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GAME PREVIEW: MBB vs. Grand Canyon

SEATTLE – Seattle U men's basketball (17-8, 8-4 WAC) aims to keep rolling at home in a key. match-up for Western Athletic Conference standings when it hosts Grand Canyon (16-8, 7-4 WAC) on Saturday, Feb. 11 in the Redhawk Center. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. The game will broadcast live on ESPN+ and can also be hear over the airwaves on KXSU 102.1 FM in Seattle or kxsu.org.

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GAME PREVIEW: MBB vs. Grand CanyonGAME PREVIEW: MBB vs. Grand Canyon

SEATTLE – Seattle U men's basketball (17-8, 8-4 WAC) aims to keep rolling at home in a key. match-up for Western Athletic Conference standings when it hosts Grand Canyon (16-8, 7-4 WAC) on Saturday, Feb. 11 in the Redhawk Center. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. The game will broadcast live on ESPN+ and can also be hear over the airwaves on KXSU 102.1 FM in Seattle or kxsu.org.

FOLLOW THE REDHAWKS

QUICK HITS

  • Seattle U snapped a four-game skid on Wednesday night with a 75-71 win over Utah Tech at Climate Pledge Arena.
  • The Redhawks improved to 17-8 overall and 8-4 in Western Athletic Conference play.
  • Cameron Tyson tallied his 12th 20-point game of the season versus the Trailblazers, finishing with a game-high 24 points. That marks back-to-back 24-point games after going a stretch of five games below the mark.
  • Tyson buried five threes versus Utah Tech, his 10th game this season with four or more three pointers. 
  • Riley Grigsby added 21 points and Alex Schumacher had 14 to round out the Redhawks in double figures against Utah Tech.
  • Wednesday's game at Climate Pledge marked the final in the venue this season. Seattle U improved to 10-1 at home overall and 3-1 at Climate Pledge Arena this season, moving their all-time, two-year mark in the arena to 11-2.
  • Seattle U remains unbeaten at the Redhawk Center this season, holding a 7-0 record in the on-campus facility.
  • Cameron Tyson now has 1,445 points for his career and 896 points as a Redhawk. He stands 104 points from hitting the 1K marker in a Seattle U uniform with six regular-season games remaining.
  • Emeka Udenyi collected three rebounds on Wednesday versus Utah Tech, bringing him just three boards away from 500 for his career as a Redhawk.
  • The Redhawks made their last regular-season WAC trip to the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, N.M., falling 82-75 to NM State on Saturday, Feb. 4. The Aggies will move to Conference USA beginning next year.

ABOUT THE SERIES VS GRAND CANYON
This with be the 20th all-time meeting between Seattle U and Grand Canyon, with the Lopes holding a 15-4 advantage in the series. The teams met just once last year with GCU claiming a 78-66 win in Phoenix, a win that snapped the Redhawks' eight-game win streak to start WAC play. The Lopes have won the past three straight, but the teams split the home-and-home conference series each of the past three seasons. The Redhawks have also won three of the last four meetings in Seattle. Seattle U's lone win at GCU Arena was also its first overall win in the series. That came on Jan. 30, 2016, in a 59-57 final. SU rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit and outscored the Lopes 31-22 in the second half.

UNBEATEN WHEN...

  • ...five players score in double figures (4-0)
  • ...holding opponents under 40% from the field (9-0)

RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN PART 1
Through 25 games this season, Cameron Tyson has 79 threes, bringing his Seattle U career total to 184. That mark puts Tyson in sole possession of third all-time. Next on the list with the second most career threes is Isiah Umipig (2013-15) with 229. The program record of 239 career threes is held by Aaron Waite (1988-92). Riley Grigsby has also entered the career top-10 in three pointers, currently ranking sixth with 159.

RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN PART 2
Kobe Williamson and Riley Grigsby both rank in the top 10 for career blocked shots. Williamson enters Saturday's game versus Grand Canyon with 89 blocks, good for third all-time. Grigsby sits in seventh with 76 career blocks. The all-time record of 109 blocks is held by Aaron Menzies (2015-18). Ranked second is Josh McMillion (1993-96) with 95 blocks.

TRIO OF 1,000-POINT SCORERS
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 296 points through 25 games played as a Redhawk for 1,176 career points and counting. Schumacher's achievement gives the Redhawks three 1,000-point scorers on the squad as Cameron Tyson sits at 1,445 points for his career and Riley Grigsby has 1,413 career points.

GRIGSBY CAPTURES LONGEVITY RECORD
A rare fifth-year senior thanks to the extra year of eligibility allowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Riley Grigsby became Seattle U's all-time leader in games played on Wednesday, Feb. 1 versus Abilene Christian by marking his 125th career appearance. Grigsby surpassed the previous all-time record of 124, also held by William Powell (2014-17). With his 35 minutes played versus Utah Tech on Feb. 8, Grigsby continues to close the career minutes played gap, though still in second with 3,490. 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, by 247 minutes.

NATIONAL RANKS
In games played through Feb. 9, Seattle U ranks among the nation's top 50 in two team categories:

  • 7th in 3-pt attempts per game (28.6)
  • 26th in 3-pters per game (9.2)

In games played through Feb. 9, Seattle U ranks among the nation's top 50 in five individual categories:

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 Feb. 9, the Redhawks rank 130. 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

  • Seattle U has six true road wins this season, matching last year's six road victories, which is the most in the program's  modern DI era.
  • The 40 points scored at Sam Houston on Jan. 26 was the least points a Redhawk team had scored since March 12, 2021 when they lost 81-47 to Grand Canyon. The last time SU scored less points was on Jan. 24, 2008 against Alaska Anchorage in a 45-38 final in Seattle.
  • Seattle U held Tarleton to just 47 points on Jan. 19, the least points allowed by an opponent since Nov. 23, 2021 when Pacific Lutheran was held to 40 points.
  • The win over NM State on Jan. 12  was just the fifth ever in the 26 games all-time and snapped a three-game skid against the Aggies.
  • 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 then 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 for the Redhawks five remaining home games 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
Seattle U heads back out on the road next week, traveling to Riverside, Calif., for a Wednesday, Feb. 15 meeting with California Baptist at the CBU Events Center. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Stay connected with Seattle U men's basketball and get all the latest team updates by downloading the GoSeattleU mobile app available now for free in the App Store or Google Play.