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PENSACOLA, Fla. – UWF men's basketball (7-0) will open Gulf South Conference play Saturday at home vs. Valdosta State. The contest is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. and will follow UWF women's basketball taking on Valdosta at 2:00 p.m.
The Argos have been perfect through the season's first seven games. Sunday, behind a season-best 26 points and a double-double from Darryl Tucker as well as 18 points and 9 rebounds from Moter Deng, the team downed Fayetteville State 71-60 at the Valdosta State Thanksgiving Classic in Valdosta, Ga. The win moved the Argos to 7-0, matching them with the 1997-1998 team for the best start through seven games in program history.
Both games of Saturday's men's and women's basketball home doubleheader against Valdosta State will be carried on Choice 106.9 FM/WRNE 980 AM. Joe Zanaboni will narrate the hoops action, beginning with the women's game at 2:00 p.m. and the men's game at 4:00 p.m. Tickets are still available for both contests and can be purchased for $5 for adults and $3 for seniors, military and children ages 6 and older. UWF faculty, staff, students and children ages 5 and under are free.
"They're very, very good offensively," UWF head coach Jeff Burkhamer said of Valdosta State. "They're leading the league in scoring. They're averaging about 97 points a game, so they can score it. They shoot it well. They're fast. They're challenging because we'll have to do a really good job of guarding them. They've got a bunch of different guys that can score the basketball, and we'll have to play very well defensively."
AT THE THANKSGIVING CLASSIC
* UWF men's basketball opened the Valdosta State Thanksgiving Classic with a 79-66 win over Webber International University (3-3, 1-1 TSC) Saturday at The Complex in Valdosta, Ga. DJ Thorpe and Darryl Tucker each notched 18 points in the win, and the Argos matched their season-high with 17 offensive rebounds.
* UWF head coach Jeff Burkhamer on the win over Webber: "I didn't think we played as well as we've played this season, but our effort was good and we did play well in the last four minutes. It's good to get a win like this where you don't play your best but are able to grind it out and hold a team to 20 points below their season average."
* The Argos closed their time at the Classic with a 71-60 win over the Fayetteville State Broncos (1-4) Sunday.
* Deng shot 6-of-8 from the field in the second to finish the contest with 18 points (8-13 FG, 2-2 FT), just two off his season-high. The game marked the third time in the last four that he has grabbed at nine rebounds. Tucker's season-best 26 points came on 11-of-18 shooting from the field. He also grabbed 12 rebounds. The double-double was his fourth of the season and the ninth of his West Florida career. Henri Ventoniemi knocked down 6-of-8 free throws in the game to finish with eight points. He also pulled down six boards. Brian Chalifoux knocked down two 3-pointers to finish with six points. Tidwell also finished with six points.
ARGOS EARN NO. 19 NATIONAL RANKING
* The UWF men's basketball program came in at No. 19 in the Division II Sports Information Directors Association Top 25 poll released Tuesday. The Argos (7-0) received 101 total points in the poll.
* West Florida was one of three GSC teams to appear in this week's Top 25. Christian Brothers (5-0) earned the No. 8 ranking. Valdosta State (6-0) checked into the poll at No. 16. The No. 19 ranking is the highest UWF men's basketball has ever attained in the Division II Sports Information Directors Association Top 25 poll.
SCOUTING VALDOSTA STATE
* Valdosta State is off to a 6-0 start this season. This will be the third game they have played in Pensacola this year, having participated in the GSC-SIAC Crossover Challenge Nov. 11-12. The Blazers defeated Fort Valley State 83-81 on Nov. 11 and Albany State 100-76 Nov. 12. The team is 3-0 so far this year at home. The squad's only "true" road game to this point has been a trip to Tuskegee Nov. 18, which they won 75-61.
* Valdosta State checked into the Nov. 28 NABC Coaches Poll at No. 15 and came in at No. 16 in the latest edition of the D2SIDA Poll.
