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THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The
Blue Devils (11-2, 4-1 WIAC) are in a tie for second place in the WIAC and travel to first place
UW-Stevens Point (12-2, 5-0 WIAC), Wednesday, Jan. 9, for a 7 p.m. battle. Stout will travel to
UW-Oshkosh (6-8, 1-4 WIAC), Saturday, Jan. 12 for a 3 p.m. matchup with the Titans.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: UW-Stevens Point was ranked 11th in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, while Stout and Oshkosh were unranked. Stout has been ranked as high as 23rd this season, but fell out of the rankings following their loss to Loras.
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. |
Listen to Interviews
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THIS WEEK BY THE NUMBERS |
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11-0 |
Stout's record when holding their opponents to less than 60 points. (0-2 when opponents score over 60 points.) |
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52.3 |
Stout's opponents' average score per game, which ranks second in the nation among DIII teams. |
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.346 |
Stout's opponents' combined shooting average, the lowest rate in nation among DIII teams. |
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5-20 |
Stout's combined record against this week's opponents in the past six years (SP: 2-11; OSH 3-9). |
THE BLUE DEVILS (11-2, 4-1 WIAC): The key to Stout's success all season has been their defense, and that remained true with their 54-46 win over UW-Eau Claire on Thursday. Stout is now 11-0 in games where they hold their opponents under 60 points, and have lost their only two games when their opponents eclipsed that number. In their past two games, Stout has held their opponents to an average of just 44 points, lowering their season average to 52.3 points per game, the second lowest in the nation for DIII. Their defense is also holding their opponents to a combined .346 shooting clip from the field, which ranks them first in the nation at the DIII level. Their scoring margin is +14 per game, and their rebound margin has slipped a little, but remains a very good +7.8...
Alex Oman leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.2 points per game, including a team-high four 20-point performance. He is also second on the team in steals, blocks, rebounds, and assists. 6-8 center
Josh Kosloske has been Stout's reliable big man all year long. Kosloske kickstarted his season with a 16-point, 12-rebound performance in the opener, and has been a force on the boards ever since. He is averaging a team-high 6.8 rebounds per game, which ranks him third in the WIAC in that category. Additionally, he is shooting 69 percent from the field and leads the team with 15 blocks.
Jarvis Ragland is second on Stout's roster in scoring, offering 11.8 points per game and has led the team in two of their last four games. After a very hot start,
Chris Hortman cooled off in December, but got things going in the first game of the new year. Hortman scored a game-high 18 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 performance from the free throw line. He upped his scoring average to 10.7 points per game, despite playing less than 20 minutes per game.
Aaron Jenny is averaging 7.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.
Erik Olson is having a very productive season directing the offense from the point guard position. His 5.7 assists per game and assist to turnover ratio of 3.22 are both first in the conference. |
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: Stout held off a second half UW-Eau Claire charge that saw the Blugolds get as close as three points late in the game and the Blue Devils went on to a 54-46 win at Johnson Fieldhouse, last Thursday. Stout saw a 30-15 halftime lead sail away as the Blugolds chipped away at the lead, getting with easy striking range after Stout's
Aaron Jenny and
Jarvis Ragland were called for offensive fouls on back-to-back possessions. Dustin Kalien cut the lead to 40-35 with a 3-pointer at 7:53 and Andy Kleist made it a three point game, 40-37, with a bucket at 6:20. The Blue Devils answered back.
Chris Hortman, who finished the night with a game-high 18 points, drained a 3-pointer at 5:12 to give Stout a six point, 43-37, lead. The Blugolds got within four points, but that was the closest they would get the rest of the night. Defensively, Stout proved a force in the first half, holding Eau Claire to 15 percent shooting from the floor (5-32), while the Blue Devils made half their shots (12-24) to double the score at halftime. Eau Claire picked up their pace in the second half, making 38 percent (11-29) of their shots from the floor, while Stout made 44 percent (7-16). Stout finished the night shooting 47.5 percent from the floor (19-40) and made 6-of-13 3-point shots. Eau Claire finished at 26.2 percent from the floor (16-61) and made 8-of-35 3-point attempts. In addition to his 18 points - 15 points in the second half - Hortman finished with a game-high nine rebounds. It was the eighth straight game Stout has outrebounded Eau Claire. |
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 |
14.2 ppg; 2nd on team in reb, steals, assists |
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#34 - Josh Kosloske, C, 6-8, 240 |
6.5 ppg, 6.8 rbg, 15 blocks, .690 FG% |
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UW-Stevens Point |
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#32 - Joe Ritchay, G, 6-3, 210 |
Last six games: 16.5 ppg (two 20-pt games) |
