THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thu., Dec. 1 – 5:15 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
Montana State Billings (4-2, 0-0 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (4-3, 0-0 GNAC)
&
Sat., Dec. 3 – 7:30 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
Seattle Pacific (4-2, 0-0 GNAC [12/1 @UAF]) at Alaska Anchorage
 
LIVE VIDEO: youtube.com/@UAASeawolves
LIVE STATS: goseawolves.com/sidearmstats/mbball
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAMBB Twitter feed for in-game updates.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2022-23)
G—Da'Zhon Wyche, 5-10, Sr. (16.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 4.9 apg, 3.1 spg, .800 FT)
G—AJ Garrity, 6-3, Sr. (5.9 ppg, 2.3 rpg, .813 FG, .833 3FG)
G—Dathan Satchell, 6-3, Jr. (7.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg)
F—Jaedon Bradley, 6-5, Jr. (10.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, .480 3FG, .842 FT)
F—Sawyer Storms, 6-7, Jr. (12.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.3 apg, .589 FG, .679 FT)
 
GNAC ON TAP: The Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team takes a break from non-conference play to host its annual early-season Great Northwest Athletic Conference openers this week at the Alaska Airlines Center ... the Seawolves will face a pair of their oldest rivals, taking on Montana State Billings at 5:15 p.m. Thursday and Seattle Pacific at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Montana State Billings got off to a 4-0 start before dropping road contests against Black Hills State (97-38) and South Dakota Mines (76-71) last week ... picked for third in the GNAC preseason coaches' poll, the Yellowjackets are led by Carrington Wiggins (15.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.3 apg,1.8 spg, .935 FT) and Bilal Shabazz (11.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.8 spg, .429 FG) ... Seattle Pacific has gone 2-2 against fellow NCAA Div. II opponents, with wins over Concordia-Irvine (79-70) and Chico State (84-79) ... the Falcons – picked No. 5 in the GNAC preseason poll – are led by Shaw Anderson (GNAC-best 22.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.0 apg, .551 FG, .519 3FG, .921 FT) and Zack Paulsen (15.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.0 apg, .583 FG, .486 3FG, .826 FT).
 
THE SERIES...
vs MSUB: UAA leads 49-33 overall, 33-6 in Anchorage
Streak: UAA 4
Last: UAA 64-57 (2/8/22 at UAA)
Notes: UAA's current 4-game win streak equals the largest for either team in series history ... UAA leads 20-8 in GNAC regular-season meetings since MSUB joined the league in 2007-08 ... MSUB is UAA's 3rd-most common opponent … teams met at least twice per season each year between 1981-82 and 2000-01 as members of the Great Northwest and Pac West conferences ... first meeting was in 1977-78 ... in 19 games from 1994-2001, teams combined to score 90-plus a total of 31 times ... in 30 games since the series resumed in 2008, neither has scored more than 90 points.

vs SPU: Tied 42-42 overall; UAA leads 29-14 in Anchorage
Streak: UAA 1
Last: UAA 88-75 (3/3/22 at SPU – GNAC Qtrs)
Notes: The road team has won 12 of the last 18 meetings ... nine of the last 16 games have been decided by five points or fewer, including two OT contests ... 23 of the last 33 games have been decided by 11 points or fewer … SPU leads 26-14 in GNAC regular-season meetings, with six games going to OT … SPU is UAA's 2nd-most common opponent (83 meetings) ... series started in UAA's first year of Div. II competition in 1977-78.

 
KINGS OF THE NORTH: The Seawolves got back in the win column by taking the title of the Mt. McKinley North Star Bank Invitational last week in Fairbanks, earning victories over Westminster (81-77) and Texas A&M International (65-48) ... in the opener, Jr. F Sawyer Storms came one point shy of his collegiate scoring high with 23 points (8-12 FG, 6-6 FT) and Jr. G Tyson Gilbert had his best game as a Seawolf with 16 points (6-11 FG, 4-9 3FG) and 4 rebounds to outlast the Griffins at the Patty Center ... Sr. G AJ Garrity added 9 points (2-2 FG, 1-1 3FG, 4-5 FT) and tied his career high with 3 steals, while So. G Lachlan Viney had 8 points (3-6 FG), 3 assists and 3 steals off the bench ... on Saturday, Sr. PG Da'Zhon Wyche had 20 points, 8 assists and tied his collegiate high with 9 rebounds as UAA handed the Dustdevils their first loss in six games ... Storms added 12 points (5-8 FG) and Jr. G Dathan Satchell had 11 points, while UAA's defensive effort marked its fewest points allowed to a D-II foe since Nov. 9, 2019 ... Wyche was named tourney MVP and was joined by Storms on the all-tournament team.
 
'WOLF BITES: Sr. G Da'Zhon Wyche has shown the scoring touch that earned him nearly 1,500 career points at his previous collegiate stops, averaging a team-high 16.1 points in his first seven games in Green & Gold ... the former West Anchorage HS star ranks 4th in the early GNAC stats in scoring, 2nd in assists (4.9 apg) and A/T ratio (3.4), plus a league-leading 3.1 steals per game (4th nationally) ... Wyche also leads UAA with 4.9 rebounds per game (16th in GNAC) after tying his career high from his days at UT Tyler with 9 boards against TAMIU ... Jr. G Sawyer Storms has been a consistent force since transfering from regional rival Chaminade, producing double-figure scoring in five of seven outings, including 23 points in the win over Westminster ... the Idaho native ranks 16th in scoring (12.6 ppg) and 8th in FG% (.589) in the GNAC stats, while his 4.1 rebounds per game are second-best on the team ... Sr. G AJ Garrity leads the GNAC with a blazing .833 (10-12) 3FG% ... the SoCal native has gone 5 of 5 from deep over the last three games, with two-game totals of 15 points (4-4 FG, 3-3 3FG, 4-5 FT), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steals and no turnovers last week in Fairbanks ... Jr. F Jaedon Bradley premiered with double-figure scoring in his first five games as a Seawolf, prior to being slowed by illness last week ... the CSU-Pueblo transfer ranks 7th in the GNAC in FT% (.842) and 8th in 3FG% (.480) ... other Seawolves among the current GNAC leders include Jr. G Jaron Williams at 3rd in A/T ratio (3.3) and 6th in steals (1.7 spg),  Jr. G Dathan Satchell at 14th in 3FGs per game (1.6) and So. G Lachlan Viney at 17th in 3FG% (.389).
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA leads the GNAC stats in turnover margin at plus-8.3, while ranking 3rd in A/T ratio (1.3) and steals per game (9.1) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, the Seawolves are No. 5 in turnover margin and 15th in turnovers forced per game (20.0) ... the Seawolves have won 13 of their last 14 games at the Alaska Airlines Center ... this year's club is aiming for the 16th winning record in the program's last 17 seasons (the other was .500) and the 37th in 45 seasons of program history ... UAA also boasts 32 winning league records in 40 years of conference play, including 16 of 20 years in the GNAC.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: In his 18th season (19th year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (318-192) has now led the Seawolves to 15 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 by associate head coach Ryan Orton (8th season/9th year), Jalon McCullough (2nd season) and volunteer assistant Ryan Engebretsen (2nd season/3rd year).
 
2022-23 Seawolf Individual Honors
SAWYER STORMS
Mt. McKinley North Star Bank Invitational All-Tournament Team
DA'ZHON WYCHE
Mt. McKinley North Star Bank Invitational MVP
Preseason All-GNAC Team