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SALT LAKE CITY – The seventh-ranked Westminster College men's basketball returns to the road to return to Frontier Conference play with two games this week. Westminster begins the trip on Thursday at No. 11 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) at 8:30 p.m. in Lewiston, Idaho. They will complete the trip on Saturday in Butte, Mont. against Montana Tech at 7:30 p.m.

Game Coverage
Both games of the road trip will have live video available. Montana Tech does charge a fee to watch the video stream. There will also be live stats available for both of the game. Links for all of the live features can be found in the calendar section at WestminsterGriffins.com.

Griffin Notebook
Westminster returns to Frontier Conference play with a 13-1 overall record and 1-0 in conference games. The Griffins are coming off a 2-0 road trip in which they won the 37th Annual Tom Byron Classic with wins over Saint Xavier (Ill.), 73-70, and No. 5 Westmont (Calif.), 78-71. The team's conference win was an 84-63 win over Montana Western in the Behnken Field House on Dec. 1.

The Griffins have an 8-1 record away from home this season and are 5-0 in true road games. They enter this trip having won nine straight games overall and six straight away from home. Westminster is 2-1 against ranked opponents this season, including two straight wins over ranked foes.

The offense is scoring 82.2 points per game this season and the team is shooting 481 percent from the field. Westminster has scored above 73 points in six straight games and they are 19th in the NAIA is scoring offense. The Griffins are making 738 treys per game and they shoot 37.1 percent from beyond the arc.

The opposition averages 61.8 points per game and the Griffins are 11th in the nation in scoring defense. Westminster opponents have scored above 70 points on just three occasions this season and they shoot just 42 percent from the floor for the year. The Griffins are four nationally by holding opponents to 28 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

Against the Opposition
Westminster is 19-12 al-time against Lewis-Clark State. The Griffins have won the last nine match-ups overall and four straight in Lewiston. The last Warrior win was a 69-64 decision on Feb. 9, 2008 in Lewiston.

The Griffins hold a 23-5 edge all-time against Montana Tech. Westminster defeated the Orediggers 70-61 in the last meeting to snap a four-game losing streak in the series. The last Griffin win in Butte was on Jan .15, 2010 when they won the game 61-52.

Orchard's the Pick
Jake Orchard is once again having a balanced season for the Griffins. The Frontier Conference Preseason Player of the Year is averaging a team-high 13.1 points per game while shooting 45.9 percent from the field. The senior has 44 rebounds (20 offensive), 34 assists and leads the team with 30 steals. Orchard has scored in double figures nine times this year had a season-high 26 points in the win over UC Merced.

Join the Club
With 18 points against Vanguard (Calif.) on Nov. 9, Orchard became the ninth Griffin to score 1,000 points for a career. The senior has 1,110 career points entering the weekend to rank eighth in school history. At his current career scoring average of 15.4 points per game, Orchard is on pace to score 1,357 points through the quarterfinals of the Frontier Conference Tournament.

Shoot the Moon
Colton Moon continues to orchestrate the Griffin offense to success. Moon leads the team with 35 assists and averaging 9.7 points per game. The sophomore is shooting 51.6 percent from beyond the arc and ranks fourth in the NAIA in that department. Moon has reached double figures in five games, including back-to-back 18-point performances against Fort Lewis (Colo.) and Western State in November.

Robertson Making an Impact
Tallon Robertson has made a significant impact of the Griffins front line this season. The junior is averaging 11.3 points per game while shooting 56.8 percent from the floor. Robertson has led the team in scoring in four games and has reached double figures seven times. He has one double-double and his career-high 21 points over Saint Xavier led him to MVP honors at the Tom Byron Classic.

Microwave Version 22
Blake Skidmore has provided the Griffins with instant offense off the bench this season. The junior is averaging 10.4 points per game in 21.6 minutes per night off the bench. He is shooting 47 percent from the field and 82.8 percent at the foul line. Skidmore also grabs 2.9 rebounds per game and has 18 assists and 19 steals.

Crashing the Glass
Senior Alex Drecksel is the team's leading rebounder at 625 boards per contest. He has led the team in rebounds in eight of the 13 games played this year. Drecksel average 2.77 offensive rebounds per game. That total accounts for 44.4 percent of his rebound total. He is currently grabbing 15.2 percent of all available rebounds while he is on the floor.

Creating Scoring Opportunities
Westminster currently leads the NAIA in turnover margin (+9.00) thanks to forcing 22.5 turnovers per game. They are coming up with 12.15 steals to rank eighth in the NAIA. The Griffins score 25.4 points per game from opponent turnovers which accounts for 30.9 percent of the team's 82.2 points per game. In contrast, Griffin opponents are scoring just 9.6 points from turnover per game or just 15.5 percent of their total points.

Atop the Computers
The current edition of the Massey Ratings has Westminster at No. 1 with a rating of 1.08. The official computer ratings of the NAIA give the Griffins a No. 1 power rating and rank them fourth on defense. The ratings also list the team as having played the 30th-ranked schedule and place them 17th on offense.

Looking Ahead
Westminster returns home to begin a four-game home-stand next week. They begin the stretch on Jan. 10 when they welcome Great Falls (Mont.) to the Behnken Field House at 7:30 p.m. Montana State-Northern will be in Salt lake City for a 7:30 p.m. game on Jan. 12.