THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Sat., Feb. 3 – 7 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
Alaska Fairbanks (4-13, 2-7 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (15-5, 5-4 GNAC)
 
TICKETS: GoSeawolves.com
LIVE VIDEO: youtube.com/UAASeawolves
LIVE STATS: GoSeawolves.com/sidearmstats/mbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2023-24 stats)
G—Dathan Satchell, 6-3, Sr. (8.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.7 apg, .330 3FG, .765 FT)
G—Tyson Gilbert, 6-2, Sr. (15.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.7 spg, .392 3FG, .771 FT)
G—Dillon Barrientos, 6-1, Jr. (10.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.9 apg, .330 3FG, 2.5 A/T)
F—Sawyer Storms, 6-7, Sr. (9.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.3 spg, .444 FG, .746 FT)
C—Sloan Lentfer, 6-7, Fr. (3.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, .471 FG)
 
RIVALRY RENEWS: The Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team returns to the Alaska Airlines Center on Saturday for a 7 pm tip against Alaska Fairbanks ... Saturday's game begins the second half of the 18-game GNAC schedule ... the top six teams in the final league standings advance to the GNAC Tournament, Mar. 7-9 in Ellensburg, Wash.
 
KNOW THE 'NOOKS: Alaska Fairbanks snapped a seven-game losing skid its last time out with a 72-67 home win over Western Oregon, pulling into an 8th-place tie at the midway point of the league season ... the Nanooks are led by Adbul Mohamed (15.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.5 apg, .816 FT) and Jaycson Bereal (9.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg, .495 FG, .406 3FG).
 
THE SERIES...
vs UAF: UAA 87-25 overall, 50-5 in Anchorage
Streak: UAA 1
Last: UAA 64-58 (1/6/24 at UAF)
Notes: UAA has won 30 of the last 34 meetings, although UAF has taken two of the last four ... UAA has won 19 straight in Anchorage (8-0 at Alaska Airlines Center) since a 73-70 UAF win, Feb. 22, 2003 ... 12 of the last 23 games have been decided by six points or less, or in overtime … UAA leads 34-8 in GNAC regular-season meetings (since 2001-02) … teams have met at least twice each year (with the exception of 2020-21, when neither played) since both became NCAA Div. II programs in 1977-78.
 
STRANGE HOME SPLIT: The Seawolves went 1-1 in their home games last week, falling 55-53 to sub-.500 Western Oregon before rallying for a 71-68 win over nationally No. 1/2-ranked Saint Martin's ... on Thursday, Sr. G Tyson Gilbert had 18 points (4-8 3FG), but the Wolves prevailed on a three-pointer with 1.4 seconds left to swipe the victory ... Sr. F Sawyer Storms added 11 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists as UAA suffered its first home loss of the season ... two nights later, Gilbert exploded for a career-high 28 points (8-13 FG, 5-7 3FG, 7-7 FT) – including 18 during a 6:32 span of the first half – as UAA beat a nationally top-5 ranked club for the first time since 2013 ... Jr. PG Dillon Barrientos had 12 points and 4 assists, and UAA got 8 points apiece from Storms, So. G Hasaan Herrington (UAA career-best 6 rebounds) and Sr. F Jaron Williams to help fend off SMU's comeback.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves are top-5 in the nation in scoring defense (3rd, 61.6 ppg) and 3FG% defense (4th, .290) ... UAA is also top 40 nationally in A/T ratio (19th, 1.45), turnover margin (20th, +4.0), assists per game (30th, 16.7) and turnovers forced per game (38th, 15.45) ... UAA paces the GNAC in scoring defense, assists per game, TO margin and 3FG% defense, and is top-3 in FG% defense (.421), A/T ratio, steals (7.8 spg) and rebounds allowed (32.5)  ... the Seawolves' 8-0 start was the best in program history, although many season-opening streaks were stopped by D-I opponents in the Great Alaska Shootout over the years ... UAA's .279 (12-43) opponent FG% against Hawaii Pacific was the best against a fellow D-II team since holding Simon Fraser to .273 (15-55) on Jan. 5, 2017 ... the 51-49 win over UT Tyler marked the third-fewest points scored by UAA in a victory, while the four turnovers at Hawaii Pacific were just one more than the program record (3, set twice) ... the Seawolves need just one more victory to clinch the program's 37th winning record in 46 seasons of NCAA Div. II existence ... UAA is also aiming for its 33rd winning conference record in 42 years in belonging to a league.
 
