UW-Stevens Point plays host to Marian University, St. Olaf College and Central College in the first and second rounds of the 2014 NCAA DIII Men's Basketball Championship on Friday, March 7 and Saturday, March 8 at Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse. The Oles and Dutch meet in the first round at 5 p.m. on Friday, followed by the Pointers and Sabres at 8 p.m. The winners then play on Saturday night at 7 p.m.

Tournament Bracket

UW-Stevens Point

How They Got Here: UW-Stevens Point (26-1), the top-ranked team in the country for the last 10 weeks, earned its eighth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth by winning the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament title by defeating second-ranked UW-Whitewater 74-57 on Sunday afternoon. As the top seed in the WIAC Tournament, UW-Stevens Point received a first-round bye before defeating UW-Platteville 66-47 in the semifinals. The Pointers also won the WIAC regular season crown with a 15-1 league record, with their only loss coming at UW-Whitewater in overtime.

Key Players/Stats: Senior guard Tyler Tillema (Randolph, WI/Randolph) leads the Pointers in scoring (20.3 ppg), rebounding (5.2 ppg), assists (3.8 apg) and blocks (23). Senior Trevor Hass (New London, WI/New London/Augustana (SD)) was third in the WIAC in scoring (17.4) and ranks fourth in the country by shooting 47.7 percent from three-point range. Both Tillema and Hass surpassed the 1,000-point mark in their UWSP careers this season. Center Clayton Heuer (Wisconsin Rapids, WI/Lincoln/UW-Green Bay) averages 9.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, while Joe Ritchay (Wisconsin Rapids, WI/Lincoln) contributes 7.9 points a game. The Pointers rank in the top seven nationally in field-goal percentage (third, 52.7), three-point field-goal percentage (fifth, 41.9), turnovers per game (fifth, 9.6), scoring margin (sixth, +16.3) and scoring defense (seventh, 58.9 ppg).

Other Notes:
- This season marked the eighth-straight season that UWSP has recorded at least 20 wins and 12 WIAC victories...The Pointers have won a WIAC-best 28 regular season championships and eight WIAC Tournament titles.
- UW-Stevens Point has won three national championships (2004, 2005, 2010).
- The 2010 national title made UW-Stevens Point the third school to win three or more national championships.
- The Pointers have made 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, including eight in a row and 10 of the last 11…UWSP is 28-9 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
- UW-Stevens Point is 13-0 all-time against Marian and 3-0 vs. St. Olaf…The Pointers defeated the Oles 88-66 at home on Nov. 27...UWSP has never played Central.
- UWSP is a perfect 14-0 at home this season and holds a 229-32 (.877) all-time record at Quandt Fieldhouse. The Pointers are 10-3 at home in the NCAA Tournament.
- Current WIAC teams are 104-42 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including 35-16 in the last 10 seasons, and have won four of the last 11 national championships.
- This season, ninth-year head coach Bob Semling became the winningest coach in program history by recording his 201st career victory at UW-Superior on Jan. 11…Semling has compiled a 213-48 (.816) overall record at UWSP, including a 119-25 (.826) mark in WIAC games…The Pointers have won three national championships with Semling, who was the 2010 D3hoops.com Coach of the year, on the staff, two as an assistant and one as a head coach.

Marian University

How They Got Here: Marian (22-6) won the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament by defeating seventh-seeded Edgewood 65-61 in the championship game to earn an automatic NCAA Tournament bid, their second-ever berth in the national tournament. The Sabres topped Wisconsin Lutheran 83-63 in the NACC Quarterfinals and Aurora 71-51 in the semifinals. Marian also made the NCAA Tournament in 2001 when Carthage defeated the Sabres 83-65 in the first round. The Sabres also won the NACC regular season title with a 17-3 conference record.

