University of Alaska Fairbanks Athletics

Dec. 7, 2006

2006 Glacier Classic Pre-Game Notes

Alaska (6-4) Vs. Augustana College (7-1)
Dec. 8, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. AST in the Patty Center

Alaska (6-4) Vs. Florida Tech (2-5)
Dec. 9, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. AST in the Patty Center

Probable Alaska Starters (Stats thru 10 games)

Head Coach: Frank Ostanik (Third year, 44-23)
Alaska Injury Report: None

Probable Augustana Starters (Stats thru 8 games)

Head Coach: Tom Billeter (Fourth year, 33-58)
Alaska Nanooks All-Time Vs. Augustana: 0-1

Probable Florida Tech Starters (Stats thru 7 games)

Head Coach: Billy Mims (Second year, 9-26)
Alaska Nanooks All-Time Vs. Florida Tech: 0-0

Probable Alaska Anchorage Starters (Stats thru 7 games)

Head Coach: Rusty Osborne (Third year, 45-30)
UAA (5-2) will play Florida Tech (Dec. 8) and Augustana (Dec. 9) at 5 p.m. AST both nights.

AUGUSTANA COLLEGE (www.GoAugie.com)
Scouting the Vikings: Augustana College of the North Central Conference beat Peru State 108-67 Tuesday to improve to 7-1, the school's best start in seven years. It is the Vikings' best start since opening the 1999-2000 season 8-1. Augustana shot a season-high 67.2 percent (41 of 61) from the field and also set season-highs for points, 3-pointers made (13) and assists (34) against Peru State. Forward Nick Olson scored 21 points on 9-of-9 shooting to set a new school for single game field goal percentage in the blowout win. The Vikings are a balanced team (every player logs 10 minutes or more) with great outside shooting (10 three-pointers a game at a 44 percent clip).

FLORIDA TECH (www.GoPanthers.fit.edu)
Scouting the Panthers: Florida Tech of the Sunshine State Conference is off to a rough start at 2-5 but four of their five losses have come on the road versus Division I teams including a 72-59 defeat Tuesday at Florida International. Junior guard E.J. Murray returned to the starting line-up after a knee injury sustained in the season opener and the Panthers led 34-30 at the half. Florida International pulled away with a 17-point advantage in the second frame. Junior wing Arthur Richardson led Tech with 13 points and five rebounds in the loss. The return of Murray bumped 6-8 freshman forward Justin Sedlak into a sixth man role. Sedlak has averaged 10.7 points and seven boards a contest, while starting 3 of 7 games.

ALASKA ANCHORAGE (www.GoSeawolves.com)
Scouting the Seawolves: UAA of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference is 5-2 with both losses coming to DI opponents at the 2006 Great Alaska Shootout. The Seawolves managed a 77-70 victory over DI Missouri-Kansas City to finish sixth. The win was UAA's 28th all-time in 29 Shootouts. Junior point guard Luke Cooper (8.6 assists a game) runs a high-powered Seawolf offense (82 points a game on 53% shooting) that features four double figure scorers. UAA has two key players off the bench: junior forward McCade Olsen (16 points and 4.7 boards a game) and senior guard Buddy Bailey (10.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2 assists per game). Olsen missed the Seawolves first 4 games with a shoulder injury.

ABOUT THE ALASKA PROGRAM
Coaching the Nanooks: Alaska head coach Frank Ostanik begins his third year in charge of the Nanook basketball program in 2006. Ostanik, the tenth head coach in the history of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, has been a part of the Nanook basketball family since 1990 as a player, assistant coach and head coach. In two seasons at the helm, coach Ostanik has compiled a record of 38-19 and currently holds the highest all-time winning percentage of any Alaska basketball coach.

In his debut season, Ostanik led the Nanooks to a 21-9 record, a GNAC title and an NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen appearance, just the second in school history. Last season, the Nanooks posted a 17-10 record including a fourth-place finish in the BP Top of The World Classic.

Prior to taking over as head coach, Ostanik worked eight years as a Nanook assistant coach and helped build the Alaska squad that won the 2002 BP Top of the World title and make the 2003 NCAA DII Sweet Sixteen. From 1990-1992, Ostanik played for the Nanooks as a 6-4 forward known for his hustle and determination. He then joined the Nanook coaching staff as a graduate assistant and earned a bachelor's degree in education from UAF in 1993. Ostanik and wife, Toni, have been married 12 years and have an 11-year-old son named Win.