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#55 - Clayton Heuer, C, 6-8, 225 |
11.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg, .602 FG%, .826 FT% |
SCOUTING #10 UW-STEVENS POINT (12-2, 5-0 WIAC): Year in and year out, UW-Stevens Point seems to be one of DIII basketball's premier teams, and this year is no different. They are off to an undefeated start to their conference schedule, including an 11-point road win at defending national champion, UW-Whitewater. One of Point's losses came to third-ranked St. Thomas University, and the other came to Concordia-Texas, who has received votes in the polls as well. Their winning formula starts with their high shooting percentages, both from the field and at the line. Their field goal percentage of .492 and their free throw percentage of .790 both lead the WIAC in those respective categories, and they rank within the top half of the WIAC in nearly every other category. They have a positive rebound margin and a positive turnover margin, which, combined with how well they shoot, usually results in a win. Tyler Tillema leads the team in scoring (18 ppg), but has not played in the last four games and has missed five of the last six. Several players have filled in for Tillema, however, primarily Joe Ritchay, who led the team in scoring in three of those five games. Ritchay is scoring 12.7 points per game on the season and adds 4.4 rebounds per contest. Clayton Heuer and Trevor Hass each post 11.4 points per game, and Heuer adds a team-high 5.4 rebounds per game. All eight Pointers who have attempted at least 35 shots this season are shooting over 40 percent from the field, and half of them are making over 50 percent of their shots. Stevens Point has a number of legitimate three-point threats, led by Austin Ryf, who is shooting a team-best .459 from beyond the arc. | 2012-13 Statistics
UW-STEVENS POINT'S LAST TIME OUT: UW-Eau Claire gave the Pointers a run for their money, Saturday, but Stevens Point prevailed with a 54-50 win in the defensive battle. After facing a 24-21 deficit at halftime, the Blugolds hung tough in the second half, getting as close as one point, minutes after the break, but a 16-0 Pointer run put some distance between the teams. While the Blugolds put up a valiant effort down the stretch, they were never able to grab a lead of their own or even a tie, and the Pointers narrowly avoided handing Eau Claire their first conference win. Joe Ritchay scored 13 points while DeVon Jackson added 10. | Story and Stats
THE SERIES: UW-Stevens Point leads the series, 101-71. The teams split their two games last year, but Stevens Point has won four of the last five and 11 of the past 13.
LAST TIME THEY MET (Feb. 15, 2012): The last time these two teams met will be remembered as one of the most exciting games in Blue Devil men's basketball history. First,
Alex Oman hit a half-court buzzer-beater to send the game into overtime. Then, in overtime,
Hank Kujak hit a 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds remaining to give Stout a 67-64 win over 12th ranked UW-Stevens Point at Quandt Fieldhouse. Trailing by nine points, 57-48 with 3:49 left in regulation, Stout began their comeback. Oman hit a 3-pointer to put Stout to within six, 57-51 at 3:32.
Jarvis Ragland cut the lead to four with a bucket at 3:06, then nearly a minute later, Ragland hit a free throw to cut the lead to 57-54. Oman hit the second of two free throw attemptsat 1:26 to cut the Pointer lead to two, 57-55. The Pointers' Dan Tillema stretched the lead back up to four with a pair of free throws at 1:12, but Ragland made it 59-57 with a bucket of his own. With four seconds remaining, the Pointers' Tyler Tillema made the front end of a pair of free throws and the ball went out of bounds in favor of the Blue Devils. Oman drilled a 3-pointer from half court as the horn sounded to send the game into overtime, 60-60. The Pointers got a pair of free throw early in the overtime period to take a 62-60 lead, but Oman put Stout ahead, 63-62, with a 3-point shot. The lead swung back to the Pointers, 64-63, on a bucket by Tyler TIllema at 3:09. That would be the end of the scoring until 1:55 when Kujak was fouled and made the front end of the pair of charity attempts to tie the game at 64. Then came a series of missed shots both teams. The Pointers came up empty at 1:30 and Stout missed a pair of layups and a pair of free throws. The Pointers missed a shot with 34 seconds left and Kujak pulled down the rebound. The Blue Devils worked the ball around and got the ball into the hands of Oman, their leading scorer. But with four seconds remaining, Dan Tillema blocked Oman's runner, but the ball kicked out into Kujak's hands, who stepped back and hit the game winning 3-pointer. |
Story and Stats
THE COACHES: UW-Stout: Eddie Andrist (162-158 at Stout, 410-349 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-Stevens Point: Bob Semling is in his eighth year as the head coach of the Pointers, and has had great success in his previous seven campaigns. Semling has led the Pointers to three WIAC titles in those seven seasons, and finished no lower than third in the other four. In 2009-10, Semling led his team to an NCAA Division III National Championship, after having been an assistant coach on the back-to-back national champion teams in 2003-04 and 2004-05.
CONFERENCES: Stout, Stevens Point, and
Oshkosh are all members of the nine-team Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) along with UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-Platteville, UW-River Falls, UW-Superior, and UW-Whitewater.
UP NEXT: Stout returns home, Wednesday, Jan. 16, to host UW-La Crosse in a 7 p.m. matchup at Johnson Fieldhouse.