Key Players/Stats: Senior forward Cody Veleke was selected as a First Team All-NACC performer after shooting 54.0 percent from the field and averaging 12.8 points and 4.6 rebounds a game. Senior guards Jeff Harris (10.1 ppg) and Sam Koslowski (12.9 ppg) both shot over 41 percent from behind the arc and were named second team all-conference. Freshman Josh Creed (8.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg) was named to the all-freshman team.  Seven players average between 7.6 and 12.9 points a game for the Sabers balanced offensive attack. Marian ranked 12th nationally in assists (457) this season.

Other Notes:
- Current NACC teams are 4-24 in the NCAA Tournament and 1-8 in last 10 seasons.
-  Marian is 0-13 all-time against UW-Stevens Point, its first round opponent, dating back to 1982...The Sabres have never played St. Olaf or Central.
-  Marian's 26th-year head coach Mark Boyle was named the NACC Coach of the Year this season for the fifth time and is the longest-tenured and winningest coach in school history with 324 wins...Boyle set a career-high with 22 victories this season.
- Marian has gone 21-3 over its last 24 games, including six straight victories entering Friday's NCAA Tournament game against UW-Stevens Point. The last time Marian met UWSP was back on Jan. 6, 2005 in Fond du Lac. The Pointers, also ranked #1 in the nation at the time, won the game, 82-57.
- The Sabres opened the 2013-14 season with an exhibition contest at UW-Milwaukee on Oct. 31. They led the Division I Panthers up until just under eight minutes left in the first half.
- Marian features three seniors who have eclipsed the 1,000-career-point mark this season. Cody Veleke (Dec. 5), Jeff Harris (Dec. 14) and Sam Koslowski (Feb. 15) became the 15th, 16th and 17th members of Marian's prestigious class.
- This senior class has seen a remarkable 18-win improvement from the 2010-11 season when they went 4-21 overall.
- The 22 wins for Marian is the most since the 1987-88 squad won a school-record 29 games en route to an NAIA District Playoff appearance. That was also the year before head coach Mark Boyle's arrival.

 
St. Olaf College

How They Got Here: St. Olaf (22-5) won the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs by defeating Gustavus 66-53 in the semifinals and knocking off top-seeded and 12th-ranked St. Thomas 63-53 in St. Paul in Sunday afternoon's championship game. The win gave the Oles the MIAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament and the appearance in the conference final was the first for St. Olaf. The berth is St. Olaf's first appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament but the school made three NCAA Tournament appearances in the early 1970s before the split to three divisions. The playoff title was the first basketball championship of any kind since the St. Olaf men shared the MIAC regular season title in 1988-89.

Key Players/Stats: Senior forward Connor Gunderson leads the Oles in scoring (14.1 ppg) and rebounding (5.3 rpg) and shot 61.1 percent from the field this season. Guards Sterling Nielsen (11.3 ppg) and Justin Pahl (10.4 ppg) also averaged in double figures for St. Olaf and Nielsen led the team in assists (3.6 apg) with a 2.88:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Ten players average at least 10 minutes a game for the Oles. St. Olaf led the MIAC and is second in the country in scoring defense (57.5 ppg), while ranking 10th in scoring margin (+14.9).

