THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thu., Jan. 2 – 6 pm AST – SFU West Gymnasium – Burnaby, B.C.
Alaska Anchorage (8-7, 1-1 GNAC) at Simon Fraser (4-8, 0-2 GNAC)
&
Sat., Jan. 4 – 6 pm AST – Carver Gymnasium – Bellingham, Wash.
Alaska Anchorage at Western Washington (8-4, 0-2 GNAC [Thu. vs UAF])
 
LIVE VIDEO: Thursday – youtube.com/watch?v=L4n42lGeako
                       Saturday – youtube.com/wwuvikingsathletics
 
LIVE STATS: Thursday – athletics.sfu.ca/sidearmstats/mbball
                       Saturday – wwuvikings.com/sidearmstats/mbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2024-25 stats)
G—Sean Evans, 6-3, Sr. (11.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 3.9 apg, .329 3FG, .909 FT)
G—Tyler Burraston, 6-4, Jr. (14.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg, .406 3FG, .826 FT)
G—Zach Ibbetson, 6-3, So. (6.7 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 1.5 apg, .319 3FG)
F—Hasaan Herrington, 6-3, Jr. (7.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.9 apg, .526 FG, .737 FT)
F—Bishop Tosi, 6-6, Jr. (11.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.5 apg, .604 FG, .712 FT)
 
BORDER BATTLES: The Seawolves make their annual international excursion to begin 2025, visiting Simon Fraser in Canada on Thursday and recrossing the border to face Western Washington on Saturday in Bellingham ... both games start at 6 p.m. AST and mark UAA's first Great Northwest Athletic Conference road contests this season.
 
KNOW THE FOES: Idle since Dec. 7, Simon Fraser is trying to snap a three-game skid when it hosts the Seawolves on Thursday ... picked eighth in the GNAC preseason coaches' poll, the Red Leafs are led by Luke Howard (16.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg, .386 3FG) and Irish Coquia (14.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 4.8 apg, .373 3FG) ... tabbed sixth in the preseason poll, Western Washington snapped a three-game skid against D-II competition with a 70-68 neutral-court win over St. Mary's (Texas) in its last outing ... the Vikings are led by Will Wilson (15.6, 4.2 rpg, 4.3 apg, .512 FG, .372 3FG, .911 FT) and Grant Kepley (14.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 4.8 apg, .512 FG, .452 3FG, .868 FT).
 
THE SERIES...
vs SFU: UAA leads 27-2 overall, 13-1 in Burnaby
Streak: UAA 6
Last: UAA 83-81 (2/15/24 at UAA)
Notes: UAA has won three straight in Burnaby ... SFU earned its lone home victory over the Seawolves with a 92-81 decision, Feb. 6, 2020 ... the Seawolves won the first 20 games in series history ... UAA leads 24-2 in GNAC meetings since SFU joined the league in 2010-11 ... teams met twice in UAA's first year of Div. II membership in 1977-78, with UAA winning both 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 28-20 overall, 14-8 in Bellingham
Streak: UAA 1
Last: UAA 71-69 (2/17/24 at UAA)
Notes: Teams have split the last three season series ... WWU won 92-83 last year in Bellingham ... the road team has won five of the last 10 regular-season meetings ... the last 18 games have been decided by 10 points or fewer, including three OT contests ... WWU leads 25-19 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.
 
