UAA men brace for Cougs, Colonels in Shootout - GoSeawolves.com - Official Athletics Website of the University of Alaska Anchorage

THIS WEEK IN SEAWOLF BASKETBALL…

32nd annual Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout
Sullivan Arena (cap. 8,700) — Anchorage, Alaska
Wednesday-Saturday, November 25-28

Wednesday, Nov. 25
7:30 pm (Pool A) — Washington State (3-0) at Alaska Anchorage (2-0)
9:45 pm (Pool B) — #17 Oklahoma (2-1) vs San Diego (2-1)
Thursday, Nov. 26
5 pm (Pool A) — Nicholls Sate (0-5) at Alaska Anchorage
7:30 pm (Pool B) — Houston (1-1) vs Oklahoma
Friday, Nov. 27
5 pm (Pool A) — Washington State vs Nicholls State
7:30 pm (Pool B) — Houston vs San Diego
Saturday, Nov. 28
2 pm — 5th/6th Place Game (Pool B #3 vs Pool A #3)
4:30 pm — 3rd/5th Place Game (Pool B #2 vs Pool A #2)
7 pm — Championship (Pool B #1 vs Pool A #1)

TV: All UAA games tape-delayed at 11 pm the same evening on KCFT Ch. 35 (GCI cable 19) in Anchorage and Mat-Su … all nine games live statewide in Alaska (except Anchorage & Mat-Su) … select other games shown live on select national and regional cable stations (check local listings).
RADIO: All games live on FM-93.7 KAFC and FM-88.1 KRUA in Anchorage
ONLINE: Video and audio (subscriptions) for all games available at GoSeawolves.com … video subscriptions are $19.95 for full-tourney package or $9.95 for one-day pass.

UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2009-10 stats)
G—Drew Robinson, 6-1, 185, Jr. (5.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.5 spg, 2-6 3FG)
G—Kevin White, 6-4, 200, Jr. (8.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 4.0 apg, 3-10 3FG)
G—Brandon Walker, 6-3, 200, Jr. (5.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.5 apg, 1.5 spg, 1.0 bpg, 4-5 FT)
F—Casey Robinson, 6-6, 235, Jr. (9.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, 5-14 3FG)
C—Malcolm Campbell, 6-9, 265, So. (15.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 2.0 bpg, 14-21 FG)

SCOUTING THE SHOOTOUT FIELD: Seawolf first-round opponent Washington State is the only visitor coming north with an unbeaten mark, getting home wins over Mississippi Valley State, Eastern Washington and IPFW … the Cougars are led by a pair of high-flying sophomores in G Klay Thompson (27.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.3 apg, .533 FG, .538 3FG) and F DeAngelo Casto (13.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.3 bpg, .552 FG) … winless Nicholls State, of the Southland Conference, will be playing in its fourth time zone in two weeks when it appears in Anchorage … the Colonels have dropped road games at Duquesne (Pa.), Houston, and New Mexico, and suffered neutral-court losses to Miami (Ohio) and Louisiana Tech … the Thibodaux, La., squad is led by Jr. G/F Anatoly Bose (19.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.2 apg, .325 3FG) … high scoring Houston, of Conference-USA, has beaten Nicholls State at home (92-60) and lost at Nevada (112-99) before coming north … Sr. G Aubrey Coleman paces the Cougars with impressive stats of 32.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 3.0 apg and 4.0 spg … nationally ranked Oklahoma held home court against Mount St. Mary’s and La.-Monroe in its first two games before being upset 82-69 at VCU … the Sooners, of the Big 12 Conference, are led by All-America candidate Willie Warren (15.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 6.7 apg, .870 3FG) … San Diego, of the West Coast Conference, has scored wins over Stanford and NAIA Point Loma Nazarene, while losing to Pacific on the road … the Toreros are paced by senior guards De’Jon Jackson (17.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.3 apg, .538 3FG) and Brandon Johnson (14.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg, .727 FT).

