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GAME PREVIEW: MBB vs. Utah Valley

SEATTLE – It's  the home stretch of the 2022-23 regular season as Seattle U men's basketball (18-9, 9-5 WAC) hosts its second to last home game on Saturday, Feb. 18 against Western Athletic Conference leader Utah Valley (20-6, 11-2 WAC). Tip off is set for 5 p.m. at the Redhawk Center. 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. Utah ValleyGAME PREVIEW: MBB vs. Utah Valley

SEATTLE – It's  the home stretch of the 2022-23 regular season as Seattle U men's basketball (18-9, 9-5 WAC) hosts its second to last home game on Saturday, Feb. 18 against Western Athletic Conference leader Utah Valley (20-6, 11-2 WAC). Tip off is set for 5 p.m. at the Redhawk Center. 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 suffered an 84-63 defeat at California Baptist on Wednesday, Feb. 15, snapping a current two-game win streak and a four-game streak against the Lancers.
  • The Redhawks now enter their second to last home game with an 18-9 overall record and 9-5 WAC mark.
  • This marks the 25th time in program history (78 years) that Seattle U has reached 18 wins in a season. The Redhawks will eye back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 1963-64 when a 22-win season followed 21 wins in 1962-63.
  • The program has 15 total 20-win seasons all-time, including a 23-win season last year under first-year Head Coach Chris Victor.
  • Seattle U is 8-0 at the Redhawk Center this season with two home games remaining.
  • Cameron Tyson scored 17 points on Feb. 15 at CBU, bringing his overall career total to 1,473 and his Seattle U career total to 924 points. He stands 76 points from hitting the 1K marker in a Seattle U uniform with four regular-season games remaining.
  • Emeka Udenyi collected four rebounds on Feb. 15 at CBU, sending him over the 500-rebound marker for his career.

ABOUT THE SERIES VS UTAH VALLEY
Seattle U and Utah Valley are meeting for the 25th time, with the Redhawks holding a slight 13-12 edge after winning this season's first meeting, 85-80, in Orem, Utah. Five player scored in double figures in the win, including Cameron Tyson (20 points), Riley Grigsby (19 points), Alex Schumacher (12 points), Brandton Chatfield (11 points) and Kobe Williamson (10 points). 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.

UNBEATEN WHEN...
...five players score in double figures (4-0)
...holding opponents under 40% from the field (10-0)

RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN PART 1
Through 27 games this season, Cameron Tyson has 82 threes, bringing his Seattle U career total to 187. 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 162.

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 Utah Valley with 89 blocks, good for third all-time. Grigsby sits in sixth with 80 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 326 points through 27 games played as a Redhawk for 1,209 career points and counting. Schumacher's achievement gives the Redhawks three 1,000-point scorers on the squad as Cameron Tyson sits at 1,473 points for his career and Riley Grigsby has 1,452 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 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) and has now played in 129 career games. With his 31 minutes played at California Baptist on Feb. 15, Grigsby continues to close the career minutes played gap, though still in second with 3,554. 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 183 minutes.

NATIONAL RANKS
In games played through Feb. 16, Seattle U ranks among the nation's top 50 in two team categories:

  • 9th in 3-pt attempts per game (28.0)
  • 36th in 3-pters per game (8.9)

In games played through Feb. 16, 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. 16, the Redhawks rank 138. 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.

REDHAWKS RECEIVE VOTES IN COACHES POLL
Following a a 7-0 start to WAC play, the Redhawks were among the teams receiving votes in the Jan. 23 USA TODAY Sports Men's Basketball Coaches Poll. The four votes in the Monday poll marks the Redhawks first-ever appearance in the Coaches Poll (which dates back to 1991-92) and first recognition in a Division I national poll since the 1964-65 season (began the season ranked 15th in the preseason AP poll).

WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS

  • Riley Grigsby was named WAC Player of the Week (Jan. 16-22) for a second consecutive week after averaging 23 points and 6.5 rebounds in two Redhawk wins.
  • Riley Grigsby was named WAC Player of the Week (Jan. 9-15) after averaging 23 points and 8.5 rebounds while leading Seattle U to a 2-0 week of WAC play.
  • 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.

VICTOR NAMED HOOPDIRT.COM DI COACH OF THE WEEK
Head Coach Chris Victor was named Hoopdirt.com DI Coach of the Week after leading Seattle U to a 2-0 week that included a home win over NM State and a huge road victory at Utah Valley. This marked the second such award for Victor, who also earned the honor once last season.

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.

UP NEXT
Seattle U heads out on the road for the final time this regular season, traveling to St. George, Utah, to face Utah Tech on Wednesday, March 1.

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