MBB Preview: Stout to put undefeated record on line against Luther College

Live Stats | Live Video | Interview with Coach Andrist

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: UW-Stout (5-0, 0-0 WIAC) will continue their five-game homestand this week when they host Luther College (3-1), Wednesday, Nov. 28, at 7 p.m. and open their WIAC schedule at home against UW-Whitewater (3-0), Saturday, Dec. 1, at 4 p.m. Blue Devil fans will get some bonus basketball this week as Stout's varsity reserve will play UW-Barron County before the full squad takes the court against Luther. The varsity reserve game is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.

EDDIE ANDRIST INTERVIEW: Blue Devil coach Eddie Andrist spent some time with1400AM Sports Radio's Jimmie Kaska to talk about the season so far, the impending game with defending national champion UW-Whitewater and the season as a whole. | Listen to coach Eddie Andrist's Interview

WEBCASTS: All of Stout's home games will be available in a Live Video stream by Blue Devil Video, with Adam "Big Country" Lehnertz on the call. WMEQ 880 AM radio, with either Jason Kenyon, Rob Silvers, Dan Schultz, Jimmie Kaska or Jake Bostrom, will broadcast the away conference games, as well as all Saturday conference games. Check the Blue Devil webcast schedule for the streaming schedule. Links to other team's streaming options will be available. Live Stats will be available for all Stout home games and many road games (check schedule details).

CAREER STATS: Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this page to check out the UW-Stout career high for points, rebounds, and assists of each Blue Devil player.

THIS WEEK BY THE NUMBERS
13	Number of assists Erik Olson needs to become Stout's all-time career assists leader.
8	Stout's current win streak, their longest since 2005-06 season.
5	Wins this year, most to open a season in 11 years.
22.8	Average margin of victory this season.
5-0	Stout's all-time record against Luther College.
.500	Head coach Eddie Andrist's career winning percentage at Stout (156-156).

THE BLUE DEVILS (5-0): The undefeated Blue Devils are off to their best start to a season in 11 years. Their five straight wins to open the season are the most since the 2000-01 season, when they began with six wins. The Blue Devils have won three of their five games by at least 30 points, and their average margin of victory is nearly 23 points. Josh Kosloske stole the show in the opener, scoring a career-high 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, and has been mopping up down low all season, averaging eight rebounds per game. Chris Hortman is turning into Stout's sixth man after delivering his second 20-point game of the season against Northland. He leads the team in scoring at 14 ppg and adds a 6.2 rebounds per game average. Alex Oman had a quiet weekend in the scoring category, but dished out a career-high six assists against Northland in limited minutes. Oman trails only Hortman in scoring at 13.2 points per game. Jarvis Ragland leads the team in three point percentage and maintains an average of 13 ppg. Aaron Jenny, who posted career highs in point and rebounds against Dubuque, has started all five games and averages 8.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. Erik Olson has directed the offense from the point guard position, dishing out six assists per game as he eyes Stout's all-time career assists record. | 2012-13 Statistics

GOING STREAKING: Dating back to last season, the Blue Devils are on an eight game win streak, their longest of such in six seasons. During their 2005-06 campaign, Stout strung together ten in a row. They finished that season 22-7 overall, 12-4 in conference play.

CHASING THE RECORD BOOKS: Erik Olson has been climbing the Stout leaderboard in assists and recently passed Bill Rozakis to move into third place all time with 346. With 13 more assists this year, Olson will become the all-time career assists leader in the Stout record books. Olson finished the 2011-12 season with108 assists, averaging 5.4 per contest. So far this year, Olson is averaging 6.0 per game and is coming off a season-high eight against Dubuque.

STOUT'S LAST TIME OUT: In their most recent outing Sunday evening, UW-Stout held off a charging University of Dubuque squad and came away with a 61-51 win in the championship game of their Quality Inn & Suites Turkey Shootout hosted at Johnson Fieldhouse. In a game in which both teams entered 4-0, Stout was in control for much of the ballgame, but faced some adversity that they have not been used to so far this season. After jumping out to a 22-12 lead, Stout looked prime to run away from Dubuque. But the Spartans were 4-0 for a reason, and would not go down without a fight. A 9-0 run cut the deficit to one, and minutes later, Dubuque's Chris Frazier hit a three to tie the game. Dubuque had a 31-30 Dubuque lead at the break. Stout used solid defense to open up the second half with another big run. A 9-1 run to start the period gave them a 39-32 lead. The Spartans did not make a second-half field goal until less than nine minutes remained in the game. They did, however, connect on seven free throws over that stretch and trailed by just four with nine minutes to go. A minute later, Jordan Townsend gave Dubuque their first lead since they led at halftime. Stout answered the call time after time. Aaron Jenny hit back-to-back jumpers to answer Townsend, and later hit a big three that served as the nail in Dubuqe's coffin. Jenny led all players with a career-high 15 points on 7-for-12 shooting. He also pulled down a career-best eight boards. | Story and Stats