ALASKA THIS SEASON

Bible Thumpers: The Nanooks dispatched of visiting Lancaster Bible College by scores of 91-58 and 125-61 on Nov. 2 and 3 to open the season. Alaska's 125 points in game two nearly broke the record of 129 versus Sheldon Jackson College of Sitka, AK set during the 1990-91 season. The final margin of 64 points also flirted with the biggest gap ever. The two biggest wins in school history were a 70- and 68-point blowout series over Puget Sound Christian in 2004 at the Patty on Nov. 4 (111-41) and Nov. 6 (105-37) 2004.

Road Tested: Orlando's Disney World is a travel destination for kids but the Nanooks recent trip there turned them into road warriors with three games in three days (Dec. 10-12). Alaska finished the 2006 Disney's DII Tip-Off Classic in second place with a 2-1 record. They recorded wins over Pace (N.Y.) University (96-91) and North Georgia College & State University (79-76) before falling to No. 6 ranked Southern Indiana University in the title game 94-73.

Working Overtime: Alaska came back from a 10-point deficit to force overtime but Weber State recovered for a 71-66 win in game one of the BP Top of the World Classic at the Carlson Center Nov. 16. Wildcat junior guard Dezmon Harris scored the first four points in the extra frame and Weber outscored Alaska 11-3 before Barry Barnes, Jr. hit a three-pointer at the final buzzer.

Un-Lucky Break: Alaska came back from a 16-point first-half deficit to take Rhode Island down to the wire in a 77-73 loss in game five of the Top of the World Classic Nov. 18. Rhode Island guard Jon Lucky made the game-winning lay-up with 16 seconds left but the Rams had to survive one last Nanook possession. Down 75-73, junior guard Kenny Barker's driving lay-up with 3 seconds left rolled out of the rim into the hands of Rams guard Jimmy Baron, who was fouled and made both free throws to seal the win.

Third Time Not a Charm: For the third straight game the Alaska Nanooks had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds and had victory slip through their hands in a 69-66 loss to Southeast Missouri State to close the TOWC Nov. 19. With Alaska trailing 67-66, the Redhawks missed two one-and-one front ends at the line but the Nanooks had two turnovers and failed to get a shot up. The Nanooks final chance came when senior Jushay Rockett rebounded a SEMO free throw and started to throw an outlet but hesitated and lost the ball in Redhawk territory. SEMO's Brandon Foust recovered the loose ball and slammed home the final bucket at the buzzer.

Holy Roll-overs: The avoided the dreaded TOWC/Thanksgiving hangover with a sweep of Golden State Baptist. Nanooks used a strong start to defeat Golden State Baptist College 80-45 Nov. 30 and dominated the Bears 86-36 Dec. 2 at the Patty Center. In game one, the Nanooks jumped to a 13-point lead as the Bears hibernated with just one field goal in the first seven minutes. The Alaska lead surged to as many as 41 points late in the game. Junior guard Kenny Barker led Alaska with a solid all-around effort of a game-high 20 points plus seven rebounds and four assists. In game two, the Nanooks set a new record for fewest points allowed in a game. The previous record was 37 against Puget Sound Christian Nov. 6, 2004.

NANOOK PLAYER NOTES
Bark and Bite: Junior Kenny Barker ended last season on a tear and has picked up right where he left off. The rugged 6-3 guard, Alaska's leading returning scorer and rebounder, is off to a nice start with 15.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 steals a game in 31.4 minutes a game. Barker has hit double digits in all but one game this season.

Rockett Fuel: Senior Jushay Rockett, a Texas State transfer, has made himself the target of scouting reports after nine games in blue and gold. The 6-5 wing is putting up 22.2 points, nine rebounds, 1.6 steals and one block in 29 minutes a game. The versatile Rockett, who is the Nanooks primary interior defender, has hit 15 threes on a team-high 45 attempts. Rockett picked up Co-Most Outstanding Player honors at the DII Tip-Off Classic and then earned an all-tourney spot at the Top of the World.

