THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL ...
 
Thu., Jan. 30, 7:30 pm AST — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, Alaska
Saint Martin's (4-15, 2-8 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (13-8, 6-4 GNAC)
&
Sat., Feb. 1, 7:30 pm AST — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, Alaska
Seattle Pacific (14-4, 10-0 GNAC [1/30 @UAF]) at Alaska Anchorage
 
LIVE STATS: goseawolves.com/sidearmstats/mbball
 
VIDEO: gnac.tv
 
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. (6.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 4.5 apg, 1.4 spg, .659 FT)
       or Amari Hale, 6-1, Jr. (4.3 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.5 apg)
G—Tobin Karlberg, 6-0, So. (11.1 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.9 apg, .506 FG, .500 3FG, .923 FT)
G—Jack Macdonald, 6-0, Sr. (8.9 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.4 apg, .483 FG, .493 3FG, .963 FT)
C—David Riley, 6-8, Jr. (2.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg, .476 FG)
       or Oggie Pantovic, 6-7, Jr. (12.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.6 apg, .581 FG, .758 FT)
F—Niko Bevens, 6-6, Sr. (13.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.1 apg, .449 FG, .452 3FG, .905 FT)
 
SECOND-HALF SPRINT BEGINS: Tied for third at the midpoint of the GNAC campaign, the Seawolves return to the Alaska Airlines Center this week to face 10th-place Saint Martin's and league-leading Seattle Pacific.
 
SCOUTING REPORTS: Saint Martin's brings an 11-game losing skid north, earning its last victories Dec. 5 at Northwest Nazarene and Dec. 7 at Central Washington ... the defending GNAC regular-season champions feature four double-digit scorers, led by Demonte Malloy (14.9 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 2.3 apg, .492 FG, .313 3FG, .605 FT) and CJ Jennings (13.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, .361 3FG, .762 FT) ... after losing its first four games, Seattle Pacific has been perhaps the hottest team in the nation, ripping off 14 straight wins – all by seven points or more ... ranked No. 5 in this week's D2SIDA West Region poll, the Falcons are led by Divant'e Moffitt (15.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.3 apg, .518 FG, .324 3FG, .785 FT) and Harry Cavell (12.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 2.1 apg, .488 FG, .400 3FG, .844 FT).
 
THE SERIES...
vs. SMU: UAA leads 32-11 overall, 20-4 in Anchorage
Last: UAA 96-57 (1/4/20 at SMU)
Streak: UAA 1
Notes: UAA snapped a 4-game skid against SMU Jan. 4 in Lacey, establishing a program record for largest margin of victory in a GNAC game ... SMU has won two straight and leads 3-2 at the Alaska Airlines Center, including last year's 69-53 final ... UAA leads 25-12 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.
 
vs. SPU: SPU leads 40-39 overall; UAA leads 28-13 in Anchorage
Last: SPU 83-76 (1/2/20 at SPU)
Streak: SPU 4
Notes: The road team has won nine of the last 13 meetings, including SPU's 65-64 victory last year in Anchorage ... SPU has won three straight and leads 5-1 at the Alaska Airlines Center, including a win in the 2018 GNAC Tournament quarterfinals ... seven of the last 11 games have been decided by five points or fewer, including two OT contests ... 20 of the last 28 games have been decided by 11 points or fewer … SPU leads 24-13 in GNAC regular-season meetings, with six games going to OT … SPU is UAA's 3rd-most common opponent (79 meetings) ... series started in UAA's first year of Div. II competition in 1977-78.
 
SWEET SWEEP: The Seawolves got back into the GNAC win column with a pair of victories last week, knocking off Alaska Fairbanks 105-86 in Anchorage and Montana State Billings 81-80 on the road ... in the first game, Sr. G Jack Macdonald scored a career-high 25 points (9-13 FG, 7-10 3FG) and dished 6 assists without a turnover, while Jr. C Oggie Pantovic had career highs of 24 points (13-14 FT) and 14 rebounds as UAA scored its most points in regulation against a D-II foe since a 115-98 win at Simon Fraser, Jan. 31, 2015 ... So. G Tobin Karlberg had 19 points (5-10 FG, 4-6 3FG, 5-5 FT) and career highs of 7 assists and 6 rebounds, Sr. F Niko Bevens scored 15 points (3-8 3FG) and Sr. G Tyrus Hosley had 13 points (3-6 3FG) and 5 rebounds to help UAA to its 17th straight home win over the Nanooks ... two days and 2,000 miles later, the Seawolves got 16 points – including the game-winning putback with 2.7 seconds left – 6 rebounds and 4 assists from Pantovic to take a thriller against the Yellowjackets ... Karlberg (4-4 3FG) had 16 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a career-high 5 steals, and Hosley added 16 points (7-7 FT), 3 assists and a career-high 4 steals as the Seawolves' 15 steals were their most against a D-II foe since Dec. 30, 2009.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA leads the GNAC in assists per game (17.6), assist/turnover ratio (1.5) and 3FGs per game (11.8), while ranking second in 3FG% (.394) and 3rd in turnover margin (+1.95) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, the Seawolves are 10th in 3FGs per game, 15th in A/T ratio, 20th in assists per game, 26th in 3FG% and 36th in fewest turnovers per game (11.8) ... the 11.8 3FGs per game are easily on pace for the second-highest average in program history, trailing only the 2013-14 squad's 13.0 3FGs/gm ... the 19 three-pointers against UAF tied for the 5th-most in program history and the 3rd-most against a Div. II opponent, just ahead of the 18 treys against Coast Guard and at Saint Martin's.
 