ABOUT LUTHER COLLEGE: Located in Decorah, Iowa, Luther College is a four-year liberal arts institution of about 2,500 students. Founded in 1861, the college is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and offers more than 60 majors, with the largest number of graduates coming biology, education, and music programs. The Norse compete in 10 men's and nine women's varsity sports.

SCOUTING LUTHER COLLEGE (3-1): The Norse, who were picked fourth of eight in their conference's preseason poll, started their season with three straight wins before running into a loss against UW-La Crosse on Sunday. After two blowout wins in their opening weekend, Luther defeated St. Olaf College, 81-75, on the road. In that win, four of Luther's five starters scored at least 13 points and Tyler Wedemeier pulled down 16 boards to complement his 16 points. To follow that up, Wedemeier went for 24 points and 11 rebounds in the loss to La Crosse, his third double-double in four games. Not surprisingly, he leads the team in scoring and rebounds, averaging 19.5 and 10.8, respectively. Fellow senior Zach Matos is pitching in 14.3 points and 5.3 boards per game. Juniors Michael Crocker and John Androus have each started four games and are scoring 13.3 and 10 points per game, respectively. | 2012-13 Statistics

LUTHER'S LAST TIME OUT: In their most recent game, Luther relinquished a halftime lead and suffered their first loss of the season to UW-La Crosse. After leading shooting nearly 60 percent in the first half, Luther took a 35-31 lead into the locker rooms. Their shooting cooled off in the second half, however, and La Crosse ended the game on a 12-2 run to take a 69-58 victory. Tyler Wedemeier led all players with 24 points on 11-of-12 shooting. He also pulled down 11 boards for his third double-double of the year. For La Crosse, Jeff Heiden and Lucas Collom each scored 18 points and Collom led all players with 12 boards. | Box Score

THE SERIES: Stout has won all five previous matchups between the two squads. The Blue Devils have twice won by at least 26 points, and have only once been truly tested, a 74-72 win during the 1988-89 season.

LAST TIME THEY MET: Stout opened their 1989-90 season with a 88-69 win over Luther College, and have not met since.

THE COACHES: UW-Stout: Eddie Andrist (156-156 at Stout, 404-347 overall) is in his 13th year as the coach of the Blue Devils, and his 23rd overall in the collegiate ranks. Andrist led the Blue Devils to their first NCAA Division III appearance five seasons ago when Stout advanced to the second round. Andrist coached at Mount Senario for 11 seasons and won three national championships. Andrist spent two stints coaching international basketball, working with the country of Qatar. | Mark Franzen is in his seventh season as the head coach of the Norse. In Luther's 2010-11 campaign, Franzen led the Norse to their first NCAA Division III National Tournament since 1984.

CONFERENCES: Stout and UW-Whitewater are both members of the nine-team Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) along with UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Platteville, UW-River Falls, UW-Stevens Point, and UW-Superior. Luther College is a member of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC).

UP NEXT: Next week, the Blue Devils hit the road. On Wednesday, Dec. 5, Stout travels to UW-Superior for a 7 p.m. matchup, and travel to UW-Platteville the following Saturday for a 4 p.m. game with the Pioneers.

UW-Stout Career Bests (updated Nov. 27, 2012)

Chris Hortman - #3

Points: 21 vs. Simpson College, Nov. 17, 2012
Rebounds: 9 (2x) vs. Gustavus Adolphus, Nov. 20, 2012; vs. Dubuque, Nov. 25, 2012
Assists: 3 vs. Dubuque, Nov. 25, 2012

Erik Olson - #4

Points: 19 vs. UW-River Falls, Jan. 22, 2011
Rebounds: 8 vs. UW-River Falls, Jan. 5, 2011
Assists: 11 (2x) vs. Northland College, Nov. 26, 2011; vs. UW-Whitewater, Jan. 30, 2010

