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SALT LAKE CITY – The 18th-ranked Westminster College men's basketball team returns to Montana this weekend for two games. They begin the trip on Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Great Falls (Mont.) before playing at No. 12 Montana State-Northern on Saturday at 8 p.m.

Game Coverage
Friday's game will be shown live in HD on the Altitude Sports Network. Peter Young will handle the play-by-play for Altitude, which can be found in Utah on Comcast channel 61, Dish Network channel 410 and DirecTV channel 681. Saturday's game will be streamed live in the web and live stats will be available for both games. Links for any of the live features can be found in the calendar section of WestminsterGriffins.com.

Griffin Notebook
Westminster takes a 20-5 overall record with them into the weekend. They are 7-4 in Frontier Conference play and currently hold the third position in the standings. The Griffins had their seven-game winning streak snapped with a 76-54 loss at Montana Western last Saturday in the team's only game of the week.

The Griffins are 10-4 in games played away from the Behnken Field House this season and they have a 7-3 record in road games. Westminster has gone 5-0 in games played on Friday with a 10-2 mark on Saturdays. They have a 15-3 mark when holding the lead at halftime and have just one loss in 19 games when the lead with five minutes remaining in regulation.

At 80.08 points per game, Westminster is second in the league in scoring average and they place 22nd in the NAIA. They have scored above 70 points in eight of the last 11 games played and twice went above 90 during the stretch. The Griffins rank 18th in the country by shooting 47.1 percent from the field and they sit 16th in assists and 15.12 per game. Westminster leads the NAIA with an 7.79 turnover margin and they place ninth with a 1.21 assist-to-turnover ratio.

On the defensive end, the Griffins are holding the opposition to 64.42 points per game. That ranks 14th in the country and they also place ninth in scoring margin with a differential of 15.12 points per contest. Westminster opponents shoot 42.4 percent from the floor and 30.9 percent from beyond the arc. The Griffins are sixth nationally with 11.5 steals per game and they force 20.6 turnovers per game.

Against the Opposition
Despite a 72-71 loss to Great Falls last month in the Behnken Field House, Westminster holds a 28-2 lead in the all-time series. The Griffins won the first 26 meetings with the Argonauts, but the teams have split the last four meetings. Westminster won 73-66 in Great Falls last season.

Westminster maintains a 19-10 edge in the all-time series with MSU-Northern heading into Saturday's game. They claimed an 82-50 win last month in Salt Lake City to snap a three-game losing streak to the Lights. Northern won in Havre last season, 53-50.

Winning 300
With a 92-52 win over Dickinson State (N.D.) on Jan. 17, Westminster reached the 300-win mark in the modern era of the program. Westminster reinstated basketball for the 1999-2000 season and in that time the Griffins have compiled a record of 305-130 record in the 14 years for a .701 winning percentage. The team has won at least 20 games in 12 of the 14 seasons, including 11 straight, and won seven Frontier Conference championships. Westminster has been to the NAIA National Championships nine times since 1999 and had 12 players named a NAIA All-American.

12 Straight with 20
Thanks to their 95-82 win over Lewis-Clark State on Feb. 2, Westminster reached the 20-win mark for the 12th consecutive season. The Griffins have surpassed 20 wins in all but two of the 14 seasons since the program was brought back in 1999. The current 12-year streak is the longest active streak in the league with Montana State-Northern following with six straight 20-win seasons.

Creating Scoring Opportunities
Westminster currently leads the NAIA in turnover margin (+7.79) thanks to forcing 20.63 turnovers per game. They are coming up with 11.5 steals a night to rank sixth in the NAIA and established a new school record with 276 steals so far this year. The Griffins score 22.9 points per game from opponent turnovers which accounts for 28.6 percent of the team's 80.1 points per game. In contrast, Griffin opponents are scoring just 10.7 points from turnover per game or 16.6 percent of their total points.

Attacking the Paint
The Griffins have been real good at scoring in the paint this season. They average 39.2 points per game down low which helps with the 52.1 percent they shoot on 2-point field goals this season. The 39.2 points is 48.9 percent of the Griffins season average and is 11 points per game more than the opposition scores in the paint.  Westminster has scored at least 40 points in the paint in nine of the teams last 11 games.

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 13.08 points per game and he has scored in double figures in 17 games this season. He shoots 45.9 percent from the field and leads the team with 62 assists and 45 steals. Orchard's 1.88 steals per game rank 48th in the NAIA and he is 46th with 45 total steals. He also ranks 50th in the country with a 1.82 assist-to-turnover ratio.

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 1,254 career points entering the weekend to rank fourth in school history. He is also third all-time at Westminster with 142 career steals. Orchard needs to average 26.2 points and 4.0 steals per game over the team's remaining five games on the schedule to become the school's all-time leader in each category.

Robertson Making an Impact
Tallon Robertson has made a significant impact of the Griffins front line this season. The junior is averaging 11.42 points per game while shooting 56.3 percent from the floor which ranks 12th in the NAIA. Robertson has led the team in scoring in eight games and has reached double figures 14 times. He has recorded three double-doubles and his career-high 21 points over Saint Xavier (Ill.) led him to MVP honors at the Tom Byron Classic.

Into the Lineup
Blake Skidmore is third on the team in scoring at 10.3 points per game and he is shooting 43.8 percent from the field and 39.8 percent from beyond the arc. He came off the bench in 14 of the team's first 15 games and averaged 10.4 points per game in those contests. In 10 games as a starter, Skidmore is averaging 10.3 points per game and shoots 41 percent from the floor.

Crashing the Glass
Senior Alex Drecksel is the team's leading rebounder at 6.38 rebounds per game. He ranks sixth in the Frontier in rebounding and third in the league by grabbing 2.83 offensive rebounds per night. Drecksel grabs 15.4 percent of all available rebounds while he is on the floor with a 13.3 percent on the offensive end. His 68 offensive rebounds rank sixth in school history for a season and he needs to average 3.4 per game over the remaining five games on the schedule to set the school record. He is sixth in team history with 132 career offensive rebounds and 10th with 294 total rebounds.

Massey Ratings
The Griffins dropped five positions to No. 8 in the latest edition of the Massey Ratings. The national computer ratings have Westminster with a rating of 0.84 while having them third in the power rating at 17.25. They are rated 15th in defense and 17th in offense while having played the eighth-toughest schedule. The Griffins are the second-highest rated team from the Frontier Conference behind Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) at No. 6.

Frontier Conference Tournament
The 2013 Frontier Conference Tournament will be played from Feb. 27–Mar. 5 at the home site of the highest seed in each game. The top six teams in the final conference standings qualify for the tournament with the top two teams receiving a bye into the semi-finals. Entering the week, Westminster sits in the No. 3 position and would the No. 6-seed in the Behnken Field House on Mar. 2. For more information about the conference tournament, visit WestminsterGriffins.com/playoffs.

Airing on Altitude
Westminster's games at Great Falls (Mont.) (Feb. 15) and Carroll (Mont.) (Feb. 21) will be broadcast live in HD on the Altitude Sports Network. Altitude Sports is available within a 10-State territory of the Rocky Mountain Region including: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Northern New Mexico, Northeast Nevada and Southwest South Dakota. Altitude can be found in Utah on Comcast channel 61, Dish Network channel 410 and DirecTV channel 681.

Looking Ahead
The final week of the regular season features two games for the Griffins. Westminster travels to Carroll (Mont.) for a 7:30 p.m. game on Feb. 21. They then return home for Senior Night on Feb. 23 against Montana Tech at 7:30 p.m. in the Behnken Field House.