* The Blazers were picked to finish second in the Gulf South Conference this year, garnering 144 points in a preseason poll of conference coaches. Only Christian Brothers (158) received more.
* Valdosta State features one Preseason All-GSC selection: junior sharpshooter Beau Justice, who scored 20 or more points in six different games last year.
* Guard Clay Guillozet and forward KJ James were selected to the Preseason GSC Top Newcomers list.
* Valdosta State went 19-3 vs. conference opponents in last year's regular season on the way to the the GSC regular season crown. The team advanced to the GSC Championship game, where they fell to Alabama Huntsville 94-91. Valdosta was the No. 2 seed in the South Regional and fell in the first round to Rollins 89-85.
* Valdosta currently leads the GSC with 96.2 points per contest (577 total) and margin of victory (20.2 per game). They are second in the conference in assist to turnover ratio (1.46) and offensive rebounding (41.5 per game). The team is third in the conference in 3-PT field goal percentage (.415) and fourth in field goal percentage (.497).
* Beau Justice (19.8 PPG) and Tyrone Sam (18.5 PPG) are fifth and sixth respectively in the conference. Sam is 10th in the conference shooting .547 from the field. Justice is 12th shooting .537 from the field.
* Greg Zuppas is currently eighth in the Gulf South Conference with 7.5 rebounds per game. Winston Morgan is 9th in the GSC with 4.2 assists per game. Justice is 11th with 3.8 assists per game. Jimmy Kodet is tied for 9th in the GSC with 1.0 blocks per game.
* The Argos are 6-20 all-time vs. the Blazers, but 5-6 at home. UWF is 0-6 vs. VSU under head coach Jeff Burkhamer but three of those losses have been by one possession.
GSC/NCAA LEADERS
* Darryl Tucker currently leads the GSC with 11.4 rebounds per game, close to three more per contest than Kendall Stafford (North Ala.), who currently ranks second with 8.5 RPG. Tucker is tied for third in the GSC with 1.6 blocks per game. As of Nov. 30, Tucker ranked 13th in rebounds per game nationally.
* Moter Deng has hit 18 of 19 free throws this year and leads the GSC with a .947 mark from the line.
* DJ Thorpe is second in the GSC with 2.7 steals per game. As of Nov. 30th, he is 28th in NCAA DII men's basketball in the category.
* Rashaan Benson currently ranks third in the GSC with 5.1 assists per game and is tied for ninth with an assist/turnover ratio of 1.9.
* West Florida has surrendered 63.3 PPG so far this year, the best mark in the conference. The 12.6-point average margin of victory is the second-best mark in the GSC.
* UWF is currently third in the GSC with 38.9 rebounds per game. The Argos have the second-best turnover margin in the GSC, currently at +3.29 per game.
* The Argos have held opponents to a 40.4% shooting mark from the field, the third-lowest percentage in the conference.
TUCKER TAKING OFF
* Darryl Tucker has scored in double figures in every game so far this season. He has scored at least 17 in five of the seven contests so far. Tucker has notched four double-doubles so far this year, just one off his total from 2016-17.
* Tucker has averaged 16 points and 14 rebounds per game at home so far this year.
ARGOS BACK AT HOME
* UWF is trying to run its home win streak to 13 straight games. The longest home winning streak in program history is 19 straight (Dec. 1967-Dec. 1969).
* Last time UWF played a ranked team at home was vs. No. 24 Delta State Jan. 21, 2017. The Argos won the contest 83-78.
* The Argos are going for their eighth straight win. The program record is 11 straight, set in 1967-68.
ABOUT UWF
* Third-year head coach Jeff Burkhamer has gone 34-28 at UWF, which includes last year's record-setting 20-9 campaign. He is 252-181 as a 4-year college coach and 407-222 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 closed last year's conference regular season by winning six of seven contests.
* UWF is currently on an 11-game home winning streak dating back to a Jan. 2, 2017 victory over North Alabama. The Argos are on a 15-game win streak vs. non-conference opponents and are 15-2 in three years vs. non-conference opponents under Burkhamer.
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.
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