MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois men's basketball squad (13-8, 7-5) will conclude its three-game Summit League home stand Saturday night as they play host to the Golden Grizzlies of Oakland (12-13, 6-7) at 7 p.m. inside Western Hall.
The Breakdown
Who: Western Illinois (13-8, 7-5) vs. Oakland (12-13, 6-7)
When: Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m.
Where: Macomb, Illinois
Arena: Waste Management Court at Western Hall (5,139)
Live Stats: HERE
Radio
Leatherneck Sports Network (88.3 FM)
Radio Talent: Beau Spencer (play-by-play), Adam Studzinski (color), & Josh Gleason (sideline)
Listen HERE
VideoRocky VisionVideo Talent: Aaron Viner (play-by-play) & Andrew Jones (color)Watch HERE
A LOOK AT OAKLAND: The Oakland Golden Grizzlies, a fellow member of The Summit League, enter Saturday's contest with a 12-13 overall record, and are 6-7 in Summit League games...In their last time out, Travis Bader scored a team-high 20 points on 6 of 12 shooting from behind the arc, but IUPUI (9-15, 3-9) held off two last-second attempts from Oakland (12-13, 6-7) to snap a seven-game losing streak and defeat the Golden Grizzlies, 79-75, inside The Jungle on Wednesday night (Feb. 1)...The Golden Grizzlies have three players averaging double figures this season in Reggie Hamilton (23.7), Travis Bader (14.6), and Drew Valentine (12.3)...Hamilton also leads the team in assists with 126 and steals with 56...Corey Petros leads the Golden Grizzlies in rebounds having grabbed 7.5 per game...Kyle Sikora leads Oakland in blocks with 14...As a team, the Golden Grizzlies average 79.0 points per game and give up 79.8.
COACHING THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES: The Golden Grizzlies are coached by Greg Kampe (Bowling Green '78)...Kampe is in the midst of his 28th season with Oakland.
THE SERIES: Saturday night's contest is the 30th meeting between the two programs...The Golden Grizzlies own a 24-5 mark over the Leathernecks all-time...Oakland has won 10 of the previous 11 meetings...Earlier this season the Leathernecks defeated the Golden Grizzlies on the road, 71-61, ending a 10-game skid to Oakland.
WHAT'S A WESTERN WIN?: A win would mark the team's 1,198th victory in program history...A win would mark head coach Jim Molinari's 43rd victory at Western, and his 266th career victory...A win would mark Western's fifth-straight...A win would mark Western's sixth-ever against Oakland, and second-straight.
BEST START SINCE...: The Leathernecks' 13-8 start to the 2011-12 season is the best start for the program since the 1997-98 season when that team also started 13-8...The 1997-98 team finished 16-11 overall and 11-5 in league games.
SUMMIT LEAGUE WINS: This year's seven conference victories already matches the 2007-08 league victory total and the Leathernecks still have six Summit League contests left.
7-5 LEAGUE RECORD: Western's 7-5 league record this season is the best opening league record since the 1998-99 season when the Leathernecks started 8-5 in league play.
COACH MO' AT WESTERN: This year's 13 wins marks head coach Jim Molinari's season-high while coaching the Leathernecks, matching the 2009-10 squad that finished 13-17...The 13 wins is also the most earned by a team since the 1998-99 season that finished 16-12.
DOUBLE-TROUBLE: In Thursday night's win over IPFW, both senior guard Ceola Clark III (11 points, 10 assists) and junior forward Terell Parks (15 points, 11 rebounds) earned double-doubles...The two Leatherneck double-doubles marks the first time two players have achieved the accomplishment in a single-game since Jan. 5, 2008 at UMKC.
BRACKETBUSTERS: ESPN announced the pairings for the 2012 Sears BracketBusters on Monday, Jan. 30th, and the Western Illinois men's basketball team will travel to Evansville, Ind. to face the Purple Aces of Evansville...The two teams will face-off in the Ford Center on Saturday, Feb. 18th at 7:05 p.m.
1,000 POINTS?: Senior guard Ceola Clark III entered the 2011-12 season with 672 career points, and has scored 274 this season for a total of 946 points, just 54 short of 1,000...Clark will look to become the 18th player in Western Illinois history to record 1,000-plus points in a career.
POINTS ALLOWED: Western is allowing only 59.7 points per game this season, in striking distance of the Western Illinois single-season record of 60.0 that was set in 2009-10 season.
DEFENSE IS ALWAYS KEY: Western's 59.7 points per game allowed ranks 26th in the nation in the NCAA's last release of statistics, and first in The Summit League...The Leathernecks are allowing opponents to score only 60.2 points per game in Summit League contests which also ranks first in the Summit League.
HANDLE WITH CARE: In the NCAA's most recent release of stats (2/3/12), Western ranks 22nd in the nation in turnovers per game, averaging just 11.3...In nine of their games this season they have committed 10 or less turnovers.
