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THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (17-5, 9-4 WIAC) will travel to UW-Eau Claire (10-12, 4-9 WIAC), Saturday, Feb. 9, before finishing out the season on their home court. Stout defeated Eau Claire, 54-46, in their first meeting this season. Saturday's game at Zorn Arena is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.
WIAC STANDINGS: Following Wednesday's loss at UW-La Crosse, the Blue Devils dropped into third place in the WIAC. They are now a game ahead of fourth-place La Crosse and a game behind second-place UW-Whitewater. The top two seeds in the conference receive a first round bye in the WIAC Tournament, while the third and fourth seeds are given first round home games.
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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8 |
Consecutive games against Eau Claire in which Stout has a positive rebound margin. (Last meeting with negative margin: Dec. 6, 2008) |
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14-4 |
Stout's record in their last 18 meetings with Eau Claire. |
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2 |
Games this season in which Stout has made zero three-pointers. Prior to this season, it had been 12+ years since last such game. |
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43 |
Percent of Stout's total points scored by either Alex Oman or Chris Hortman. |
THE BLUE DEVILS (17-5, 9-4 WIAC): Stout fell to UW-La Crosse, Wednesday, which was their first conference loss to a team other than Whitewater or Stevens Point. The 14-point loss did not exactly reflect how close of a game it was. La Crosse led by single digits for most of the game before a late run pushed their lead to as much as 16. The glaring hole in Stout's statline was their performance from three point range. They shot 0-for-11 from deep while La Crosse made 13 of their 29 attempts. Stout won the rebound battle and the turnover battle, and shot 40 percent from the field. But ultimately it was their performance from three that doomed them in the end. It was the second time Stout was held without a three-point bucket this season (0-for-9 vs. Concordia-Wis., 12/30/12). Prior to this season, it had been over 12 years since their last such game. Stout has attempted and made the least three-pointers in the conference and is shooting .325 from beyond the arc, ranking them ahead of only UW-Eau Claire (.317), their opponent on Saturday...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 (55.1 ppg) and field goal percentage allowed (.371). Stout also boasts a conference-best rebounding margin of +8.2.
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's assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.59 is the best rate in all of DIII, and his 6.36 assists per game lead the WIAC by a healthy margin...
Chris Hortman has had at least a share of the team lead in scoring in nine of the last ten games and led them in rebounding in seven of those contests. Since January 1, Hortman is averaging 17.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, the highest on the team in either category over that stretch. His scoring average is up to 13.5 points per game, which is the second-highest on the team, and he is tied with
Josh Kosloske for the team lead in rebounding (5.8 rpg)...
Alex Oman still leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.7 points per game. Oman ranks third in the conference in scoring while Hortman ranks sixth. Together, Oman and Hortman combine to take 44 percent of Stout's field goal attempts, and collectively provide 43 percent of Stout's points...In addition to being the team's second leading rebounder, Kosloske is shooting a team-best .628 from the field...
Jarvis Ragland ranks third in scoring with an average of 9.9 points per game, while
Aaron Jenny is averaging 6.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. |
2012-13 Statistics
STOUT'S LAST TIME OUT: UW-La Crosse was hot and UW-Stout was not from the 3-point line as the Eagles drained the long ball throughout the night on their way to a 62-48 win over the Blue Devils Wednesday at Mitchell Hall. The Eagles connected on 13-of-29 shots from beyond the arc for the game, and hit on 8-of-12 3-point attempts in the second half to both hold Stout off and to extend the lead. The Blue Devils trailed by five, 25-20, at halftime, but Stout pulled even at 18:39 following five points by
Alex Oman on a pair of field goals and a free throw.
