SALT LAKE CITY - Westminster men's basketball (5-6, 3-2 RMAC) will return to action beginning on Wednesday night in an exhibition game at BYU (11-3) tipping-off at 7 p.m. at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah. The Griffins will then travel to play at N.M. Highlands (5-6, 0-5 RMAC) on Friday night at 5 p.m. and at UC-Colorado Springs (8-3, 3-2 RMAC) on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.
Game Info:
- Wednesday's road game at BYU will be broadcast live on
BYU TV and the
BYU Sports Network. Listeners can also tune into
KSL 1160 AM/102.7 FM or
BYU Radio/Sirius XM 143 for live radio play-by-play.
- All Westminster basketball games are available to stream for FREE on the RMAC Network. Viewers can watch live or on-demand online at
rmacnetwork.com/Westminster or on the RMAC Network app, available on all major app stores.
About the Griffins:
- Probable Starters:
-
G #2 Matt Kitzman:
- LAST THREE: 8.7 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 8 assists, 3 steals
-
G #11 Reme Torbert:
- LAST THREE: 10.7 PPG, 3.3 RPG, .560 FG PCT, 3 steals
-
G #10 Donaval Avila:
- LAST THREE: 11.0 PPG, 5.3 RPG, .448 FG PCT
-
F #13 Brayden Johnson:
- LAST THREE: 12.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, .556 FG PCT
-
F #5 Yusuf Mohamed:
- LAST THREE: 20 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 19-of-31 FGs (.613), 19-of-23 FTs (.826)
- The Griffins are coming off of a one-week break in their schedule last week and fell by a single point to CSU Pueblo in their last game back on Dec. 16.
- Westminster went on a 10-0 run late in the second half to complete a double-digit comeback but were unable to connect on a potential game-tying free throw with less than one second remaining in regulation as CSU Pueblo escaped with a 78-77 win.
- Westminster boasts the 35th-best rebounding margin (+6.3) in all of Division II and the second-best margin in the RMAC.
- The Griffins' 27.7 defensive rebounds per game are the third-most in the RMAC.
- This weekend's games will mark just the fourth and fifth games over the New Year's Eve/New Year's Day holiday since 1999. Westminster is 0-1 on New Year's Day and 1-1 all-time in New Year's Eve games.
- New Year's Eve/ New Year's Day Since 1999
2015-16 Jan. 1 vs Black Hills St Salt Lake City L 63-68
2006-07 Dec. 31 at Rockford South Padre Island, Texas L 51-52
2005-06 Dec. 31 vs Benedictine Phoenix, Ariz. W 84-65
About the Cougars (11-3, 0-0 WCC):
-The Cougars improved to 11-3 on the season after defeating Liberty 80-75 on Christmas Day in the third-place at the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic behind a double-double from Fousseyni Traore.
- Traore was named the West Coast Conference Player and Freshman of the Week following his performance in Hawaii where he averaged 13 points and 12.3 rebounds in three games over four days. His 15-rebound performance against Vanderbilt in the semifinal was the sixth-most in a single game by a freshman in program history.
- Trevin Knell is averaging 9.4 points per game while shooting 53.3 percent from the field, 41.9 percent from 3-point range and 100.0 percent from the free throw line since being inserted into the starting lineup against Missouri State.
- Since their 81-64 victory over Texas Southern on Nov. 24, BYU has traveled over 5,000 miles and played a total of nine games across four states.
About the Cowboys (5-6, 0-5 RMAC):
- N.M. Highlands won five-straight to round out its non-conference schedule but have since dropped its first five RMAC contests including four losses by two or fewer possessions.
- The Cowboys lost, 91-61, on Dec. 18 to Black Hills State and suffered a 61-57 loss at Chadron State on Dec. 19 before a one-week break.
- NMHU has a pair of guards averaging over 20 points per game.
- Sammy Barnes-Thompkins (25.0 ppg) and Raquan Mitchell (23.1 ppg) have combined for 169 made three's so far this season.
- Will Johnson (4.7 rpg) and Darius Harrison (4.6 rpg) have a combined 98 offensive rebounds on the year and are first and second on the team in overall rebounding.
- Series History:
- Westminster is 5-2 all-time against N.M. Highlands and will play each other for the first time since December of 2019 after the Cowboys canceled their entire 2020-21 season.
- N.M. Highlands outscored Westminster 43-34 in the second half in the last matchup and won, 78-77, after Barnes-Thompkins scored five points in the final 10 seconds including a go-ahead jumper with three seconds left in regulation.
- Westminster won the first five all-time meetings and are 3-1 all-time in Las Vegas, N.M.
About the Mountain Lions (8-3, 3-2 RMAC):
- UCCS began the regular season with five-straight wins and opened conference play with a 2-0 weekend, but have gone 1-2 over its last three.
- The Mountain Lions beat Chadron State, 66-60, back on Dec. 18, but fell on the road at Black Hills State, 92-77, the following day.
- Alijah Comithier is third in the conference at 22.0 ppg and Jezza McKenzie (5.9 rpg) and William Becker (5.8 rpg) rank 10
th and 12
th, respectively, in the conference in rebounding. Becker currently leads the conference with 2.2 blocked shots per game.
- Comithier is fourth in the RMAC in free throw shooting at 86 percent (60-of-70) shooting from the line.
- Series History:
- The Griffins are 3-4 all-time against the Mountain Lions and have dropped the last three matchups with UCCS.
- Westminster won two of the first three games after joining the RMAC but have dropped the past three dating back to the 2017-18 season.
- Last season's game was canceled and never rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
RMAC Standings (12/28):
Up Next:
Westminster will be back on the road next Saturday, Jan. 8, as it heads to Chadron, Neb. to play Chadron State in its only contest of the week.
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Full Notes PDF