Barnes Burner: Point guard Barry Barnes, Jr. continues to keep statisticians busy. The jet-quick junior has compiled a stat line of 9.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 3.0 steals in a team-high 33.9 minutes a game. In the second game of the Lancaster series, Barnes had six steals, one shy of the Nanook record held by Brad Oleson and head coach Frank Ostanik, before sitting the final 10 minutes. In the Dec. 2 against Golden State, he had a season-high 12 assists, three off the team record of 15 set by Eric Brown in 1990. Barnes joined Rockett on the Tip-Off all-tourney team.

Matteson Matters: Sophomore forward Colin Matteson has scored double figures in five of the last six games. Matteson set new career scoring highs in the first three games of that stretch. Matteson scored a then career-high 10 points in the loss to Southern Indiana and then put up 11 points in the OT defeat to Weber State. The rangy forward was at his best against Rhode Island with 18 points on 6-of-9 from three-point range. He followed that up with 11 points against SEMO and 14 in the first Golden State blow-out. The 6-8 Matteson is Alaska's top shooter from long range in shots made (2.1 per game) and is second in percentage (43.8%).

California Love: Nearly half the Alaska roster hails from the Golden State. Senior Jushay Rockett, junior Barry Barnes, Jr. and freshman Kevin Atkins all rep Long Beach, while junior Kenny Barker is a San Diego native and redshirt Keven Campbell hails from Stockton.

Nanooks On Top of the World: Alaska dropped three BP Top of the World games this year by a combined 12 points. Despite being the only DII school playing amongst DI opponents, Alaska is no pushover in their own tournament. The Nanooks own 10 wins in the Classic's 10-year history including triumphs over the University of North Carolina Wilmington (1996), Jackson State (2000), the University of Texas-San Antonio (2003), Montana State (2005) and Kennesaw State (2005). In 1998, an underrated Alaska squad placed third in the tourney with wins over Washington State and New Mexico State. The pinnacle of Nanook success came in 2002, when they became the first DII school to win a DI tournament. Alaska took out Wisconsin-Green Bay, Nebraska and Weber State on the way to the title.

Recruiting Roundup: Head coach Frank Ostanik made recruiting Alaska players a priority and it has paid off with the signing of Wasilla point guard Jesse Bean and Mt. Edgecumbe center John Clark. The 5-11 Bean was an all-state player last year for the Warriors, while the 6-9 Clark made the Oregon all-state squad at Western Mennonite School. The Nanooks currently have three Alaskans on the roster.

Nanook Nuggets: Redshirt freshman Tyrome Flowers exploded off the bench for 20 points (5-of-9 three-pointers) in game two against Lancaster and then tallied 14 points (4-of-8 treys) versus Rhode Island...Freshman guard Jordan Hayter was instrumental in the Nanooks win over Pace with a then career-high 12 points, three rebounds and three assists in 18 minutes off the bench...Freshman forward Martez Christian did not make the trip to Orlando to focus on academics...The Nanooks also started 4-1 last year but did so in reverse fashion, losing their first and then rattling off four wins...Alaska is 2-3 in games decided by five points or less thus far...Rockett's 32 points against Weber eclipses the former high-point game by a Nanook, set by Bogdan Popescu with 27 points in 2000...Three Nanooks logged more than 40 minutes in the loss. Barry Barnes, Jr. played all 45, the most by a Nanook since Brad Oleson logged 43 in a loss to Seattle Pacific on Jan. 22, 2005...The short-handed Nanooks played a 7-man rotation against Weber. The Nanook bench was outscored 40-3 by the Wildcat reserves...Alaska tied their season-low in turnovers against Rhode Island with 14, matching the total in the second Lancaster game...The Nanooks 14 threes (including 10-of-16 in the second half) against the Rams set a new season-high...Rockett's streak of six-straight 20+ point games was snapped against Rhode Island, when he scored just 12 due to foul trouble...Rockett and Barnes sat out the first game of the Golden State Baptist series due to being late to practice...Evan Skinner was dismissed from the team after two games due to a team rules violation...Freshman Kevin Atkins made his first start as a Nanook against Golden State Nov. 30 and ripped down a career-best 12 boards...Hayter netted a new career-high with 16 points in the first GSBC blowout...junior guard Mike Titus broke out of a four-game, 6-of-33 shooting slump with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting in the second Golden State game... Alaska had every player score at least five points in the second rout of the Bears...The Nanooks nearly set a new record for fewest points in a half when they held GSBC to 10 points in the first half. The old record is 9 points, also set against Puget Sound Christian in Nov. 2004.