THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL ...
 
Thu., Feb. 6, 6 pm AST — SFU West Gymnasium — Burnaby, B.C.
Alaska Anchorage (14-9, 7-5 GNAC) at Simon Fraser (12-9, 5-7 GNAC)
&
Sat., Feb. 8, 6 pm AST — Carver Gymnasium — Bellingham, Wash.
Alaska Anchorage at Western Washington (8-4, 13-7 GNAC [2/6 vs UAF])
 
LIVE VIDEO: gnac.tv ... or surf to each school's respective YouTube channel for a version that includes pause and rewind, Thursday at youtube.com/watch?v=ODg3TjyHnak and Saturday at youtube.com/channel/UCLQSDxZyF9ShD-1cyZTDSqg
 
LIVE STATS: gnac.tv
 
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAMBB Twitter feed for in-game updates.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2019-20 stats)
G—Amari Hale, 6-1, Jr. (4.0 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 2.7 apg, 62/17 A/T ratio)
G—Tobin Karlberg, 6-0, So. (11.8 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.0 spg, .522 FG, .520 3FG, .875 FT)
G—Jack Macdonald, 6-0, Sr. (9.0 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.5 apg, .485 FG, .481 3FG, .966 FT)
C—Oggie Pantovic, 6-7, Jr. (13.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.7 apg, .579 FG, .788 FT)
F—Niko Bevens, 6-6, Sr. (13.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.0 apg, .439 FG, .435 3FG, .905 FT)
 
TOUGH TESTS AT THE BORDER: The Seawolves will travel for five of their last eight regular-season contests, beginning with college basketball's lone international road trip, playing Thursday against Simon Fraser in Burnaby, British Columbia, and Saturday against regionally 10th-ranked Western Washington in Bellingham, Wash.
 
SCOUTING REPORTS: Following an 8-1 start, Simon Fraser has dropped eight of its last 12 and takes a three-game losing skid into Thursday's contest against UAA ... battling to get back to the GNAC Tournament for the second year in a row (top six qualify), the Clan are led by Jasdeep Singh (16.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.6 apg, .396 3FG, .719 FT) and Wilifried Balata (15.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.3 spg, .761 FT) ... ranked 10th in the D2SIDA West Region poll, Western Washington has lost three of its last four, following an eight-game win streak from Dec. 7-Jan. 18 ... the Vikings are led by GNAC Preseason Player of the Year Trevor Jasinsky (15.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 3.3 apg, 1.1 spg, .430 FG, .318 3FG, .820 FT) and Jalen Green (13.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.3 spg, .528 FG, .345 3FG, .810 FT).
 
THE SERIES...
vs. SFU: UAA leads 21-1 overall, 10-0 in Burnaby
Last: UAA 81-66 (1/11/20 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 1
Notes: Three of the last five games have been decided by seven points or less ... SFU broke through with its first win over UAA with a 67-63 OT decision last year in Anchorage ... UAA leads 18-1 in GNAC meetings since SFU joined the league in 2010-11 ... teams met twice in UAA's fi rst 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.
 
vs. WWU: WWU leads 23-17 overall, 11-7 in Bellingham
Last: WWU 74-70 (1/9/20 at UAA)
Streak: WWU 2
Notes: WWU has won four of the last five, with UAA's victory coming by a 76-66 count last year in Bellingham ... the last 10 games have been decided by 10 points or fewer ... WWU leads 21-16 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.
 
ABOUT LAST WEEK: The Seawolves made it three straight wins with a 92-81 victory over Saint Martin's on Thursday, before falling 79-73 against league leader Seattle Pacific two days later at the Alaska Airlines Center ... in the first game, So. G Tobin Karlberg had career highs of 22 points (7-10 FG, 5-7 3FG) and 9 rebounds, along with 6 assists and no turnovers, to help UAA sweep the season series from SMU ... Sr. F Niko Bevens poured in 16 points (4-10 FG), Sr. G Jack Macdonald had 12 points (5-6 FG), 4 assists and no turnovers, and Jr. G DeAndre Osuigwe earned his first double-double with 12 points and 11 assists in the victory ... Sr. G Tyrus Hosley added 12 points (4-6 3FG) to help the Seawolves break the program record with 15 treys in the first half and finish with at least 18 for the fourth time this year ... on Saturday, Jr. C Oggie Pantovic delivered 21 points (6-11 FG, 8-8 FT) and 12 rebounds and Karlberg tossed in 17 points (6-10 FG, 4-7 3FG), 3 assists, 3 steals and no turnovers, but the Falcons outlasted the Seawolves in the final minutes to sweep the season series for the second year in a row ... Hosley added 17 points (5-11 3FG) as UAA fell despite committing just seven turnovers.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA leads the GNAC in assists per game (18.3), assist/turnover ratio (1.6) and 3FGs per game (12.1), while ranking second in 3FG% (.399) and 3rd in turnover margin (+2.5) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, the Seawolves are 7th in 3FGs per game, 6th in A/T ratio, 13th in assists per game, 20th in 3FG% and 23rd in fewest turnovers per game (11.3) ... the 12.1 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 in both Saint Martin's wins ... the Seawolves' 15 steals at MSU Billings were their most against a D-II foe since Dec. 30, 2009.
 
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 2.6 rebounds per game from six players, with only one player averaging more than 23.4 minutes ... Sr. F Niko Bevens ranked No. 2 in the GNAC and 14th nationally with 3.5 3FGs  per game, along with league ranks of 19th in scoring (13.0 ppg) and 10th in 3FG% (.435, 35th nationally) ... the Beaverton, Ore., native has scored double figures in 16 of the last 19 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 162 treys in just 51 games, Bevens is already at 6th place on UAA's career 3FGs list, while his current streak of 30 games with at least one 3FG is just one shy of Kyle Fossman (2/11/12-2/28/13) for 4th-longest by a Seawolf ... 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 11.8 ppg, boosted by 17-of-24 3FG shooting the last two weeks ... the former local Grace Christian HS star has tallied double figures in 15 games thus far, holding GNAC ranks of 2nd in 3FG% (.520), 6th in 3FGs per game (2.3), 2nd in A/T ratio (2.9) and 17th in FG% (.522) ... 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, and he posted his 5th double-double last week against SPU ... Pantovic is the only Seawolf in the GNAC top 10 in scoring or rebounding, currently 8th with 7.0 rpg ... the transfer from Utah State-Eastern ranks 5th in the league and 31st nationally with a .579 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 9.0 ppg, boosted by .481 3FG shooting ... in the GNAC stats, Macdonald ranks No. 1 in FT% (.966), 4th in 3FG%, 3rd in A/T ratio (2.6) and 18th in assists (2.5 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 10.8 ppg and holds GNAC top-20 ranks in assists (16th, 2.6 apg), A/T ratio (6th, 2.3), 3FGs per game (11th, 2.0) and 3FG% (15th, .413), while his 3.3 rpg are 4th on the team ...  from State College of Florida, Osuigwe leds the GNAC and ranks 61st nationally with 4.8 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 20th in the league with 4.8 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 62 assists and committed just 17 turnovers in 426 minutes for the best A/T ratio in the league, while his 2.7 apg rank 14th.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: Now in his 16th year at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (293-175) 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