vs. Northern Michigan: UAA leads 2-0
Notes: The Seawolves earned 100-66 and 74-72 home victories on consecutive nights, Nov. 19-20, 1993.
 
SCOUTING REPORTS: Michigan Tech was picked third and Northern Michigan sixth in the six-team North Division in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference preseason poll, and both come north with 2-2 records ... MTU, from Houghton, Mich., has played all four of its contests within single digits, beating McKendree (78-73) and Lewis (63-54), while suffering losses to Winona State (62-59) and Minnesota Duluth (85-80) ... preseason all-conference pick Kyle Monroe leads the Huskies with 21.8 ppg, while Tommy Luca averages 15.3 ppg ... NMU, from Marquette, Mich., has earned wins over Lewis and Southwest Minnesota State, and lost to McKendree and Minnesota Duluth ... featuring five players who average at least 8.3 ppg, the Huskies are led by Marcus Matelski (11.3 ppg, .536 FG) and Alec Fruin (11.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg, .400 3FG).
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA rose to No. 4 in this week's D2SIDA West Region poll, marking the highest the Seawolves have been since the rankings started a few years ago ... the Seawolves have matched the program's 4th-best record through six games, having faced NCAA Div. I opponents in an annual basis in the Great Alaska Shootout from 1978-2017 ... UAA started 12-1 in 1986-87, 10-1 in 1991-92 and 7-1 in 2012-13 ... UAA leads the GNAC in scoring margin (+13.3), assists per game (19.7), assist/turnover ratio (1.8), scoring defense (63.8) and 3FG% defense (.277) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, the Seawolves are 11th in A/T ratio, 14th in apg, and top 25 in turnovers per game (11.0), turnover margin, scoring defense and 3FGs per game ... the 18 three-pointers in UAA's win over Coast Guard marked the 7th-most in program history against an NCAA opponent.
 
BALANCING ACT: The Seawolves have not relied on star power to achieve their success so far, getting at least 7.0 points per game from seven players and at least 3.8 rebounds per game from five players, with no one playing more than 26.3 minutes ... Sr. F Niko Bevens leads the GNAC and ranks 22nd nationally with 3.7 3FGs  per game, plus other GNAC ranks of 16th in scoring (13.3 ppg), 5th in A/T ratio (3.3) and 7th in 3FG% (.478) ... Bevens broke UAA's single-game record for 3FG% (min. 6 attempts) against Coast Guard, sinking 8 of 9 treys in front of a nationally televised audience on ESPNU ... after averaging 3.4 ppg in a reserve role as a true freshman, So. G Tobin Karlberg has emerged as UAA's 2nd-leading scorer and 18th in the GNAC with 13.2 ppg ... the former local Grace Christian HS star has tallied at least 9 points in each game this year, posting other GNAC ranks of 17th in assists (2.3 apg), 9th in A/T ratio (2.8), 18th in steals (1.2 spg) and FG% (.517), 16th in 3FG% (.419) and 11th in 3FG per game (2.2) ... Jr. C Oggie Pantovic is the only Seawolf in the GNAC top 10 in scoring or rebounding, currently 10th with 6.8 rpg ... the transfer from Utah State-Eastern leads the Seawolves and ranks 16th in the league with a .522 FG%, and is tied with Jr. C David Riley for 5th in the league with 1.0 blocks per game ... Sr. G Jack Macdonald delivered a season-high 18 points in the win over San Francisco State last week and dished a career-high 8 assists (with no turnovers) in the victory over Sonoma State ... the CoSIDA Academic All-District performer is putting up 8.7 ppg so far, boosted by 9-of-20 3FG shooting, and he is tied for 4th nationally in FT%, making his first 15 charities ... UAA has gotten a major contribution from all five of its transfers thus far, including the backcourt trio of Sr. G Tyrus Hosley, Jr. G DeAndre Osuigwe and Jr. G Amari Hale ... Hosley, from Northwest Christian, has posted 7.8 ppg and holds GNAC top-10 ranks in assists (6th, 3.8 apg) and A/T ratio (8th, 2.9), while his 9 rebounds against S.F. State are the most by a Seawolf thus far ... Osuigwe, from State College of Florida, is 4th in the GNAC with 4.2 apg, and Hale, from Eastern Arizona, has delivered a 10/3 A/T ratio and 1.0 spg.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: Now in his 16th year at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (284-167) 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