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GAME PREVIEW: MBB at Utah Valley

SEATTLE – Riding a five-game win streak, including four straight wins to open Western Athletic Conference play, Seattle U men's basketball (13-4, 4-0 WAC) heads to Orem, Utah, to face Utah Valley (14-4, 5-0 WAC) on Saturday, Jan. 14. The match-up features two of three teams still undefeated in league play. Tip off is set for 6 p.m. Mountain Time, 5 p.m. Pacific and will broadcast live on ESPN+. It can also be hear over the airwaves on KXSU 102.1 FM in Seattle or kxsu.org.

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GAME PREVIEW: MBB at Utah ValleyGAME PREVIEW: MBB at Utah Valley

SEATTLE – Riding a five-game win streak, including four straight wins to open Western Athletic Conference play, Seattle U men's basketball (13-4, 4-0 WAC) heads to Orem, Utah, to face Utah Valley (14-4, 5-0 WAC) on Saturday, Jan. 14. The match-up features two of three teams still undefeated in league play. Tip off is set for 6 p.m. Mountain Time, 5 p.m. Pacific and will broadcast live on ESPN+. It can also be hear over the airwaves on KXSU 102.1 FM in Seattle or kxsu.org.

FOLLOW THE REDHAWKS

QUICK HITS

  • Seattle U has won four straight games to open WAC play for a second straight year following a 69-66 victory over NM State on Thursday at Climate Pledge Arena.
  • The Redhawks are now 7-0 at home this season, including 2-0 at Climate Pledge Arena. SU's all-time record in the venue is 10-1.
  • The win marked the 13th of the season for the Redhawks and extended their win streak to five straight.
  • The win against the Aggies was just the fifth ever in the 26 games all-time and snapped a three-game skid against NMSU.
  • In holding NM State to 66 points, the Redhawks improve to 10-0 when holding opponents under 70 points.
  • Riley Grigsby poured in a season-high 27 points to lead the Redhawks in scoring. Alex Schumacher added 18 points and Cameron Tyson had 14, all in the second half.
  • Riley Grigsby played 39 minutes versus NM State, bringing his career minutes played to 3,221, good for second all-time at Seattle U behind Morgan Means (2017-20) who played 3,737 minutes.

ABOUT THE SERIES VS UTAH VALLEY
Seattle U and Utah Valley are meeting for the 24th time, with the series knotted at 12-all. The teams split the home-and-home series last year as the Redhawks won, 71-65, at Climate Pledge Arena on Jan. 12. Seattle U trailed 32-23 at the half, then rallied with a big second half to claim the victory. Cameron Tyson and Darrion Trammell combined for 45 points in the win. UVU defended its home court a little over a month later, winning 67-52 at the UCCU Center as the Redhawks suffered season lows in points and shooting percentage.

The previous two games went to overtime, including a 93-92 win for the Wolverines in the lone meeting during the 2020-21 season. The game took nearly 2:40 and featured 16 ties, 14 lead changes, 58 fouls and 81 free-throw attempts. Four players fouled out of the game, including Darrion Trammell and Riley Grigsby for the Redhawks. With Seattle U leading 92-90, UVU's Trey Woodbury would score the game-winning bucket – a three from the top of the key.

Seattle U swept the home-and-home WAC series in 2019-20 including a runaway 83-50 victory in the Redhawk Center on Jan. 11, 2020.  Riley Grigsby led SU with 17 points, Delante Jones had 13 and Terrell Brown had 12 as 10 total Redhawks scored in the win. On Feb. 8, 2020 in Orem, the end result was the same, but this time it took extra time and a game-winning runner from Morgan Means to seal the road win for the Redhawks. Terrell Brown led all scorers with 28 points and Means finished with 19. UVU swept the home-and-home series in 2018-19, winning, 88-78 in Orem and 77-68 in Seattle.

NATIONAL RANKS
In games played through Jan. 12, Seattle U ranks among the nation's top 50 in four team categories:

  • 10th in 3-pt attempts per game (28.2)
  • 30th in 3-pters per game (9.2)
  • 39th in winning percentage (76.5)
  • 47th in rebounds per game (38.82)

In games played through Jan. 12, Seattle U ranks among the nation's top 50 in five individual categories:

JOINING THE 1,000-POINT CLUB
Alex Schumacher's made free throw at the 16:29 mark of the second half against Iona on Dec. 23 gave the junior guard 1,000 for his career. He scored 886 points during three seasons (including a shortened 2019-20 season due to COVID), and has added 198 points through 17 games played as a Redhawk for 1,070 career points and counting.