BALANCING ACT: The Seawolves have not relied on star power this season, getting at least 6.8 points per game from seven players and at least 2.7 rebounds per game from six players, with only one player averaging more than 23.5 minutes ... Sr. F Niko Bevens leads the GNAC and ranks 11th nationally with 3.7 3FGs  per game, along with league ranks of 17th in scoring (13.2 ppg) and 8th in 3FG% (.452, 18th nationally) ... the Beaverton, Ore., native has scored double figures in 15 of the last 17 games, including 19 points in the OT win over Western Oregon and 23 in the victory at Saint Martin's ... 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 ... with 157 treys in just 49 games, Bevens is just one shy of tying for 6th place on UAA's career 3FGs made list ... after averaging 3.4 ppg in a reserve role as a true freshman, So. G Tobin Karlberg has emerged as UAA's 3rd-leading scorer with 11.1 ppg, boosted by 8-of-10 3FG shooting last week ... the former local Grace Christian HS star has tallied double figures in 13 games thus far, holding GNAC ranks of 3rd in 3FG% (.500), 8th in 3FGs per game (2.0) and 4th in A/T ratio (2.3), while shooting .506 from the field ... with his big games in the wins over Western Oregon and UAF, Jr. C Oggie Pantovic became the first Seawolf to tally at least 20 points and 13 rebounds since Corey Hammell on Nov. 13, 2015 ... Pantovic is the only Seawolf in the GNAC top 10 in scoring or rebounding, currently 5th with 6.6 rpg ... the transfer from Utah State-Eastern ranks 5th in the league and 30th nationally with a .581 FG%, and is 8th in the GNAC with 0.7 blocks per game ... Sr. G Jack Macdonald has shown a penchant for big games in his final season as UAA's most experience player, including a career- and Seawolf season-high 25 points in the win over UAF; he also dished a career-high 8 assists (with no turnovers) in the victory over Sonoma State, and knocked down the winning 3FG at the buzzer to beat Western Oregon ... the CoSIDA Academic All-District performer is putting up 8.9 ppg, boosted by .493 3FG shooting ... in the GNAC stats, Macdonald ranks No. 1 in FT% (.963), 4th in 3FG%, 2nd in A/T ratio (2.6), 16th in 3FGs per game (1.8) and 19th in assists (2.4 apg) ... UAA has gotten major contributions from all five of its transfers, including the backcourt trio of Sr. G Tyrus Hosley, Jr. G DeAndre Osuigwe and Jr. G Amari Hale ... Hosley, from Northwest Christian, is the team's 4th-leading scorer at 10.4 ppg and holds GNAC top-20 ranks in assists (13th, 2.7 apg), A/T ratio (5th, 2.4), 3FGs per game (14th, 1.8) and 3FG% (18th, .391), while his 3.5 rpg are 4th on the team ...  from State College of Florida, Osuigwe ranks 2nd in the GNAC and ranks 76th nationally with 4.5 assists per game ... Osuigwe has also proven one of the best-rebounding guards in Div. II, grabbing 12 boards against Western Oregon and ranking second on the team and 18th in the league with 5.1 rpg ... Osuigwe's 5 steals at Saint Martin's were the most for a Seawolf since Suki Wiggs had 6 at NW Nazarene on Feb. 25, 2016, and he ranks 8th in the GNAC with 1.4 swipes per game ... Hale, from Eastern Arizona, has delivered 53 assists and committed just 16 turnovers in 402 minutes for the best A/T ratio in the league, while his 2.5 apg rank 17th.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: Now in his 16th year at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (292-174) 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).
 
2019-20 SEAWOLF INDIVIDUAL HONORS
NIKO BEVENS
Preseason All-GNAC Team
Seawolf Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team
TYLER BRIMHALL
Preseason All-GNAC Team (unanimous)
Seawolf Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team
TOBIN KARLBERG
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
OGGIE PANTOVIC
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
Seawolf Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team
D2 Power Invitational All-Tournament Team