Men's Basketball | 1/17/2018 1:55:00 PM

The Central Washington University men's basketball team hits the road to Oregon this week where they square off with 10^th ranked Western Oregon on Jan. 18 followed by a Jan. 20 matchup with Concordia.
 
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ABOUT THE WILDCATS
After splitting its two games with Alaska and Alaska Anchorage last week the Wildcats sit at 8-7 on the season and 3-5 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
The two games this week will finish the front half of the GNAC schedule for the Wildcats.
 
Central Washington currently sits in 8^th place this week, but with a pair of victories they could jump to third place depending on how the rest of the conference matchups fair.
 
2017-18 GNAC Standings

 
Coach Sparling on this Week's Matchups
"Western Oregon is a very high-powered offense and can attack defenses in many different facets of the game.  They play a lot of guys and each player finds a way to make an impact.  They are also really good at taking care of the basketball and can really hurt you in transition off of turnovers."
 
"Concordia is not off to the start they wanted, but they are a good basketball team that can really shoot the ball.   They have a couple of guys who can fill the bucket, so we have to be aware of their presence each time down court and limit the production of those around them."
 
"For us, we have to keep sharing the basketball, when we do that we are really good.  It is key for us to find balance offensively.   When we get everyone involved in scoring, we are hard to guard."
 
"We also got away from our defensive principles a little bit last week, but our guys are hungry and ready to compete.  We are getting better each game and we have to remember that, especially after tough losses."
 
 
SCOUTING WESTERN OREGON
The Wolves enter this week ranked __ and are second in the GNAC with a 7-1 record, 15-1 overall.  After taking a early season loss to Western Washington, the Wolves have ripped off eight-straight victories by a combined win margin of 18.
 
Western Oregon leads the GNAC with 85.9 points per game, and field goal percentage at a 52.2 clip.
 
The Wolves are about as balanced as they get offensively with three players scoring in double figures led by Tanner Omlid at 12.7.  Six players score seven or more points per game, and the Wolves use virtually the entirety of their bench as 11 players average more than 14 minutes per game.
 
SCOUTING CONCORDIA
The Cavaliers (4-12, 0-8 GNAC) are looking for their first conference win of the season.  After Starting the season 4-0 with wins over four NCAA Division II opponents, Concordia has dropped its last 12 games with its closest game coming on Dec. 19, a 55-59 loss to Alaska Anchorage.
 
 Concordia has struggled offensively, ranking second to last in the GNAC with 71.9 point per game and the same goes for shooting percentage where they score on 43.9 percent of its shot attempts.
 
However, they do feature one of the conference's best scoring duo in Jarrett Gray and Christopher Edwards who score 16.6 and 16.1 points per game, respectively.
 
The Cavaliers biggest obstacle has been defense where they give up nearly 80 points a contest and allows the opposition to average 46.4 percent on field goals.  On five different occasions, the Cavaliers have allowed its opponent to shoot over 50-percent from the field and has not held a team under 40-percent in 14 straight games.