GAME COVERAGE: Live Stats | Blue Devil Video | WMEQ Radio
THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (18-6, 10-5 WIAC) will close out their regular season at home, Saturday, with a 4 p.m. game against UW-Oshkosh (7-17, 2-13 WIAC). The Blue Devils defeated the Titans, 76-50, back in January, the teams' only meeting this season.
PLAYOFF PICTURE: Heading into Saturday's game, four of the six seeds for the WIAC Tournament are set:
#1 Stevens Point, #2 Whitewater, #3 Stout, #6 Superior. Platteville and La Crosse will play each other as the #4 and #5 seed, but the #4 seed will be the host of that game on Tuesday. If La Crosse defeats UW-Superior, Saturday, they will be the #4 seed, but if they lose, they will drop below Platteville, who would move up to host instead.
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).
NOTE: All WIAC tournament playoff games, home or away, will not be available in a live video stream due to regulations established by the conference.
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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5-2 |
Oshkosh's record when Royston or Nickel scores 22+ points (2-15 in games when neither hits that mark). |
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29 |
Number of assists needed by Erik Olson to break Stout's single-season assist record (180, set in 1975 by Bill Rozakis) |
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.125 |
Stout's three-point percentage over their last four games (2-15 vs. Platteville, 0-11 vs. La Crosse, 2-12 vs. Eau Claire, 3-18 vs. Stevens Point). |
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44 |
Percent of Stout's total points scored by either Alex Oman or Chris Hortman. |
THE BLUE DEVILS (18-6, 10-5 WIAC): Stout gave UW-Stevens Point all they could handle, Wednesday night, but could not come up with the shots when they needed them most, falling to the Pointers, 76-74, in overtime. Stout missed out on an opportunity to win it in regulation when they held the ball in a tie game with no shot clock. Later, they missed on two attempts in the waning seconds of overtime, the first attempt to win, and the second to tie. It was the second overtime game in three games between the two teams, with the pair of games having some similarities. In both contests, Stevens Point was ranked inside the top 15, and Stout was unranked. Furthermore, the road team came out victorious in both games, with Stout winning last year and Point winning, Wednesday. Finally, in both games, the eventual loser hit the final shot in regulation to force overtime, but came up empty in the extra period. Although the win would have been a resume booster for an NCAA Tournament bid, the loss did not hurt Stout in terms of WIAC Tournament seeding. Regardless of the outcome of Wednesday's game, Stout will be the third seed in the WIAC Tournament. They hold all tiebreakers over La Crosse and Platteville, and can not overtake Whitewater for the #2 seed...The Blue Devils have had some trouble shooting the ball from beyond the arc lately, and only slightly improved against Stevens Point. After going a combined 4-for-38 (.105) in their previous three games, Stout shot 3-of-18 against Point (.167). Those four games account for four of their five worst single-game performances from three this season, the only other game being an 0-for-9 clip against Concordia-Wis. Stout has attempted and made the least three-pointers in the conference and is shooting .313 from beyond the arc, ranking them ahead of only UW-Eau Claire (.311). On the other side of the ball, though, Stout defends the three better than any WIAC team, allowing their opponents to make less than 30 percent of their attempts...Stout's success this season has been due to their dominance defensively and on the boards. All season long, the Blue Devils have ranked inside the top five in the nation in both scoring defense (56 ppg) and field goal percentage allowed (.375). Stout also boasts a conference-best rebounding margin of +7.6.
Erik Olson has had an historic season from the point guard position. Earlier this year, he surpassed Jeremy Leibfried's all-time Stout assist record of 358, and continues to increase his new record at a rapid pace. Olson dished out 11 assists, Wednesday night, the fourth time in his career he has hit that mark. Olson's assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.17 is one of the best in all of DIII, and his 6.33 assists per game lead the WIAC by a healthy margin. Olson is 29 assists shy of Bill Rozakis' record of 180 in a single season. He will have a minimum of two games to reach that mark, but could have more, depending on Stout's postseason success. It would theoretically take him five games if he records his average in each...
Chris Hortman had his best scoring output as a Blue Devil on Wednesday, scoring 29 points to continue his tear that started back in January. Hortman has had at least a share of the team lead in scoring in 11 of the last 12 games. Since January 1, Hortman is averaging 18.9 points per game, the highest on the team during that stretch. His scoring average is up to 14.5 points per game, which is the second-highest on the team, and he leads the team with 5.6 rebounds per game...
Alex Oman still barely leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.6 points per game. Oman ranks third in the conference in scoring while Hortman ranks fourth. Together, Oman and Hortman combine to take over 45 percent of Stout's field goal attempts, and collectively provide 44 percent of Stout's points...
Jarvis Ragland, who is best recognized from his rim-rocking dunks, ranks third in scoring with an average of 9.7 points per game, while
Aaron Jenny is averaging 6.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. |
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 458. Olson is now chasing Stout's single-season assist record of 180, set by Bill Rosakis during the 1974-75 season.
