BILLINGS, Mont. -- The Montana State University men's basketball team opens the second half of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule Thursday at No. 2 Western Washington University and Simon Fraser Saturday.
THE SERIES
* Thursday is the 19th all-time meeting between Montana State Billings and WWU.
* Western Washington enters the week with the longest active win streak, 24 games, in NCAA
Div. II and the longest in GNAC history. The last team to beat the Vikings was MSUB.
* MSU Billings has lost all six meetings against the Vikings in Bellingham all-time.
* Simon Fraser and the Yellowjackets meet for the seventh time Saturday.
* Montana State Billings is 1-1 against SFU in Burnaby all-time.
* MSUB has won the past two meetings by a combined 38 points.
* The series only dates back to an 86-74 Yellowjacket win in Billings in 2000.
QUICK HITS
- MSU Billings opens the second half of the conference schedule this week.
- The Yellowjackets are 9-0 this season when leading with five minutes left in regulation, and 1-9 when trailing.
- MSUB is 23-2 under Stevens when they shoot better than their opponent, and is 11-1 when it shoots 50 percent or better.
- Montana State Billings is 6-0 this season when holding opponents under 70 points, and 1-6 when opponents score over 80 points.
-
Kalob Hatcher is fourth in NCAA Div. II in assist-to-turnover ratio, and leads the GNAC.
- He is third in the GNAC in assists with an average of 5.1 per game.
- Hatcher is also the lone player in the conference over 100 assists.
-
Jarrell Crayton is fifth in the conference in scoring (15.5), and third in rebounding (7.6).
- MSUB is shooting 74 percent from the free-throw line during this three-game win streak. In the three games before that, it shot 54 percent, and lost all three.
ABOUT THE VIKINGS
Western Washington University enters the matchup with MSU Billings as the second-ranked team in NCAA Div. II. They have won a school-record 24 straight contests, with their last loss an 82-78 setback to MSUB in the 2012 GNAC Tournament semifinals. The victory string, the longest in the 12-year history of the conference, began with six wins in their national title run last season. The Vikings, who are 9-0 at home this season, also are working on a 19-game winning streak at Carver Gym. That is one short of the school-record set from 1970 to 1972. Fourteen of WWU's wins this season have been by 10 or more points, the other margins being six, four, three and one. The Vikings rank among the top 12 nationally in six team statistical categories. WWU leads the GNAC in scoring margin, field-goal percentage, 3-point percentage defense, steals (8.9), offensive rebounds (13.4) and blocked shots.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET
The No. 5 Western Washington University men's basketball team picked up its 18th straight win at Montana State University Billings on Jan. 5, 95-80. The Vikings turned 21 MSUB turnovers into 31 points. WWU had 15 steals in the game, the most by an opponent in the
Jamie Stevens' era at MSU Billings. Western Washington finished 58 percent from the field, and 7-of-13 from behind-the-arc. It was also 16-for-28 from the free-throw line. John Allen had 16 of his game-high 25 points in the second half to lead four WWU double-digit scorers. The senior finished 10-of-20 from the field. Rico Wilkins and Richard Woodworth both added 15 points. Cameron Severson chipped in 14 points.
COACH STEVENS ON WESTERN WASHINGTON
I think over the last four games we have probably played our best basketball of the season so far. I like the fact that we seem to be getting better every game. With that said, this will be a very challenging week back out on the road. Western Washington is playing at such a high level. From the film I have seen, they are getting better every game which is scary. I played four years here and have now coached in NCAA Div. II for eight years. In that time, I would say that John Allen might be the best guard I have ever seen at this level. The unfortunate thing for our league is that the guys around him are really good, as well. Thursday will be a tremendous challenge for our team.
ABOUT THE CLAN
Simon Fraser University opened the season 5-1, but are 1-10 since that start. The Clan ended a nine-game skid last Thursday with a win over Alaska-Fairbanks. Saturday, they dropped a game at Alaska-Anchorage. Elijah Matthews had 26 points to lead the Clan to a split with UAF and UAA. Matthews made nine of 14 shots, 4 of 7 from the arc. Ibrahim Appiah and Keegan Dunlop chipped in with 22 and 21 points, respectively. Anto Olah leads the conference in rebounds per game (8.1), and offensive rebounds per contest (3.6). Matthews paces Simon Fraser with 13.5 points per outing. He is third in the GNAC averaging 2.7 three-pointers made per game. SFU has the third best scoring offense in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Clan averages 77.2 points per game. They're also making 46 percent of their shots, which is fourth in the conference.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET
The Montana State University Billings' men's basketball team cruised to a 92-74 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory over Simon Fraser University (B.C.) on Jan. 3. Five Yellowjackets finished in double-digit scoring led by
Jarrell Crayton's 16 points. The senior made eight of his nine shots from the field and grabbed eight rebounds.
David Arnold added 15 points.
Omar McDade and
Robby Trabing both scored 11 points, and
Devon Wallace chipped in a season-high 10. Trabing also had eight rebounds.
Kalob Hatcher finished with seven assists, while McDade dished out six. Wallace matched a team season-high four steals. Montana State Billings shot 51 percent from the field, and threw 27 assists.
COACH STEVENS ON SIMON FRASER
Saturday will likely be difficult, as well. Simon Fraser has played better lately and it is always a tough place to play. They have very good guards, including one back that didn't play against us here. We will have to play well both nights to have any chance at a victory.
