GAME NOTES PACKET | MEN'S BASKETBALL QUICK FACTS
WEDNESDAY: STATS | VIDEO
PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida men's basketball team will continue its early season non-conference schedule with a home matchup vs. Miles College on Wednesday at 7:30. The team will travel to Miles for a Saturday matchup at 6:00 pm.
UWF is coming off a 2-0 start this weekend at home in the GSC-SIAC Crossover, downing Albany State 77-68 Saturday before defeating Fort Valley State 75-68 in overtime on Sunday.
The Argos were led this week by Darryl Tucker, who averaged 17.5 points and 10 rebounds per game in the two wins. DJ Thorpe and Moter Deng each enjoyed outstanding scoring performances, with Thorpe scoring 20 in Saturday's win and Deng adding 20 of his own Sunday.
"Miles is a team that causes you problems," Burkhamer said of this week's opponent. "We will have to do a great job of keeping the ball in front of us, taking away transition and then getting out to their shooters. On the other, taking care of the ball against their quickness… It'll be another good challenge."
SEASON-OPENING WIN
* University of West Florida men's basketball won its regular season opener over Albany State 77-68 Saturday evening in the UWF Field House. Thorpe posted the game high with 20 points (8-12 FG) and seven rebounds while Tucker (7-8 FG) finished with 17 and a game-high nine rebounds. Deng added 11 points (4-11 FG) and five rebounds.
* Rashaan Benson led the team with six assists. Deng finished with 11 points, five rebounds, and three assists. He also led the team with three blocks. UWF finished with a total of eight team blocks in the game and seven steals. The Argos outshot Albany State 51.9% to 40.6% for the contest. Each team knocked down five 3-pointers, and each team committed 16 turnovers.
* "Your seniors have to lead you, especially early. Darryl and DJ and Moter were all really good early," said UWF head coach Jeff Burkhamer. "I thought we had some really good stretches, and I think we had some stretches when we kind of looked around and wondered what we were doing. But we'll improve in those areas. Overall, it was a good, solid first game win against a tough team."
OVERTIME THRILLER VS. FORT VALLEY STATE
* UWF withstood a furious late effort by Fort Valley State (1-3) and survived an overtime nail-biter Sunday evening in the UWF Field House, pulling out a 75-68 overtime victory vs. the Wildcats. The win closed this weekend's GSC-SIAC Crossover.
* Deng poured in 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from the line. He also added seven rebounds and two assists. Benson scored 18 on 5-of-8 field goal shooting and 7-of-10 free throw shooting. The junior also registered six assists. Tucker notched his first double-double of the season, going for 18 points (6-8 FG) and 11 rebounds. Henri Ventoniemi contributed 14 points (5-8 FG) in 20 minutes of action.
* The Argos made 25 of 54 field goals in the game (46.3%) while the Wildcats made just 22 of 63 (34.9%). FVSU won the rebounding battle 48-33, but the Argos forced 23 Wildcat turnovers.
* The win was the fourth consecutive in overtime for the UWF men's basketball program dating back to Jan. 7, 2017 when the Argos downed Shorter 93-89 in overtime. The Argos sunk 9 of 12 free throws in OT vs. Fort Valley to get the win.
ABOUT UWF
* Third-year head coach Jeff Burkhamer has gone 29-28 at UWF, which includes last year's record-setting 20-9 campaign. He is 247-181 as a 4-year college coach and 402-222 all-time in 22 seasons as a head coach. His 30-plus years' coaching experience includes his NCAA, Junior College and Continental Basketball Association career.
* UWF returns seven letterwinners and four starters from a year ago, when the team set the school-record for wins in a season with 20 and shattered the record for conference victories, going 14-8 in the Gulf South Conference.
* Last year, the Argos finished in the GSC top five in a number of categories, including scoring offense (78.9 PPG, 3rd GSC), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.15, 3rd GSC), offensive rebounds (13.3 per game, 2nd GSC, 26th NCAA Div. II) and free throw attempts (724, 2nd GSC, 38th NCAA Div. II).
* UWF is 22-12 all-time in season openers, including a 10-4 mark over the past 14 years. The Argos opened the season vs. Albany State in 2016-17 as well as 2014-15, winning both matchups. UWF began last year's regular season by reeling off five consecutive non-conference wins and did not drop a regular season matchup in regulation until Dec. 17.\
* UWF is currently on an 11-game home winning streak dating back to a Jan. 2, 2017 victory over North Alabama.
EXHIBITION AT MISSISSIPPI STATE
* Senior DJ Thorpe led all players with 21 points and classmate Moter Deng added 11 as the West Florida men's basketball team dropped an exhibition contest to Mississippi State 87-62 at Humphrey Coliseum Thursday, Nov. 2.
* Thorpe was 9-of-13 and made both of his 3-point attempts in a game-high 39 minutes. He had 12 in the second half and ended the night making his last five shots and six of his final seven.
* "When we stayed in character and executed we did some good things and played well," UWF head coach Jeff Burkhamer said of his team's performance vs. the SEC squad. "Coming in, we knew that live-ball turnovers would be a problem because they are so successful in transition. We shot some shots too quickly and it turned into easy baskets for them."
