BILLINGS, Mont.  – With two games remaining on the schedule, the Montana State University Billings Yellowjackets (13-16, 5-13 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) will host the University of Alaska (10-15, 8-11 GNAC) and Alaska Anchorage (14-13, 10-9 GNAC) this weekend in Billings. The 'Jackets will face the Nanooks on Thursday at 7 p.m. and conclude their 2018 season with the Seawolves on Saturday at 7 p.m.  
 
SENIOR NIGHT: Saturday's game will be senior night for Kendall Denham, Kamal Tall and Jordan Perry. Each player will be recognized for their contributions to MSUB basketball before the game against Anchorage.

Denham and Perry are each fifth-year seniors after coming to Billings together in 2013 while Tall joined the 'Jackets as a sophomore in 2015.     
 
Earlier this season Denham became the third player in MSUB history to record 300 assists and 100 three pointers made in a career. Currently, the guard has 323 assists and 138 3-pointers made in 107 games at MSUB. The Malta, Mont. native ranks 10th in assists and 11th in 3-pointers made in Yellowjacket history.
 
Tall will leave his name in the record books for the 'Jackets as well. He is tied for the 10th most blocks in a Yellowjacket career with 45 swats over the past three seasons. Last season he rejected 25 shots which is the 17th best single season total in program history. He has 19 blocks this season, which is the 16th most among GNAC players.
 
Perry has appeared in 18 games this season for the Yellowjackets and has 518 career points, 305 rebounds and 106 assists over his four seasons.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Last week the Yellowjackets scored 60 points in two losses to Saint Martin's (77-60) and Seattle Pacific (74-60). It was the second and third time this month that MSUB scored just 60 points in a game, the 'Jackets previous low for the season (62) came in the first meeting with Alaska Anchorage in November.
 
NUMBERS AND NOTES
 
80 MINUTES LEFT: Denham has played a career-high 917 minutes so far this season nearly 100 more minutes than Zack Rollins (825) who has been on the court the second most this season. He is just the ninth player since the 2001-02 season to play more than 900 minutes for the 'Jackets with the most recent occurrence coming in 2013-14 when Kalob Hatcher played 929 minutes while Denham was a freshman. With 80 minutes of play remaining in the season, more if the Yellowjackets are involved in an overtime game, Denham could end up with the fourth most minutes played in a season since the turn of the millennium. With just 50 more minutes he would tie Hatcher (12-13) and Buddy Windy Boy (05-06) with 967 minutes played. Denham averages 31.6 minutes per game this season and has played more than 30 minutes in each of the past nine games. Travis Bunker played 1056 minutes during the 2008-09 season, the most since 2001.
 
100 AND 100: Freshman guard Kobe Terashima grabbed his 100th rebound of the season against Saint Martin's last Thursday to become the first player since Travis Bunker and Mario Burns in 2008-09 to record 100 rebounds and 100 assists in a season. Dating back to 2001-02, Terashima is just the fifth Yellowjacket to achieve the feat and the only freshman. He is one of three GNAC players to record 100 in each category this season along with Saint Martin's Luke Chavez and Western Washington's Trey Drechsel.
 

BIG FIRST IMPRESSION: Zharon Richmond is only the seventh freshman in the past 18 seasons of MSUB basketball to record 300 points in his first season with the Yellowjackets. The Billings native is third on the team in scoring with 317 points this season and had a season-high 24 points last week against Saint Martin's. He has shown the ability to score inside and out with 30 of his 101 field goals made being from beyond the arc. Richmond also has a knack for getting to the foul line where he has shot a team-leading 115 free throws this season. Of the seven freshmen to score 300 points in a season only Preston Beverly recorded more rebounds (194) than Richmond's 123 boards so far this season. Richmond also has the opportunity to record one of the five more prolific blocking seasons in program history this week as he needs just one more rejection to tie Pat Reynolds (46) for the fifth most blocks in a single season.  
 
TURNOVER TURNAROUND: During the first 23 games of the season the Yellowjackets recorded just one game in which they turned the ball over fewer than 10 times. In six February games, the 'Jackets have turned the ball over fewer than 10 times in three games including a season low seven turnovers against Seattle Pacific last Saturday. The change comes as MSUB has been forced to adapt their offense to feature two point guards with Denham and Terashima playing at the same time for the majority of the game.
 
TOP-10 SEASON: After making 11 3-pointers in two games last week, the 2018 edition of the Yellowjackets is now the seventh team in program history to make more than 300 threes in a season. Their 306 treys rank 10th in all of Division II. Zack Rollins leads the team with 87 3-pointers this season which ranks 15th in the nation and is the 17th best total in a single-season by a Yellowjacket. He is only three makes from deep away from moving into the top-15 at MSUB and it is not out of the question that he could make a push to become the 11th 'Jacket to make 100 threes in a season with two games remaining. Rollins is one of three MSUB players to ever shoot 5-for-5 from 3-point range in a game, a feat he accomplished in his first game at MSUB.    
 
