RIGHTING THE SHIP: Seattle University looks to get back on the winning track Wednesday night when Utah Valley comes to town for a 7:10 p.m. contest that will be broadcast on 710 ESPN Seattle with Dave Grosby and Gary Hill, Jr. Utah Valley is one of the hottest teams in the country, having won eight of its last nine games. Meanwhile, Seattle U wants to give the home fans a victory as it continues a stretch of four home games out of five contests.
THE PORTLAND GAME: In front of the largest crowd to attend a Seattle University men's basketball home game since the team's return to Seattle Center, the Redhawks could not overcome an early deficit as the University of Portland Pilots earned a 71-55 victory Saturday night at KeyArena. Sterling Carter hit four three-pointers, three of them early in the second half, to score a team-leading 16 points, while Aaron Broussard finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, and two blocked shots. Alex Jones contributed seven points, four rebounds, and two steals, and Garrett Lever earned six points, three rebounds, and two assists. Portland scored the first ten points of the game and ran out to a 19-4 advantage seven minutes into the contest. Broussard scored nine straight Seattle U points to bring the deficit back into single digits, but three easy baskets by the Pilots extended Portland's lead back to 12 at 27-15. An 8-0 Redhawk scoring run cut the Pilot lead to four at 27-23 with 3:28 left in the first half, but Jared Stohl hit a three-pointer and Eric Waterford and Luke Sikma followed with layups to give Portland a 34-26 lead at halftime. Carter's fourth three-pointer of the contest once again brought Seattle U to within four at 39-35 early in the second half, but back-to-back long distance baskets by Nemanja Mitrovic and Stohl helped extend the Pilots' lead back to 12 at 47-35. Fred Wilson hit a three-pointer as Seattle U cut into the Pilot lead one more time, coming within seven at 47-40 with 13:48 remaining in the second half. However, the combination of a five-minute Redhawk scoring drought and timely baskets by Portland allowed the visitors to pull away with the victory.
SCOUTING UTAH VALLEY: The Wolverines come into Wednesday's game with a 14-9 overall record, including a four-game winning streak featuring road wins at Texas-Pan American and Houston Baptist. Utah Valley is currently in first place in the Great West Conference with a 6-1 league record. The Wolverines are scoring 78.1 points per game and giving up 70.3 points per contest. As a team, Utah Valley is shooting 44.8 percent from the field, including 39.0 percent from behind the three-point line, and 77.0 percent from the free throw line. The Wolverines are currently 10th in the country in team free throw percentage. Utah Valley has used the same starting lineup for all 23 games. Isiah Williams, the current Great West Conference Player of the Week, leads the team in scoring with 18.0 points per game. Jordan Swarbrick is averaging 12.1 points per game, while Holton Hunsaker is contributing 11.1 points per contest. Ben Aird has collected 10.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, and Geddes Robinson is averaging 9.4 points and a team-high 9.2 rebounds per game.
SEATTLE U VS. UTAH VALLEY: This will be the fourth meeting all-time between the Redhawks and the Wolverines, with Seattle U winning two of the first three contests. Utah Valley first visited KeyArena Jan. 16, 2010, with Seattle U earning a hard-fought 66-63 victory behind 12 points from Gavin Gilmore and 11 points from Alex Jones. Chris Gweth scored the 1,000th point of his Seattle U career on his way to a 12-point, seven-rebound, five-steal performance. On March 6, 2010, the Redhawks traveled to Orem, Utah, and finished off a 17-14 season with a 74-64 victory over the Wolverines. Cervante Burrell led all players with 18 points and Jones continued his solid end-of-the-year play with 13 points. Earlier this season, Seattle U's second trip to Orem was not as successful, as Utah Valley earned an 89-73 victory on Jan. 13. Burrell once again led Seattle U with 18 points and five assists, while Aaron Broussard finished with 17 points and six rebounds. Utah Valley was led by its starting lineup, as they all scored in double figures, with Holton Hunsaker leading the way with 18 points and six assists. Jordan Swarbrick finished with a double-double, earning 17 points and 10 rebounds.
THE KEY TO SUCCESS: Since returning to Seattle Center Jan. 1, 2009, with a 49-39 victory over Loyola Marymount, Seattle University is 16-6 at KeyArena. The Redhawks finished the 2009-10 season with a 10-3 home record and has compiled a 5-3 record at the Key so far in 2010-11.
CRACKING THE RECORD BOOKS: With the four three-pointers he hit in Saturday's game against Portland, freshman guard Sterling Carter now has made 58 three-pointers this season, moving into tenth place on the Seattle University list for three-pointers made in a single season. He needs two long distance baskets to move into ninth place, past Dan Conover's 1994-95 total of 59 made three-pointers. The school record for most three-pointers in a season is currently held by Aaron Waite, who made 89 three-pointers in the 1989-90 campaign. Also, senior Garrett Lever has moved into a tie for seventh place on the Seattle U single-season steals list with his 56 steals, tying Kenny Bush's mark from the 1995-96 season. After passing Bush, Lever's next targets will be Eric Briggs (1986-87) and Andre Lang (1992-93), who each earned 63 steals to currently sit in a tie for fifth place on the list. Ray Brooks holds the single-season record for steals with 84, accomplished in the 1984-85 season.
A NATIONAL SCHEDULE: With the addition of the game at Northern Illinois, Seattle University will play at least one game in every time zone in the lower 48 states during the 2010-11 season. The Redhawks started the season in the Eastern time zone at Maryland Nov. 8, plus played a second game in that time zone Dec. 22 at Virginia. Seattle U will play two games this season in the Mountain time zone: at Weber State (Dec. 4) and at Utah Valley (Jan. 13). The remaining 26 contests will take place in the Pacific time zone: 13 games in Washington (12 home games plus Dec. 15 at Eastern Washington), 11 games in California, one game in Oregon (Dec. 1 at Portland State), and one game in Idaho (March 5 at Idaho). This will be the second straight year that Seattle U has played a game in the Central time zone, as the Cameron Dollar era began Nov. 14, 2009, in Stillwater, Okla., with Seattle U's game against Oklahoma State.
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