Alasketball

[Jake8005]

I do too, but my worry is that four of the five starters are seniors, so we have to make this season count.

[Jake8005]

We did home visits to Puckett, King, Driesell and Johnson, which all but King liked. Here's our schedule.

Schedule

Non-conference:
11/14 @ Northern Iowa
11/17 Army
11/21 @ Arizona State
11/24 Hofstra
11/28 Winthrop
12/1 @ Washington
12/5 @ Oregon State
12/12 @ Saint Marys
12/19 @ North Carolina A&T

Conference:1/2 Cal State Bakersfield

12/26 Hawaii
12/30 @UC-Santa Barbara
1/4 Cal State Fullerton
1/6 @ UC-Irvine
1/11 UC-Davis
1/13 @ Cal Poly
1/18 Cal State Northridge
1/20 Long Beach State
1/25 @ UC-Riverside
1/27 @ Cal State Fullerton
2/1 UC-Irvine
2/3 UC-Santa Barbara
2/8 @ Long Beach State
2/10 @ Cal State Northridge
2/17 UC-Riverside
2/22 Cal Poly
2/27 @ UC-Davis
3/1 @ Hawaii
3/3 @ Cal State Bakersfield

A little tougher out of conference than last year, but hopefully we should rack up some wins.

[Jake8005]

Stephen Johnson went to Marquette, but we got our first recruit, and it's a big one!

We've secured the commitment of Luke Vaughn, the #147 recruit!! We beat out Nevada, Arizona State, Texas Tech, Arizona, LSU, TCU, Boise State, Utah and UNLV to get him.

He's graded as B overall, highlighted by A+ outside shooting. He also has B scoring, B- passing, and B+ ball handling. However his inside shooting is D, and his defense and athleticism is C and C-.

While we need bigs, we'll gladly take Vaughn. With Strong graduating, we'll need another point guard, and perhaps he can play at SG next to Edwards with his 6'5 199 lb. size.

[Jake8005]

However, no more recruits committed before the season started. Alaska Anchorage is still in the lead for Jason Barnes, but he didn't sign his LOI. Only one other recruit (Ino Ryan) is interested, so I heeded PointGuard's advice from the first season that I should have taken, and changed the recruiting difficulty to easy, but I'm not sure if that's too late for this season. Also because of our limited depth, I changed out offensive pace to the lowest possible, so I can rely on our starters more, and started playing 5 out to reflect our size.

Our depth chart to start the season:

PG: Strong
SG: Fleming
SF: Blake
PF: Smiley
C: Louis

6th man: Edwards PG/SG
7th man: Rowell SG/SF

8th man: Kent SF/PF

9th man: Stokes: SG/SF/PF

Others:
Jaacks
Fredericks
Huge
Tucker
Cox
Bickerstaf

Season opener up next is 11/14 @ Northern Iowa

[Jake8005]

Nov 14th, McLeod Center, Cedar Falls Iowa.

The Alaska Anchorage Seawolves start their second season in Division I, and will try to use their first season as a stepping stone to a better one in their third year.

Starting for the Seawolves

G Otis Strong 6'2
G Quadree Fleming 6'1
F Michael Blake 6'7
F Herb Smiley 6'7
C Matt Louis 7'1

G Ben Smith 6'3
G Richard Warren 6'1
F Jason Armstrong 6'4
F Whitney Holmes 6'7
C Aaron Celuck 6'9

And it's not a fun one for the Seawolves. It was never really close, losing 83-53. Louis led the team with 14 points and 6 rebounds.

Next up is a trip back home to face the Army Black Knights at Alaska Airlines Center.

It's a good first half for UAA, leading 49-32 at halftime, and Army could not close the gap in the second half, as all the walk-ons got in for the second consecutive game to start the season, as an 89-76 win improved Alaska Anchorage's record to 1-1 and NET somehow up to 21.

Luke Vaughn signed his LOI... and nobody else. Still need more recruits. Eddy Jones talked to us, but wouldn't answer any questions..

Back on the road, as we headed for the warmer weather of Tempe, taking on the Arizona State Sun Devils. ASU starts 6'4 and 6'6 forwards, so this may not be too hard for us. This proves to be the case to start, as Alaska Anchorage jumps out to a 26-23 lead halfway through the first half. By halftime ASU led 44-43, still a good score for the Seawolves. Jeff Rowell was the standout player for UAA, shooting 5-5 for 13 points.

In the second half, it look less than three minutes for the Seawolves to regain the lead, but the Sun Devils later got it back, and their superior basketball ability prevailed, winning 83-63. Rowell and Louis both finished with 15 points each, and Edwards had 5 assists.

Back home again as Alaska Anchorage hosts Hofstra, who starts a 6'6 PF at center.... perfect!

However despite leading early, Hofstra took a 30-29 lead into halftime. Things don't get better for UAA as they lose 78-72. Strong had 17 points and Smiley had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, but Alaska Anchorage falls to 1-3.

[Jake8005]

Nov. 28 -- The Eagles are hosting another game, as Winthrop comes to visit.

Kent is hurt, so Stokes may get more minutes in the rotation as a forward off the bench.

The Seawolves jumped out to a big early lead, as they were ahead 23-9 just over eight minutes in, with Louis being a perfect 4/4 from the field.

The half ended with UAA leading 50-39, with Louis having a spectacular 24 points on 10-10 shooting.

Foul trouble and fatigue means we eventually see a lineup in the second half with Rowell at SF, Stokes at SF and Blake at C, but it's handled with easy as Winthrop are dispatched 86-72. Louis had 28 points on 12-14 (fouled out). Rowell continued to excel off the bench, having 19 on 8-11, and is our second leading scorer at 12.6 PPG on 67.67/88 splits. He may be the depth we needed, or even a new starter. Smiley had 11 on 5-7, and Strong had 7 assists.

Geyer and Haymon are playing 7 and 1 (!!) minutes per game so far at New Hampshire and Marist, down from 11 and 5 last year. The grass isn't always greener it seems.. and we could have used that size off the bench.

Oh well.

Next up is a trip to play Washington. Kent is still hurt.

But 3:16 into the game and the Seawolves are up 9-2 on the Huskies! This continues to the midway point of the first half, where it's a 24-18 lead. However, it's tied up at 28-28 with 5:52 to go.

At halftime, it's a 41-38 Alaska-Anchorage lead! Louis is dominant again, being 7-8 for 16 points.

The lead stays through the start of the first half, as it's 60-54 with 10 minutes left. Eventually, UAA leads 77-59 with over three minutes to go, emptying out the bench.

And the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves defeat the Washington Huskies 82-63!! It's a historic win for the program, their first over a power conference opponent!

Louis was amazing once again. 12-23, 27 points, 7 rebounds. Smiley had 8-8. 10 assists from Strong!! (though no points), 15 on 5-7 from Blake.

The players mobbed coach Boozer in the locker room, as everybody celebrated their accomplishment.

But there were more games to play. Next up? Trips to Oregon State and St. Mary's.

[Jake8005]

No new recruits will talk to us

Onto Oregon State

It isn't really close from the start, and we trail 32-20 at halftime, with only Louis (6) having more than three points.

The second half isn't much better, especially with Smiley fouling out, leaving Louis as our only big.

The final from Corvallis is 73-51, with only Louis (12) being in double figures. After this, we don't play for a week.

The good news is Saint Mary's doesn't have much size.

Recruits not talking, still. Good knows is we are still in good position with Barnes.

Ahead of the game, we are #62 in the NET. Wow!

Just 5 1/2 minutes in, UAA jumps out to a 12-2 lead! However, the Gaels eventually close the gap and take a 17-16 lead. But the Seawolves have an answer, leading 29-22 at halftime,

The second half was closer, with St. Mary's leading 55-54 with 10 minutes left.

We fall down 57-53, but a quick 5-0 run puts us up with 2:07 left.

Backup PG Eric Edwards hits a big three-pointer with a minute left to put us up 61-57.

61-59 with the game on the line, the Gaels miss, and the Seawolves have another big win!!

And great news!!

Center Jason Barnes has committed to us.

#1248 ranked player, 6-10, 267. Has a C+ overall, C defense, D- athleticism, B inside shooting, A (!!) outside shooting, F free throws, D+ scoring, C passing, D- ball handling, C+ rebounding, B+ shot blocking and C- stealing. Averaged 12.6 points, 3.8 assists, 9.6 rebounds, 3.7 blocks and 2.2 steals per game. I like his game, he will slot in at center next to Smiley after Louis graduates.

[Jake8005]

Next up is out last non-conference game, as we take on North Carolina A&t. They have a bit more size (6'7, 6'9 and 6'11 starters), so we may go with Stokes in the rotation over Travis for this.

Rowell Pplays the backup PG minutes instead of Edwards.

It doesn't go well. We're down 35-13, and at halftime the score is 54-29

We start the second half on a 7-0 run, and from then on the game is closer, but never close enough. The final from Greensboro is 87-70. Blake has 16 points, while Smiley, Louis and Strong have 10. Strong has 6 assists.

For the conference opener we host Hawaii. 2-6, #330 in the NET. I bet they're not looking forward to the weather either. They have mediocre size.

It's a very close to start, but UAA pulls away a bit. 47-34 at halftime. Louis has 15, Blake has 11.

We pull away even more in the second half, as it moves to 61-38 with six minutes left.

However, Hawaii makes it a lot closer, and it's 71-62 with four minutes left. With 2:26 left, it's now 73-69. Hawaii gets it to 73-71 with 55 seconds left.