Other Notes:
- St. Olaf went 3-2 in a tough non-conference schedule...The Oles lost a 68-59 game to No. 24 Augustana, a NCAA Tournament team, on Nov. 23 before defeating  No. 20 UW-Platteville 68-62 on Nov. 24...  The Oles then fell to No. 1 UW-Stevens Point 88-66 on Nov. 27... The Oles also played Northwestern, a NCAA Tournament team, on Nov. 30 and beat the host Eagles 72-45.The Oles' 22 wins overall and 17 in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play are both school records…St. Olaf is 20-3 since opening the season 2-2.
- St. Olaf has won five straight and 15 of its last 16... The Oles' 10-game winning streak from January 11-Feb. 8 was the longest for any St. Olaf men's team in a MIAC schedule in school history... St. Olaf had a 12-game winning streak as a member of the Midwest Conference in 1970-71. 
- At No. 25, St. Olaf moved into the D3hoops.com Top 25 this week for the first time ever.
- The Oles' 66-53 win over St.?Thomas on Sunday afternoon was the 500th career game (235-265) for St. Olaf head coach Dan Kosmoski, who is in his 20th season at St. Olaf in 2013-14... After seven straight sub-.500 seasons, Kosmoski's teams have three winning seasons in the last four. 
- St. Olaf is fifth in the nation in turnover margin (+5.9), 10th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.53) and 11th in fewest turnovers...Nielsen is 16th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.77).
- St. Olaf senior Connor Gunderson became the 18th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points on Feb. 5 in the Oles' win at Concordia-Moorhead... Through 27 games, he has 1,082 which ranks 12th all-time... Gunderson is second in the MIAC and 19th in the country in field goal percentage, at 61.1 percent... The Oles rank 25th in the country in field goal percentage (.491).
- St. Olaf went 11-1 at Skoglund Center this season, the last on the current surface on Bob Gelle Court... Later this month the floor -- the original installed in 1967 -- will be replaced... The court will remain named for Bob Gelle, the longtime coach who ammassed 275 career wins in 22 seasons as head coach...Gelle's grandson Nate is on the 2013-14 roster and his granddaughter, Andrea, is the Oles' women's track and field coach.
- The men's basketball team's MIAC Playoff championship was the school's third MIAC title of the year...The men's cross country team won the MIAC and NCAA Division III Championship in November, the first national championship in school history... The Oles' swimming and diving team won its second straight and 30th MIAC title in school history in February.
- Current MIAC teams are 52-47 overall in the NCAA Tournament and 16-13 (.552) in the last 10 tournaments.

Central College

How They Got Here: After being picked to finish last in a preseason coaches poll, Central (20-7) won the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) regular season and tournament championship to earn a place in the NCAA Tournament. The Dutch won the six-team IIAC Tournament for the second time by defeating Buena Vista 86-84 and Luther 74-70 on their home court. The NCAA Tournament berth is the second in five years for the Dutch and its 10th overall, the most of any Iowa Conference school. Central earned the number one seed in the conference tournament after an 11-3 record in IIAC play during the regular season. The Iowa Conference Tournament title was the 17th for Central and the first since 2010. The Dutch are 5-10 overall in the NCAA Tournament.

Key Players/Stats: Senior Matt Greenfield was named to the D3hoops.com Team of the Week twice this season and led the IIAC in scoring (19.0 ppg) and rebounding (9.9 rpg), while recording 17 double-doubles. Greenfield, who became the 27th player to score 1,000 career points at Central, was also third in the IIAC in blocks (1.22 bpg). Kevin Kaerwer is second on the Dutch in scoring (15.5 ppg) and leads the team in assists (3.85 apg). Central led the IIAC in field-goal percentage defense (.421) and blocks (3.70 bpg) this season.

Other Notes:
- The Dutch have won 11 of last their last 12 games since Jan. 22.
- Central averages 8.5 made three-pointers per game, good for 37th in the country…The Dutch are 30th nationally in three-pointers attempted (623) and shoot at a 36.8 percent clip from behind the arc.
- Central has never played any of the other three teams in the pod.
- This season, the Dutch became the first team to improve from last place to first in consecutive years in the NACC.
- Central is seeking its first NCAA tournament win since 1991 when the Dutch defeated Bethel University 88-77 at home.
-  IIAC teams are 5-11 (.313) in the last 10 NCAA Tournaments.
- The Dutch won six of their 11 conference wins by a combined 16 points (including two in OT).
- Central swept the two-game season series with Buena Vista Univ. for the first time since 1998-99, including a 76-72 win at Storm Lake (Central's first since Jan. 9, 1999).
- Central went undefeated on winter trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico (Dec. 28 vs. Bridgewater (Va.) [W, 67-54], Dec. 29 at Sacred Heart (P.R.) [W, 81-72]).
- Three Dutch players have scored 20-plus points in the same game this season on two separate occasions (had not happened once in more than a decade prior to this year).