Men's Basketball | 2/9/2009 8:48:40 PM
This week...
The Western Oregon University men's basketball team will face a pair of regionally ranked teams this week as it will as it will be at the No. 5 team in the NCAA West Regional, Seattle Pacific, Thursday, Feb. 12, at 7:30 p.m., before returning to Monmouth for a match up with the No. 3 team in the region, Western Washington, Saturday, Feb. 14, at 7:00 p.m.
Seattle Pacific preview...
The Seattle Pacific Falcons (13-7) are in third place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a 6-3 record. They also boast a 6-1 record at home. The Falcons are ranked third in the country and first in the GNAC with a .524 field goal percentage (thru Feb. 4). SPU is also second in the GNAC in three-point percentage defense (.319) and fourth in overall defense (73.2 points per game).
Chris Banchero leads the Falcons in scoring with 15.7 p.p.g. He is tied for 12th in the GNAC in scoring and is 10th in assists (3.4). Brandon Larrieu is third in the conference with a .446 three-point percentage and is 18th with 13.6 p.p.g. Rafael Moreira leads SPU with 6.1 rebounds per game and is second in the league with a .654 field goal percentage.
Seattle Pacific leads the all-time series 29-12 after earning a 96-70 victory in Monmouth, Jan. 29. Banchero scored a game-high 24 points as Moreira added 20 points on nine-of-nine shooting and eight rebounds to lead Seattle Pacific. Travis Kuhns led the Wolves with 20 points and eight rebounds. Seattle Pacific outrebounded Western Oregon 44 to 31 and used this advantage to outscore the Wolves in the paint 60-34. SPU had 14 assists to nine turnovers, including just three at halftime. The Falcons also converted 14 Wolves' turnovers into 27 points. Seattle Pacific has now won eight straight games in the series dating back to 2005.
Western Washington preview...
Western Washington enters the game ranked third in the NCAA West Region with a record of 15-3. The Vikings sit atop the GNAC with a 7-1 record. They have won five straight games and nine of their last 10.
Morris Anderson is ranked second in the GNAC and ninth in the country with 6.5 a.p.g. (Feb. 4). He also leads the conference with 3.06 steals per contest and is 17th in scoring at 13.7 p.p.g. Calin Schell is the league's fourth-leading rebounder (8.0) and ninth-leading shooter (.573). Ira Graham leads the Vikings with 17.6 p.p.g., to rank sixth in the GNAC. Steve Alford is hitting .477 percent of his three-point attempts to lead the conference.
As a team, WWU leads the GNAC in scoring (89.4), scoring margin (+20.3), rebounding margin (+10.4), assists (19.6) three-point percentage defense (.308), blocks (5.6) and steals (10.6). They also rank in the top 10 in the country in scoring margin (fifth), rebounding margin (fifth), blocks (sixth), scoring average (seventh), assists (eighth) and field goal percentage (10th, .505).
Western Washington leads the all-time series with Western Oregon 31-13. Last season, the teams split its games with each winning at home.
Last week...
The WOU men's basketball team snapped its six-game losing streak as it defeated Montana State Billings at home, 72-71. The Wolves then traveled to face the No. 4 team in the west region, Central Washington, and were defeated 90-66.
In Thursday's game, Matt Schmidt hit one of two free throws with 2.1 seconds remaining to lift WOU to the 72-71 victory. WOU's Travis Kuhns led all scorers with 20 points. He went seven of 11 from the field and three of five from behind the arc. Schmidt came off the bench to notch a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds as WOU's bench outscored MSUB's bench 26-10. With the game tied at 71-71, Kuhns' layup attempt fell off the rim and Schmidt collected the offensive rebound and was fouled sending him to the line for the game clinching free throw.
On Saturday, Central Washington went 10 of 24 from three-point range as it defeated Western Oregon 90-66. The Wildcats outscored the Wolves by 21 points from behind the arc and by seven at the free throw line. Kuhns led Western Oregon with 20 points as he went nine of 17 from the field and two of five from three-point range. CWU lead 36-27 at halftime and put the game away on a 16-4 run in the first four minutes of the second half.
In the two games, Kuhns scored 40 points on 16 of 28 shooting including going five of 10 from three-point range. He also had nine assists and just one turnover.
Kuhns in the GNAC record books...
Travis Kuhns is ranked among the GNAC career leaders in five categories. He is 15th in steals, tied for 16th in blocks, is 20th in scoring and 23rd in both assists and three-pointers. He has notched 1,284 points in his career to move into the GNAC's top 20 all-time. He needs 36 more points to move to 19th. In steals, he is one short of moving into 14th place and five short of 13th. In blocks, he is currently tied for 16th place, three short of moving into a three-way tie at 14th. He also needs 23 assists over WOU's next seven games to move among the top 20 in GNAC career leaders.
Wolves in the GNAC rankings...
Kuhns is ranked in the top 20 in the GNAC in assists (sixth, 3.85), assist-to-turnover ratio (seventh, 1.33), scoring (eighth, 16.6), steals (eighth, 1.25) free throw percentage (13th, .777), blocks (t-13th, 0.8), three-pointers (16th, 1.55), minutes (16th, 31.05) and rebounds (20th, 5.0)...Mike McLaughlin is ranked fifth in the league with 7.7 r.p.g., 12th with a .782 free throw percentage and 17th with a .517 field goal percentage...Blair Wheadon is ranked in the top 20 in the GNAC in minutes (sixth, 33.35), assist-to-turnover ratio (eighth, 1.45), assists (12th, 3.2), three-pointers per game (14th, 1.6), three-point percentage (14th, .376) and scoring (19th, 12.2)...Ratcliff is third in the league with a .646 shooting percentage...Ratcliff also ranks 15th in blocks (0.75) and 19th in rebounds (5.1)...Sam Kelly is third in the league with 33.95 minutes per contest and is 20th in free throw percentage (.691) and assists (2.3).
