MONMOUTH, Ore. — The Western Oregon men's basketball team will split their upcoming week, playing on the road Tuesday at Concordia before hosting MSUB Saturday night. Tipoff in Portland Feb. 5 is set for 7 p.m. while the men's game Feb. 9 will be the first of a doubleheader slated to start at 5:15 p.m. at NPE Gym.

ABOUT CONCORDIA (7-13, 2-10 GNAC): The Concordia Cavaliers were able to end a six-game losing streak Jan. 26 with a 65-63 win over Central Washington, but have not found any footing since then. CU has lost eight of their last nine games to fall to eight games below .500 in conference play. Three of the losses during that run have been by five points or less including their last two to each of the Alaska schools.
 
The Cavs have one of just two negative scoring margins in the GNAC (-2.1) sitting ahead of only Alaska (-8.2).
 
Jarrett Gray is the team's leading scorer, averaging 15.3 points per game, good for 6th in the conference. He is also the GNAC's top free throw shooter, hitting 90 percent of shots from the line in 60 attempts. His 46.2 percent 3-point shooting mark ranks 4th in conference.

WOU vs. CU: WOU is 7-1 against CU since 2007. The Wolves have won three straight in the series with their only loss to the Cavs being a 69-67 defeat Feb. 21, 2017 in Portland. They are 2-1 on the road.

ABOUT MSUB (11-9, 6-6 GNAC): Much like Concordia, recent losses for the Yellowjackets have been tight. At 2-3 over their last five games, all three losses for MSUB during that time have been by less than five with two of those going to overtime. They took then-No. 23 Saint Martin's to the brink in a 76-74 loss and most recently fell by three, 92-89 to NNU in overtime at home.
 
Averaging 81.8 points per game, MSUB holds a +4.4 scoring margin on the season. One of the most efficient teams at limiting opponents' offensive rebounds, their 73.5 percent defensive rebounding rate is 2nd only to Simon Fraser in the GNAC.
 
Junior Tyler Green's 3-point shooting has put him among the best in the nation from beyond the arc. Shooting 44.9 percent from deep, his 3.75 made 3-pointers per game average is good for 5th in all of Division II. He is the conference's fifth-leading scorer at 17.1 points per game and one of three 'Jackets inside the GNAC's top 10 along with Zack Rollins (7th, 15.0 ppg) and Brendan Howard (10th, 14.3 ppg). Green is additionally 4th in assists per game (3.4) and 5th in minutes (30.8).

WOU vs. MSUB: WOU is 17-10 against MSUB since 2003. The Wolves have won five straight meetings and 11 of the last 12 dating back to Jan. 4, 2014. MSUB's last win came Dec. 5, 2016, 79-71 in Billings. They have not won in Monmouth since Feb. 21, 2013 in a 74-69 overtime victory. WOU is 10-2 at home in the series.

ABOUT WESTERN OREGON (16-5, 9-3 GNAC): Going 2-0 last week coupled with Saint Martin's loss to Simon Fraser has left Western Oregon just one game out of first place in the conference standings, sitting a game back of the tie between Northwest Nazarene and SMU at 10-2.
 
Topping UAF 94-78 and then UAA 81-61last week, WOU has won four of their last five games dating back to Jan. 19 and 7 of their last 10 going back to Jan. 5. WOU shot over 50 percent from both the field and 3-point range against Alaska.
 
Dalven Brushier turned in a season-high 22 points Thursday against the Nanooks and followed it up with 20 more on Saturday against the Seawolves. This comes after only getting to 20 points once in his previous 13 appearances.
 
Darius Lubom set himself a new career-high against Alaska Anchorage, scoring 30 points in 34 minutes. He also set himself a personal-best with 11 made field goals in 17 attempts. He is the first WOU player to hit the 30-point threshold this season. The scoring outburst comes in just his second start since Dec. 14, both coming in the last three games.

NATIONAL RANKS: The Wolves are currently 4th in TO margin (+6.4), 10th in scoring margin (+14.7), 14th in scoring defense (65.2 ppg) and 18th in assist/turnover ratio (1.50) in NCAA DII.

GNAC RANKS: In the conference, the Wolves rank 1st in scoring defense (65.2 ppg), scoring margin (+14.7), 3-point percentage defense (.324), assist/turnover ratio (1.50) and turnover margin (+6.4).

