FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Following a tough road trip down in the Lower 48, the Alaska men's basketball team returns home to host a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponents in Western Washington and Simon Fraser this week at the Patty Center.
“We had a tough road trip, there's no other way to look at it,” head coach
Mick Durham said. “We'll hopefully come home and get refreshed and be excited to play at home and that's what we need.”
The Nanooks (4-11, 1-4 GNAC) first take on the Vikings (13-3, 4-1 GNAC) Thursday evening and wrap up the homestand Saturday against the Clan (5-8, 0-5 GNAC). Both matchups are set for 7 p.m. starts.
“You definitely want to defend your home court and I think guys are excited when they play at home,” Durham said. “You can't make too much of what happened last weekend on the road. It wasn't good, we have to learn from it and be ready to go Thursday night against a good team and that's what we're focused on right now.”
Alaska looks to end its two-game losing skid after suffering a 67-54 loss at Seattle Pacific (Jan. 5) before dropping a 95-70 decision at Montana State-Billings (Jan. 7) last week.
SPU set a new GNAC record for total rebounds in a game with 61 boards, which included 30 on the offensive glass, also a league record.
David Downs tallied 10 of his team-high 15 points in the first half to pace the Falcons offense in the win.
MSUB shot 53-percent from the field and had five score in double figures against the 'Nooks on Saturday.
Robert Mayes came off the bench to record a team-high 21 points on nine of 12 shooting for the Yellowjackets.
“It's lessons for a young team to learn and it was really our first two-game road trip in the GNAC for our guys,” Durham said. “Hopefully we will learn and it was a rough film session, but we're back at practice and doing a lot of good things.”
For Alaska, junior guard
Dominique Brinson (Juneau, Alaska/College of the Redwoods) led the way with 17.0 points per game, which included a career-best 23 points at MSU-Billings. He also averaged 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals on the road trip.
“He's very poised on the court and confident in his abilities, but I see him growing in his game,” Durham said. “He's just a bit more patient with his game and not forcing things and that's why I think you see his shooting percentage going up from the beginning of the year. He's playing hard, you know what to expect night in and night out and that's what you're looking for once you get into league play.”
Other notable players included sophomore center
Sergej Pucar (Banja Luka, Serbia/Jacksonville College), who scored 11.0 points per game, and freshman forward
Jesse Ward (North Pole, Alaska/North Pole), who tallied 10.5 per outing, including a career-high 16 points at SPU.
In the GNAC rankings, sophomore forward
Stefan Tica (Belgrade, Serbia/Panola College) still ranks 11th in scoring (14.7 ppg) despite a tough shooting week last week. He is also fifth in three-pointers (2.4 per game).
Senior guard
Nico Matthews (Twenty Nine Palms, Calif./College of the Desert) is still atop the conference in steals (2.8 spg), along with ranking third in assists (4.7 apg), fifth in assist-turnover ratio (2.0), eighth in field goal percentage (.551) and 13th in rebounds (6.0 rpg).
“That's what you want a senior to do,” Durham said of Matthews' stat lines. “It's his last go-round and I think he's really playing to his strengths, he's not forcing things, but he's long and athletic and uses his length defensively. He's getting his teammates involved with his assists and is our leading rebounder so we rely on him a lot. Teams are focusing on him so it's not as easy for him as it was in the preseason.”
Brinson is ninth in free throw percentage (.795), 13th in steals (1.4 spg) and 14th in three-pointers (2.1 per game).
DURHAM ON WWU: “I'm not sure that they do anything great, it's just they have basketball players. They may be the most athletic team we have in our league, but they know how to play. They'll penetrate, fine each other and they all can shoot the basketball. Defensively, they're going to be man-to-man, but they will do some full-court pressing to be aggressive. They're playing eight to nine guys that are pretty experienced guys and have been through the GNAC or been junior college players.”
DURHAM ON SFU: “From what I understand, they're very much improved from a year ago. They've added some nice players and [Javari] Williams is going to get a lot of attention. I've seen them on film, haven't totally focused on them yet, but seen them against teams we've played in the GNAC. They've given teams trouble. They were up 17 points on MSU-Billings at halftime and they competed at Seattle Pacific very well. It's definitely going to be a challenge Saturday night and it's not someone who is an automatic win anymore, so we have to come to play.”
Western Washington at Alaska (Game Notes)
When: Thursday, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m.
Where: Fairbanks, Alaska (Patty Center)
Live Stats
Audio: KCBF 820 AM
Video: NMTVSports (Free Streaming)
About Western Washington: Western Washington enters Thursday with a 13-3 overall record with a 4-1 mark in the GNAC after dropping both its first conference and home game of the season, 93-83, on Saturday against league-leading Western Oregon.
WWU, which is receiving votes in the latest NABC/Division II Coaches Poll (Jan. 10) and would rank 31st if the poll extended, averages 81.9 points per game while allowing 71.2 points through 16 games this season. As a team, it shoots 48.3-percent from the floor, while holding its opponents to 44.3-percent shooting. The Vikings control the boards by a margin of 38.2 to 32.4.
Four players score in double figures, led by
Rory Blanche, who averages 15.9 points per game, to go with his team-best 7.4 rebounds. Other double-figure scorers include
John Allen (13.3 ppg),
Zach Henifin (12.0) and
Richard Woodworth (10.1).
Coach: Brad Jackson (Washington State '75) is in his 27th season at the helm and is the winningest coach in program history as he reached the 500-win mark (500-277) last Thursday at home vs. Saint Martin's. He has directed the Vikings to 18 post-season appearances during his tenure, including a run to the national semifinal in 2011. He has guided his teams to 11 20-win seasons.
Simon Fraser at Alaska (Game Notes)
When: Saturday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m.
Where: Fairbanks, Alaska (Patty Center)
Live Stats
Audio: KCBF 820 AM
Video: NMTVSports (Free Streaming)
About Simon Fraser: Located in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, Simon Fraser University was founded in 1965 and has an enrollment of 30,000 students. Known as the lone NCAA-affiliated school in Canada, the Clan enter this week with a 5-8 record with a 0-5 mark in the GNAC.
SFU averages 78.6 points per game while allowing 76.7 points through 13 games this season. As a team, it shoots 44.4-percent from the floor while allowing opponents to shoot a little bit better at 46.7-percent. The Clan hold a slim rebounding edge, with 36.2 rebounds as opposed to 35.8 for their opponents.
Javari Williams leads four SFU players in double figures with a GNAC-best 23.8 points per game. He also is fifth in the league in rebounding with 7.8 boards per game. Other double-figure scorers include:
Justin Brown (13.6 ppg),
Matt Raivio (11.6 ppg) and
Jordan Sergent (11.4 ppg).
Coach: James Blake (Victoria '00) is in his second season at the helm after leading the Clan to a 3-21 record in the program's first year at the NCAA level. Prior to joining the staff at SFU, he spent time as associate head coach at Columbia College following a stint as an assistant at Division I's Cal State-Northridge.