HAWAIIAN STYLIN': The Seawolves improved to 6-2 since Nov. 23 with a pair of double-digit victories at the Hoops In Hawaii Classic, Dec. 19-20 in Honolulu ... in the first game, Sr. G Tyler Burraston matched his own UAA season- and career-high 23 points (8-18 FG, 7-14 3FG) as the Seawolves dominated previously 8-2 Colorado State-Pueblo, 73-52 ... Sr. G Sean Evans finished with 14 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and just one turnover, Jr. F Bishop Tosi had 11 points (4-7 FG), and Jr. F Jesse Stines came off the bench with 7 points (3-3 FG) and 5 rebounds as UAA used a 41-25 rebounding advantage to spark a 23-5 difference in second-chance points ... in the non-conference finale, UAA matched its program record for scoring defense set earlier this season with a 76-27 thumping of Johnson & Wales (R.I.) ... Burraston had 18 points on his way to tourney MVP honors, while Tosi tallied 10 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists ... the Seawolves led 30-9 at halftime, also establishing a record for the fewest points allowed to an NCAA opponent in the opening half.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA holds top-10 NCAA Div. II national ranks in scoring defense (2nd, 58.3), assists per game (8th, 20.3) and assist/turnover ratio (8th, 1.81) ... the Seawolves are top-3 in the GNAC stats in 12 categories, including first in scoring defense, rebounding defense (29.9), turnovers forced (16.5), TO margin (+5.3), assists and A/T ratio ... UAA's .724 FG% against Portland Bible broke the program record of .700 (35-50) from an NCAA Tournament victory over UC Riverside on Mar. 7, 1986, while the 27 points allowed to Portland Bible and Johnson & Wales both broke the record set two years ago against Portland Bible ... after going 22-11 last year, UAA has earned 16 .500-or-better records in the past 17 seasons, and 37 winning records in 46 seasons of NCAA Div. II existence ... the 2023-24 Seawolves claimed the program's 33rd winning conference record in 42 years belonging to a league ... last year marked the 17th 20-win season for UAA since becoming an NCAA Div. II program in 1977-78.
 
'WOLF BITES: Since transferring north from fellow D-II program Nebraska-Kearney, Sr. G Sean Evans has emerged as the Seawolves' second-leading scorer at 11.7 ppg, notching double figures in 10 of 15 contests ... the Colorado native is 7th in the GNAC with 3.9 assists per game and 2nd in A/T ratio at 2.7, aiding the win over Newberry with 15 points and 7 assists ... Jr. G Tyler Burraston has scored double figures in eight straight games and 13 of 15 overall, capping December with MVP honors at the Hoops In Hawaii Classic ... Burraston matched his own UAA season-high 23 points in the victory over CSU-Pueblo and hit the game-winning trey against Newberry with one second left, averaging 16.3 ppg over UAA's current 6-2 stretch ... Burraston leads UAA with 14.1 ppg (13th GNAC) and a .406 3FG% (8th GNAC), while leading the conference with 3.5 treys per game (13th nationally) ... with back-to-back double-doubles and GNAC Player of the Week honors for his play against SMU and WOU, Jr. F/C Bishop Tosi has settled into a midseason form, averaging 12.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg and 4.0 apg over the last four games ... Tosi has scored double figures 11 times and snagged at least five rebounds in 10 of 15 games ... the former Bartlett High star is 8th in the GNAC in rebounding (6.2 rpg), 1st in offensive rebounding (2.9 orpg) and 4th in FG% (.604), shooting 23 of 34 over the last five games ... one of seven Alaskans on the Seawolf roster, Jr. G Hasaan Herrington has blossomed into one of the GNAC's most well-rounded players, averaging 7.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.9 apg and 1.3 spg, while shooting .526 from the field and .737 at the FT line ... the former East Anchorage HS star has improved his GNAC ranks to 13th in assists, 9th in FG%, 16th in steals and 5th in A/T ratio (2.2) ... other Seawolves in the GNAC top-20 stats leaders are Sr. G Dillon Barrientos (18th, 2.7 apg), So. G Zach Ibbetson (18th, 1.5 3FG/gm) and Jr. F Jesse Stines (20th, 0.6 bpg).
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: In his 20th season (21st year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (357-220) has led the Seawolves to six NCAA Tournament bids, including advancement to the 2008 NCAA Div. II Semifinals, and 16 records of .500-or-better in the last 17 seasons … 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 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 (10th season/11th year) and Ryan Engebretsen (4th season/5th year).
 
2024-25 Seawolf Individual Honors
DILLON BARRIENTOS
Preseason All-GNAC Team
TYLER BURRASTON
Hoops In Hawaii Classic MVP
BISHOP TOSI
GNAC Player of the Week, Dec. 2-8
Preseason All-GNAC Team
 
UAA School Records Broken/Tied in 2024-25
TEAM
Game
Fewest Points Allowed – 27 vs Portland Bible, Nov. 24; and vs Johnson & Wales, Dec. 20 (old record: 28 vs Portland Bible, 12/29/22)
Fewest Points Allowed, 2nd half – 11 vs Portland Bible, Nov. 24 (old record: 13 at Carver Bible, 12/30/99)
Highest FG% – .724 [42-58] vs Portland Bible, Nov. 23 (old record: .700 [35-50] vs UC Riverside, 3/7/86)