Men's Basketball | 1/20/2014 12:39:00 PM

UAA GAME NOTES (PDF)        UAF GAME NOTES (PDF)

MONMOUTH, Ore. -- The Western Oregon University men's basketball team seeks to end its three-game losing streak, and the first half of Great Northwest Athletic Conference season play, with home games versus the University of Alaska Anchorage and the University of Alaska Thursday and Saturday.

LAST TIME OUT
• Saint Martin's watched its 20-point lead become a late two-point deficit, before closing out a 79-73 victory at WOU last Saturday.
• The Saints held on for the road victory behind an incredible shooting performance in the first half.
• SMU made seven of its first nine three-points through the first 15 minutes of the game.
• The game featured only one lead change and two ties. The Wolves led for one minute in the game, late in the second half.
• Jordan Wiley led WOU with 14 points and seven rebounds.

WESTERN OREGON STORYLINES
• After winning six straight games, Western Oregon has lost three consecutive contests.
• The Wolves are sixth in NCAA Div. II with 164 total steal. Their 9.6 steals per game is eighth in the nation. Both stats lead the conference.
• Devon Alexander leads the conference with 32 total steals. His 1.88 steals per outing is second in the GNAC.
• Marwan Sarhan is 30th in NCAA Div. II with a 61.2 FG percentage.
• The Wolves are 8-0 this season when they have a better field goal percentage than their opponent this season, and 9-0 when they shoot 50 percent of better.

ABOUT THE SEAWOLVES
• Alaska Anchorage was picked second in the GNAC Preseason Poll, receiving one first place vote.
• The Seawolves enter the week losing three of their last four games.
• UAA leads the country in three-point attempts (579) and made three-pointers (228). It is third with 12.7 made three-pointers per outing.
• Alaska Anchorage is second in the nation averaging only 8.6 turnovers per contest, and is 13th with 18 assists per game.
• Travis Thompson's 22.1 points per game is second in the GNAC, and he is fourth in the country in total points scored.
• Brian McGill is sixth in the country in total assists (111).

SERIES HISTORY
• The Wolves and UAA meet for the 31st time.
• The Seawolves have won seven straight, dating back to a 76-65 Western Oregon win in Anchorage on Jan. 23, 2010.
• The last WOU win in Monmouth over UAA was in 2006, 81-76.

ABOUT THE NANOOKS
• After opening the season picked fifth in the GNAC Preseason Poll, Alaska is in a solid third place spot at the midway point of the season.
• The Nanooks enter the week on a three-game winning streak.
• UAF commits a conference-low 15.6 fouls per game, which is also eighth in the country.
• Alaska is 15th in the nation averaging only 10.3 turnovers per game. It's 4.8 turnover margin is 13th in the country.
• Ronnie Baker leads the Nanooks with an average of 16 points per contest, but three other players also average double-digits.
• Andrew Kelly averages 11 points and eight rebounds per outing.

SERIES HISTORY
• The Wolves and Alaska meet for the 31st time.
• After winning four straight in the series, WOU dropped both matchups last season with the Nanooks.
• Western Oregon has won six of the last 10 meetings.

NEXT UP...
• Western Oregon begins the second half of GNAC play at Montana State Billings Thursday. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. Mountain Time.
• The Wolves snapped a four-game MSUB winning streak in the series with a 98-90 double overtime win on Jan. 4 in Monmouth.
• Live video and stats on WOUWolves.com.