THIS WEEK IN SEAWOLF MEN'S BASKETBALL...
Thursday, Feb. 21 — 7 pm AST — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, AK
Western Washington (12-13, 6-9 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (13-11, 8-8 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Feb. 23 — 7 pm AST — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, AK
Simon Fraser (12-11, 6-9 GNAC [2/21 @UAF]) at Alaska Anchorage
LIVE VIDEO & STATS: Both games free at gnac.tv or portal.stretchinternet.com/uaa
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAMBB Twitter feed for in-game updates & final scores.
PROBABLE UAA STARTERS (2018-19 stats)
G—Jack Macdonald, 6-0, Jr. (10.9 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.3 apg, .453 FG, .371 3FG, .825 FT)
G—Brennan Rymer, 6-0, So. (9.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 4.2 apg, .476 FG, .444 3FG, .841 FT)
C—Brian Pearson, 6-9, Sr. (5.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.5 bpg, .448 FG, .722 FT)
F—Tyler Brimhall, 6-5, Jr. (18.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.8 apg, .466 FG, .421 3FG, .817 FT)
F—Niko Bevens, 6-6, Jr. (12.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.7 apg, .425 FG, .391 3FG, .757 FT)
SCOUTING REPORT: Having made the GNAC Tournament in every year of its existence, Western Washington has lost five of its last six to fall into danger of missing this year's 6-team affair, which will be held in Bellingham ... coming off just a single game last week due to a weather postponement of their Feb. 12 game at Simon Fraser, the Vikings are led by Trevor Jasinsky (19.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 2.4 apg, .420 FG, .364 3FG, .884 FT) and Leif Anderson (8.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 2.3 apg, .500 FG, .475 3FG) ... Simon Fraser had its recent 3-game winning streak halted at MSU Billings (83-60) last week, although the Clan still remain in contention for their first-ever GNAC Tourney berth ... the NCAA's lone Canadian program is led by Julian Roche (14.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 0.9 bpg, .579 FG, .672 FT) and Wilfried Balata (12.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.0 spg, .367 3FG, .652 FT).
ALL-TIME VS. WWU: WWU leads 21-17 overall
In Anchorage: UAA leads 10-8
Last: UAA 70-63 (1/26/19 at WWU)
Streak: UAA 1
Notes: Teams have split the last 12 meetings ... the last eight games have been decided by 10 points or fewer ... the Vikings won 70-61 last season in Anchorage ... WWU leads 19-16 in GNAC regular-season games (since 2001-02) ... first and only non-GNAC meeting was an 89-77 UAA home win, Jan. 20, 2000, when both schools were in the Pac West.
ALL-TIME VS. SFU: UAA leads 20-0 overall
In Anchorage: UAA leads 10-0
Last: UAA 74-53 (1/24/19 at SFU)
Notes: UAA has won all 17 meetings since SFU joined the GNAC
in 2010-11, posting 12 double-digit victories ... UAA won 53-46 last season in Anchorage in the lowest-scoring contest in series history ... teams met twice in UAA's first year of Div. II membership in 1977-78, with UAA winning twice at home … teams also met when SFU was a provisional NCAA member in 1999-00 and both teams were in the Pac West Conference.
ABOUT LAST WEEK: The Seawolves closed the road portion of its regular-season schedule with a split at Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington last week ... on Thursday, Jr. F Tyler Brimhall had 19 points (3-6 3FG, 6-6 FT) and Fr. G Tobin Karlberg added a career-high 14 points but the Seawolves were outrebounded 37-37 and outshot .533 to .463 in an 87-77 loss to the second-place Nighthawks ... Sr. C Brian Pearson had 11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks against NNU ... on Saturday, So. G Brennan Rymer dominated with career highs of 30 points and 9 rebounds, along with 9 assists in a 92-85 win over the Wildcats ... Brimhall accounted for 21 points (9-14 FG) and 9 rebounds, Pearson had 15 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks, and Jr. G Jack Macdonald and Jr. F Niko Bevens added 11 points apiece as the Seawolves shot 55 percent and outrebounded the hosts 36-28 to earn the season sweep of CWU.
TEAM NOTES: UAA ranks in the top 50 of the NCAA national stats in assist/turnover ratio (37th, 1.31), assists per game (30th, 16.6 apg) and 3FG% (41st, .388) ... the Seawolves lead the GNAC in assists per game and rank 2nd in 3FG% and rebounding defense (31.9), along with 3rd in scoring defense (70.9), A/T ratio and offensive rebound pct. (.317) ... UAA is seeking the program's 14th straight winning season and the 36th in 42 years ... the Seawolves have earned eight straight winning GNAC records and qualified for the GNAC Tournament every year since its founding in 2011.