CAM CLIMBS THE CAREER THREES LIST
Through 17 games this season, Cameron Tyson has 57 threes, bringing his Seattle U career total to 162. That mark is good for 5th all-time at Seattle U. Sitting at No. 4 is Jeff Nelson (1997-01) with 165. The program record of 239 career threes is held by Aaron Waite (1988-92).

GRIGSBY HEADS TOWARDS LONGEVITY RECORDS
A rare fifth-year senior thanks to the extra year of eligibility allowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Riley Grigsby will look to become Seattle U's all-time leader in games played in this season. Through 17 game this season, Grigsby has appeared in 1198 games, five shy of the all-time record held by William Powell (2014-17). With his 39 minutes played versus NM State on Jan. 12, Grigsby remains in second place for career minutes played with 3,221. He recently passed now No. 3 Powell (3,178 minutes) still trails all-time leader Morgan Means (2017-20, 3,737 minutes), who has returned to the program as a graduate assistant this year.

NET RANKINGS
The first NET rankings of the season were released on Monday, Dec. 5 with Seattle U earning the highest position in ranking history – 61. In games played through Jan. 12, the Redhawks rank 128. The NET, which stands for NCAA Evaluation Tool, replaced the RPI for men's and women's basketball and helps determine which teams are selected for the NCAA Tournament at the end of the season. Beginning this season, the system will now also be a factor used for seeding for the WAC Tournament.

REDHAWK RUNDOWN

  • The road win at UT Arlington on Jan. 7 was the fifth of the season, already just one shy of last year's six road victories, which is the most in Seattle U's modern DI era.
  • The Redhawks shot 53.8% (28-52) from the field versus UTA on Jan. 7, marking their best shooting performance of the season. Their 50% mark from three (10-20) matched the season best, also achieved versus Pacific Lutheran on Nov. 23.
  • In its first-ever game on Christmas Day, Seattle U earned a convincing 85-67 win over George Washington to close out play at the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic.
  • The Redhawks concluded non-conference play with a 9-4 record, marking the second straight season of nine non-conference victories.
  • Seattle U went 32-of-45 from the free-throw line on Dec. 23 against Iona, which marks the most made free throws since making 33 at Utah Valley on Jan. 15, 2021 and the most attempts since Dec. 3, 2009 when they attempted 48 against Cal Poly.
  • Alex Schumacher had a season-high 17 points versus Iona on Dec. 23 as his made free throw early in the second half gave the junior guard 1,000 points for his career. The Redhawk squad now features a trio of 1,000-point scorers in Schumacher, Riley Grigsby and Cameron Tyson.
  • On Dec. 18, Seattle U's defense held Alcorn State to just 1-for-16 from three, the fewest threes allowed by the Redhawks this season.
  • The overtime victory at North Dakota on Dec. 10 marked the first extra time game played this season. In Head Coach Chris Victor's one-plus year tenure, the Redhawks now have two overtime games, going 2-0 in the contests. Victor's first OT win was a 92-85 final Jan. 17, 2022 at California Baptist.
  • The Redhawks have rallied from double-digit deficits and gone on to win twice this season. The first was a 14-point spread against Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 30 at Climate Pledge Arena. The Redhawks won the match-up, 69-62. The second was a 17-point hole at North Dakota on Dec. 10. In that match-up, Seattle U rallied and, in overtime, Alex Schumacher hit the game-winning shot for an 80-78 victory.
  • The five straight wins to start this season marked the best unbeaten start to a season since 2007-08 (the final year Seattle U competed as a DII member), when they went 6-0 before dropping a game.
  • Cameron Tyson was named WAC Player of the Week for his performances during the opening week of play, which included averaging 33.5 points, 7.5 threes and 5.5 rebounds per game. He shot better than 56% from the field, including 8-for-13 (55.6%) from three.
  • Seattle U won its sixth straight home opener with a 106-55 final over University of Puget Sound on Nov. 9 at the Redhawk Center.
  • Seattle U won its fourth consecutive season opener, downing the Tritons of UC San Diego, 85-71, on Nov. 7.

GET YOUR TICKETS
Single-game tickets and multi-game flex packages are on sale now. All ticket options may be purchased online at goseattleu.com/tix or over the phone at 206-398-GOSU.

UP NEXT
The Redhawks return to Seattle for a pair of WAC games, hosting Tarleton State on Thursday, Jan. 19 and  Southern Utah on Saturday, Jan. 21. Both match-ups tip at the Redhawk Center on campus.

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