Aaron Jenny gave Stout a 27-25 lead before the Eagles' Lucas Morrissey tied the game. The Eagles used a pair of 3-point shots to pull ahead 33-29, then started to push ahead with long range shooting. Three 3-point buckets by the Eagles between 12:54 and 11:11 extended the lead to 44-35. Stout cut the deficit to five points, 46-41, when La Crosse went off on a 16-7 run over the final nine minutes of the game, sprinkling in three 3-pointers for good measure. Stout went 0-of-11 from beyond the arc on the night. |
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 |
Leads nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.59) |
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#3 - Chris Hortman, F, 6-3, 190 |
Led team in scoring in 9 of last 10 games |
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UW-Eau Claire |
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#4 - Lewis Mau, G, 6-3, 190 |
11.9 ppg, scored 23 in most recent game |
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#32 - Jordan Petersen, G, 6-2, 185 |
12.3 ppg, 2.36 apg, both team highs |
SCOUTING UW-EAU CLAIRE (10-12, 4-9 WIAC): UW-Eau Claire will host the Blue Devils coming off a Wednesday conference bye. It is an opportune time for the Blugolds to use their bye as they have lost three of the last four. Their only win during that stretch was against UW-Oshkosh, who have just one conference win. Prior to their skid, however, Eau Claire had strung together three straight wins, with the third coming against UW-La Crosse, one of two wins against above-.500 teams. Their other such win was against NAIA member Ashford University, who Stout beat, 60-35, a few weeks later. This past Saturday, Eau Claire provided UW-River Falls with just their second conference win, a 76-71 road loss. Eau Claire's struggles have primarily come on the offensive side of the ball, as they rank eighth in scoring (64.2 ppg) among WIAC teams, eighth in field goal percentage (.423) and ninth out of nine in three point percentage (.317), the only conference team with a worse percentage from three than Stout (.335). Eau Claire's rebounding margin is slightly positive (+2.8), but their turnover margin is -1.55. Three Blugolds average over 10 points per game, led by Jordan Petersen's 12.3 per contest. Petersen also leads the team in assists, dishing out 2.36 per game. Lewis Mau scored 23 points on Saturday to up his average to 11.9 points per game, trailing only Petersen. Nick Craggs is scoring 11.2 points per game and is the team's leading rebounder with an average of 5.9 per game. When Stout hosted the Blugolds earlier this season, Eau Claire's "Big Three" combined to shoot 5-of-32 from the field for 15 total points. | 2012-13 Statistics
UW-EAU CLAIRE'S LAST TIME OUT: This past Saturday, Eau Claire suffered a 76-71 loss to UW-River Falls, allowing the Falcons to grab just their second conference win of the season. River Falls led the entire game, but Eau Claire put up a fight near the end. The first half featured total domination by the Falcons, as they built as much as a 15-point lead with six minutes to play, then took a 41-29 lead into the locker rooms. They built their lead back to 14 points in the second half and led by eight with less than two minutes to play, but Eau Claire would not go away. The Blugolds went on a 9-2 run over the next minute and a half to cut their deficit to one point, but River Falls' Arik Smith and Sam Meyer each hit a pair of free throws to seal the game in the end. Smith led all players with 24 points while Lewis Mau led Eau Claire with 23. Zach Peterson recorded a double-double for the Falcons with 11 points and 10 rebounds. |
Story and Stats
THE SERIES: UW-Eau Claire owns the overall series, 121-90, but Stout holds the edge in recent years. The Blue Devils have won four of the last five and 14 of the last 18. They also defeated Eau Claire, 54-46, in their meeting earlier this season.
EARLIER THIS SEASON (Jan. 3): 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. Stout saw a 30-15 halftime lead sail away as the Blugolds chipped away at the lead, getting with easy striking range after Stout was 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 would not go away. Kleist put Eau Claire to within four points, the closest they would get for 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. It was Stout's fifth consecutive win over Eau Claire at Johnson Fieldhouse and their ninth of 10 games. |
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-Eau Claire: Matt Siverlng is in his first year as the head coach of the Blugolds after spending the past two years as the head coach of conference foe UW-Superior. Siverling spent time as an assistant coach for the UW-Eau Claire men's basketball program from 2004 to 2007, and was also an assistant men's and women's golf coach in 2004 and 2005. Siverling was a 2002 graduate from UW-Eau Claire before earning a Master's degree from the University of Florida, where he served as a graduate assistant to the men's basketball team.
CONFERENCES: Stout and
Eau Claire are both members of the nine-team Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) along with UW-La Crosse, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Platteville, UW-River Falls, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Superior and UW-Whitewater.
UP NEXT: Stout will finish their regular season schedule with home games against UW-Stevens Point, Wednesday, Feb. 13, and UW-Oshkosh, Saturday, Feb. 16. Stout has clinched a WIAC Tournament berth, but their first game's date, opponent, and location remain to be determined.
