* This is the 32nd season of West Florida Basketball. UWF has an all-time record of 434-415 (.518) in 849 games. UWF is 122-192 (.400) in 21 seasons of Gulf South Conference play. The Argonauts have made nine conference tournament appearances.
* Despite a 3-12 record, UWF has suffered five losses by five points or less, including last possession setbacks to Benedict, Fort Valley State, Lee and last Monday to West Georgia.
YEAR ONE OF THE JEFF BURKHAMER ERA
* The Argos are in the first season under Jeff Burkhamer, who was announced as the fourth head coach in program history on April 15, 2015. The 31-year coaching veteran entered the year with a 218-153 (.588) record in 13 seasons as the head coach at Lander and Armstrong State. He also has a record of 155-41 in six seasons as a junior college head coach at North Greenville College and Santa Fe Community College. The Ohio native has Division I experience as an assistant at Winthrop (1984-85), Charleston Southern (1985-87) and Morehead State (1987-89), and was on the coaching staff for the Grand Rapids Hoops (1991-94) in the CBA.
REBUILDING PROCESS ENDURING SOME GROWING PAINS
* As is the case with many new coaching changes, dramatic results may take some time to take affect and that appears to be the case this season at UWF.
* While head coach Jeff Burkhamer has praised his team's ability to keep fighting and battling game-in and game-out, the squad has dropped six games overall by five points or less and two overtime decisions.
* UWF has experienced some struggles at the free throw line at times in those six setbacks, missing eight in a 1-point OT loss to Fort Valley State, 11 in a 9-point home loss to UAH, seven in a 2-point OT defeat at Lee, three in a 3-point home loss to Miss. College and 11 in a 5-point setback to Delta State before the Holiday break.
* The program is 0-7 on the road this season and has dropped its last 16 road games dating back to mid-December of 2014. UWF was very close to earning road wins twice this year, holding second-half leads of seven at Fort Valley State and 15 at Lee before dropping both games in overtime.
ROTATION OF SCORING
* Four of the five starters for UWF currently average above 10 points per game - Austin Somerfield (14.2), Mario Stramaglia (11.7), Jelani Pruitt (11.2) and Lendward Griffin (10.1) have all been solid scoring options for the Argos thus far. The lone player not in double figures is freshman G Rashaan Benson (9.7).
* The Argonauts have only had those five players lead the team in scoring in any game this season. Somerfield six times, Pruitt four, including three of the last four, Benson three times, and Griffin and Stramaglia once.
ABOUT ALABAMA HUNTSVILLE
* UAH is 12-5 overall and tied for first in the GSC at 12-3. The Chargers have won seven of their last nine and are 8-1 at home.
* UAH is one of the top scoring offenses in the GSC, averaging 86.1 ppg, while also allowing 82.1 on the defensive end of the floor. The Chargers will consistently go 11-deep in most games and have six players averaging at least 8.0 ppg.
SERIES HISTORY WITH UAH
* UWF and UAH are playing for the 46th time in men's basketball on Saturday, with the Chargers holding a 32-13 series lead. That includes and active stretch of 16-consecutive wins over the Argonauts.
* LAST MEETING: The teams opened GSC play earlier this season in Pensacola on Dec. 2, with then-#19 UAH winning 74-65. UWF shot 38 percent from the floor and was just 14-for-25 from the foul line. Austin Somerfield had 19 points and 17 boards, and Mario Stramaglia finished with 17 points and connected on a career-high five 3-pointers. The Charges led 41-33 at the half. UWF climbed to within three on a number of occasions early in the second, with the last coming on a Somerfield free throw that made it 46-43 with 16:38 left. UAH then stretched its lead to a game-high 13 with a 15-5 run.
* The Argos' last win in the series came on Feb. 11, 2008 - a 77-68 decision in Pensacola.
* The last five games have been decided by 10 points or less, with six of the last nine by six or fewer, including a heartbreaking 87-84 loss in the 2012 GSC Championship Semifinals when Jaime Smith banked-in a 3-pointer with two seconds left.
SOMERFIELD HARD TO GUARD
* Junior Austin Somerfield is UWF's leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 14.2 points and a GSC-best 8.9 rebounds per game. He has five double-doubles this season and ranks tenth in the league in scoring.
* Somerfield went off against Fort Valley State on Nov. 14, scoring a career-high 35 points and grabbing a career-high 18 rebounds. He has since added two 20-plus point games and a pair of 17-rebound efforts.
* Somerfield has recorded double-digit point totals in 12 of 15 games this season.
* The Greenville, Mich. native stands 49th in NCAA Division II in rebounds per game and 94th in offensive rebounds per game (2.6).
STRAMAGLIA THE SHARP SHOOTER
* R-junior G Mario Stramaglia is averaging 11.7 ppg and leads the team with 38 3-pointers made. He has made at least three triples in eight of the 15 games this season.
* Since transferring from East Tennessee State, three seasons ago, he has connected on 77 shots from outside in his two season of playing. He is just four makes shy of breaking into the school's career top-10 list.
* He ranks 11th in the GSC in 3FG pct. (.369), eighth in total makes (38) and second in makes per game (2.5).
PRUITT THE LION TAMER
* Junior G Jelani Pruitt scored a career-high 30 points in last month's 96-85 win over North Alabama (12/5/15). Pruitt's previous career-best was 26 points, which came during his freshman campaign at Neosho Community College two years ago.
* Pruitt also set a career high in rebounds against UNA, pulling down 15 boards.