ALASKA ANCHORAGE AT ALASKA: In the lowest scoring GNAC game of the season, the Seawolves defeated the Nanooks 44-43 on Tuesday night in Fairbanks, Alaska. When the teams first played this season, the Nanooks only scored 39 in a loss to Anchorage 65-39. Only two other conference teams have totaled fewer than 50 points in a game this season, both instances occurred during a Seawolves win. Northwest Nazarene scored 48 points when visiting UAA and Simon Fraser scored 46 in Anchorage.
 
In Tuesday's game, Davis Kimble led all scorers with 15 points for the Nanooks on 7-for-12 shooting. Alaska's Michael Kluting collected his ninth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
 
Anchorage was led by 14 points from D.J. Ursery who added 10 rebounds to his efforts. Jack McDonald was the fourth and final player to score double figures in the game with 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting including two free throws.
 
The teams combined for 10 free throws in the entire game with the Seawolves shooting eight shots from the line while the Nanooks took just two shots from the charity stripe.


 
University of Alaska Nanooks
Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018 | 7 P.M. | Alterowitz Gym
2017-18 Record: 10-15, 8-11 GNAC (8th Place)
Head Coach: Mick Durham (12th Season)
2016-17 Record: 13-16, 8-12 (9th Place)
Roster | Stats   
 
FIRST MEETING WITH MSUB: In the first meeting with the Nanooks in Fairbanks, Alaska, the Yellowjackets fell 88-80. MSUB held a five point lead at the break but Alaska forced 19 turnovers and scored 36 points in the pain on their way to victory. The Nanooks had a decisive edge off the glass as they collected 18 offensive boards leading to 18 second-chance points.
 
MSUB had five players score in double-figures during the first meeting led by 19 from Rollins. Tyler Green scored 18 in the game while Sven Jeuschede, Denham and Tall each scored 10.  
 
SCOUT: The Nanooks are a balanced and scrappy team that has won eight conference games for the second consecutive season. Thursday's match up with the 'Jackets will be the final game of the season for Alaska as the team has lost three straight GNAC games to fall out of tournament contention.
 
They have the second worst scoring margin in the conference as they average 4.9 fewer points than their opponents this season. Alaska only allows 75.5 points per game to opponents and has held their rival to fewer than 70 points in each of their last three wins.
 
Michael Kluting is second on the team in scoring with 11.7 points per game and third in the GNAC with 7.7 boards per contest. Alex Baham has a team-best 11.9 scoring average and Davis Kimble is third on the team with 11.1 points per game.
 
The Alaska offense has the fourth most 3-pointers made among GNAC schools with 223 threes this season while shooting 37.7 percent from deep as a team. Tre Eisenhut (48%) and Baham (46.3%) are second and third in the conference for 3-point shooting percentage.
 
University of Alaska Anchorage
Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018 | 7 P.M. | Alterowitz Gym
2017-18 Record: 14-13, 10-9 GNAC (6th Place)
Head Coach: Rusty Osborne (13th Season)
2016-17 Record: 21-8, 15-5 GNAC (2nd Place)
Roster | Stats 
 
FIRST MEETING WITH MSUB: The Yellowjackets opened their conference season against Alaska Anchorage on Nov. 30, 2017 in Anchorage. At the time, MSUB was a perfect 5-0 while the Seawolves entered the game 5-4. In a defensive struggle, both teams shot an identical 39 percent from the floor with each team shooting 23-for-59 from the floor. UAA capitalized on 30 free throw attempts compared to 11 for MSUB and scored 26 points from the charity stripe to defeat the 'Jackets 74-62.
 
Denham led the 'Jackets with 20 points in the game and Rollins added 12 points. The Seawolves' Jacob Lampkin powered UAA on both ends of the floor as the big scored 16 points and collected 12 rebounds.
 
SCOUT: Featuring the best scoring defense in the league and the lowest scoring offense, the Seawolves are a physical defensive force featuring a slow pace. Anchorage has not won a single league game this season in which an opponent has scored more than 70 points. Only one GNAC opponent has scored 80 points this season against the Seawolves as Western Oregon earned an 82-50 win in Monmouth, Ore. Each of the last two UAA wins were by a single possession.
 
D.J. Ursery is the only Seawolf to average more than 10 points a game with his 11.3 scoring average. The senior guard is also the top rebounder on the team with 5.9 boards per game. More importantly, Ursery is one of the top defenders in the GNAC specializing in eliminating opponent's top scoring threat.
 
Anchorage rarely settles for 3-point attempts as they have made a league low 154 threes this season. Just 28.3 percent of their total scoring comes from 3-point range compared to 40.4 percent for the 'Jackets. UAA threes account for just 35.1 percent of their shots this season.