BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings men's basketball team hits the road for this first time in two weeks to play Central Washington University and Northwest Nazarene University this week. With less than a month before the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament, MSUB will need to secure some pivotal wins if they have any hope of making it to the post season.
 
With 8 games remaining, MSUB (9-11, 4-8 GNAC) is currently in ninth place and now three games out of the sixth and final qualifying spot for the tournament. It will not be an easy road as MSUB still has seven of the top eight teams left to play. MSUB's record versus the top seven in the first half of the season was 1-6.
 
"This is an important trip and it will be key for us to continue to compete while playing for longer stretches," said had coach Mick Durham. "We need to put together complete games. Our guys are hanging in there and realize what is at state if we want to make the GNAC tournament."

LAST TIME OUT: The Yellowjackets split games at home as they defeated Concordia University, Portland 80-70 last Thursday then fell to Western Oregon University 98-75 Saturday. MSUB's concluded a four game home stand going 1-3 and will have to four home games remaining in the regular season.
 
BY THE NUMBERS: The 'Jackets currently have the sixth ranked offense (77.1 points/game) and the eighth ranked scoring defense (79.9 points game), virtually unchanged since last week.   
 
MSUB is the best rebounding team in the GNAC with an average of 38.1 per game. The Yellowjackets are third in the GNAC with 3.3 blocked shots per game.
 
The Yellowjackets are hitting 44.2 percent of their shots from the field and 35.8 percent from beyond the arc. The team ranks second in Division II in fewest fouls (296) and fourth in personal fouls per game (12.9).
 
Brendan Howard is second in the GNAC and 27^th in the nation in scoring with 22.0 points per game. He also dropped to third in the league this past week with 7.7 rebounds per game.
 
Tyler Green is seventh in the GNAC with 15.8 points per game. He ranks fourth in the GNAC with 3.5 assists per game and leads the conference in free throw percentage converting 48-53 attempts (90.6 percent). He is also second in the GNAC and 12^th in all of Division II in three point shots made with 71 (3.33/game). Green is 9^th in the country with 186 three point attempts.
 
Green currently has 965 points in his career inching ever closer to 1,000. Green only needs to average 4.3 points per game in the final eight contests to reach the milestone.
 
Zharon Richmond is averaging 19.0 points per game and 8.8 rebounds. Richmond has played in 60 percent of MSUB's games and to be ranked in the GNAC one must play in 66 percent of the total games. Where he to qualify, Richmond would be third in the GNAC in points per game and leading the league in rebounds per game.
 
Scouting Central Washington University  
Game Day: Thursday, February 6-Ellensburg, WA 8:00pm MST
2019 Record: 13-8, 6-7 GNAC, 8-4 home, 2-4 away, 2-0 neutral
2018 Record: 11-17, 5-15 GNAC, 7-7 home, 4-9 away, 0-1 neutral
Head Coach: Brandon Rinta (2^nd Season)   
 
Winners of four of their last five games, including an 82-60 point drubbing of second place Western Washington University and a 64-59 win over NNU this past Tuesday, CWU is currently in seventh place and one game out of sixth. A win for either CWU or MSUB would be huge and if the first game between the two played in Billings is any indication, it will be a dog fight. MSUB beat CWU on a buzzer beating, 38 foot shot from Green 92-91 as time expired.
 
The Wildcats carry the seventh ranked offense averaging 76.0 points per game and the second ranked defense surrendering just 72.3 per contest. CWU is fourth in the GNAC in blocks per game with 3.0 and is knocking down shots at a rate of 44.7 percent from the field and 36.1 from beyond the arc.
 
Individually, Jeryn Lucas leads CWU and is 25^th in the GNAC with 11.9 points per game. Tariq Woody is second on the team with 10.4 points per game and 4.5 rebounds. In the first matchup against the Yellowjackets, Woody went off for 29 points on 13-18 from the field.
 
Scouting Northwest Nazarene University  
Game Day: Saturday, February 8-Nampa, ID-7:30pm MST
2019 Record: 11-7, 8-5 GNAC, 7-3 home, 4-3 away, 0-0 neutral
2018 Record: 20-8, 14-6 GNAC, 10-2 home, 6-5 away, 4-1 neutral
Head Coach: Paul Rush (3^rd Season)
 
NNU was named the GNAC's team of the week Monday as they had won seven games in a row. The Nighthawks beat WWU 87-64 and Simon Fraser University 81-77 to vault into third place last week. CWU snapped the streak Tuesday night as they beat NNU 64-59. After starting GNAC play 1-4, NNU beat MSUB 85-72 in Billings to begin their seven game streak.
 
The Nighthawks have the ninth ranked offense with 75.1 points per game and the fourth ranked defense surrendering 73.5 per contest. NNU makes 47.4 percent of their shots, the fourth best mark in the GNAC and hold opponents to a 41.8 percent conversion rate the top mark in the GNAC.
 
Ezekiel Alley leads NNU and is sixth in the league in scoring with 15.8 points per game. Jayden Bezzant is second on the team with 13.2 points per game and Olamilekan Adetunji was named the GNAC player of the week for his performances against WWU and SFU. Adetunji had a pair of double-doubles, averaging 19.5 points and 13 rebounds per game. He is second in the GNAC with 8.1 rebounds per game and sixth in field goal percentage at 57.6.
 
FOLLOW LIVE: Both Men's basketball games Thursday and Saturday will be streamed live with statistics via MSUB's stretch internet portal. Live stats and video is available at msubsports.com.