STOUT'S LAST TIME OUT: UW-Stout shot over 50 percent for the game, but missed the shots when it mattered most, falling to UW-Stevens Point, 76-74, in an overtime thriller, Wednesday night at Johnson Fieldhouse.
Chris Hortman scored 29 points, his most as a Blue Devil, but Stout came up empty at the buzzer in both regulation and overtime, relinquishing a chance to knock off the 15th-ranked Pointers. In addition to scoring a game-high 29 points, Hortman hit some crucial shots in the waning minutes of regulation. After Alex Richard had just put Stevens Point up by three, Hortman collected an offensive rebound on Stout's ensuing possession, and promptly buried a three to tie the game with 2:18 on the clock. About a minute later, trailing by two, Hortman was sent to the line, where he hit two free throws to again tie the game. With the shot clock turned off, Stout had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but a missed attempt sent the game to an extra five minutes. In overtime, Stevens Point jumped out to the first lead, a 72-69 margin, a minute and a half in. But Stout battled back, and back-to-back jumpers by Olson and Hortman gave Stout their first and only lead of the bonus period. Point grabbed the lead back, but Oman hit a free throw with 53 seconds remaining to tie the game at 74-all. Trevor Hass delivered the game-winner on Stevens Point's ensuing possession. As the shot clock expired, Hass put up a high-arcing fadeaway that found nothing but net. Stout got two shot attempts before the buzzer, but came up empty on both. Both teams shot over 50 percent for the game, but Stevens Point held a distinct advantage from beyond the arc. The Pointers shot 9-of-20 from three while Stout managed to go just 3-of-18. |
Story and Stats
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PLAYERS TO WATCH |
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UW-Stout |
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#4 - Erik Olson, PG, 5-10, 160 |
29 assists shy of single-season record |
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#3 - Chris Hortman, F, 6-3, 190 |
Led team in scoring in 11 of last 12 games |
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UW-Oshkosh |
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#5 - Cory Nickel, G, 6-1, 190 |
13.9 ppg, games of 34, 33, 27, 26 points |
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#12 - Jade Royston, G, 6-0, 175 |
13 ppg; 2 games w/ 26 pts; 5 20-pt gms |
SCOUTING UW-OSHKOSH (7-17, 2-13 WIAC): Although two wins through 15 conference games may seem disastrous, you could consider this season a step in the right direction for the Titans, who finished last year's WIAC schedule with zero wins. Scoring has been Oshkosh's primary struggle this season, as they rank last in the conference in both scoring (60.1 ppg) and scoring margin (-7.8). When you combine their offensive woes with a defense that allows 68 points per game and a league-worst rebounding margin of -8.2, you usually come up with far more losses than wins. The Titans heavily rely on Cory Nickel and Jade Royston to provide them with scoring. The Titans are 5-2 in games where one of those players scores at least 22 points. They are just 2-15 when neither player hits that mark. Royston delivered three of those performances, including two separate 26-point games. Nickel has games of 34, 33, 27, and 26 points, three of which resulted in wins. Each of them score at least 13 points per game and rank sixth and seventh in the conference, respectively, in scoring. Nickel does most of his damage from beyond the arc, and has already dropped 86 three-pointers this season (3.6 per game), 26 more than the next closest total within the WIAC. Royston takes more shots inside the arc and has already taken 119 shots from the charity stripe, where he connects on nearly 80 percent of them. Dylan Wurtz adds 8.7 points per game and Andre Wallace pulls down a team-high 4.6 boards per game. | 2012-13 Statistics
UW-OSHKOSH'S LAST TIME OUT: UW-Whitewater had no problem defeating the Titans, Wednesday night, rolling to a 75-58 win at Kolf Sports Center in Oshkosh. Oshkosh hung tough for much of the first half, and only trailed by seven, 32-25, at the break. KJ Evans scored four points during an 8-0 Whitewater run that broke open the game in the second half. Evans scored 12 points to lead Whitewater, who had five players score in double digits. Alex Olson scored 14 points off the bench for Oshkosh to lead all players. |
Story and Stats
THE SERIES: UW-Stout leads the series, 63-56. Stout swept the two-game series last year, and defeated Oshkosh earlier this year. Oshkosh, however, has won nine of the past 13. Oshkosh is one of two WIAC teams that Stout holds an all-time edge over, the other being UW-Superior (115-101).
EARLIER THIS SEASON (Jan. 12): 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 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. |
Story and Stats
THE COACHES: UW-Stout: Eddie Andrist (165-159 at Stout, 413-350 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-Oshkosh: Pat Juckem is in his first season as the head coach of the Titans after coming to Oshkosh from Coe College, where he served as the head coach for the past seven seasons. At Coe, Juckem compiled a record of 105-79 and led the Kohawks to two conference titles. From 1999-2005, Juckem served as an assistant coach at Lawrence University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in psychology in 1995.
CONFERENCES: Stout and
Oshkosh are both members of the nine-team Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) along with UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-Platteville, UW-River Falls, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Superior and UW-Whitewater.
UP NEXT: Stout will host UW-Superior, Tuesday, Feb. 19, in the first round of the WIAC Tournament.