THE SERIES
vs. Washington State: WSU leads 3-0 (1-0 in Anchorage
Last Meeting: WSU 86, UAA 63 (1/3/94 at WSU)
Notes: WSU won the only Shootout meeting between the schools, 83-66 (11/25/81).
vs. Nicholls State: First meeting
vs. Houston: UH leads 2-1 (all in Anchorage)
Last Meeting: UAA 79, UH 78 (12/27/80 at UAA)
Notes: The teams met twice in Anchorage in Dec. 1979 (UH won 100-85 & 94-81) … none of the meetings occurred in the Shootout.
vs. Oklahoma: OU leads 2-0 (both meetings in Oklahoma)
Last Meeting: OU 102, UAA 70 (12/29/92 at Oklahoma City)
Notes: First meeting was a 101-81 OU win (1/3/90) … teams have never met in Shootout despite chances in 1983 and 2004.
vs. San Diego: USD leads 1-0
Last Meeting: USD 78, UAA 64 (12/21/85 at Austin, TX)

SO FAR, SO GOOD: The Seawolves started the season with a pair of road victories, sandwiched around a respectable exhibition loss at Division I Long Beach State on their Nov. 11-17 trip … in the season-opener, UAA had no trouble with NAIA American Sports University, winning 65-39 in San Bernardino, Calif. … the Seawolves were led by 13 points from So. C Malcolm Campbell and 10 from Jr. F Nick Pacitti in their UAA debuts, while Fr. F/C Liam Gibcus and Jr. F Casey Robinson chipped in with 9 and 8 points, respectively … Tiger Wright led the NAIA Eagles (0-1) with a game-high 15 points, but most of those came in the second half after UAA held ASU to just one field goal before halftime … UAA’s 35-7 advantage marked the fewest points allowed in any half by a Seawolf team, breaking the record of 11 against Lancaster Bible on Nov. 5, 2006 … after losing an 86-65 exhibition at Big West Conference favorite LBSU, the Seawolves earned an extremely important NCAA Div. II West Region road win, beating Hawaii Pacific 82-66 in Honolulu … Campbell scored a game-high 17 points against the Sea Warriors as UAA used a late second-half surge to pull away … the Seawolves also got 11 points apiece from Jr. G Donnie Lao, Jr. G Kevin White, Pacitti and Robinson as they shot 51 percent from the field and 44 percent from three-point range … Campbell grabbed a game-high 9 rebounds, while White – the most experienced Seawolf with 65 career games – had one of his best all-around performances, shooting just 4-of-10, but grabbing a career-high 8 rebounds and dishing 4 assists without a turnover … Pacitti (2-3 3FG) had 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals, while fellow JC transfer Lao enjoyed a perfect shooting night (2-2 FG, 1-1 3FG, 6-6 FT), doing all of his damage in just 10 minutes.

PLAYER NOTES: Jr. G Kevin White — the only player remaining from UAA’s 2008 Final 4 squad — earned 27 starting assignments in 28 games during his second season, leading the Seawolves in 3FGs (60) and ranking 2nd in assists (2.9), asst-TO ratio (1.59) and 3FG% (.435) … the Aussie had even stronger offensive numbers in 16 GNAC affairs, posting 9.4 ppg, 3.0 apg, and shooting .471 (41-87) … two games into his junior season, White ranked No. 10 on UAA’s career 3FG% list (.426), plus No. 16 in 3FGs made (95) … in the GNAC overall season stats last year, White ranked 5th in 3FG%, 6th in 3FGs per game (2.1) and 14th in assists (2.9 apg) … the Seawolves went 5-1 in GNAC games when White scored double figures … Jr. G Brandon Walker ranked 7th in the GNAC with his .423 3FG%, while holding other league ranks of 13th in rebounding (5.7 rpg), 15th in blocks (0.7) and 18th in FT% (.768) last year … the Div. I transfer from Loyola Marymount was UAA’s third-leading scorer (11.4 ppg), tallying double digits on 17 occasions … Walker also led the Seawolves with three double-doubles … So. G Steve White averaged nearly 15 minutes per game as a true freshman last year, posting a .511 FG% and a positive asst-TO ratio (40-35) .. redshirt Jr. F Casey Robinson was UAA’s leading scorer (15.0 ppg, 9-25 3FG) through 3 games last year when he was lost for the season with an MCL injury … So. C Malcolm Campbell, a transfer from Div. I program Hartford (Conn.), was part of a nationally ranked prep squad at storied Fairfax High School in L.A. … fellow Los Angelino and Jr. F Nick Pacitti did not play high school basketball but turned into an all-league performer at L.A. Trade Tech JC last year … Jr. Gs Drew Robinson (Salt Lake CC) and Donnie Lao (Snow College) are former JC rivals from the Scenic West Athletic Conference … Drew Robinson was part of a JC national championship last year at SLCC and also brings D-I experience after a redshirt freshman season at Southern Utah … Fr. G Bryce Arnott played this July for the Australian squad at the FIBA U-19 World Championships for Men in New Zealand … with the addition of Arnott and Fr. F/C Liam Gibcus, the Seawolves could put four Aussies on the court at the same time.