50-50 NIGHTS: WOU has finished better than 50 percent from both the field and 3-point range in four games this season. It is only the second time they have accomplished the feat four times in a season during their NCAA-era, along with four 50-50 nights during the 2002-03 campaign. It took the '02-'03 team until Feb. 27 to get their fourth 50-50 game recorded while this year's Wolves hit the mark Jan. 31 against Alaska.
 
HOLD AFTER HALF: Western Oregon is 14-1 this year when leading at halftime.
 
CONSECUTIVE LOSSES: WOU has not lost consecutive games since the 2016-17 season, most recently Feb. 9 &11, 2017 at WWU and SFU.
 
OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS: Western Oregon's 22 offensive rebounds Jan. 26 at Northwest Nazarene was their most in a game since Dec. 16, 2014 in a 110-61 win over Multnomah when they pulled in 25. The Wolves set a school NCAA-era record that night with 64 total rebounds, breaking the previous record by 10.

ASSISTS LOW AT NNU: The six team assists Jan. 26 at NNU were the fewest for WOU since their March 24, 2016, meeting with Augustana (S.D.) in the Final Four when they had just five assists.

UN-THREE-LIEVABLE: WOU's 91-65 win over Concordia Jan. 8 was the second time this season they found themselves stamping the program's record books for 3-pointers. Making 14 team 3-pointers in the game, it was the 9th-highest single-game total in the school's NCAA-era history as well as 4th-highest percentage from three (.636). Riley Hawken's 6-for-7 night from deep tied for the 4th-best single-game 3-point percentage as well.

CONVINCING WINS: 13 of the 16 wins this season for WOU have come by at least 11 points. This includes five wins of at least 22.

WHEEL OF STARTERS:  10 separate players have started a game this season for Western Oregon.

BENCH PRODUCTION: The WOU bench has produced at least 15 points in 19 of their 21 games including 10 games of at least 30 points. The WOU bench scored 65 points Dec. 29 vs. Portland Bible College. WOU's leading scorer has been a reserve five times this season.

COLLINS COMING ON STRONG: After scoring just 15 combined points over his first five appearances of the season, freshman Etan Collins has finished in double figures in four of his last 8 games and six times overall this year. His 24 points Dec. 8 against Corban University is the third-highest single-game total by a WOU player this season and the second-highest total by an underclassman. Additionally, his 20 combined rebounds between games Jan. 17 and 19 ties him for the team's highest two-game total with Riley Hawken who had 20 rebounds over that span on two separate occasions.

FOUL DIFFERENTIAL: Western Oregon's sticky defense has led to an even or positive foul differential in all but one game this season; their 129-33 win over Portland Bible College.

TURNOVER MARGINS: The Wolves are 4th in NCAA DII with a +6.4 TO margin. Including two exhibition games this season, WOU has forced at least 13 turnovers in all but three games – all losses — they have played.

RECORD-SETTING NIGHT: Western Oregon's 129-33 win over Portland Bible College Dec. 29 set several GNAC records including largest margin of victory, lowest field goal percentage defense (18.8) and fewest field goals allowed (9). The 96-point win topped the previous conference record by 11 points, set in 2008 by Central Washington. The 129 points was the most by WOU in their NCAA-era and just the third time they have topped 120 points in a game.
 
BAKER'S ALMOST DOZEN: O'landa Baker doled out 11 assists Dec. 29 for a season-high. It was the third-most assists by a WOU player in NCAA-era history and the most since 2015. He accounted for over one-third of the team's 31 assists, coming just three shy of tying the school record for assists in a game. Baker also set himself season-highs in minutes, points, 3-point field goals made, rebounds and steals in that game.
 
DEFENSIVE HAWK: Junior Riley Hawken led the Wolves or tied for the team lead in rebounds in 10 of 11 games between Nov. 23 and Jan. 5. He is also currently second in the GNAC with 2.0 steals per game.

LEADING SCORERS: WOU has had nine different leading scorers this season. By class, the Wolves have been led by two freshman, one sophomore, three juniors and three seniors.

SHARING THE LOAD: Five separate Wolves are averaging seven or more points per game while seven players are averaging more than five points per game.

