Men's Basketball Weekly Release
Jan. 28, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
UNC Men's Season Stats in PDF FormatDownload Free Acrobat Reader
This Week's ActionMorningside (0-11, 3-16) Fri., Feb. 1, 2002 Allee Gymnasium (2,500) Sioux City, Iowa * 7 p.m. 1310-AM KFKA (Mike Rice)
South Dakota (6-5, 14-5) Sat., Feb. 2, 2002 DakotaDome (10,000) Vermillion, S.D. * 7 p.m. 1310-AM KFKA (Mike Rice)
Northern Colorado Probable Starters No. Player Hgt. Wgt Pos. Yr. Hometown (Previous School) PPG RPG 41 Howard Jackson 6-4 245 F Sr. Oakdale, La. (Lincoln Mem.) 13.1 7.7 43 Michael Morse 6-6 230 F So. Boulder, Colo. (Fairview HS) 13.8 8.2 34 Aaron Austin 6-3 205 G R-Fr. Hallock, Minn. (Kittson Cent.) 13.8 2.8 24 Sean Nolen 6-0 180 G So. Aurora, Colo. (Bridgeton Acad.) 11.3 2.4 25 Jared Ramirez 6-1 190 G Sr. West Valley, Utah (Otero JC) 10.2 2.4
Morningside Probable Starters No. Player Hgt. Wgt Pos. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG 33 Mark Roush 6-6 210 F So. Marshalltown, Iowa 11.8 10.0 45 Bryce Roth 6-4 200 F Jr. Milford, Neb. 5.6 3.3 41 Matt Britton 6-5 215 C So. LeMars, Iowa 11.5 5.8 12 Will Dotson 6-1 170 G Fr. Paullina, Iowa 4.6 1.5 32 Dustin Cooper 6-1 190 G So. Sioux City, Iowa 12.2 2.6
South Dakota Probable Starters No. Player Hgt. Wgt Pos. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG 22 Jimmie Foster 6-4 220 F Sr. Milwaukee, Wis. 13.4 5.4 51 JD Roberts 6-6 240 F Fr. Ponca, Neb. 5.8 4.8 52 Steve Anderson 6-7 220 F So. Rapid City, S.D. 10.7 8.7 03 Paul Marshall 6-1 180 G Sr. Winnebago, Ill. 15.6 2.8 05 Josh Mueller 5-11 180 G Fr. Hartford, S.D. 17.6 3.6
The Week Ahead: The UNC men's basketball squad (11-8 overall, 6-5 North Central Conference) are riding a four-game winning streak. The Bears will look to extend that streak with a pair of road games this weekend at Morningside and South Dakota. The Mustangs are winless in NCC action this season and the Coyotes are tied with the Bears for 5th place in the league (6-5 records).
UNC Basketball Show: Be sure to head to Jackson's All-American Grille on Monday nights to hear the UNC Basketball Show hosted by KFKA's Mike Rice. The program begins at 6 p.m. each Monday and lasts until 7 p.m. The show will also be broadcast on KFKA (1310-AM) radio.
Bears on the Radio/Internet: All UNC men's basketball games will be broadcast live on KFKA (1310-AM). Mike Rice, "The Voice of the Bears", will call all of the play-by-play action. Tune into KFKA 20 minutes prior to tip-off to listen Bear Warmup hosted by Rice. Fans outside the KFKA listening area have two other options to hear the radio broadcast of UNC basketball games. Those with access to the internet can log onto WWW.UNCBEARS.COM and click the Audio/Video button on the left side of the front page. Follow the easy instructions to listen to the game. Fans without internet access may call TEAMLINE at 1-800-846-4700 and specify the UNC Bears' code (1880). There is a fee for the TEAMLINE service.
Bears' Magic Number = >82: If the Bears score more than 82 points in a game this season they are a perfect 11-0, however if they score 82 points or less they are 0-8. The Bears are averaging 94.3 points per game in their 11 victories. UNC is averaging 68.4 in its eight setbacks this season.
4 In a Row and 5 At Home: The Bears have won four straight games to rank as the longest current streak in the North Central Conference. UNC has also won five straight home games over three weekends of action. The Bears host only two more opponents this season but are on the road for five more games.
Back-to-Back Weekend Sweeps: The Bears' back-to-back weekend sweeps of North Dakota State/North Dakota and South Dakota State/Augustana was the first such sweep by UNC since the 1991-92 season. The Bears finished the 91-92 season with a record of 15-15 overall and 8-10 in the NCC. The Bears' sweep of the Bison and Fighting Sioux was UNC's first such sweep of those two schools since the 1997-98 season, the last time UNC posted a winning record (16-11 overall).
Jackson Puts on a Show: Senior forward Howard Jackson put on quite a show this weekend as he averaged 24.0 points per game. Jackson tallied a 22-point effort in the win over North Dakota State Bison and backed that up with a 26-point game against the North Dakota Fighting Sioux. The 26-point outburst came against Jerome Beasley, the odds-on favorite to be named NCC Player of the Year.
Nolen Is Nothing But Net From 15 Feet: Sophomore guard Sean Nolen has made 28 straight free throws en route to leading the North Central Conference in free throw percentage (92.4 percent). Mike Sanders holds the UNC record for consecutive free throws made at 43. Sanders set the mark in the 1985-86 season and it carried over into the 1986-87 campaign.
Balanced Starting Attack: UNC's starting lineup consists of five players averaging 10.0 points per game or better. Michael Morse (13.8), Aaron Austin (13.8), Howard Jackson (13.1), Sean Nolen (11.3) and Jared Ramirez (10.2) are all averaging above 10 points per game.
Wells Fargo Finals: All the fun and excitement of North Central Conference Tournament action returns to the North Central Conference for the year of the Wells Fargo Finals. The top seven men's and women's teams will play for an automatic berth in the NCAA Division II North Central Region Tournament with a chance to win the NCAA Division II national Championship.
Coach Craig Rasmuson: Head coach Craig Rasmuson is in his third season at the helm of the UNC Bears and he thinks this will be the year the squad breaks out with an above .500 performance. Rasmuson has tallied a mark of 30-42 in his two-plus years in Greeley. "This program is growing in the right direction," Rasmuson said. "We are still in the building process and earning the respect back for UNC basketball. UNC basketball had only one winning season in the '90s and the task at hand is to turn that around in the 21st century."Previous to UNC, Rasmuson spent five seasons as head coach at Lincoln Memorial University, an NCAA Division II school in Harrogate, Tennessee. In 1998-99, the Railsplitters earned a share of the Gulf South Conference Eastern Division Championship by going 17-10 and 11-3 in league play. In 1997-98, he was named Gulf South Conference Co-Coach of the Year as his squad went 19-8 and headed to the league's postseason tourney for the first time in school history. During that year, LMU also made several appearances in the NCAA II South Regional Poll, moving as high as No. 4 late in the season. Rasmuson, 33, is a native of Victor, New York and is married to the former Jennifer Mitchell of Ypsilanti, Michigan. The couple has two children, Ella Shea (born 11/8/96) and Mitchell Craig (born 2/10/01).
UNC Blue and Gold Luncheons: Every Monday at noon, head coach Craig Rasmuson, along with all the in-season UNC coaches, will speak at the Blue & Gold Luncheon. Held every Monday at Old Chicago (2349 W. 29th Street), you can get a great lunch for $7 and hear all about UNC Athletics.