MBB Preview: Stout to host 21st ranked UW-Stevens Point Wednesday

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (2-5, 0-1 WIAC) will host 23rd ranked UW-Stevens Point (5-2, 2-0 WIAC), Wednesday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. Stout will take a 10 day break from competition before traveling to the University of Northwestern, Saturday, Dec. 20.

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. 

WEBCASTS: All UW-Stout home games will be available in a live video stream by Blue Devil Video, with Sam Ripp on the call. WMEQ 880 Radio, with Pete Knutson, Jimmie Kaska or Jake Bostrom, will broadcast and provide a live audio stream of away conference games and a select number of home games. Stout will provide Live Stats for all home games. Check the Blue Devil Webcast page or on the schedule page to see broadcasts and Live Stats available when Stout is on the road.

CAREER STATS: Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this page to check out the UW-Stout career high for points, rebounds, and assists of each Blue Devil player.

THE BLUE DEVILS : To say the Blue Devils are a young team is an understatement. With 13 freshmen on the squad and 14 players new to the program, this is long-time coach Eddie Andrist's youngest collegiate team ever. The Blue Devils return five players who have worn a Blue Devil uniform before this year - senior Jarvis Ragland, juniors Hank Kujak and Reggie Kujak and sophomores Brett Ahsenmacher and Alex Hammond. Andrist plans to use a faster paced offense this year, and rotate a lot of players throughout the game.
Ragland has been the team's leader on the scoreboard. Through seven games, he has led the team in scoring on five occasions, including a five-game stretch where he topped 20 points in each game. Against Bethany Lutheran, Ragland set career-highs in points and rebounds, scoring 25 points while also pulling down 15 boards. On the season, Ragland is averaging 19.7 points and is pulling down a team best 6.0 rebounds. He has been the team's leading rebounder in three games this season... Ahsenmacher is averaging 10.1 points, while splitting his time between starting and coming off the bench as the Blue Devil's sixth man. He has been one of the team's best shooters from beyond the arc, hitting 13-of-35 attempts, a very respectable 37.1 percentage from downtown. Ahsenmacher is also tops on the team with eight steals this season... Freshman John Keefe has also been a deadly from three-point land, hitting 14-of-34 (41.2 percent) of his shots from that range. After his monster 30-point outing against Bethany Lutheran, Keefe is now  is averaging 10.6 points per contest, second on the team behind Ragland...  The Kujak brothers have joined the team since the conclusion of the football season, and both have started each of the last four games. Reggie has been one of the team's more consistent rebounders over that time, as he is second on the team with five boards per game. He is also the team leader in blocked shots, swatting away six so far this year. Hank has been the team's best distributor with the ball in his hands, handing out a team-high 16 assists since rejoining the team. Hank is tied with Keefe for second on the team with seven steals as well... After starting the first three games of the year, freshman forward John Lahti has become one of the Blue Devils main contributors coming off the bench. He leads the team in shooting percentage, hitting 57.1 percent (12-21) of his shots. Lahti is fourth on the team in scoring with 5.3 ppg, while also pulling in three rebounds per contest...  Andrist has mixed up the starting lineup a few times early in the season, using four different lineups in seven games. Only Ragland and freshman Sam Ortmann have started all seven games. 

STOUT'S LAST TIME OUT: The Blue Devils defeated Bethany Lutheran College, 90-80, Dec. 3, then lost their conference opener, 72-47, at UW-La Crosse, Dec. 6.
Against Bethany Lutheran, the Blue Devils got a big boost from freshman guard John Keefe and Jarvis Ragland, as the pair combined to score 55 points. Keefe poured in 30, hitting 11-of-13 shots, including 5-of-7 from downtown. Ragland dropped in 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting while also grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds, with six of those coming on the offensive end. Reggie Kujak chipped in nine points and seven boards for Stout, while his brother Hank led the team in assists with four and steals with three. Coming off the bench, John Lahti scored 10 points as well for the Blue Devils. As a team, Stout shot 54.7 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from beyond the arc as they led from start to finish.
In Stout's conference opening matchup against UW-La Crosse, poor shooting ended up dooming the Blue Devils, as the team shot just 34.8 percent from the floor and only 22.2 percent from three-point range. Ragland was the team's leading scorer for the fourth time out of six games this season, with 13 points. Reggie Kujak added eight rebounds while Hank Kujak had seven points and three steals for Stout. The Blue Devils grabbed 32 rebounds in the game, compared to 41 for La Crosse.