Hawaii has the ball, moving down the court.

CLINT KENT STEALS THE PASS AND THROWS DOWN THE DUNK, PUTTING THE SEAWOLVES UP 75-71. Edwards goes in as he's our best defender (39).

And Alaska-Anchorage wins it 81-75, starting off 1-0 in the Big West. Louis had 19, Smiley had 14, Strong had 12 and 8 assists, and Rowell had 11 off the bench.

Next up is a trip south to play the UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos.

The first half is close, with a 28-26 UCSB lead at the break. However eight minutes in and UAA leads 56-46. Eventually the Seawolves won by a score of 72-66. Smiley had 22 points, going 7-8 and 10-12 from the line.

UAA is now 2-0 in the Big West.

Now to face Cal State Bakersfield at home. A 6'7 center... perfect.

Eric Edwards has back spasms for the next 13 days so it looks like Rowell will play the backup PG minutes and Stokes will join the rotation.

We build up a lead gradually and lead 45-32 at halftime, with Blake leading with 13 points, and Rowell having 12 on 5-6 shooting off the bench.

The second half, as the Roadrunners go on a 10-2 run over the first 6:33. The game remains close for awhile, but CSB takes a 55-54 lead with 6:14 left.

With 4:44 remaining, it's a 60-60 tie. UCSB goes up 62-60 but Blake responds to tie it up with 2:53 left.

We go with a closing lineup of Strong, Rowell, Kent, Smiley and Louis as they were having the best games (Blake was chucking up too many shots). UAA goes up 64-62, but it's a tie again almost instantly.

Smiley makes a 6-foot jump shot and we force a turnover, giving us a 66-64 lead with 0:54 left. But we can't score, and a three-pointer with 0:31 left puts them in front.

Kent throws the pass away, and we have to foul. We foul on a three but they only make two. We're down 69-66 with 0:02 left, and call a three-pointer for Fleming, but Strong only has time to take it and we miss.

69-66 final from Anchorage, a tough loss for the Seawolves, who now sit at 2-1 in the Big West Rowell led with 17 on 7-11 off the bench, while Strong had 7 assists.

Otis Strong is averaging 5.3 assists per game in 27.6 minutes, an impressive figure, while also shooting 52/44/83, albeit for 7.2 PPG.

A big decision has been made.

Head coach Carlos Boozer has decided to make a change to the starting lineup.

Starting SG Quadree Fleming has been swapped out for 6th man Jeff Rowell. While Fleming is shooting 43% from 3, he's 40% overall for 5.7 PPG. Rowell has been red-hot, averaging 10 PPG on 55/40/83 in 21.8 MPG off the bench.

[PointGuard]

It'll be interesting to see how Rowell does starting and playing against starters more of the time. Hope he continues to impress.

[Jake8005]

We stay at home to face the Cal State Fullerton Titans.. who have a freaking 6'11 PF. Not what we needed. Matt Louis has a sore hand... but we really have no choice but to play him.

Strong, Rowell, Blake, Smiley and Louis is our lineup.

Fleming is the first man off the bench, as Rowell usually was, coming in for Blake two minutes in.

The Seawolves won the first half 31-22, with Louis having 12.

UAA goes up in the second but CSF makes it 58-53 with just under two minutes left, and it's 58-55 with a minute to go. Fleming goes in for three-point shooting, but Louis gets fouled and sinks both free throws to make it 58-57 with 0:42 left.

Shot clock violation, as the Seawolves get it back down one with eight seconds left.

But Otis Strong misses his shot, and it's another tough loss for Alaska-Anchorage, who are now 2-2 in the Big West. Louis had 19 and 7.

After that is UC Irvine.

UAA is up for most of the first half but UCI makes it a close 38-35 halftime score, with once again Louis leading the scoring (14).

UCI starts the second half on a 10-4 run, taking a 45-42 lead, but the Seawolves take the lead again at 48-47.

They relinquish this though, falling behind as much as 10. However, they get this lead down to 68-64 with 1:49 left.

With 13 seconds to go, Clint Kent is fouled with a chance to make it 70-70.

He sinks both, UC Irvine misses their shot, and the teams head to overtime.

Where UC Irvine takes an 81-77 win. Louis led with 20 points.

From 2-0 in the Big West to 2-3.. oof.

Next we host UC Davis, who luckily have a pair of 6'7 players at PF and C.

But we fall down 16-3. It gets to 36-13, but a 13-0 run brings us within 10.

But UCD Davis goes on a 19-7 run to end the half, and leads 55-33 at the break. Louis and Smiley have 9.

Final was 92-78, with Louis's 22 not being nearly enough.

After a 2-0 start in the Big West, Alaska-Anchorage is 2-4....

Not sure why..