ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University men's basketball team travels to Concordia (Ore.) for a Great Northwest Athletic Conference matchup.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Thursday, January 22
At Concordia (Ore.)
7:30 p.m.
Portland, OR
 
QUOTABLE
"Concordia has continued to play better as the season has gone along," CWU Head Coach Brandon Rinta said.  "They have one of the best front lines in the conference. We are going to have to do a good job of keeping the ball out of the paint."
 
SCOUTING CONCORDIA | SCHEDULE | ROSTER | 2018-19 STATS | 2019-20 STATS
Concordia (2-14, 1-7 GNAC) lost a pair of games on the road last week, falling 82-66 at the hands of Western Washington University last Thursday before a 72-61 setback against Simon Fraser University last Saturday.
 
Hunter Sweet had a productive week in the scoring department, highlighted by a 25-point output against the Vikings as he finished just one point shy of his season high. He followed that with 14 points last Saturday, and his total of 39 on the weekend made it his second-highest scoring weekend of the season. Sweet upped his season average to 15.4 points per game, which ranks him eighth in the conference. He also had nine rebounds against WWU and 13 total on the weekend, and his mark of 5.5 boards per game is also the highest on the team.
 
Dakota Ayala had a productive game against Simon Fraser, with a team-high 17 points as he made 7 of 16 shots. He is second on the team behind Sweet in both scoring (12.7 ppg) and rebounding (5.4 rpg), and he also had three blocks against the Clan to up his team-leading total on the season to eight. Entering this week, Ayala is tied for 10th in the GNAC in field-goal percentage at 54.5 on the season, which is the highest mark by any Cavalier.
 
Senior David Wheeler contributed eight points and three rebounds against the Vikings, and it was his fifth game of the season in which he recorded multiple made 3-pointers. His overall body of work from the arc has been a boost for CU, as he leads the team in 3-point field goal percentage at 41.7 while ranking fifth on the squad in shot attempts with 48 (3.2 attempts per game).
 
Building off last week's season-low seven turnovers in the win over Saint Martin's, Concordia continued the theme with just nine giveaways in the game against Simon Fraser. When combined with the 12 turnovers against Western Washington, the 21 total last week marked the team's fewest in any two-game weekend so far this season. Additionally, the Cavaliers generated 19 steals last week – including a season-high 12 against WWU – which was also its highest total of any weekend in the 2019-20 season.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Coming off a split last week, the Wildcats picked up a convincing 84-50 win over the University of Alaska Anchorage before a 78-60 setback against Alaska Fairbanks. The Wildcats enter the week in a tie for ninth place in the league standings, but are just two games out of a top-four position. CWU will play at Western Oregon after Thursday's game in Portland.
 
CWU features a balanced lineup offensively, with three players scoring in double figures and seven averaging 7.3 points per game or more. Kevin Baker is atop that list, with 12.0 points per game while also ranking second on the squad with 5.1 rebounds. Baker has played in just 10 of the team's 16 games and therefore does not yet qualify among the GNAC's statistical leaders, but if he did his field-goal percentage of 60.3 would rank him third in the conference and his mark of 51.5 percent from the arc would also be third best.
 
CWU v CU HISTORY
Since 2007, the Wildcats and Cavaliers have met nine times with Central picking up seven victories.   Central is 4-0 away from home.
 
In their last meeting, the Crimson and Black came away with a 79-73 victory.  Lucas led the Wildcats with 19 points, while Poquette chipped in 15.  Central shot 56.3 percent from the floor during the contest.