Men's Basketball | 3/2/2017 10:17:00 PM
LINKS: LIVE VIDEO (no audio) |
LIVE AUDIO |
LIVE STATS
Bethel basketball in the news
Star Tribune |
At Bethel, tournament appearance makes basketball a big thing
WCCO Radio |
02-27-17 - Sports to the Max - 8 PM (18:50)
Pioneer Press |
Bethel basketball coach finds contentment despite less money, more snow
Ticket information
All tickets for Friday night's NCAA opening-round game between Bethel University and UW-River Falls are sold out. The Royals were allotted 350 tickets, which sold out in 15 minutes on Wednesday morning. Fans can watch the live webcast
here. All fans attending the game are encouraged to wear navy blue.
History
Tonight's contest between the Royals and Falcons is the 49th meeting between these two opponents. UW-River Falls currently owns a 34-14 record against Bethel, but BU has won the last two, including a
62-55 win in 2015 and an
81-67 victory in 2014. Over the last of 22 games, Bethel has gone 7-7 at home and 3-5 at UW-River Falls' R.A. Karges Center.
BETHEL UNIVERSITY
RECORD: 21-6 | 15-5 MIAC
SCHEDULE |
ROSTER |
STATS
The Bethel file
The Royals enter tonight's contest with a 21-6 record during the 2016-17 campaign, which includes a 19-6 mark during the regular season and a 15-5 record in conference play. Most recently, Bethel defeated Carleton College, who had won 14-straight,
57-53 in the MIAC semifinal and Saint John's, who upset No. 1 seed St. Thomas,
79-75 in the MIAC Championship game. BU shared their first-ever MIAC regular-season title, hosted their first-ever MIAC championship game, and captured just their second-ever postseason crown.
NCAA tournament history
Bethel is returning to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time since 1991. The Royals earned their second-ever NCAA Playoff appearance by
defeating Saint John's University in the MIAC Championship, which rewarded BU with the conference's automatic qualifier. BU dropped their only tournament game to Central College back in 1991, which gives the Royals a 0-1 record in the NCAA Playoffs.
Region rankings
For the first time all season, Bethel's men's basketball team was ranked among the Top 8 in the
West Region Rankings. The Royals, who was ranked No. 6, jumped ahead of several teams last week, including Loras College, Cal Lutheran Univeristy, Nebraska Wesleyan, and Carleton College.
National rank
Bethel ranks among the Top 50 teams in many statistical categories. Of the 434 Division III men's basketball programs, Bethel ranks No. 21 in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.37), No. 34 in fewest turnovers (291), No. 21 in field goal percentage (48.7), No. 22 in personal fouls per game (15.5), No. 46 in steals per game (8.8), No. 20 in turnover margin (4.0), No. 21 in turnovers per game (10.8), and No. 30 in winning percentage (77.8).
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-RIVER FALLS
RECORD: 24-3 | 12-2 WIAC
SCHEDULE |
ROSTER |
STATS
| Name |
FG % |
3PT % |
FT % |
RPG |
Assists |
Steals |
Blocks |
PPG |
| Alex Herink |
53.0 |
41.2 |
83.2 |
5.5 |
34 |
24 |
27 |
15.7 |
| Garret Pearson |
47.0 |
32.4 |
82.1 |
6.2 |
23 |
11 |
4 |
13.1 |
| Devin Buckley |
45.4 |
35.1 |
74.4 |
2.6 |
29 |
21 |
3 |
10.4 |
| Brennan Witt |
55.9 |
23.1 |
71.0 |
4.9 |
32 |
13 |
13 |
7.6 |
| Clay Seifert |
42.9 |
35.1 |
81.0 |
2.4 |
50 |
26 |
1 |
6.4 |
The UW-River Falls file
The Falcons enter tonight's matchup with a 24-3 record on the season, which includes a 22-3 mark during regular-season play and a 12-2 record against WIAC opponents. Most recently, UW-River Falls defeated UW-La Crosse
68-55 in the WIAC semifinal game and UW-Oshkosh
60-59 in the WIAC Championship. UW-RF's only three losses this season came against Hope, UW-Oshkosh, and UW-Eau Claire.
Poll Talk
UW-River Falls is ranked No. 4 on the latest
D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll and No. 1 in the
Central Region, ahead of Washington-St. Louis, UW-Whitewater, Augustana (Ill.), Benedictine, UW-Oshkosh, Illinois Wesleyan, and UW-Eau Claire. The Falcons have been ranked among the Top 7 teams over the last seven weeks and cracked the Top 25 on December 12 after starting the season 7-1.
National rank
The Falcons have the sixth-best winning percentage (88.9) among all NCAA Division III men's basketball programs. In addition, UW-River Falls ranks No. 48 in field goal percentage defense (40.9), No. 25 in free throw percentage (76.1), No. 39 in rebound margin (6.0), No. 11 in scoring defense (64.2), No. 16 in scoring margin (11.7), and No. 21 in 3-point percentage defense (30.8).
Droppin' dimes
UW-RF's Grant Erickson is among the nation's leaders in ball handling and passing. The senior guard that graduated high school from Lakeville North is ranked No. 10 among all NCAA Division III basketball players in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.25) and No. 72 in total assists (117). Junior forward Alex Henrik leads their team with 15.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. The transfer from Minnesota State-Mankato is shooting 53.0 percent from the field and 83.2 percent from the stripe, both of which rank in the Top 100 across the nation.
