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THURSAY, FEBRUARY 6 –
(#19) Seattle Pacific at Alaska Anchorage, 8:00 p.m. PST (7:00 AST)
Wells Fargo Sports Complex / Anchorage, Alaska
• Webcast & LiveStats: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/spu.portal#
 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8 –
(#19) Seattle Pacific at Alaska Fairbanks, 8:00 p.m. PST (7:00 AST)
Patty Center / Fairbanks, Alaska
• Webcast : http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/spu.portal#
• LiveStats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/uaf/mbball/
 
The 19th-ranked Seattle Pacific men resume Great Northwest Athletic Conference play on what has historically been their most difficult basketball road trip, the annual trek north to Alaska. Winners of their last seven games, the Falcons (18-4, 9-2 GNAC) play Alaska Anchorage (13-9, 6-5) on Thursday, Feb. 6 in an 8 p.m. Pacific Time contest (7 p.m. Alaska Time). The Seawolves won seven straight home games versus SPU before losing 85-79 last season. On Saturday, Feb. 8 the first-place Falcons visit third-place Alaska Fairbanks (12-7, 7-4) at 8 p.m. PST (7:00 AST). The Nanooks lost 12 of their last 13 games versus SPU. The Falcons swept both games on the Alaska road trip last season for the first time since 2002. Next week SPU starts its final, three-game homestand on Feb. 13 against Simon Fraser before a Feb. 15 clash with GNAC co-leader Western Washington.
 
Climbing the Charts
Senior point guard David Downs is the only player in history to rank among SPU's all-time top-5 in both points and assists. He owns the No. 4 spot among all-time Falcons scorers with 1,560 points and is also fourth in playmaking with 517 assists. Downs distributed 106 this season to become just the second player in school history to compiled four 100-assist seasons (Robin Marshall, 1980-83).
 


Straight Shooters
The Falcons rank No. 9 nationally in field goal accuracy at 51.2 percent. That figure includes a 42.5-percent mark on 3-pointers that is the nation's sixth best. Among the nation's finest 3-point shooters, Patrick Simon ranks No. 2 (51.9%) and David Downs is No. 8 (50.0%). SPU reached the 50-percent mark in half (11) of its 22 games and outshot opponents on 17 occasions. The Falcons fantastic shooting was on display in a Nov. 29 win over San Francisco State. Led by Simon's 10-for-12 performance behind the arc, they combined to make a remarkable 19 of 24 three-pointers as a team.
 
Falcons Fast Facts
SPU ranks No. 2 nationally in fewest turnovers per game (9.0), ninth in assist-turnover ratio (1.57) and 18th in scoring defense (65.3 ppg) ... The Falcons were not outrebounded in their last 14 games. They out-boarded last week's two foes by 50 (86-36), including a dominating 47-15 margin against Western Oregon (Feb. 1).
 
100 & Counting
Fifth-year coach Ryan Looney registered his 100th victory on the SPU sidelines with a 73-54 home win on Dec. 5 versus Northwest Nazarene. He is the fourth coach in school history to post 100 wins and hit the century mark faster than any of his predecessors, doing so in his 130th game. Previously the quickest to 100 wins on the SPU sidelines was current Washington State coach Ken Bone who took 146 games to reach that milestone in his sixth season with the Falcons. A 110-32 record gives Looney fewer Falcons wins than only Les Habegger (267), Bone (253) and Jeff Hironaka (134).
 
Scouting Alaska Anchorage (13-9, 6-5 GNAC)
> Something's gotta give Saturday when the league's most prolific offense that ranks No. 16 nationally (Anchorage at 87.4 points per game) meets its stingiest defense that ranks No. 18 in the nation (SPU at 65.3 ppg allowed). That's a 22.1-point differential between what UAA scores and the Falcons surrender.
 
> The Seawolves feature three of the league's top eight scorers in Travis Thompson (22.2 ppg), Brian McGill (17.1) and Kyle Fossman (15.7).
 
> Anchorage leads the all-time series 34-30 despite losing the last three meetings. The Falcons were 66-46 victors in this year's first meeting on Jan. 11, their 10th consecutive win over the Seawolves in Seattle.
 
> The SPU men won 85-79 on Dec. 1, 2012 to snap a seven-game losing skid against the Seawolves in Anchorage.
 
> Fifth-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has a 7-4 record against Anchorage.
 