SCOUTING UW-STEVENS POINT: The Pointers run a very balanced offense that focuses on working the ball inside. Four of the team's five starters are averaging over 10 points per game, but no one on the team has hit more than nine three-pointers so far this season. As a team, Stevens Point is outscoring their opponents, 68.9-60.3 but are being outrebounded by a 31.6-27.1 margin. The Pointers are shooting 47.1 percent from the field, 33 percent from beyond the arc, and 72.7 percent from the free throw line. The team has been very careful with the basketball while also forcing turnovers at a high rate, as the Pointers average just 7.1 turnovers per game while opponents average 14.7. Four players are averaging at least 30 minutes per game for Stevens Point, led by Stephen Pelkofer's 37 per game. Six players are averaging at least 24 minutes... Forward Alex Richard leads the Pointers in scoring, with 14.9 points per game. He has been the team's leading scorer in four of the team's first seven games and has topped 20 points on two occasions. He is also the Pointers' second leading rebounder, pulling in 4.9 per contest, including a season-high 10 against UW-Eau Claire... Pelkofer is second on the team in scoring at 13.3 ppg while also pulling down 4.7 rebounds. His 14 steals are second on the team as well... Guard/forward Joe Ritchay has led the team in scoring on two separate occasions, dropping 20 against St. Olaf and 21 versus North Central. He is currently the team leader in assists and steals, with 21 and 18, while also putting up 12.0 ppg. His five blocks on the year is tied with Pelkofer for tops on the team... Rounding out the Pointers' averaging double figures in points is Austin Ryf, coming in at exactly 10.0 ppg. Ryf has also contributed 20 assists on the year... Coming off the bench for Stevens Point is G/F Sean McGann, who averages nine ppg and leads the team in rebounding, hauling in 5.3 boards per contest... Jordan Lutz, the team's fifth starter, leads the team in three-point makes, going 9-for-24 on the season. He is also averaging 7.7 ppg.

THE POINTERS LAST TIME OUT:   Five players scored in double figures as 23-ranked UW-Stevens Point  shot a season-best 65.3 percent from the floor in a 77-54 victory over visiting UW-Superior. The Pointers were led by forward Alex Richard, who scored 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Not far behind were Sean McGann's 15 and Austin Ryf's 14. McGann hit 5-of-8 shots coming off the bench for Stevens Point while Ryf shot 6-of-8, including 2-3 from downtown. Ryf, also added a game-high four assists. Rounding out the Pointer's players in double figures were guards Stephen Pelkofer and Joe Ritchay, who scored 12 and 10, respectively. Both shot 5-for-8 from the field and tied with Ryf with a team-high four rebounds. Superior had four players hitting double figures, as Johnquez Brooks, Ty Ketz and Zach Schradle each had 10 points, while Brian Lindblom had 15 and a game-high five rebounds. The Pointers held an edge in the rebounding department, 23-22.

LAST YEAR WHEN STOUT AND STEVENS POINT MET:  UW-Stevens Point took both games last year, edging the Blue Devils, 61-60, in Menomonie in January, then taking a 72-49 win in Stevens Point in February.

In the first meeting between the teams last season, the Blue Devils gave then top-ranked Stevens Point a serious run for their money in a 61-60 loss. Stout either held the lead or the game was tied for the almost the entire second half of play before the Pointers scored with 16 seconds remaining. The Blue Devils shot 52.6 percent from the field and 50 percent from the three-point line while Stevens Point shot 47.9 percent from the field and 50 percent from downtown. The teams were even in the rebounding department, with each team grabbing 24. Alex Oman led both teams with 20 points and six rebounds while Brett Ahsenmacher added 12 points for the Blue Devils. Trevor Hass finished with 19 points and Tyler Tillema had 17 points and five boards for the Pointers. 

In the teams' second matchup, the Pointers ran away with a 72-49 victory as Stout had just one player score in double figures. Stevens Point shot 54.3 percent (25-46) from the floor and 81.8 percent (18-22) from the foul line while Stout was held to just 37.5 percent (18-48) shooting and 42.1 percent (8-19) from the charity stripe. Tillema led all scorers with 21 points while Hass added 12 for the Pointers. For Stout, Jimmy Whitehead led the way with 11 points. Aaron Jenny and Alex Oman each had nine points for the Blue Devils and Oman led the team in rebounding with five. 


AWARDS AND HONORS:   Jarvis Ragland was selected as the UW-Stout Northwestern Mutual athlete of the week, Dec. 1 and as the WIAC Athlete of the Week Dec. 2 after averaging 22.5 points during the UW-Stout Thanksgiving Turkey Shootout.