GSC PRESEASON COACHES POLL
* UWF received one first-place vote and was picked to finish fifth in the Gulf South Conference preseason poll that was released in mid-October. The Argos received 130 total points and one first-place vote in the poll, finishing ahead of Montevallo, North Alabama, West Georgia, Union, Lee, West Alabama, Mississippi College, Shorter and Auburn Montgomery and just one point behind fourth place Delta State.
* Christian Brothers was picked to finish first in the GSC, garnering 158 total points and eight first-place votes. Valdosta State finished second, picking up 144 total points and four first place votes. Alabama Huntsville checked in at third with 139 total votes and one first place vote. Delta State finished fourth but did not receive any first place votes.
* Owens Community College transfer Shondell Jackson and Kankakee Community College transfer Latrell Tidwell were selected as UWF's top newcomers.
D2SIDA SOUTH REGION POLL
* UWF men's basketball program came in at No. 10 in the South Region in the first edition of the Division II Sports Information Directors Association poll released Tuesday.
* Barry has the top spot in the poll, garnering 57 points and three first-place votes. Christian Brothers checked into the poll at No. 2, piling up 51 total points and one first place vote. Rollins received two first place votes and came into the poll at No. 3. They were followed by Valdosta State, Alabama Huntsville, Eckerd, Delta State, Tampa, and Benedict, who like West Florida garnered 12 points.
SCOUTING MILES COLLEGE
* The Golden Bears are 0-2 on the season. The team dropped both its matchups in at the GSC-SIAC Crossover Challenge, falling to West Georgia by a final of 86-79 and Lee 79-70. The team had one exhibition tuneup vs. Xavier University of Louisiana, which they dropped by a final of 72-59 on Nov. 6.
* Miles is coached by Leon Douglas, who is in his fourth season in the position. He is 28-60 in his time as head coach. Miles enjoyed its best season under his direction in 2015-16, when the team won 17 overall games.
* Through two games, Miles is being led in scoring by Carl Garcia (14.0 PPG) and by Bradley Nero in rebounding (9.5 RPG). The team has shot 43.1% from the field so far this year and has shot 32.5% from three and 54.5% from the line.
* The Argos are 0-1 all-time vs. Miles College.
KEY RETURNERS
* Third-year guard Rashaan Benson started all 29 games for the Argos last season, finishing second on the team with 30.9 minutes per game. He led the team in assists per game (4.5) and second on the team in steals (35). He led the team in assists in 17 games last season, including 6 games in a row to end the season. He posted six assists in each of UWF's wins over the weekend. He scored 18 points on 5 of 8 shooting from the field and 7 of 10 shooting from the line Sunday vs. Fort Valley State.
* UWF went 5-1 during the regular season last year when Benson had at least seven assists in a game. Among returning players with at least 25 attempts, Benson shot the most efficiently from the line last season, racking up a 67.3% final mark at the charity stripe in 2016-17.
* "I think your point guard has to be the one to run the show for you, and Rashaan has been that guy," Burkhamer said of Benson. "We expect him as a junior to come in and be a leader and to run our squad. He's a guy who can make plays. He's made big plays in the past. The ball will be in his hands a lot."
* DJ Thorpe enjoyed the best night offensively among the Argos vs. Mississippi State last week, posting 21 points, just one off his career-high of 22 set Jan. 2, 2017 vs. North Alabama. He added 20 more against Albany State in the season opener on Saturday.
* Darryl Tucker led the Argos in rebounding last year with 7.6 per game, including 2.7 per contest on the offensive end. He also led the team with 219 total points. He posted double-digit rebounds in nine different games and led UWF in rebounding in 11 different games.
* Tucker posted his first double-double of the season Sunday vs. Fort Valley State. Last year, he enjoyed five double-doubles on the season.
* Tucker led the team in scoring in five different games last year. He led the team in blocks in three different games and steals in three different games. The Argos were 8-2 last regular season when Tucker led the team in rebounding. He ranked 9th in the GSC with his 7.6 rebounds per game. He was a major part of a UWF rebounding unit that finished second in the GSC with 13.3 offensive rebounds per game.
* Burkhamer on Tucker: "That needs to be one of his goals: to lead the conference in rebounding. He's very good at going to the offensive glass, and he's very good at going to the defensive glass, using his athleticism and length. And that's got to be something he's really got to do well for us in order for us to be successful."
* Burkhamer on Moter Deng: "He's probably our most improved player. Just in all areas, he's gotten better. But I think more than anything else because he's gotten better in those areas, his confidence has grown."
NEWCOMERS
* This year's five newcomers are Conor Flanagan, a 6-8 forward from Auckland, New Zealand, Shondell Jackson, a 6-6 wing from Warren, Ohio, Latrell Tidwell, a 6-7 forward from Cincinnati, Ohio, Jarrett Henderson, a 6-7 forward from San Marcos, Texas and Cameron Cox, a 6-2 point guard from Canton, Georgia. A redshirt last year, Brett Carter Jr. will be active for the team this year.
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