Game notes

ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Jan. 21) — It's thought, by some, to be the most arduous road trip in all of NCAA Division II basketball. It's one now being undertaken by the Central Washington University men's basketball team, as the Wildcats play at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) Thursday (Jan. 22) and the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) two nights later (Jan. 24).
 
"It's a long journey; it's a mental trip," said CWU head coach Greg Sparling. "It's a tough place to play, up in Alaska, but, once you get up there, the gyms are all the same temperature and when the ball goes up in the air you've just got to go to work."
 
Last year, the Wildcats (10-4, 4-2 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) went to work and won at UAA (9-8, 5-2 GNAC) 95-88 behind the 23-point, 12-rebound performance of forward J.B. Pillard. The Wildcats also hit on better than 61 percent of their field goal tries in the second half for the victory.
 
"We moved the basketball pretty well and we guarded it [defensively] real well." Sparling added. "I thought it was one of our better games of the year from start to finish."
 
That contest was played in the Wells Fargo Sports Complex. This year's game will be the first for the CWU men's team in UAA's new, 5,000-seat Alaska Airlines Center. The grand opening for the $109 million facility was held last September. Heading into Thursday's action, the Seawolves men's team is 6-4 in its new home, so far, this season.
 
"I'm excited about it," Sparling acknowledged of the change of venue. "From everything I hear, it's a real nice facility. Their old gym was so loud that you couldn't even hear yourself think. I think they may lose a little bit of the home-court advantage from playing in the bigger building." 
 
Despite the change of location, the Seawolves (9-8, 5-2 GNAC), under 11th year head coach Rusty Osborne, have not revised their philosophy or system.
 
"We know that they play extremely hard," Sparling said of the Seawolves. "On offense, they're going to sprint from spot to spot.  Defensively, they're going to get up into you a little bit but also pack it in and try to make you a three-point shooting team. The last thing you want to do it to fall into that trap."
 
The Seawolves are led by the GNAC Men's Basketball Pre-Season Player of the Year, guard Travis Thompson, and his backcourt running mate, Brian McGill. They're tied for the team scoring lead, averaging 15.6 points per game apiece. McGill is also averaging 5.5 assists per game.
 
"They're the most experienced [combination] in the GNAC," Sparling pointed out. "They are both very good basketball players."
 
In Fairbanks, the Wildcats will take on UAF (5-10, 2-5 GNAC) in its newly renovated Patty Center, where CWU lost an 84-80 overtime decision last season.
 
"They're very well coached," Sparling said of the Nanooks. "Mick [Durham] does a nice job there. They move the ball and they run their stuff. They're a little inexperienced, but they're getting better each day. It's harder to play on the second night of the road trip, especially up in Fairbanks."     
 
While a road sweep is the ultimate goal, Sparling admits, "Not too many people do that. If you can get a split, that's a good road trip to Alaska. Not a great one, but a good one."
 
Both games are scheduled to tip off at 8:30 p.m., Pacific Standard Time. Following the Alaska trip, CWU continues its three-game road swing on Saturday, Jan. 31, with a game at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho.