GAME COVERAGE: Live Stats |
Blue Devil Video |
Eddie Andrist Interview
THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The
Blue Devils (12-3, 5-2 WIAC) host
UW-La Crosse (12-4, 5-2 WIAC), Wednesday, Jan. 16, at 7 p.m. before starting their second cycle of WIAC games, Saturday, Jan. 19, when they travel to
#15 UW-Whitewater for a 4 p.m. grudge match with the Warhwarks. All three teams are currently in a tie for second place in the WIAC.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: UW-Whitewater was ranked 15th in the lastest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll. Meanwhile, Stout and La Crosse each received votes, but neither cracked the top 25. The Blue Devils have been ranked as high as 23rd this season, but fell out of the rankings at the beginning of January.
EDDIE ANDRIST INTERVIEWS: Throughout the season, Jimmie Kaska of Sports Radio 1400 AM will speak with men's basketball head coach
Eddie Andrist. Listed are each of the interviews throughout the season.
This Week's Interview |
Listen to Interviews
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).
NEWSLETTER: During the season, the Blue Devil coaching staff produces a newsletter offering additional insight into the programs.
You can download the latest newsletter here.
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THIS WEEK BY THE NUMBERS |
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12-0 |
Stout's record when holding their opponents to less than 60 points. (0-3 when opponents score over 60 points.) |
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1-12 |
Stout's record in their past 13 meetings with UW-La Crosse. (Only win: 1/26/11; Stout 98, LAX 93) |
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.351 |
Stout's opponents' combined shooting average, which ranks second in nation among DIII teams. |
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3 |
Free throws shot by Stout against UW-Oshkosh, the lowest total since 2007. |
THE BLUE DEVILS (12-3, 5-2 WIAC): UW-Stout bounced back from their loss to Stevens Point with an absolute destruction of UW-Oshkosh on Saturday. They hit season highs in field goal percentage, three-pointers made, and assists, all while holding the Titans to 27 percent from the field. Stout has now won their three games when coming off a loss by an average of 17 points per game. They continue to cruise through their regular season schedule with tough defense and rebounding. Stout's defense, which is among the best in all of NCAA Division III, has only allowed their opponents to score over 60 points three times, accounting for all three of their losses. They have won their other 12 games, holding their opponents to an average of 49.3 points in those contests. On average, Stout's opponents are shooting .351 from the field and scoring 53.3 points per game, averages that rank them first and second, respectively, among all DIII teams...
Alex Oman leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.4 points per game, including a team-high four 20-point performances. He is also second on the team in steals, blocks and assists.
Chris Hortman has returned to his early-season form that helped get Stout off to such a hot start. Hortman has now scored 18 points in two of his last three games. Sprinkled in between was a 15-point, 10-rebound performance, his first double-double as a Blue Devil. On Saturday, Hortman scored all 18 of his points in succession against the Titans, doing so in less than five minutes of game time. He has now upped his scoring average to 11.5 points per game, which is tied with
Jarvis Ragland for second-highest on the team. 6-8 center
Josh Kosloske has served as Stout's big man down low from game one. Kosloske kickstarted his season with a 16-point, 12-rebound performance in the opener, and leads the team with 6.5 boards per game, which is the third best average in the WIAC. He is also leading the team in shooting percentage with a .641 clip from the field, which he improved, Wednesday, with a 4-of-5 performance against Oshkosh.
Aaron Jenny is averaging 7.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
Erik Olson is having a very productive season directing the offense from the point guard position. Helped by a seven-assist game at Oshkosh, his 5.93 assists per game and assist to turnover ratio of 3.56 are both first in the conference and both rank him inside the top 15, nationally. |
2012-13 Statistics
A PLACE IN THE RECORD BOOKS: Erik Olson has been climbing the Stout leaderboard in assists all year, and the inevitable happened against Superior on Dec. 5, as Olson passed Jeremy Leibfried's record total of 358, making him the all-time career assists leader in the Stout record books. Olson broke the record with his third assist of the game, and currently has 369.
STOUT'S LAST TIME OUT: Trailing midway through the first half, UW-Stout used a 14-2 run to grab a lead they would only increase, resulting in a 76-50 win over UW-Oshkosh, Saturday afternoon at Kolf Sports Center.
Chris Hortman led the first-half charge, scoring 18 straight Blue Devil points over a five-minute stretch before the break. That spurt was part of a 20-7 run that helped turn a one-point lead with seven minutes to play in the half, into a 40-26 halftime lead. Stout was not content with their 14-point advantage, and put the pedal to the metal coming out of the locker rooms. They started the half on a 21-2 rampage, aided by 11 points from
Alex Oman, which gave them a 33-point lead midway through the second half. The Blue Devils were able to coast from that 61-28 lead, which was their largest of the game. Oman and Hortman each ended the game with 18 points to lead all players. They were a combined 14-of-22 from the field, and 8-of-14 from beyond the arc.
