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THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (13-4, 6-3 WIAC) look to get back in the winning column when they travel to
UW-River Falls (6-12, 1-8 WIAC), Wednesday, Jan. 23 for a 7 p.m. contest.
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
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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13-0 |
Stout's record when holding their opponents to 55 points or less. (0-4 when opponents score more than 55 points.) |
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3.62 |
Erik Olson's current assist-to-turnover ratio, the third best of such in all of DIII. In game against RF in Dec., E.O. had nine assists and zero turnovers. |
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.360 |
Stout's opponents' combined shooting average, which ranks them first in the nation among DIII teams. |
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30 |
Stout rebounds against River Falls in December, their lowest total of the season. Stout was out-rebounded, 41-30. |
THE BLUE DEVILS (13-4, 6-3 WIAC): UW-Stout was again unable to knock off Whitewater, despite a dominating first-half performance. The Blue Devils led by nine points at the break, but the Warhawks - particularly Darnell Harris - were too much down the stretch, completing the regular season sweep of the teams' two-game season series. Despite the loss, Stout is still off to a good start and three of their four losses are to either Whitewater or Stevens Point, who are the WIAC's top two teams as of now. The Blue Devils' only major hiccup was to Loras College, the game that dropped them out of the national rankings. Stout is currently in third place and is in good position moving forward if they continue their dominance against the rest of the WIAC. Stout's defensive numbers remain very good after holding Whitewater to their second lowest scoring output of the season. The Blue Devils rank among the nation's best in scoring defense (53.7 ppg) and field goal percentage allowed (.360). Stout also boasts a conference-best rebounding margin of +8.2. They have only allowed their opponents to score over 55 points four times, all resulting in losses. They have won their other 13 games, holding their opponents to an average of 49.8 points in those contests...
Alex Oman leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.5 points per game, including a team-high four 20-point performances. He is also first on the team in steals, and second in blocks and assists.
Chris Hortman is having a very good January, having led the team in scoring in all five games this month. In January, Hortman has recorded two double-doubles and is averaging 17 points and nine rebounds per game, the highest on the team in either category over that stretch. His scoring average is up to 12.1 points per game, which is the second-highest on the team.
Jarvis Ragland ranks third in scoring with an average of 11 points per game, and led the team with nine rebounds at Whitewater. 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 6.2 boards per game, which is the third best average in the WIAC. He is also leading the team in shooting percentage with a .652 clip from the field.
Aaron Jenny is averaging 7.1 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.
Erik Olson is having a very productive season directing the offense from the point guard position. Helped by 23 assists over his last three games, his 6.18 assists per game and assist to turnover ratio of 3.62 are both well ahead of anyone 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: A little over a month after UW-Whitewater walked out of Johnson Fieldhouse with a comeback victory, the Blue Devils were victims of another second-half comeback, a 58-55 loss to the Warhawks, Saturday evening at Kachel Gymnasium. Stout was able to build a double-digit lead before halftime, but Darnell Harris and the 15
th-ranked Warhawks were too much to handle down the stretch. Harris had all 16 of his points in the second half, in which he shot 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. After Whitewater scored the game's opening basket, Stout unleashed a 10-0 run, of which
Alex Oman scored the first eight points. Alex Merg ended the drought with a bucket to cut the lead to six, but Stout reeled off five quick points to stretch their lead to 11, midway through the half. Just like they did in December, however, Whitewater slowly mounted a comeback. A 5-0 run at the 15-minute mark and a 6-0 run midway through the period, each featuring a three-pointer from Harris, gave Whitewater a 35-34 advantage, their first lead since they were up, 2-0. A 7-2 run, fueled by five points from
Chris Hortman, gave Stout a 45-43 lead with seven minutes to go. Minutes later, Harris hit threes on back-to-back possessions, and the advantage went back to Whitewater, 51-47. From there, Stout was only able to get within two points, and came up empty on a desparation three-pointer at the buzzer. |
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 |
14.5 ppg; 25 stl, 2nd on team in blks, assists |
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#3 - Chris Hortman, F, 6-3, 190 |
Last 5 games: 17 ppg, 9 rpg, 2 dbl-dbl's |
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UW-River Falls |
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#1 - Arik Smith, G, 6-0, 160 |
13 ppg, 2.3 apg, scored 16 vs. Stout in Dec. |
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#41 - Zach Peterson, C, 6-8, 260 |
Led team in scoring in 5 of last 8 games |
SCOUTING UW-RIVER FALLS (6-12, 1-8 WIAC): It has been quite the plunge for UW-River Falls, who were hoisting the WIAC Tournament trophy no more than 10 months ago. They have gone from first to worst, as they currently occupy last place in the conference. Within the WIAC, River Falls' scoring margin of -5.9 is only better than Oshkosh, and their turnover margin of -4.33 is dead last. For a team that averages 65 points per game, they uncharacteristically scored 92 points in their lone conference win, a week ago against Superior. In that game, Zach Peterson scored a game-high 26 points to edge teammate UT Udo, who recorded a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds. They followed it up, however, with their lowest scoring total of the season in an 80-44 loss to Stevens Point. Arik Smith leads the team with 13 points per game and also leads the team in assists. Peterson trails Smith in scoring, averaging 12 points per game and pulls down 6.2 rebounds per contest. Ollie White leads the team with 6.8 rebounds per game and is third in scoring with an average of 11.7 points per game. | 2012-13 Statstics
UW-RIVER FALLS' LAST TIME OUT: The Falcons followed up their season-high 92 points against Superior with a season-low 44 against Stevens Point. The seventh-ranked Pointers opened the game on a 12-3 run and never looked back as they went on to an 80-44 win to remain the only unbeaten team in WIAC play. Will Taylor led the Falcons with 10 points, while Zach Peterson and Sam Meyer each added nine. River Falls shot 42 percent from the field as they watched Stevens Point shoot 53 percent, including 62 percent in the first half, after which they led, 49-29. | Story and Stats
THE SERIES: UW-River Falls leads the series, 130-97. The 130 losses from River Falls are the most from any team in Stout history. The Falcons have won four of the past five and have won seven of the last 11, but Stout was victorious in the teams' meeting back in December.
EARLIER THIS SEASON (December 12, 2012): UW-Stout had an off-night in the rebounding category, but used an efficient offense and solid defense to survive River Falls, earning a 62-52 victory at Johnson Fieldhouse. Entering the game with a league-best +10 rebounding differential, the Blue Devils allowed 15 offensive boards to River Falls, and were out-rebounded, 41-30 overall. But a balanced scoring attack led by a very efficient
Erik Olson gave UW-Stout the edge they needed to prevent the upset. Five players of Stout's nine-man lineup scored at least eight points with
Jarvis Ragland leading the way with 14. Ragland was 6-of-10 from the field, including 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. Olson distributed the ball well, as he dished out nine assists compared to zero turnovers, his most assists ever in a game in which he had no turnovers. Stout shot 40 percent compared to River Falls' 35 percent, and won the turnover battle, 15-5, to offset their rebounding margin of -11. |
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-River Falls: Jeff Berkhof is in his seventh season as the head coach of the Falcons. Furthermore, he is entering his 19th year with the Falcons in some capacity. Berkhof played for River Falls from 1992-1994 before serving as an assistant coach for 12 years. He entered this season with an exactly .500 coaching record (79-79), but is coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons.
CONFERENCES: Stout and
River Falls 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-Stevens Point, UW-Superior, and UW-Whitewater.
UP NEXT: Following the non-conference battle with Ashford on Saturday, Stout will host UW-Superior, Wednesday, Jan. 30, and UW-Platteville, Saturday, Feb. 2.