TEAM CAPTAINS: Blue Devil team captain for the 2014-15 season is Brett Ahsenmacher.

THE COACHES: UW-Stout: Eddie Andrist (185-182 at Stout, 435-372 overall) is in his 15th year as the coach of the Blue Devils, and his 26th 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 (220-51 overall) is in this 10th year with the Pointers. Through his first nine seasons as head coach, Semling has compiled a 215-49 (119-25 WIAC) record and earned NABC and D3hoops.com Coach of the Year honors in 2010. His .814 career winning percentage is the highest among active NCAA Division III coaches. On January 11, 2014, Semling became the all-time winningest coach in UW-Stevens Point program history by recording his 201st career victory at UW-Superior.

CONFERENCES: Stout is a member of the nine team Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) along with UW-La Crosse, UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Superior, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Platteville, UW-Whitewater and UW-River Falls. Superior will leave the conference after the 2014-15 season.

UP NEXT:  The Blue Devils will be off until they travel to the University of Northwestern in St. Paul, Minn., Saturday, Dec. 20 for a 5 p.m. contest. Stout will be at the St. Norbert College Tournament, Dec. 29-30.


UW-Stout 2014-15 Individual Season Highs (Updated Dec. 8, 2014)

Points: 30, John Keefe vs. Bethany Lutheran, Dec. 3, 2014
3-Pointers Made: 5, John Keefe vs. Bethany Lutheran, Dec. 3, 2014
Rebounds: 15, Jarvis Ragland vs. Bethany Lutheran, Dec. 3, 2014
Assists: 7, Hank Kujak vs. Wartburg College, Nov. 29, 2014
Steals: 3, (5x) Hank Kujak vs. UW-La Crosse, Dec. 6, 2014; Hank Kujak vs. Bethany Lutheran, Dec. 3, 2014; John Keefe vs. Viterbo University, Nov. 19, 2014; Brett Ahsenmacher vs. Ripon College, Nov. 15, 2014; D'Marcco Patrick vs. Coe College, Nov. 16, 2014

UW-Stout 2014-15 Team Season Highs (Updated Dec. 8, 2014)

Points: 90 vs. Bethany Lutheran, Dec. 3, 2014
Field Goals Made: 35 vs. Bethany Lutheran, Dec. 3, 2014
Field Goal Percentage: .547 (35-64) vs. Bethany Lutheran, Dec. 3, 2014
3-Pointers Made: 12 vs. Ripon College, Nov. 15, 2014
Free Throws Made: 28 vs. Coe College, Nov. 16, 2014
Free Throw Percentage: .800 (16-20) vs. Cardinal Stritch, Nov. 30, 2014
Rebounds: 42 (2x) vs. Bethany Lutheran, Dec. 3, 2014;  vs. Wartburg College, Nov. 29, 2014
Assists: 16 (2x) vs. Bethany Lutheran, Dec. 3, 2014; vs. Wartburg College, Nov. 29, 2014
Steals: 11 vs. Coe College, Nov. 16, 2014


UW-Stout Career Bests (updated Dec. 8, 2014)

Jarvis Ragland - #3
Points: 25 vs. Bethany Lutheran, Dec. 3, 2014
Rebounds: 15 vs. Bethany Lutheran, Dec. 3, 2014
Assists: 4 vs. Ripon College, Nov. 15, 2014

John Keefe - #4
Points: 30 vs. Bethany Lutheran, Dec. 3, 2014
Rebounds: 5 vs. Coe College, Nov. 16, 2014
Assists: 4 vs. Ripon College,Nov. 15, 2014

Mac Oreskovic - #5
Points: 2 vs. Cardinal Stritch, Nov. 30, 2014
Rebounds: 2 (2x) vs. Cardinal Stritch, Nov. 30, 2014;  vs. Viterbo University, Nov. 19, 2014:
Assists: 1 vs. Cardinal Stritch, Nov. 30, 2014

D'Marcco Patrick - #10
Points: 15 vs. Coe College, Nov. 16, 2014
Rebounds: 2 vs. Wartburg College, Nov. 29, 2014
Assists: 2 vs. Wartburg College, Nov. 29, 2014

Zac Doll - #11
Points: 3 vs. Cardinal Stritch, Nov. 30, 2014
Rebounds: 3 vs. Cardinal Stritch, Nov. 30, 2014
Assists: 1 vs. Cardinal Stritch, Nov. 30, 2014

Sam Ortmann - #12
Points: 8 vs. Ripon College, Nov. 15, 2014
Rebounds: 5 vs. Viterbo University, Nov. 19, 2014:
Assists: 3 vs. Bethany Lutheran, Dec. 3, 2014

