THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL ...
 
Thur., Jan. 9, 7:30 pm AST — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, Alaska
Western Washington (8-4, 3-1 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (10-5, 3-1 GNAC)
&
Sat., Jan. 11, 5:15 pm AST — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, Alaska
Simon Fraser (10-3, 3-1 GNAC [1/9 @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. (7.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 4.5 apg, .394 3FG, .643 FT)
G—Tobin Karlberg, 6-0, So. (11.9 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.7 apg, .528 FG, .471 3FG, .882 FT)
C—David Riley, 6-8, Jr. (2.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg, .500 FG, .563 FT)
F—Tyler Brimhall, 6-5, Sr. (9.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 0.9 apg, .350 FG, .263 3FG, .800 FT)
F—Niko Bevens, 6-6, Sr. (13.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.3 apg, .443 FG, .463 3FG, .923 FT)
 
BACK HOME VS. BORDER SCHOOLS: The Seawolves return to the Alaska Airlines Center for the first time since Dec. 7 when they host fellow early contenders Western Washington and Simon Fraser this week ... this week will help shake out the GNAC standings, which see the four teams currently tied for second place go head-to-head with one another, including Thursday's SFU at UAF tilt.
 
SCOUTING REPORTS: GNAC preseason coaches' poll favorite Western Washington has won four straight and six of its last seven, double-digit home victories last week over Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene ... the Vikings, from Bellingham, Wash., are led by GNAC preseason player of the year Trevor Jasinsky (16.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.8 apg, .462 FG, .365 3FG, .836 FT) and Jalen Green (13.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.8 bpg, .530 FG, .375 3FG, .909 FT) ...  picked third in the preseason poll, Simon Fraser has split its last four games following an eight-game winning streak ... the Clan, from Burnaby, British Columbia, are led by Jasdeep Singh (17.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.9 apg, .479 FG, .382 3FG, .667 FT) and Wilfried Balata (15.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 2.7 apg, .420 FG, .779 FT).
 
THE SERIES...
vs. WWU: WWU leads 22-17 overall; UAA leads 10-9 in Anchorage
Last: WWU 76-66 (2/21/19 at UAA)
Streak: WWU 1
Notes: WWU has won three of the last four, including two straight wins in Anchorage ... the last nine games have been decided by 10 points or fewer ... UAA leads 3-2 at the Alaska Airlines Center ...  WWU leads 20-16 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.
 
vs. SFU: UAA leads 20-1 overall, 10-1 in Anchorage
Last: SFU 67-63, OT (2/23/19 at UAA)
Streak: SFU 1
Notes: Three of the last four games have been decided by seven points or less ... prior to last season's loss, UAA had won all 17 meetings since SFU joined the GNAC in 2010-11, posting 12 double-digit victories ... 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.
 
SOLID ROAD SPLIT: The Seawolves got back into GNAC play last week with a hard-fought 83-76 loss at current league leader Seattle Pacific, before blasting Saint Martin's for a historic 96-57 victory Saturday in Lacey ... at SPU, Jr. C Oggie Pantovic tallied 16 points (7-11 FG) and 10 rebounds but the Seawolves were hurt by a 38-30 rebounding disadvantage as their late comeback attempt fell short ... So. G Tobin Karlberg came off the bench with 15 points (6-8 FG, 3-5 3FG) and 2 blocks, while Sr. G Tyrus Hosley added 10 points in the loss ... two days later, Pantovic posted 13 points (6-8 FG) and 11 rebounds, and Sr. F Niko Bevens produced 23 points (7-12 3FG) and 7 rebounds to boost UAA to its second-largest GNAC victory and largest on the road in 19 years of league play ... Hosley had 18 points (7-11 FG), Karlberg had 14 points (4-5 FG, 3-4 3FG, 3-3 FT), and Sr. F Tyler Brimhall had 10 points and 6 rebounds as UAA shot 51.5 percent and tied a season high with 18 3FGs.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves fell out of the D2SIDA West Region rankings with their three losses since the last poll on Dec. 16, atlhough they would have a chance to impress voters and improve their playoff chances with wins this week over quality opponents ... UAA leads the GNAC in assists per game (18.5), A/T ratio (1.5) and 3FGs per game (11.9), while ranking 2nd in scoring defense (71.8) and turnover margin (1.47) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, the Seawolves are 15th in assists, 16th in A/T ratio, 12th in 3FGs per game and 39th in turnovers per game (12.2) and 40th in 3FG% ... the 11.9 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 18 three-pointers in UAA's wins over Coast Guard and at Saint Martin's marked the 7th-most in program history against NCAA opponents.
 
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 2.9 rebounds per game from five players, with only one player averaging more than 24 minutes ... Sr. F Niko Bevens leads the GNAC  and ranks 9th nationally with 3.7 3FGs  per game, along with ranks of 17th in scoring (13.3 ppg) and 7th in 3FG% (.463, 26th nationally) ... the Beaverton, Ore., native has scored double figures in nine of the last 11 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 ... 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 with 11.9 ppg ... the former local Grace Christian HS star has tallied double figures in 10 games thus far, including the last five in a row ... Karlberg holds current GNAC ranks of 6th in 3FG% (.471), 8th in 3FGs per game (2.1), 10th in A/T ratio (2.2) and 15th in FG% (.528) ... with his big game in the win over Western Oregon, Jr. C Oggie Pantovic became the first Seawolf to tally at least 20 points and 13 rebounds since Corey Hammell posted 24 and 15 against Chaminade on Nov. 13, 2015 ... Pantovic is the only Seawolf in the GNAC top 10 in scoring or rebounding, currently 7th with 6.9 rpg ... the transfer from Utah State-Eastern ranks 5th in the league and 23rd nationally with a .598 FG%, and is 5th in blocks per game (0.9 bpg) as well ... Sr. G Jack Macdonald delivered a season-high 18 points in the win over San Francisco State 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 7.4 ppg, boosted by .429 3FG shooting ... in the GNAC stats, Macdonald leads with 20-of-20 FT shooting, and is 9th in A/T ratio (2.2), 19th in assists (2.4 apg) and 12th in 3FG% ... 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, is the team's 4th-leading scorer at 10.7 ppg and holds GNAC top-15 ranks in assists (11th, 3.1 apg) and A/T ratio (6th, 2.5), while his 3.4 rpg are 4th on the team ...  from State College of Florida, Osuigwe is 2nd in the GNAC with 4.5 apg, and has proven one of the best-rebounding guards in the league, grabbing 12 boards against WOU and ranking second on the team with 5.1 rpg ... last week, 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 ... Hale, from Eastern Arizona, has delivered 43 assists and committed just 12 turnovers in 298 minutes for the 2nd-best A/T ratio in the league, while his 2.9 apg rank 14th.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: Now in his 16th year at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (289-171) 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