Sat., Jan. 19 — 7:30 pm AST — Patty Center — Fairbanks, AK Alaska Anchorage (10-4, 3-3 GNAC)
at Alaska Fairbanks (10-4, 5-1 GNAC)
MEDIA DETAILS … TV: None RADIO: Live on FM-93.7 KAFC ONLINE: Catch free live video via Stretch Internet and live stats at alaskananooks.com … … follow Seawolf Athletics on Facebook (Alaska Anchorage Seawolves) and Twitter (@UAASeawolves) to get halftime and final-score updates.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Alaska Fairbanks has not lost since November, riding a 6-game winning streak into Saturday’s showdown … the Nanooks feature four double-digit scorers, including by 6-2 Sr. G Dominique Brinson (15.0 ppg, 2.6 apg, .415 3FG, .889 FT), 5-11 Jr. PG Pat Voeut (12.6 ppg, 5.2 apg, .529 FG, .829 FT) and 6-11 Sr. C Sergej Pucar (10.6 ppg, 8.5 rpg).
ALL-TIME SERIES: UAA leads 70-21 (30-16 at UAF) Last Meeting: UAA 79-74 (2/23/12 at UAF) / Streak: UAA 13 / Notes: UAA has won six straight in Fairbanks … UAF’s last win overall was 76-73 in Fairbanks, Jan. 28, 2006 … the longest streak in series history is 14 in a row for UAA from Jan. 20, 1990 to Feb. 25, 1995 … … UAA leads 17-5 in GNAC meetings (since 2001-02) and 40-9 since 1990 … teams have met at least twice each year since both becoming NCAA Div. II programs in 1977-78.
TEAM COMPARISONS UAA UAF
Overall Record 10-4 10-4
Conference Record 3-3 5-1
UAA Road/Opp. Home 0-2 7-1
Points per Game 76.8 78.4
Points Allowed/Game 68.6 67.9
Rebounding Diff. +4.1 +8.7
Assists per Game 19.2 18.3
Turnovers per Game 13.6 14.8
Steals per Game 5.6 7.9
Blocks per Game 3.9 3.6
FG% .460 .463
3-pt FG% .400 .355
FT% .718 .710
BACK ON TRACK: UAA snapped a 3-game GNAC losing streak and ran its Wells Fargo Sports Complex record to 8-1 with victories over Western Oregon (82-56) and Saint Martin’s (74-71), Jan. 10 & 12 … in the first game, Jr. G Kyle Fossman scored 21 points (8-12 FG, 5-7 3FG) as UAA won its sixth straight against the Wolves … the Seawolves also got 11 points (5-8 FG) and career-high 5 assists from So. G Teancum Stafford, plus 10 points (4-8 FG, 2-4 3FG) from Sr. F Abebe Demissie … Sr. C Liam Gibcus grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds – including 10 on the offensive end – as six different Seawolves scored 9 points or more … the Seawolves’ 11 team steals were their most against a fellow Div. II opponent this season, and they outrebounded the Wolves 45-18, matching the 10th-fewest rebounds allowed in program history … on Saturday, Jr. G Colton Lauwers scored 15 points (4-5 3FG, 3-3 FT) and Jr. G Mike MacKelvie delivered a big second half off the bench to help UAA improve to 17-1 all-time against the Saints in Anchorage … MacKelvie, who scored all 12 of his points (4-6 FG, 4-5 FT) after halftime, was fouled on a jumper with 18 seconds to go and made one of two at the line, and UAA’s tight defense forced the Saints to miss a pair of shots in the final five seconds … UAA earned the win despite a rough shooting night from Fossman (8 pts, 3-18 FG), but the Haines product did plenty of other things to help, with his 8 rebounds and 6 assists both one shy of matching career-highs; he also had three of UAA’s five steals … Demissie grabbed 7 rebounds, while Fr. PG Jalen Little dished 4 assists.
TEAM NOTES: UAA leads the GNAC in 3FGs made per game with 9.9 per contest, while ranking 2nd in assists (19.2 apg) and asst.-turnover ratio (1.4) … in the NCAA Div. II national stats, the Seawolves are in the top 20 in four categories — 8th in assists, 8th in assist-TO ratio, 8th in 3FGs per game and 20th in 3FG% (.400) … by beating WOU on Thursday, the Seawolves avoided their first 4-game GNAC losing streak since 2004-05 … with the wins last week, UAA improve to 9-1 when leading at halftime and 5-1 when outrebounding its opponent … the 82-56 win over WOU marked UAA’s 21st straight victory when scoring 80 points or more, dating to start of the 2011-12 season … the Seawolves have won 25 of their last 27 at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex, with the only losses coming to eventual NCAA champ Western Washington last season and 13th-ranked SPU this year … UAA’s 7-1 start equaled the best 8-game record in program history, joining the 1986-87 squad that started 12-1 … UAA’s last three Div. I victories have come over teams from Southern California — UC Irvine, UC Riverside and LMU … the 15 3FGs made against LMU tied for the 10th-most in program history and were the most ever against a D-I opponent … the 9 blocks Nov. 15 against Washington Adventist were the most for a Seawolf squad since Dec. 2005 and just two shy of the program single-game record.