INJURY REPORT: The Seawolves begin the 2009-10 campaign free of any significant ailments.

PRESEASON PREDCITIONS: UAA was picked to finish fourth in the 9th annual GNAC preseason coaches’ poll, released Oct. 28:

Pl Team (1st-pl. votes)   08-09 Recs. Pts ’09 Finish
1. Seattle Pacific (4)   19-10, 11-5 76   3rd
2. Western Washington (4) 21-6, 13-3   72   1st
3. Central Washington (1) 18-7, 12-4   59   2nd
4. Alaska Anchorage       15-14, 9-7   53   5th
5. Montana St. Billings   10-17, 5-11 52   6th-t
6. Northwest Nazarene     14-13, 5-11 39   6th-t
7. Alaska Fairbanks       6-19, 3-13   22   9th
8. Saint Martin’s         22-8, 10-6   21   4th
9. Western Oregon         10-17, 4-12 13   8th

2008 SHOOTOUT RECAP: The Seawolves finished 1-2 at the 31st annual Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout, suffering narrow losses to Hampton and Northern Illinois before beating Louisiana Tech for 7th place … in the first game, UAA was led by career-high scoring efforts from Brandon Walker (23 pts, 7-12 FG, 4-7 3FG) and Jeremiah Trueman (21 pts, 9-11 FG, 6 reb), while Kenny Barker grabbed a game-high 8 rebounds in the 69-61 loss … in the consolation semifinals, UAA led for the middle portion of the game until NIU’s Sean Smith nailed four three-pointers in 3-plus minutes to down the Seawolves 71-68. UAA was paced by 20 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists from Barker, while Walker scored 14 points and grabbed 9 rebounds and 4 steals. Kevin White (12 points) and Jeremiah Trueman (10 points) also reached double digits … on the final day, Barker scored 17 of his game-high 23 points after halftime to lead UAA to a 62-57 victory over La. Tech in the 7th-place game. Barker also tallied 11 rebounds, 5 assists and sank the game-clinching free throws with 8 seconds left.

SEAWOLVES IN THE SHOOTOUT: The Seawolves, the only Division II team and the only school to appear in every Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout, sport a 29-64 (.312) all-time mark in the tournament, including 7-14 in the last seven years … the Seawolves have won at least one game in 25 of the 31 Shootouts, including a string of 13 straight from 1985-97 … UAA’s best finish has been 4th place, accomplished four times (1986, 1987, 1991, 2003) … UAA has pulled first-round upsets four times (Maine 1996, Wake Forest 1993, Texas Tech 1990, and Pacific 1979) … here is a list of the other teams UAA has beaten at the Shootout: Auburn (1989), Canisius (2003), Dayton (1992), Grambling State (1999), High Point (2004), Idaho (1991), Iona (1988), Jackson State (1994), Louisiana Tech (2008), Miami, Fla. (1987), Missouri (1985), Missouri-Kansas City (2006), Montana (2002), New Mexico (1983), Nicholls State (1980), Notre Dame (1998), Penn State (1978), Rhode Island (2000), Santa Clara (1991), Southern Illinois (2005), Texas State (1987, 2003), Texas (1986), TCU (1995) and Washington (1986).

LOOK OUT, GOLIATH: After going 1-2 last year, Division II UAA now owns a 49-129 all-time record against Division I opponents (regular-season only) … the Seawolves’ biggest upset came during the 1988-89 campaign when they beat then-No. 2 and undefeated Michigan, 70-66, at the Utah Seiko Classic; the Wolverines went on to win the NCAA title that year ... UAA has beaten at least one Division I school in 22 of the last 24 seasons.