HELLO OLD FRIEND: Just 11 days ago, Seattle University defeated Cal State Northridge at KeyArena. Now, the Redhawks head to Northridge to face the Matadors in the rematch. Seattle U will need to tighten its defense after allowing Utah Valley to score 60 points in the second half of last Thursday's loss. Dave Grosby and Gary Hill, Jr., will broadcast the game live from courtside on 710 ESPN Seattle, beginning with the pregame show before the 7 p.m. scheduled tipoff.
THE UTAH VALLEY GAME: After a sluggish first half offensively, both teams shot the ball better in the second half, but Utah Valley hit 70.8 percent of its second half field goal attempts and 88.9 percent of its free throw attempts after halftime to defeat Seattle University, 89-73, last Thursday night at the UCCU Center in Orem, Utah. Cervante Burrell enjoyed his best game in a month, leading Seattle U with 18 points and five assists, while Aaron Broussard finished with 17 points and six rebounds. Chad Rasmussen opened the scoring with a three-point basket, but Utah Valley took early control of the game with a 7-0 run to pull ahead by four, 7-3, three minutes into the contest. The Redhawks responded with a 9-2 run of their own to take a 12-9 advantage eight minutes into the game, but the Wolverines scored seven unanswered points to retake the lead, 16-12, with 8:53 remaining in the first half. Burrell started driving to the basket, scoring six points during the first half, and Rasmussen hit another three-pointer to bring Seattle U within one at 25-24 with 3:10 left before halftime. Utah Valley scored the final four points of the half to go into the locker room at halftime ahead, 29-24. A three-pointer by Alex Jones and a fast-break layup from Garrett Lever brought Seattle U to within four at 35-31 three minutes into the second half, but Utah Valley responded with a 10-2 Wolverine run to give the home team a 45-33 lead. Broussard hit a layup and a three-pointer to cut the Redhawk deficit to four at 51-47 halfway through the second half, but a 9-1 Wolverine run extended Utah Valley's lead back to 12 at 60-48. The Wolverines used solid free throw shooting to keep Seattle U at a distance, as the home team made 24-of-27 attempts from the charity stripe in the second half to help close out the contest.
SCOUTING CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE: The Matadors come into Wednesday's game with a 5-12 overall record, including a 2-3 record in Big West Conference play. Cal State Northridge snapped a three-game losing streak Saturday with an 89-65 victory over Cal State Fullerton at the Matadome, improving its home record to 4-3. The Matadors are scoring 71.1 points per game and giving up 73.3 points per contest. As a team, Cal State Fullerton is shooting 44.7 percent from the field, including 30.1 percent from behind the three-point line, and 65.7 percent from the free throw line. Lenny Daniel led the Matadors Saturday with 18 points and 13 rebounds and continues to lead the team in scoring and rebounding with 16.9 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. Rashaun McLemore is the other Matador player scoring in double figures, averaging 15.3 points per game.
SEATTLE U VS. CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE: This will be the fifth meeting all-time between Seattle University and Cal State Northridge, with the two teams splitting the first four contests. Cal State Northridge won the first meeting on Jan. 7, 1995, by a score of 88-75 in Northridge, Calif. The next meeting took place just over 15 years later, on Jan. 11, 2010, also in Northridge. Seattle University could not overcome an early deficit, as Cal State Northridge was able to hold on for a 98-90 victory at the Matadome. Charles Garcia, playing close to his hometown, notched his eighth double-double of the season with 34 points and 14 rebounds. Aaron Broussard scored 18 points, and Chris Gweth scored 13 points, 10 of them in the second half. Eight days later at KeyArena, Seattle University overcame a cold first half in the shooting department, hitting 60 percent of its field goal attempts in the second half for a 74-64 victory over Cal State Northridge. Cervante Burrell scored 17 points, shooting 7-of-13 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free throw line, plus he pulled down five rebounds and dished out three assists. Charles Garcia notched his ninth double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
JUST 11 DAYS AGO: Senior Alex Jones scored a career-high 29 points and Seattle University held Cal State Northridge without a field goal for over seven minutes late in the second half as the Redhawks earned their second straight victory, 65-58, at KeyArena at Seattle Center. Jones shot 9-of-11 from the field, making his only attempt from behind the three-point line, and 10-of-11 from the free throw line in posting the highest single-game point total by a Seattle U player this season. Aaron Broussard notched his sixth double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Garrett Lever contributed six points, nine rebounds, two assists, and four steals to the winning effort.
THE KEY TO SUCCESS: Since returning to Seattle Center Jan. 1, 2009, with a 49-39 victory over Loyola Marymount, Seattle University is 16-5 at KeyArena. The Redhawks finished the 2009-10 season with a 10-3 home record and has compiled a 5-2 record at the Key so far in 2010-11.
