THE CARDIAC HAWKS: For the sixth time this season, including the fourth time at home, Seattle University won a game by less than five points Saturday night against Utah Valley. Tuesday, Cal State Northridge becomes the first of seven teams Seattle University will face for a second time this season. The first meeting is still fresh in everyone's mind, as the Matadors snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 98-90 victory over the Redhawks on Jan. 11 in Northridge, Calif. Now Cal State Northridge rides a three-game winning streak into KeyArena. SeattleU must figure out what went wrong eight days ago in order to be successful in the rematch.
THE UTAH VALLEY GAME: Seattle University received a career performance from Gavin Gilmore and clutch baskets down the stretch from Chris Gweth and Alex Jones to pull out a 66-63 victory over Utah Valley University Saturday night at KeyArena at Seattle Center. Gilmore shot 6-of-10 from the field in scoring 12 points, plus he pulled down four rebounds, dished out four assists, and earned three steals. Gweth also scored 12 points, including the 1,000th point of his SeattleU career, grabbed seven rebounds, and picked up a game-high five steals, while Jones overcame foul trouble to contribute 11 points and three rebounds. After Jourdain Scoubes hit a three-pointer with five minutes remaining in regulation to give the Wolverines a 53-51 lead, Jones answered with his own three-pointer to give the Redhawks the lead for good. Gweth notched a steal and a layup with three minutes to go, extending the SeattleU lead to five at 58-53. Three-pointers by Tyray Petty and Scoubes pulled Utah Valley within one at 62-61 with 1:08 left on the clock. Gweth was fouled and hit both free throws, but the Wolverines stayed in the game thanks to a layup by Justin Baker. Aaron Broussard, shooting 50 percent from the free throw line coming into the game, made two free throws with 18 seconds remaining, and the SeattleU defense forced Scoubes to throw up a contested three-point shot that fell short, clinching the Redhawks' victory. Mike Boxley hit 4-of-5 shots from the field on his way to a 10-point, six-rebound performance. Broussard and Garrett Lever each scored six points, while Cervante Burrell contributed five points and a team-high eight rebounds.
SCOUTING CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE: The Matadors come into Tuesday night's game with a 7-10 overall record. After coming into the Jan. 11 meeting on a seven-game losing streak, Cal State Northridge is currently on a three-game winning streak, which began with the 98-90 victory over SeattleU at the Matadome. The Matadors followed that up with Big West victories over UC Riverside (64-50) and at Cal State Fullerton (78-72). Cal State Northridge is scoring 72.4 points per game and giving up 77.4 points per contest. As a team, the Matadors are shooting 42.3 percent from the field, including 31.7 percent from behind the three-point line, and 65.7 percent from the free throw line. Kenny Daniels leads the team in scoring with 14.9 points per game, as he is shooting 52.3 percent from the field and 80.6 percent from the free throw line. Lenny Daniel is averaging 11.2 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds per game.
REACHING THE MILESTONE: Let the record show that it came on a basket with 1:25 remaining in the second half against Utah Valley on Jan. 16, 2010. Chris Gweth became the 34th player in Seattle University history to score at least 1,000 career points. He currently has 1,003 career points and is just seven points from moving past Jeff Nelson into 33rd place on the all-time scoring list, with SeattleU Athletic Hall of Famers John Tresvant and Rod Derline in his sights. Gweth has reached double figures in points in 11 straight games, averaging 15.6 points per game during that span.
JEFF SAGARIN SAYS: The Sagarin ratings is one of the most popular tools for comparing two teams and attempting to predict the result. As of Jan. 18, Seattle University is 193rd with a rating of 70.08 and Cal State Northridge is 217th with a rating of 68.79. Taking into account a 4.10 home advantage, the Sagarin ratings would say that Seattle University is favored to win Tuesday's game by five or six points. RPI: Another tool in comparing teams is the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), a term that is used frequently as the selection date for the NCAA Tournament approaches. As of Jan. 18, according to CollegeRPI.com, Seattle University is 216th in the RPI rankings, ahead of schools such as Indiana, Boise State, Tulane, Hawaii, and Air Force.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: As part of the reclassification process, Seattle University is not eligible to officially win any statistical awards. However, if SeattleU was eligible, Charles Garcia would be 14th in scoring at 21.1 points per game and 53rd in rebounding with 8.9 boards per contest. As a team, Seattle University would be tied for 24th in scoring offense and tied for 44th in rebounding, averaging 80.1 points and 39.0 rebounds per game.
RECEIVING CHARITY: Charles Garcia has been prolific in getting to the free throw line so far this season, averaging 11.5 free throw attempts per game. Garcia has attempted a Division I-high 218 free throws in the first 19 games of the season, 64 more than Kyle Gibson of Louisiana Tech and Aubrey Coleman of Houston.