Erik Olson dished out seven assists to lead the Blue Devils, who distributed a season-high 22. Cory Nickel scored 11 points for the Titans and Andre Wallace grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. The Blue Devils shot 59.3 percent from the field, their highest shooting percentage of the season, and their 10 made three-pointers were their most of the year. Meanwhile, the Titans shot just 27 percent from the field, 23 percent from beyond the arc. |
Story and Stats
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PLAYERS TO WATCH |
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UW-Stout |
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#14 - Alex Oman, F, 6-4, 205 |
14.4 ppg; 2nd on team in assists, blks, stls |
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#3 - Chris Hortman, F, 6-3, 190 |
Last 3 games: 17 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 1 dbl-dbl |
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UW-La Crosse |
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#23 - Jeff Heiden, G, 6-0, 165 |
13.1 ppg; .409 3-pt%; leads team in assists |
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#32 - Lucas Morrissey, F, 6-4, 220 |
10.3 ppg; .519 FG%; 7 rpg, second in WIAC |
SCOUTING UW-LA CROSSE (12-4, 5-2 WIAC): UW-La Crosse has quietly worked their way to a tie for second place midway through the conference schedule. They do not blow away their competition with scoring, nor do they smother them with defense, but a solid combination of both has gotten them off to an ideal start. Three of their four losses came against top 15 teams, with the only exception being an overtime loss to North Park (Ill.). The Eagles have shown they are not afraid to shoot the three, attempting 381 so far (23.8 per game). Of those 381 attempts, they have made 142 of them (both conference highs) for a .373 shooting clip. Leading the three-point barrage is Jeff Heiden, who has made over 40 percent of his 93 attempts, and averages a team-high 13.1 points per game. Heiden also leads the team with 41 assists. Luke Tweed has been the Eagles' second shooting option, and averages 10.8 points per game, followed by Lucas Morrissey, who averages. 10.3. Morrissey's average of seven rebounds per game leads the team and ranks second in the WIAC, trailing Platteville's Chas Cross by 0.1 per game. Morrissey is also shooting a team-best .519 from the field. | 2012-13 Statistics
UW-LA CROSSE'S LAST TIME OUT: La Crosse gave tenth-ranked UW-Stevens Point all they could handle, Saturday, but the Pointers used clutch free throws down the stretch to escape with a win, and remain undefeated in WIAC play. The Pointers ran out to a 10-0 lead, setting the tone early. Later in the first half, they reeled off a 7-0 run, extending their lead to 23-10, with four minutes to play in the half. The Eagles closed out the half well, reeling off a 12-2 run, and trailed by just three at half. Stevens Point slowly built their lead in the second half, extending it to 11 points with 8:22 to play in the game. La Crosse would not give up, however, slowly chipping away at the lead over the next seven minutes. They were able to pull within one point with a minute to play, after trailing by at least two the entire game. Trevor Hass and Austin Ryf each hit a pair of free throws down the stretch to seal the game. | Story and Stats
THE SERIES: UW-La Crosse leads the series, 109-69, overall. They swept last season's series, and have won 12 of the last 13 games against Stout.
LAST TIME THEY MET (Feb. 8, 2012): Carter Ciolkosz scored nine points within a three minute time frame midway through the second half to get UW-Stout to within two points, but UW-La Crosse ran off a 14-3 run over the next five minutes and the Eagles carried a 63-52 win out of Johnson Fieldhouse. The Blue Devils trailed 27-21 at halftime, but slowly chipped away. Ciolkosz, playing his first game since the first semester ignited his own run with a steal and a bucket at 11:42. Following a La Crosse bucket and a 44-35 lead, Ciolkosz responded with a 3-pointer at 10:41, a jumper at 9:55 and a pair of free throws at 8:59 to cut the lead to 44-42. But the Blue Devils would not score again until 5:30 when
Alex Oman dropped in one free throw. Ciolkosz scored another bucket within La Crosse's 14-3 run, but the Eagles held at least a nine point lead the rest of the way. Oman and Ciolkosz led all scorers with 17 points. Ciolkosz scored 16 in the second half. Ciolkosz also recorded six rebounds and Oman seven. The Eagles were led by Braden Tice's 13 points. Al Chery added 10 points and eight rebounds, while Lucas Morrissey came off the bench to score 10 points. |
Story and Stats
THE COACHES: UW-Stout: Eddie Andrist (163-159 at Stout, 411-350 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. |
UW-La Crosse: Ken Koelbl is in his 10th season as the head coach of the Eagles. Koelbl has accumulated an overall record of 126-109 (.536) and 64-78 (.451) in the WIAC after nine seasons. Koelbl's breakout year came in 2005-06, when he led the Eagles to a 20-8 record, the most wins since the 1982-83 team went 20-7. That year, La Crosse advanced to the NCAA Division III Championships, the program's first ever appearance. Koelbl spent eight years as an assistant at UW-Stevens Point before coming to La Crosse, where he graduated from Viterbo in 1990.
CONFERENCES: Stout, La Crosse, and
Whitewater are all members of the nine-team Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) along with UW-Eau Claire, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Platteville, UW-River Falls, UW-Stevens Point, and UW-Superior.
UP NEXT: Stout travels to River Falls, Wednesday, Jan. 23, for a 7 p.m. matchup with the Falcons before starting a three-game homestand with a non-conference game against Ashford University (Iowa), Saturday, Jan. 26.
