OPENING TIP
• Western Oregon University men's basketball team goes back on the road for two Great Northwest Athletic Conference contests before hosting three of its last four regular-season games at home. The Wolves will take on #23/RV Western Washington on Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. inside Whatcom Pavilion before crossing the border for a Feb. 11 matchup against Simon Fraser at 7 p.m.
• WOU sits 1.5 games behind new conference leader Alaska Anchorage and can pull into a second-place tie with WWU with a road win on Thursday.
•   Western Oregon enters the week averaging 75.9 points and 34.1 rebounds per game. The Wolves lead the GNAC in steals (9.36 per game) and turnover margin ( 4.50) and are second in scoring defense (72.1 points allowed per game) and three-point defense (.326). Western Oregon is 11th in Division II in steals per game and 11th in turnover margin
•   Both games will have coverage on WOUWolves.com/Live with video and stats.
 
LAST WEEK: NICE HOMESTAND
Western Oregon scored a pair of big wins to move into third place in the GNAC standings and extend their season-long win streak to five games. The Wolves collected an 82-73 win over Saint Martin's on Thursday before taking an 84-70 win over Seattle Pacific on Saturday in a game aired on ROOT SPORTS.
 
HIGH (AND LOW) MARKS
• Western Oregon saw junior Tanner Omlid set the school and conference record 11 steals during the first triple-double for the Wolves since Robert Day did so against Montana State Billings in 2003.
• WOU allowed just 51 points to Alaska on Jan. 21, matching the lowest output for an opponent in the Jim Shaw era (NDNU; Nov. 27, 2015) while setting a new low for the Wolves for a GNAC opponent (previously 52 at NNU; Jan. 2, 2016).
• With a 98-77 win over Central Washington on Dec. 29, the Wolves set a single-game scoring mark under head coach Jim Shaw. Previously, the 96-point overtime effort against Seattle Pacific (Jan. 7, 2016) was the team's highest scoring effort.
• The Wolves shot 54.7 percent against Central Washington (35-64), the highest mark by any WOU team since Jan. 30 also against the Wildcats (57.9 percent, 33-57).
 
WOLVES: BY THE NUMBERS
• Head coach: Jim Shaw (Western Oregon, '85), Second season
• Team's leading scorer: #11 Tanner Omlid, 14.9 ppg; #22 Ali Faruq-Bey, 14.5 ppg
• Team's leading rebounder: #11 Omlid, 7.2 rpg; #44 JJ Chirnside, 5.1 rpg
• Team's assists leader: #11 Omlid, 3.6 apg; #2 Evan Garrison 2.4 apg
• Team's steals leader: #11 Omlid, 3.5 spg; #22 Faruq-Bey, 1.6 spg
• Team's blocks leader: #11 Omlid, 1.7 bpg; #44 Chirnside 1.6 bpg
 
 
ABOUT WESTERN WASHINGTON
Western Washington saw their GNAC lead slip away last week with a pair of losses in Alaska. The Vikings have a 17-5 overall record and 11-3 mark in the GNAC. This will be the second meeting of the season with WWU holding a win after pulling away in the second half of an 84-76 game on January 14. The Vikings are stacked offensively with five guys averaging 9.9 points or better for the year. Taylor Stafford leads the team at 21.7 points a contest shooting 41 percent from behind the arc with 139 attempts. Jeffrey Parker (16.8 ppg), Daulton Hommes (14.0) and DeAndre Dickson (13.8) follow behind in scoring. The Vikings are scoring 90.0 points per game shooting a league-best 49.9 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from 3-point land.
 
• Head coach: Tony Dominguez (WWU, '94), Fifth season
• Team's leading scorer: #1 Taylor Stafford, 21.7 ppg
• Team's leading rebounder: #23 DeAndre Dickson, 6.5 rpg
• Team's assists leader: #1 Stafford, 4.0 apg
• Team's steals leader: #1 Stafford, 1.7 spg
• Team's blocks leader: #15 Logan Schilder, 2.0 bpg
 
ABOUT SIMON FRASER
Simon Fraser has lost 18 straight and will host Concordia on Thursday before seeing the Wolves in Burnaby on Saturday. The Clan enters the week with a 2-20 overall record, both wins against Lindenwood in November, and 0-14 mark in league play. Kedar Wright leads Simon Fraser in scoring at 13.7 points per game and is tied for the rebounding lead at 4.8 boards. Wright has played in 17 of the Clan's 22 contests. Michael Provenzano is second in scoring at 12.5 ppg and JJ Pankratz also averages double figures at 11.9 ppg. WOU is looking for the season sweep after winning at home 85-60 over SFU on January 12. The Clan averages 68.6 points per game shooting 42.3 percent overall and 34.9 percent from distance. They are being outrebounded by eight boards per game.
 
• Head coach: Sean Kelly (Pacific Lutheran, '95), Third season
• Team's leading scorer: #11 Kedar Wright, 13.7 ppg
• Team's leading rebounder: #11 Wright and #14 Iziah Sherman-Newsome, 4.8 rpg
• Team's assists leader: #20 Michael Provenzano, 3.7 apg
• Team's steals leader: #5 Othniel Spence, 1.1 spg
• Team's blocks leader: #22 JJ Pankratz, 1.2 bpg