TYSON TOUGH: The Seawolves' top scorer and 6th in the GNAC stats with 15.1 ppg, Sr. G Tyson Gilbert has started his final season with double figures in 17 of the first 20 games, including a career-high 28 points (8-13 FG, 5-7 3FG, 7-7 FT) in the win over top-ranked Saint Martin's, 27 points (8-14 FG, 5-8 3FG, 6-6 FT) to power the 77-72 win over Chaminade, and his first career double-double (21 pts/10 rebs) in the win at Simon Fraser ... the MVP of the GNAC/PacWest Challenge, Gilbert also holds GNAC ranks of 3rd in steals (1.7 spg), 4th in A/T ratio (2.9), 1st in 3FGs per game (2.4), 14th in FT% (.771), 13th in 3FG% (.392) and 19th in assists (2.2 apg) ... after two seasons on the sidelines due to an Achilles' injury and heart surgery and Covid, the CSU Pueblo transfer finished as UAA's leading scorer (10.4 ppg) in his 2022-23 comeback campaign, earning honorable mention All-GNAC recognition ... Gilbert reached a major milestone with his last basket against NNU on Jan. 13, surpassing 1,000 career points (now 1,093) in his collegiate career.
 
STORMS WARNING: Another returning honorable mention All-GNAC performer, Sr. F Sawyer Storms is again displaying his all-around skills with league ranks of 7th in assists (3.0 apg), 8th in rebounding (6.4 rpg), 10th in steals (1.3 spg) and 15th in FT% (.745) ... UAA's third-leading scorer among active players (9.7 ppg), Storms has produced team season highs in steals (4 at SPU), blocks (3 vs CSUSB) and FTs made (9 at SPU), and snagged at least four rebounds in all but one game ... the Chaminade transfer dished 8 assists without a turnover to aid the 77-72 win over his former squad, and posted a season-high 17 points in the 83-67 win over Adams State.
 
'WOLF BITES: The Seawolves have shown impressive depth, getting at least 10 minutes per game from nine of their 12 active players ... Jr. G Dillon Barrientos ranks 2nd in the GNAC with 3.9 assists per game, along with 7th in A/T ratio (2.5) and 15th in 3FGs per game (1.6) ... a transfer from College of the Canyons (Calif.), Barrientos has averaged 12.8 ppg since Dec. 2, posting efforts of 19 points at UAF, 18 points (8-13 FG) at Simon Fraser and 15 points (3-4 3FG), 8 rebounds and 8 assists against Central Washington ... the most effective 'sixth man' in the GNAC this season, Sr. F Jaron Williams has scored double figures seven times, including five of the last eight contests ... the former East Anchorage HS star ranks 16th in the league at .483 FG%, along with 14th in steals (1.2 spg), 20th in assists (2.2) and 20th in A/T ratio (1.6) ... Williams's 11-of-13 FG (.846) performance at HPU tied for 13th on UAA's single-game accuracy list (min. 10 att.) and was the best since Jacob Lampkin shot 9 of 10 against UAF on Nov. 28, 2017 ... Williams was named the GNAC Player of the Week for his performance in Hawaii, which included his career- and UAA season-high 29 points against HPU ... a Preseason All-GNAC selection, Sr. G Dathan Satchell has snapped out of an early shooting slump to average 13.4 ppg over his last five games, including a career-high 24 points (8-11 FG, 6-8 3FG) in the 71-68 win over NNU ... Satchell ranks 9th in the GNAC with 1.9 3FGs per game.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: Now in his 19th season (20th year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (342-208) has led the Seawolves to .500-plus records in 15 of the 16 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 coach in any sport to reach 300 career victories when the Seawolves beat Hawaii Pacific on Nov. 13, 2021 … 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 (9th season/10th year) and Ryan Engebretsen (3rd season/4th year).
 
2023-24 Seawolf Individual Honors
TYSON GILBERT
GNAC/PacWest Challenge MVP
GNAC Player of the Week, Oct. 30-Nov. 5
DATHAN SATCHELL
Preseason All-GNAC Team
BISHOP TOSI
GNAC/Pac West Challenge All-Tournament Team
JARON WILLIAMS
GNAC Player of the Week, Dec. 9-19
Hoops In Hawaii Classic All-Tournament Team