Men's Basketball | 1/31/2018 1:23:00 PM

GAME 19 | Central Washington (11-8, 6-6) vs. Western Washington (15-5, 10-2)
Date/Tipoff: Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018 | 7:30 p.m. PST
Location: Ellensburg, Wash. (Nicholson Pavilion)
Television: WatchESPN
 
THE GAME
The Central Washington University Wildcats (11-8, 6-6) returns to the friendly confines of Nicholson Pavilion this week to face a pair of conference foes. The Wildcats welcomes instate rival Western Washington (15-5, 10-2) this Thursday, Feb. 1. Tip-off between the Wildcats and Vikings is set for 7:30 p.m. and will be streamed live on WatchESPN.
 
Central Washington will wrap up this week's action taking on the Simon Fraser Clan (9-11, 3-9 GNAC) this Saturday, Feb. 3. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. PST in Nicholson Pavilion.
 
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Last Time Out
The Wildcats defeated Montana State University Billings 77-73 last Saturday to extend its winning streak to three games and moved to 6-6 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
 
Central Washington continued its hot shooting by knocking down 49.1-percent of their shots while holding MSUB to a 43.1 shooting clip.  Billings also shot 23.3-percent from three, making just 7 of 30 on the night.
 
Khalil Shabazz led the Wildcats with 20 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals.  Jawan Stepney added 15 on 6 of 10 shooting to go along with five boards and four assists.  Sage Woodruff and Fuquan Niles also score in double figures with 13 and 11, respectively.
 
Stepney put a seal on the victory with a long three-pointer that just beat the shot clock to give the Wildcats the final 77-73 advantage with just 10 seconds to play.
 
The Wildcats pounded the paint in the second half, scoring 24 of their 34 points in the paint after halftime.
 
Central Washington also held a 40-36 edge in rebounding, and made the most of its eight offensive caroms in the game, scoring 14 second-chance points.
 
A Sage Emerges
Sage Woodruff as emerged as a one of the Wildcats most consistent scorers averaging 10.1 points a game in just 18.6 minutes of play. Last week Woodruff scored a career-high 26 points over Northwest Nazarene, and followed with a 13-point performance in Saturday's victory over Montana State Billings.

Woodruff has hit at least one tree in all but three games this season and in each of his last 10 games. After starting the season 10 of 34 (29.4%) from three, he has knocked down 24 of his last 46 over the past 10 games.

Board Work
The Wildcats rank first in the GNAC with 12.2 offensive rebounds per game. Fuquan Niles leads CWU on the glass and averages 7.8 rebounds per game, which ranks fourth in the conference. Niles also denies a league-high 2.2 shots per contest.
 
Thieving Shabazz 
Freshman guard Khalil Shabazz has made a habit of picking pockets this season, averaging 2.3 steals per game. Shabazz ranks second in the GNAC and 19th in the nation in steals-per-game, while also ranking eighth in the conference in assists (3.4/game), tenth in scoring (14.9/game), and tenth in 3-point field goal percentage (.426).
 
 
SCOUTING WESTERN WASHINGTON
The Vikings are coming off their first two conference losses of the season after losing 92-88 to Seattle Pacific this past Saturday, and falling to Saint Martin's (94-82) on Thursday. WWU currently holds a 15-5 record, ranking second in the GNAC behind Western Oregon.
 
Western Washington averages 84.9 points per game to lead the conference. They also rank in the top-two in scoring margin ( 11.2), free throw percentage (76.7-percent), field goal percentage (49.9-percent), rebounding margin ( 10.6), and blocked shots (6.6/game).
 
Daulton Hommes leads a triad of players scoring in double figures as he averages 17.7 points per game. Trey Drechsel (15.0) and Deandre Dickson (14.3) all follow Hommes' lead. Drechsel leads the team on the boards with 7.0 per game. He also dishes out a team-high four assists and records 1.5 steals per game. Dickson is the Viking's primary rim protector with 1.7 blocks per game, followed by Hommes with 1.6.

SERIES HISTORY WITH THE VIKINGS
CWU leads 155-101 dating back to 1908. At home, the Wildcats are 92-33, but have won just one of the last five in Ellensburg.
 
UP NEXT
Following this week's games, the Wildcats will travel to Alaska next week to face the University of Alaska Fairbanks (Feb. 8) and Alaska Anchorage (Feb. 10).