Brett Ahsenmacher - #13
Points: 18 vs. Ripon College, Nov. 15, 2014
Rebounds: 4 (2x) vs. UW-La Crosse, Dec. 6, 2014; vs. Plattsburgh State, Dec. 30,, 2013
Assists: 3 vs. Bethany Lutheran, Dec. 3, 2014

Isaac Elliott - #14
Points: 11 vs. Wartburg College, Nov. 29, 2014
Rebounds: 3 vs. Wartburg College, Nov. 29, 2014
Assists: 1 vs. Coe College, Nov. 16, 2014

Jalen Patterson - #15
Points: 9 vs. Ripon College, Nov. 15, 2014
Rebounds: 3 (2x) vs. Coe College, Nov. 16, 2014; vs. Ripon College, Nov. 15, 2014
Assists: 3 vs. Ripon College, Nov. 15, 2014

Cory Speer - #23
Points: 5 vs. Ripon College, Nov. 15, 2014
Rebounds: 3 vs. Ripon College, Nov. 15, 2014
Assists: 5 vs. Viterbo University, Nov. 19, 2014:

Colton Williams - #24
Points: 6 vs. Cardinal Stritch, Nov. 30, 2014
Rebounds: 4 vs. Coe College, Nov. 16, 2014
Assists: x

Bobby Green - #31
Points: 1 vs. Cardinal Stritch, Nov. 30, 2014
Rebounds: 1 (2x) vs. Bethany Lutheran, Dec. 3, 2014;  vs. Cardinal Stritch, Nov. 30, 2014
Assists: x

Hank Kujak - #33
Points: 12 vs. Wartburg College, Dec. 1, 2013
Rebounds: 7 vs. Wartburg College, Nov. 29, 2014
Assists: 7 vs. Wartburg College, Nov. 29, 2014

Reggie Kujak - #32
Points: 9 vs. Bethany Lutheran, Dec. 3, 2014
Rebounds: 8 vs. UW-La Crosse, Dec. 6, 2014
Assists: 1 (2x) vs. Bethany Lutheran, Dec. 3, 2014; vs. Viterbo University, Nov. 19, 2014:

Alex Hammond - #35
Points: 5 vs. UW-Oshkosh, January 12, 2013
Rebounds: 1 vs. Northland College, Nov. 24, 2011
Assists: 1 vs. Northland College, Nov. 24, 2011

John Lahti - #42
Points: 10 (2x) vs. Bethany Lutheran, Dec. 3, 2014; vs. Wartburg College, Nov. 29, 2014
Rebounds: 6 vs. Cardinal Stritch, Nov. 30, 2014
Assists: 1 vs. Ripon College, Nov. 15, 2014

Jacob Lindgren - #44
Points: 6 vs. Cardinal Stritch, Nov. 30, 2014
Rebounds: 2 vs. UW-La Crosse, Dec. 6, 2014
Assists: x

The Last Time...(updated December 8, 2014)

A Stout Individual...
Scored 30 points: 30, John Keefe vs. Bethany Lutheran, (12/3/14)
Scored 25-29 points: 25, Jarvis Ragland vs. Bethany Lutheran (12/3/14)
Recorded 15 rebounds: 15, Jarvis Ragland vs. Bethany Lutheran, (12/3/14)
Recorded 10 assists: 11, Erik Olson vs. UW-Stevens Point (2/13/13)
Recorded 6 steals: 8, by Jerrel Enerson-Matthews vs. Bethany Lutheran (11/21/08)

A Stout Team...
Had five players score in double digits:  vs. Wartburg College, Nov. 29, 2014 - Jarvis Ragland (24), Isaac Elliott (11), John Keefe (10), Brett Ahsenmacher (10), John Lahti (10)
Had four players score in double digits: vs. UW-Eau Claire, Jan. 25, 2014 - Alex Oman (26), Jimmy Whitehead (21), Josh Kosloske (12), Jay Higgins (10).
Scored 105 points: 109, vs. Crown College (2/15/11)
Scored 100-104 points: 102 vs. Silver Lake College (2/17/2010)
Recorded 60 rebounds: 64, vs. Concordia-Texas (12/11/2011)
Recorded 55-59 rebounds: 56 vs. Northland College (11/24/12)
Recorded 25 assists: 25, vs. Silver Lake College (2/17/2010)
Won 10 or more games in a row: 10, 2005-06 season
Lost 5 or more games in a row: 7, 2011-12 season
Was held to 40 or fewer points in game: 40, vs. Plattsburgh State (12/30/13)