* Pruitt's first half against UNA entailed 17 points and converting seven of his first 10 shots. Prior to facing UNA, Pruitt had totaled 19 points over the span of three games, while battling an ankle issue suffered in the season opener against Benedict in Valdosta, Ga.
* The Gary, Ind. native is posting 11.2 ppg and 6.4 rpg with 12 starts on the year. His 62 free throws attempted are the second-most on the team and his 15 steals are also second on the squad. He has nine games in double figures, including six straight.
* Pruitt is nearly averaging a double-double in the last five games, with 18.4 points and 9.7 boards. He has posted three of his four double-doubles in the last five contests.
BENSON FINDING HIS GROOVE
* Freshman PG Rashaan Benson is averaging 9.7 ppg and a team-best 3.8 apg.
* He has steadily improved his games, especially since taking over the starting PG duties five games ago. During that stretch, he has posted 10.4 ppg, including career-high scoring outputs in the last two contests with 16 at Valdosta State and 23 at North Alabama on Thursday.
JUSTIN WILLIAMS NAMED TO ALLSTATE NABC GOOD WORKS TEAM
* Junior G Justin Williams was named to the 2016 Allstate NABC Good Works Team® as announced by the National Association of Basketball Coaches & the Allstate Insurance Company in early Dec.
* Williams is one of 257 players named and one of 48 non-NCAA Division I players recognized.
* Williams is a physics and mathematics major with extracurricular activities including volunteering at Loaves and Fishes soup kitchen, a mission trip to Nicaragua last August, vice president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and helps out with the Miracle League of Pensacola.
SATURDAY DH AT UAH TELEVISED NATIONALLY
* The UWF basketball programs will receive some national exposure on Saturday when their games at Alabama Huntsville will be televised as part of the American Sports Network's Division II Basketball Showcase.
* To accommodate the television broadcast of the doubleheader, the women's game will now tip-off at 1 p.m. followed by the men at 3 p.m.
* The games will stream live on NCAA.com and the NCAA Sports Mobile App. WFGX MyTV 35 in Pensacola/Mobile Ala. will carry the game in Northwest Fla/Lower Alabama
BENSON NAMED GSC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
* UWF freshman G Rashaan Benson was named the GSC Freshman of the Week on Dec. 1, following a 1-game week in which he netted a career-high 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor and 4-of-6 from the free throw line, five rebounds and four assists. He also made two free throws in the final minute of the game against Spring Hill last Monday that helped ice the game for the Argos, earning them their first victory of the season.
* He has made six of his last nine shots over the past two games, including two 3-pointers.
* This is the first weekly honor for the Memphis native, who prepped at HomeLife Academy and was a National Christian HomeSchool Basketball All-America selection.
SOMERFIELD WITH MEMORABLE PERFORMANCE AT FORT VALLEY STATE
* Junior Austin Somerfield finshed the season-opening weekend with averages of 22.5 points and 11.7 rebounds. He had a very solid 10 points, five rebounds and two blocks in the opener against Benedict but really turned heads a day later in Fort Valley, Ga. He poured in 35 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Argonauts attack. Thos figures are tied for the eighth-highest point total in a game while the boards are tied for the fifth-most in UWF annals. He was 14-for-22 from the field and 7-for-12 at the free throw line as he played all 45 minutes.
2015-16 SCHEDULE ANALYSIS
* UWF will play 26 games this season, including 12 at home in the UWF Field House.
* The Argonauts will play nine games against five teams that qualified for the 2015 NCAA Division II Championship - Alabama-Huntsville, Benedict, Union, West Alabama, West Georgia.
UWF PICKED 11TH IN GSC POLL
* UWF was picked to finish 11th the preseason GSC coaches poll after receiving 26 poll points & one first place vote.
* UAH received nine of 11 first place votes and was picked to finish first with 95 points. West Georgia (78 pts), Union (76) and Delta State (73) were bunched together in the next three spots.
NEW LOOK FOR UWF FIELD HOUSE FLOOR
* The UWF Field House floor received a new paint scheme over the summer, with an emphasis on cleaner design and less color. The court now features a darker wood stain in the lane and a similar darker stained GSC logo near midcourt on opposite sides of the floor.
* The 4-foot restricted arc in the lane was added in preparation for its implementation at the Division II level next season.
* The Argonaut head at midcourt remained in color as did the navy blue border that surrounds the court.
* Social media identifiers of '#GoArgos' and '@GoArgos' were placed in front of the bench areas.
NCAA RULES CHANGES
* The NCAA made a number of rules changes to both the men's and women's games this season. Some of the more visible changes in the men's game include:
* Shot clock reduced from 35 to 30 seconds.
* Restricted area arc expanded from three feet to four feet - D-I in 2015-16; D-II & III in 2016-17.
* Timeouts: - Reduction of 30-second timeouts from four to three; only two carry over to the second half.
- A 30-second timeout called within 30 seconds of a media timeout becomes the media timeout.
- Coaches can only call timeouts during a dead ball situation.
* 10-sec. backcourt count resets except when: - Defender causes the ball to go out of bounds;
- Offense retains possession on a held ball; or
- A technical foul is called on the offensive team.
* Note: A charged timeout by the offensive team results in a new 10-second count.
* Removed the five-second closely guarded count on a dribble.
* Guarding in the post: Arm bar allowed in post area when offense has back to the basket with or without the ball.
* The offense can no longer score on a charging foul.
* Removed the prohibition against dunking the ball while the ball is dead; teams will be allowed to dunk during pregame and halftime.