PLAYER NOTES: A Preseason All-GNAC selection, Jr. G Kyle Fossman has responded to expectations with averages of 15.9 ppg (.467 FG, .467 3FG, .895 FT), 3.9 rpg, 2.4 apg and 1.4 spg … Fossman is just behind record-holder Kemmy Burgess (.475, 2003-06) on UAA’s career 3FG% list, currently at .467 … on the other Seawolf career lists, he is 4th in FT% (.874) and 14th in 3FGs made (122) … Fossman is on pace to set the program’s season record for 3FGs per game at 3.07, along with other single-season ranks of 3rd in FT% and minutes per game (35.9), and 6th in 3FG% … Fossman’s 3.1 treys per game also leads the GNAC stats, along with other league ranks of 4th in scoring, 2nd in FT%, 8th in 3FG%, 2nd in minutes played and 9th in steals … in the NCAA Div. II national stats, he is 9th in 3FG%, 16th in 3FGs per game and 15th in FT% … Fossman made the all-tournament teams at both the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout and the AT&T Jamboree … after backing up All-American Taylor Rohde the past two seasons, Sr. C Liam Gibcus has come into his own as a starter, averaging 10.4 ppg and team-highs of 6.2 rpg and .600 FG% … in the GNAC stats, the Aussie is 4th in FG%, 12th in rebounding and 15th in blocks (0.7 bpg), and he moved up to 2nd in offensive rebounding (3.1 orpg) after grabbing a career-high 10 offensive caroms against Western Oregon last week … he ranks No. 7 on UAA’s career FG% list at .568, while the team’s only 4th-year senior also stands tied for 15th in games played (99) and 7th in games won (71) … on UAA’s single-season list, Gibcus is 9th in FG% at .600 … So. G Teancum Stafford has made an big impact since transferring from Snow (Utah) College, averaging 12.6 ppg (17th in GNAC), 4.0 rpg and 2.4 apg … the Auburn, Wash., native has scored double figures in 10 of 14 games so far, shooting .474 from the field and .345 from long range … Stafford was the MVP of the season-opening AT&T Jamboree after scoring 23 points and grabbing 7 rebounds against CSU-Pueblo, and he joined Fossman as a Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team pick … Jr. G Colton Lauwers and Fr. G Jalen Little have complemented each other well at the point, combining to average 13.0 ppg, 7.1 apg, .375 3FG and .789 FT … Little dished a UAA season-high 9 assists in the win over Loyola Marymount and currently ranks 8th in the GNAC in assists (3.9 apg) and 4th in asst.-TO ratio (2.6) … Lauwers is 7th in the GNAC in FT% (.829) and ranks 5th in asst.-TO ratio (2.4) and 12th in assists (3.3 apg) … Jr. G Mike MacKelvie has shown a well-rounded arsenal since donning a Seawolf uniform, averaging 7.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, ranking among the top four on the team in all three categories … the Eastern Arizona transfer has dished at least two assists in eight of his 13 games played … Fr. F Collin Spickerman leads the GNAC with 1.5 blocks per game, having paced the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout with 8 swats … the Portland, Ore. (Jesuit HS) product is already 3rd on UAA’s freshman list for blocks with 20, putting him just one behind Hansi Gnad (21, 1983-84) for 2nd place and on pace to challenge the program’s rookie record (51 by Stefan Arntz, 1991-92) … Spickerman’s per-game average also ranks 7th on UAA’s single-season list … Sr. F Abebe Demissie has scored 6 or more points in eight straight appearances and has tallied double figures six times this year … the Seattle (Rainier Beach HS) product had his best effort of the season with 12 points and 5 rebounds in UAA’s win over LMU in the Shootout … after averaging just 1.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg and 0.7 assists over the first 3 games, So. F Christian Leckband has picked up his cumulative numbers to 5.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg and 1.5 apg over the last 11 contests … the former Alaska 3A Player of the Year from Nome has also proven one of the GNAC’s top shooters, hitting a .526 clip from the field and ranking 2nd in the league from 3FG range at .567 (17 of 30) … Leckband is making his debut this season after missing his rookie campaign with a hand injury … Sr. F/C Chris Weitzel saw his first action at home this season with appearances in both games last week … against SMU, the Oregon native had a basket and grabbed 4 rebounds in 7 minutes.
INJURY REPORT: The Seawolves have no major injuries.
SEAWOLVES PICKED 4TH IN GNAC: UAA has been picked to finish 4th in the 10-team Great Northwest Athletic Conference coaches’ poll, released Oct. 23:
2012-13 Great Northwest Athletic Conference
Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll 2012-13 GNAC Coaches Poll 2011-12 Recs., Pl. Pts
1. Seattle Pacific (8) 23-8 (13-5, 3rd) 97
2. Western Washington (2) 31-5 (16-2, 1st) 90
3. Central Washington 15-13 (8-10, 6th) 79 4. Alaska Anchorage 23-7 (15-3, 2nd) 70
5. Montana State Billings 18-12 (10-8, 5th) 49
6. Western Oregon 18-10 (11-7, 4th) 41
7. Northwest Nazarene 12-14 (6-12, 7th) 34
8. Alaska Fairbanks 5-23 (2-16, 10th) 31
Saint Martin’s 10-17 (6-12, 8th-T) 31
10. Simon Fraser 8-18 (3-15, 10th) 28
2012-13 SEAWOLF INDIVIDUAL HONORS Kyle Fossman
Preseason All-GNAC Team, 10/23
AT&T Jamboree Player of the Game vs Colorado Christian, 11/9
All-AT&T Jamboree Team, 11/10
Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team, 11/24 Liam Gibcus
All-AT&T Jamboree Team, 11/10 Jalen Little
Carrs/Safeway Player of the Game vs UC Riverside, 11/23 Teancum Stafford
AT&T Jamboree Player of the Game vs CSU-Pueblo, 11/10
AT&T Jamboree Most Outstanding Player, 11/10
Carrs/Safeway Player of the Game vs Loyola Marymount, 11/24
Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team, 11/24
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