THE RELUCTANT WARRIOR: Aaron Broussard has emerged as one of the team's go-to players. He started the season with two double-doubles in the first three games, earning 10 points and 10 rebounds in the Maryland and Cal Poly contests. He helped Seattle U earn its first victory of the season with nine points, 12 rebounds, and four assists against Oregon State. He posted career-high scoring totals of 25 points against UC Irvine and 26 points against Navy, pulling down nine rebounds in each contest. Those performances helped put him on the All-Tournament Team at the UC Irvine subregional of the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer. On Nov. 29, he hit the go-ahead three-pointer on his way to a 20-point, 12-rebound performance as SU defeated Montana State, 72-70. Broussard currently leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 14.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. The 10-point, 12-rebound performance Jan. 8 against Cal State Northridge was Broussard's sixth double-double of the 2010-11 season.
THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE: Alex Jones is one of the seniors from Phoenix giving the team some veteran leadership. He started the season by leading the Redhawks with 20 points at Maryland on Nov. 8. He contributed 10 points in the home opener against Cal Poly and 11 points in the Redhawks' 83-80 victory over Oregon State. Jones took advantage of a favorable matchup against UC Irvine, finishing with 19 points, four rebounds, and two assists. On Dec. 18 against San Jose State, he scored a season-high 21 points in part on 6-of-6 field goal shooting. He repeated that 21-point performance Jan. 6 against Eastern Washington, shooting 7-of-14 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Jan. 8 against Cal State Northridge, Jones notched a career-high 29 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field and 10-of-11 shooting from the free throw line. He was named Featured Student-Athlete of the Week last week for his performance over the weekend. Overall, he is averaging 11.7 points per game so far this season.
SCANNING THE RADIO DIAL: The Seattle University head men's basketball coach will be a part of a weekly radio show, "The Cameron Dollar Show", on 710 ESPN Seattle every Monday from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. Due to games on the next two Mondays, Jan. 24 and 31, the show will move to Tuesday, Jan. 25, and Tuesday, Feb. 1 for those two weeks. The show will originate from Jimmy's on Broadway, located in the Silver Cloud Hotel at 1100 Broadway. The public is welcome to attend the broadcasts in person, and Jimmy's on Broadway will be offering happy hour pricing during the broadcast.
FROM WAY DOWNTOWN: Freshman Sterling Carter has emerged as Seattle University's leading threat from three-point land. The Seattle native leads the team with 47 made three-pointers in 134 attempts, a .351 shooting percentage. Carter is currently in the top 100 for three-point field goals per game in Division I, averaging 2.5 made three-pointers per game. He made five three-pointers at San Francisco on Nov. 12 and against Oregon State on Nov. 17. January 2 at Pepperdine, Carter went 7-for-15 from long distance, the most three-pointers made by a Seattle U player since Sam Kirby connected on seven three-pointers Nov. 18, 2006, against Ashland University.
POSITIVE TRANSFERS: Two sophomores who transfered to Seattle University from junior college have made a positive impact on the 2010-11 squad so far this season. Chad Rasmussen, a transfer from Tacoma Community College, has worked his way into the starting lineup in the past seven games and is now averaging 15.8 minutes per game. His breakthrough game came on Dec. 4 at Weber State, when he scored 13 points, hitting three shots from behind the three-point line along the way. He scored eight points in Seattle U's first game against Eastern Washington on Dec. 15, and followed that by pulling down a season-high five rebounds Jan. 6 against the Eagles. Brandon Durham connected on the first 11 field goal attempts of his Redhawk career and is currently shooting 60.9 percent from the field. The transfer from Lane Community College scored eight points at Eastern Washington on Dec. 15 and at Virginia on Dec. 22. Durham is averaging 15.7 minutes, 3.6 points, and 3.3 rebounds per game.
STUFFING THE STAT SHEET: Senior guard Garrett Lever has been doing the little things to contribute to the team's effort so far this season. The son of former NBA player Fat Lever, he has earned 3.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 2.4 steals per game. Despite his height, Lever finds himself in the right places on the court, as he is currently second on the team in rebounding and leads the way in steals for the second straight season. He scored a season-high 11 points, plus he grabbed eight rebounds, at San Francisco on Nov. 12 and pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds at UC Irvine on Nov. 20. In the Nov. 17 victory over Oregon State, Lever added seven points and six rebounds to the winning effort. The six-foot guard has pulled down at least five rebounds in 15 of the team's 19 games so far this season.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Seattle University is scoring 70.2 points per game and giving up 77.3 points per contest. As a team, the Redhawks are shooting 40.8 percent from the field, including 28.7 percent from behind the three-point line, and 66.4 percent from the free throw line.
#32: The number 32 of Seattle U Athletic Hall of Famer Tom Workman will be retired at halftime of the February 5 game against the University of Portland at KeyArena. Workman played for Seattle U from 1964 to 1967, scoring 1,497 career points for a 19.2 points per game scoring average. His number will be the sixth retired by Seattle University, joining Elgin Baylor (#22), Eddie Miles (#20), Ed O'Brien (#3), John O'Brien (#4), and Clint Richardson (#44).