Scouting Alaska Fairbanks (12-7, 7-4)
> Expect a defensive struggle when the GNAC's two stingiest teams collide. SPU allows just 65.3 points per game, tops in the league, and the Nanooks are second at 65.6.
 
> UAF's Joe Slocum leads the GNAC with 2.1 steals per game while teammate Andrew Kelly is third among rebounders at 8.2 per outing. Kelly is the league's best shooter at 67.3 percent.
 
> Mick Durham is in his third year as head coach at UAF. The former Montana State head coach spent the previous three years as an assistant at New Mexico State. He has an 0-5 record against the Falcons.
 
> SPU leads the series 54-15 and won 12 of the last 13 encounters.
 
> Fifth-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has an 8-1 record against Alaska Fairbanks.
 
Senior David Downs is a preseason All-American and was voted the GNAC Preseason Player of the Year by the league's coaches. The 6-foot-2 point guard is averaging a team-high 19.5 points and 4.8 assists. A two-time, first-team all-conference selection, Downs ranks No. 4 among all-time Falcons with 517 career assists. His 1,560 career points place him fourth among all-time SPU scorers, 95 points behind No. 3 Jeff McBroom (1,655 from 1996-99). Downs was the Nov. 11 GNAC Player of the Week and the MVP of both the Disney Tip-Off Classic and GNAC/PacWest Challenge. He is shooting 50 percent (57 of 114) from 3-point range to rank No. 8 nationally. Downs was a Division II Bulletin All-American last year and the MVP of the 2013 GNAC Tournament after leading SPU to the championship.
 
Famous Uncle
Junior guard Riley Stockton is the nephew of NBA Hall of Fame point guard John Stockton, who distributed a record 15,806 assists during his 19-season career with the Utah Jazz (1984-2003). The 2013 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, Riley Stockton prepped at Ferris High School in Spokane, Wash. The 6-foot-4 guard last year became the shortest player to lead the GNAC in rebounding at 7.5 boards per game.
 
2014 Preview
Six of his top seven scorers back from last season's 24-7 squad that reached the NCAA regional final. An impressive trio of returning starters is headlined by point guard David Downs, the GNAC Preseason Player of the Year. The 6-foot-2 senior received the 2013 GNAC Tournament MVP award after leading SPU to the championship. Downs was the Falcons second-leading scorer with 14.2 points per game and led all GNAC playmakers with 170 assists (5.5 per game). Also back is senior Patrick Simon, a second-team all-conference forward, and junior guard Riley Stockton, an honorable mention pick. Simon scored at a 13.4-point clip and made 66 treys on 46-percent shooting. Stockton led the league with 7.5 rebounds per game and was named the 2013 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year. Six other lettermen return, led by Cory Hutsen (6-8, Jr.) who averaged 9.2 points as the backup center. An impressive cast of newcomers includes Division I transfers Matt Borton (6-5, Jr., G, Idaho) and Jake Ehlers (6-7, So., F, Portland) along with 6-8 freshman center Joe Rasmussen, whose father Blair had a eight-year NBA career in Denver and Atlanta. SPU must fill voids left by starters Jobi Wall and Andy Poling. Wall, a forward, led the Falcons in scoring (14.3 ppg) and topped the nation in 3-point field goal accuracy at 48.9 percent. Poling averaged 10.1 points and 3.9 rebounds from his center position.
 
Ryan Looney directed Seattle Pacific into the playoffs in each of his previous four seasons as head coach. He has a 110-32 record at SPU. The Falcons registered a 27-4 record last year, equaling the school standard for single-season victories while establishing the best winning percentage (87.1%) in the 70-year history of the program. They won the 2013 GNAC Tournament title after placing second in the standings with a 16-2 conference record. SPU won two playoff games before losing 62-58 at Western Washington in the West Region championship game. In 2012, the Falcons compiled a 23-8 record and lost 56-50 to eventual national champion WWU in the regional final. In 2011, SPU was 20-10 and upset fifth-ranked Central Washington in the first round of the NCAAs. Looney led SPU to a 22-6 record in 2010 and became the first coach to direct the Falcons to a conference championship in his inaugural season. Looney, 38, who led his alma mater Eastern Oregon to the quarterfinals of the 2009 NAIA Division II Tournament, was hired May 26, 2009 as the coach at SPU. He was a 205-87 career record, including a 95-55 ledger in five seasons with Eastern Oregon.