KILLER B's: The Seawolves have gotten a predictably large impact from its two players with Div. I experience, getting a nearly 30 points per game from the combo of Jr. Fs Tyler Brimhall (Idaho) and Niko Bevens (Montana) ... Brimhall, who transfered directly from North Idaho College, was UAA's representative on the Preseason All-GNAC Team and currently ranks 4th in the league in scoring (18.0 ppg) and 6th in rebounding (6.7 rpg), plus 4th in 3FGs per game (2.8), 4th in minutes per game (31.3), 12th in FT% (.817) and 14th in 3FG% (.421) ... sporting a team-high four double-doubles, the Utah native has scored at least 21 points in 12 games, while grabbing at least seven rebounds in 14 of 24 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 has tallied double digits in 17 games, including 28 points in the 83-79 road win over Hawaii Pacific ... Bevens' seven first-half treys against HPU were the most ever for a Seawolf before the break and his eight 3FGs in the victory tied for 7th on UAA's single-game list ... in the GNAC stats, he ranks 18th in scoring (12.4 ppg), 2nd in 3FGs per game (3.0, 42nd nationally), 19th in 3FG% (.391) and 3rd in minutes per game (32.5).
INTERIOR EXPERIENCE: The Seawolves' most experienced player with 93 career games, Sr. C Brian Pearson has climbed to 3rd on UAA's career blocks list, now with 92 ... the Nevada native also stands 5th in blocks per game with 0.99 ... Pearson leads the GNAC and ranks 65th nationally with 1.5 bpg, swatting multiple shots in nine games ... following a season away from basketball, Jr. F Sjur Berg has come on strong with .500-or-better shooting in his last 18 games and double-figure scoring in seven of his last 15 contests ... the Norwegian – who has missed the last three games with an injury – had career-highs of 14 points (5-8 FG, 4-4 FT), 14 rebounds and 4 blocks in the Nov. 23 win over South Dakota Mines, and he bettered his top scoring effort with 18 points in the win over defending GNAC champ Western Oregon ... Berg has grabbed at least five rebounds in 12 of his last 20 games to rank 11th in the league (6.0 rpg), along with 4th in FG% (.606) and 6th in offensive rebounds per game (2.2) ... a regular in the lineup since his arrival at UAA in 2014, Berg ranks 9th on the program's career FG% list at .558.
AUSSIE, AUSSIE: The ninth and tenth Australians to suit up for the Seawolves in the past 15 seasons, So. PG Brennan Rymer and Jr. G Jack Macdonald have established themselves as regulars in the starting lineup in their second seasons at UAA ... Rymer has shown improvement from his rookie season in all categories, averaging 9.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg and a team-high 4.2 apg ... the Sydney native has scored double figures in 12 of the last 19 games and dished at least four assists in 10 of the last 13 contests, including his 30-point, 9-rebounds, 9-assist effort in the 92-85 win at Central Washington ... Rymer has risen to 2nd in the GNAC in assists per game, 15th in assist-turnover ratio (1.9) and 7th in FT% (.841), shooting an impressive .444 from long range as well ... meanwhile, Macdonald (Melbourne) has raised his scoring average from 8.7 to 10.9 ppg in the last 11 games, producing his best GNAC scoring totals with 18 points (8-11 FG) at SPU, a career-high 23 points (9-15 FG) in the home win over CWU, 18 points (3-7 3FG, 9-10 FT) in the win over NNU, a team-high 17 points (6-11 FG, 3-5 3FG, 2-2 FT) at WWU and 17 points (6-10 FG) at Concordia ... the Melbourne native also dished a career-high 6 assists against NNU and now holds GNAC ranks of 30th in scoring, 19th in assist-turnover ratio (1.9) and 9th in FT% (.825).
TRUST IN RUSTY: Now in his 15th year at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (278-163) has led the Seawolves to 13 straight winning seasons, 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 by Ryan Orton (5th season) and Shane Rinner (7th season).
2018-19 SEAWOLF INDIVIDUAL HONORS
Tyler Brimhall
Preseason All-GNAC Team
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
GNAC Player of the Week, Jan. 14-20
Jack Macdonald
GNAC All-Academic Team
Brian Pearson
GNAC All-Academic Team
Brennan Rymer
Seawolf Jamboree All-Tournament Team
GNAC All-Academic Team
