Current Stats
BILLINGS, Mont. – Just four games into the 2010-11 season, and the Montana State Billings men's basketball team is beginning the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule with a pair of road games at Western Washington and Simon Fraser this weekend.
The Jackets are coming off their second consecutive loss; a 74-87 setback at Chadron State last Saturday. With the loss the Yellowjackets fell to 1-3 on the young season and are in search of their first road win this week.
Against the Eagles, MSUB opened up an early lead, but Chadron fought back at the end of the first half to carry a five point lead into the half, 39-34. The second half drowned the Yellowjackets, shooting 3-of-8 from three-point range, and going 7-of-10 from the line.
In all, MSUB committed 19 turnovers, leading to 17 Eagle points and the Jackets were outscored 39-17 off the bench. The Eagles also out rebounded the Jackets 38-32 and created 18 second chance points, while the Jackets managed 10 points off of the offensive glass.
The Yellowjackets are led by senior DeAndre Chambers, averaging 16.3 points per game with 15 assists this season. Chambers is seventh in the league in scoring right now, and ranks seventh in steals (1.8).
Junior forward Robert Mayes has also been a determining factor in the lineup, averaging 14.8 points per game and currently leads the conference in rebounding with 10.8 points per game. Also among the leaders in the conference is Jaxon Myaer. Myaer leads the conference in assists, averaging 7.8 dishes per game and is scoring 6.5 points per contest.
As a team the Jackets are shooting 47.5 percent from the floor this season, including 32.9 percent from three-point range. The Jackets are 64.2 percent from the free throw line, while opponents are shooting 67.2 percent from the charity stripe. Opponents have been held to 45.1 percent shooting, but are 44.9 percent from beyond the arc.
The Jackets are averaging 38.0 boards per game, a +3.8 advantage over opponents. The turnover bug has a hold on the Yellowjackets as of right now, turning the ball over an average of 17.8 times per contest.
The Western Washington Vikings enter Thursday's contest with a 4-1 record overall. The Vikings are looking to make a return trip to the NCAA Tournament after winning the conference a year ago. The Vikings are shooting 54.2 percent from the floor this season and are shooting 38.1 percent from three.
The Vikings are holding opponents to 42.7 percent shooting and just 36.4 percent from beyond the arc. Their shooting from the line has been uneasy this season, shooting 71.6 percent from the line. WWU are out rebounding team's 40.8-29.4.
WWU is led by Rory Blanche, averaging 14.2 points per game and also leads the team in rebounding (8.2). Three other players are averaging double-digits this season and have seen big assists numbers from John Allen (25) and Rico Wilkins (22), who went out with a season-ending injury this week.
Looking at the newcomer Clan of Simon Fraser University, the Clan is 0-3 this season. SFU is led by transfer Ricky Berry, averaging 21.0 points per game. Justin Brown is the only other player to average double figures this season (16.7) for the Clan.
As a team SFU is shooting 33.7 percent from the floor and are shooting a dismal 21.7 percent beyond the arc. The Clan is turning the ball over 18.3 times per game and is averaging just 62.7 points per contest.
Both games will have live stats and webstreaming available, which can be viewed via the MSUB website at msubsports.com. Just visit the men's basketball schedule page and click on either contest to view the game.