Aaron Jenny - #5

Points: 15 vs. Dubuque, Nov. 25, 2012
Rebounds: 8 vs. Dubuque, Nov. 25, 2012
Assists: 4 (2x) vs. UW-Oshkosh, Jan. 14, 2012; vs. UW-Platteville, Dec. 10, 2011

Jarvis Ragland - #11

Points: 21 vs. Macalester, Nov. 18, 2011
Rebounds: 9 vs. Mary Hardin-Baylor, Dec. 29, 2011
Assists: 3 vs. UW-Superior, Dec. 7, 2011

Josh Pax - #12

Points: 6 vs. UW-River Falls, Jan. 25, 2012
Rebounds: 4 (2x) vs. UW-River Falls, Jan. 25, 2012; vs. UW-La Crosse, Jan. 18, 2012
Assists: 1 (4x) vs. UW-River Falls, Jan. 25, 2012; vs. UW-Superior, Dec. 7, 2011; vs. Winona State, Nov. 29, 2011; vs. Macalester, Nov. 18, 2011

Alex Oman - #14

Points: 28 (2x) vs. UW-Oshkosh, Feb. 18, 2012; vs. UW-Superior, Feb. 1, 2012
Rebounds: 10 vs. Mary Hardin-Baylor, Dec. 29, 2011
Assists: 6 vs. Northland, Nov. 24, 2012

Alex Hammond - #21

Points: 2 vs. Northland, Nov. 24, 2012
Rebounds: 1 vs. Northland, Nov. 24, 2012
Assists: 1 vs. Northland, Nov. 24, 2012

Thomas Scholle-Malone - #31

Points: 13 vs. UW-Oshkosh, Jan. 14, 2012
Rebounds: 8 vs. Northland, Nov. 24, 2012
Assists: 2 vs. UW-Whitewater, Dec. 3, 2011

Jay Higgins - #33

Points: 10 vs. Winona State, Nov. 29, 2011
Rebounds: 13 vs. Concordia-Texas, Dec. 30, 2011
Assists: 3 (3x) vs. UW-Oshkosh, Jan. 14, 2012; vs. Gustavus Adolphus, Jan. 7, 2012; vs. Concordia-Texas, Dec. 30, 2011

Josh Kosloske - #34

Points: 16 vs. St. Scholastica, Nov. 16, 2012
Rebounds: 15 vs. UW-La Crosse, Jan. 18, 2012
Assists: 2 (2x) vs UW-Oshkosh, Jan. 14, 2012; vs. UW-Superior, Dec. 7, 2011

Adam Wadzinski - #35

Points: 4 vs. St. Scholastica, Nov. 16, 2012
Rebounds: 5 vs. UW-Oshkosh, Jan. 14, 2012
Assists: 3 vs. UW-Oshkosh, Jan. 14, 2012

Tim Butina - #45

Points: 13 vs. UW-Whitewater, Jan. 21, 2012
Rebounds: 13 vs. Northland, Nov. 24, 2012
Assists: 2 (4x) vs. Robert Morris, Nov. 27, 2011; vs. Northland College, Nov. 26, 2011; vs. Winona State, Nov. 16, 2009; vs. Waldorf, Nov. 20, 2009

The Last Time...(updated Nov. 27, 2012)

A Stout Individual...
Scored 30+ points: 34, Jerrod Buchholtz vs. UW-River Falls (1/5/2011)
Scored 25-29 points: 28, Alex Oman vs. UW-Stevens Point, (2/18/2012)
Recorded 15+ rebounds: 15, Josh Kosloske vs UW-La Crosse (1/18/12)
Recorded 10+ assists: 11, Erik Olson vs. Northland College, (11/26/11); vs. UW-Whitewater (1/30/2010)
Recorded 6+ steals: 8, by Jerrel Enerson-Matthews vs. Bethany Lutheran (11/21/08)

A Stout Team...
Scored 105+ points: 109, vs. Crown College (2/15/11)
Scored 100-104 points: 102 vs. Silver Lake College (2/17/2010)
Recorded 60+ rebounds: 64, vs. Concordia-Texas (12/11/2011)
Recorded 55-59 rebounds: 56 vs. Northland College (11/24/12)
Recorded 25+ assists: 25, vs. Silver Lake College (2/17/2010)
Won 10 or more games in a row: 10, 2005-06 season
Lost 5 or more games in a row: 7, 2011-12 season

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