WOU NCAA ELITE EIGHT TOURNAMENT NOTESNCAA TOURNAMENT NOTES• Western Oregon is making its first appearance in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
• WOU is 3-1 all-time in the NCAA Tournament
• The Wolves defeated Humboldt State (82-65), Azusa Pacific (81-69) and UC San Diego (60-55) to win the West Region title.
ABOUT WESTERN OREGON• Head coach
Jim Shaw is in his first season at WOU. He was named GNAC Coach of the Year after leading the Wolves to the GNAC title. His previous assistant coaching stops include Saint Mary's, Washington, Oklahoma, Portland, Montana State, Southern Utah, Oregon State, Chemeketa and Idaho State.
• WOU won its second consecutive Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular season title and followed it with the program's first-ever GNAC Tournament title.
• Western Oregon's balanced scoring attack is led by GNAC Player of the Year
Andy Avgi at 20.0 points per game. He is among six Wolves that average at least 9.0 points per game.
• The Wolves rank No. 2 in turnovers per game (8.6), sixth in fewest turnovers (285) and fifth in turnover margin (+4.6) in the country.
• WOU is also 28th in steals per game (8.6), 25th in scoring defense (68.3 ppg), 28th in scoring margin (9.5), and 42nd in total 3-point field goals made (277).
• Earlier this year, Western Oregon set an NCAA-era school record with 13 consecutive victories.
• The 30 wins is ties the best total all-time in school history with the 30-win season posted by the 1981-82 team under head coach
Jim Boutin.
• WOU took two major GNAC postseason awards:
Andy Avgi (Player),
Jim Shaw (Coach).
• Western Oregon placed Avgi on the All-GNAC First Team,
Julian Nichols and
Tanner Omlid on the second team, and
Jordan Wiley on the honorable mention list.
• Avgi has also added D2CCA West Region Player of the Year and Third-Team All-American honors.
ABOUT THE SERIES• This will be the first meeting all time with Saginaw Valley State out of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
ABOUT SAGINAW VALLEY STATE• Head coach Randy Baruth is in his fourth year at the helm and led the Cardinals to a tie for the GLIAC regular season title with an 18-4 conference record.
• The Cardinals advanced to the Elite Eight by winning the Midwest Region in their first tournament appearance defeating conference foe Ferris State 63-61 in the regional final.
• All-GLIAC First Team selections C.J. Turnage and Damon Bozeman lead SVSU. Turnage leads the Cardinals in scoring (16.9) and rebounding (5.7). Bozemanis the leading 3-point threat with 44 makes.
• Garrett Hall was a GLAIC second team pick with regular-season averages of 11.5 points and 4.2 rebounds a game.
• The Cardinals average 79.8 points per game and give up 77.1 points.
A WIN WOULD...• Advance the Wolves to the Division II national semifinal against the winner of the Tarleton State/Augustana matchup
• Be the 77th in the careers of
Andy Avgi,
Jordan Wiley,
Devon Alexander and
Jordan Schriber.
