Game notes
ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Jan. 6) — Following more than a month of games at home in Nicholson Pavilion, the Central Washington University men's basketball team (7-3, 2-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) sets out on its first GNAC road swing of the 2014-15 season with a game Thursday at Saint Martin's University (5-9, 2-2 GNAC) in Lacey, followed by a Saturday contest with Western Oregon University (11-3, 3-1 GNAC) in Monmouth, Ore. Each game is scheduled to tip off 7:30 p.m.
"We haven't been out on the road for awhile, so we'll have to knock the kinks out," CWU head coach
Greg Sparling acknowledged. "We've got to have focus. Hopefully, we're ready to go."
CWU is coming off its first conference loss of the season, 74-67, Saturday to visiting Northwest Nazarene University. Despite the defeat, there was, at least, one positive aspect to the contest.
"I think we're pretty close defensively," Sparling said. "But, with getting stops, we're got to get the rebounds. That's the frustrating part of it. Our guards have to do a better job rebounding. That's effort related and we'll correct that this week [in practice]."
The Crusaders clobbered CWU on the boards 50-28. On the season, Central is eighth in the 10-team GNAC, with the Wildcats being outrebounded by two caroms per game. However, CWU is the top team in the GNAC in field goal percentage defense, limiting opponents to just 40.5 percent shooting, heading into the game against SMU.
"If you look at their stat sheet it's well balanced on the offensive end," Sparling pointed out. "They run their stuff well. They don't have anybody in double digits—they have a lot of guys [six] scoring from seven to nine points a game. On the defensive end, we'll definitely have to turn it up a little bit and try to get a few more turnovers."
Sophomore guard Tyler Copp is the leading Saints scorer (9.9), while freshman guard Trey Ingram is second (9.4) and leads the team in assists (4.0). Senior forward Tyler Idowu is third in scoring (9.3) and tops SMU in rebounding (5.3). The Saints also feature freshman center Brent Counts, the grandson of former Olympian and NBA player Mel Counts, who is averaging 7.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
Offensively, the Wildcats will also be making some adjustments against Saint Martin's, particularly in the area of ball movement.
"We went back to one-on-one stuff like the beginning of the year [against NNU]," Sparling noted. "We're going to go back to setting screens and using them. This team will buy in and we'll be a lot more efficient on the offensive end when we get over to Saint Martin's."
At WOU, Central will be facing a team led by junior center Andy Avgi. He's fifth in the conference in scoring at 15.9 points per game, ninth in rebounding (5.8) and seventh in field goal accuracy (58.0 percent). Transfer guard Julian Nichols, from California's Chaffey College, is third in the conference in both assists (5.0) and free throw percentage (87.9 percent), and fifth in steals (1.9). His backcourt running mate, Devon Alexander is seventh in steals (1,9).
"Their guards are good, they have the big kid [Avgi] inside and they run their stuff well," Sparling said. "Defensively, they're trying to pick it up in the full court. We haven't been pressed all year, so it's going to be interesting to see. I think we're going to handle it quite well."
Following the road swing, CWU returns to Nicholson Pavilion to take on archrival Western Washington University Wednesday, Jan. 14. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. to accommodate the ROOT SPORTS regional telecast of the game.
It will also be "60s Night" with the first 500 fans receiving a complimentary, commemorative tie-dye t-shirts. In addition, Grammy-award winner Wanz will sing the national anthem before the game.