MAKE YOUR FREE THROWS: WOU went 25-28 at the line Dec. 1 against Western Washington. It was the most free throws made in a game by the Wolves since March 23, 2016 when they went 28-for-31 at the stripe in an 81-68 win over Saginaw Valley State in the 2016 Elite Eight.

DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE: The 35 points scored by Colorado Christian Nov. 17 in WOU's 64-35 win was the fewest allowed in a game by the Wolves since Walla Walla's 29-point performance on Dec. 10, 2011. It was then bested a little over a month later when Western Oregon allowed just 33 points to Portland Bible College in a 129-33 win.
 
SOUZA PERFECT FROM THE FIELD: Buster Souza tied his career-high with 14 points off the bench Nov. 17 in a 64-35 win over Colorado Christian. Souza led all scorers in 14 minutes of play. The senior forward was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field while also pulling in four rebounds and two assists. It was only the third time in the school's NCAA-era history that a player has been perfect from the field on seven or more shots.
 
CONFERENCE OPENERS: Western Oregon has won five straight GNAC openers dating back to the 2014-15 season. Their last loss in their first conference game of the season came in a tight 67-66 loss to No. 5 Western Washington on Dec. 5, 2013 in Bellingham. The Wolves got their revenge later that year with an 88-85 win in the regular season finale.

SPANISH GNAC TIES: Former Western Oregon standout Tanner Omlid and former Simon Fraser guard Kedar Salam are now professional teammates, playing for CB Moron of LEB Plata in Spain.  

HAWKEN PRESASON ALL-GNAC: Junior Riley Hawken was the only Western Oregon player selected to the GNAC Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team, named a unanimous selection for the 2018-19 season. Hawken is one of six juniors on the team of 15 with the remainder being seniors. Hawken is the lone returning starter off of Western Oregon's GNAC championship team. He averaged 8.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting 79.5 percent from the free throw line and averaging 1.6 assists per contest during the Wolves' historic season.

2018-19 GNAC PRESEASON POLL: The Wolves were picked to place third in the league standings following Saint Martin's and Seattle Pacific… WOU received two of the 11 first-place votes for 94 total points in the poll to SMU's 118 and SPU's 105… the Wolves were the only team outside of the Saint's to receive a first-place vote and held an 11-point buffer over fourth-place Western Washington.

2017-18 REVIEW: The Wolves went 31-2 overall last season and 19-1 in conference… They cruised to both a regular season and conference tournament title with their only regular season slip coming in the second game of GNAC play against Western Washington. After the loss to the Vikings, the Wolves rattled off a school-record 24 consecutive wins while setting a Great Northwest Athletic Conference record for wins. WOU returned to the West Regional Championship game for the second time in three years, falling to Cal Baptist, 80-76. Tanner Omlid pulled in several postseason accolades, being named the GNAC Player of the Year, D2CCA West Region Player of the Year, D2CCA and NABC All-American and named to the NABC DII All-District Team.

D2 WEST REGION POLL: Matching their highest placement of the season, Western Oregon came in at 6th in the latest D2SIDA West Region Men's Basketball Poll. It is just the second week this season the Wolves have held the sixth spot. Point Loma held onto 1st despite going 0-1 last week. Four GNAC teams were represented in the poll with Saint Martin's falling from the two-spot into 3rd while Northwest Nazarene moved up one position. Seattle Pacific returned to the poll, sneaking in at 10th.

  

D2SIDA West Region Poll (Feb. 4, 2019)
Rank / School	Record	Points
1. Point Loma (2)	18-3	56
2. UC San Diego (3)	17-4	55
3. Saint Martin's (1)	17-3	49
4. Northwest Nazarene	14-3	43
5. Concordia (Calif.)	16-7	29
6. Western Oregon	16-5	27
7. Chaminade	15-4	24
8. Cal State East Bay	16-5	20
9. Cal Poly Pomona	12-5	19
10. Seattle Pacific	11-6	5
WOU in D2SIDA West Region Poll
Date	Rank	Points
Nov. 12	7th	21
Nov. 19	9th	14
Nov. 26	T-10th	8
Dec. 3	7th	27
Dec. 10	7th	25
Dec. 20	6th	23
Jan. 7	7th	26
Jan. 14	7th	29
Jan. 21	7th	29
Jan. 28	7th	20
Feb. 4	6th	27