STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The defending national champion and ninth-ranked UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team opens its 2015-16 season by travelling to former conference foe UW-Superior on Saturday evening.
THE BASICS
Who: No. 9 UW-Stevens Point (0-0) at UW-Superior (0-0)
When: Saturday, Nov. 14 – 5 p.m.
Where: Superior, Wis. – Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium
FOLLOW THE GAMELive videoLive audioLive statsABOUT UW-STEVENS POINT | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS ('14-15)DEFENDING CHAMPSIn 2014-15, UW-Stevens Point won its fourth national championship, all in the last 12 years, by defeating Augustana (Ill.) 70-54 in the title game at Salem Civic Center. The win improved the Pointers to a perfect 8-0 in Salem and made UWSP the fourth program to win four NCAA Division III Championships in men's basketball.
After receiving an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament following the program's 29th Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) regular season title, the Pointers defeated Concordia (Wis.), Illinois Wesleyan, Emory and East Texas Baptist on their home floor to advance to Salem. UW-Stevens Point won its six NCAA Tournament games by an average of 18.5 points per game.
Senior guard
Austin Ryf (Winneconne, WI/Winneconne) was named the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player after averaging 19.0 points per game and shooting 11-for-21 (52.3 percent), including 6-for-10 from behind the arc, in the two victories in Salem. Ryf was joined on the All-Tournament Team by
Stephen Pelkofer (Hales Corner, WI/Whitnall) and
Joe Ritchay (Wisconsin Rapids, WI/Lincoln).
NEW SEASON, NEW FACESUW-Stevens Point graduated four key seniors from last season's national championship team in Ryf, Ritchay,
Alex Richard (Spring Green, WI/River Valley) and
Jordan Lutz (Amherst, WI/Amherst). The quarter combined to score 1,470 of UWSP's 2,124 points (69.2 percent) last season and all four were either All-WIAC First Team or Honorable Mention All-WIAC picks.
The Pointers return two key members from a year ago in seniors
Stephen Pelkofer (Hales Corner, WI/Whitnall) and
Sean McGann (Baraboo, WI/Baraboo). Pelkofer was an Honorable Mention All-WIAC selection last year after finishing third on the team in scoring (11.6 ppg) and was named a D3hoops.com Third Team Preseason All-American. McGann was a key contributor off the bench last season, averaging 6.6 points and 4.0 rebounds a game in 25.8 minutes per contest.
UW-Stevens Point also welcomes six freshmen to the team this season:
Ethan Bublitz (Jackson, WI/Kettle Moraine Lutheran),
Drew Fredrickson (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb),
Chaz Mootz (Merrill, WI/Merrill),
Mark Nelson (Madison, WI/Monona Grove),
Canon O'Heron (Bangor, WI/Bangor) and
Brett Tauber (Madison, WI/Memorial). Nelson transferred to UWSP after redshirting at Division II Lindenwood University, while Bublitz, Fredrickson and O'Heron were all First Team All-State performers in the state of Wisconsin as high school seniors.
SEASON OPENERSUW-Stevens Point has won its last 19 season openers by an average of over 20 points a game. The Pointers' last loss in a regular-season opener was an 82-71 defeat to Teikyo Marycrest University (IA) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) on Nov. 17, 1995.
TOUGH SCHEDULEIn 2015-16, the Pointers will once again challenge themselves with one of the toughest schedules in Division III men's basketball. UW-Stevens Point's 18 opponents combined for a .611 winning percentage last season, including a .679 clip by its non-conference opposition.
UW-Stevens Point will play six teams that made the NCAA Tournament last season: St. Olaf, St. Norbert, Augustana (Ill.), St. Thomas, Keene State and UW-Whitewater. All six of those teams are either ranked or receiving votes in the D3hoops.com preseason poll.
IN THE POLLSUW-Stevens Point enters the 2015-16 season ranked No. 9 in the country by D3hoops.com. The Pointers are ranked in the D3hoops.com preseason top 10 for the third consecutive season and are ranked in the top 25 for the 46th consecutive week, dating back to the start of the 2012-13 season.
The Pointers have been in the top 10 for 27 of the last 46 weeks and have been ranked in 135 of the last 137 weeks since the start of the 2006-07 season.
UW-Stevens Point is the preseason pick to win the 2016 WIAC men's basketball championship, according to a preseason poll conducted by the league's head coaches and sports information directors. The Pointers are followed in the league predictions by: UW-Whitewater, UW-Oshkosh, UW-River Falls, UW-Platteville, UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse and UW-Stout.
ABOUT UW-SUPERIOR | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS ('14-15)In its first season in the UMAC, UW-Superior was picked to finish third in the conference's preseason poll. The Yellowjackets were picked behind Northwestern (Minn.) and St. Scholastica. UW-Superior gathered 55 points in the poll, one behind St. Scholastica and nine behind Northwestern. Northwestern received eight of the nine first-place votes with St. Scholastica getting the other.
Last season, the Yellowjackets finished 9-16 overall and went 3-13 in their final year in the WIAC. UW-Superior's nine wins were its most since the 2011-12 team went 14-12.
Junior guard Zach Schradle and senior forward Brian Lindblom lead the Yellowjackets' returners for the 2015-16 season. Schradle was an Honorable Mention All-WIAC selection last season after averaging 11.4 points and 6.7 rebounds a game. Lindblom is the team's top returning scorer, after averaging 13.4 points and 3.7 rebounds a game a year ago.
THE COACHESBob Semling is entering his 11th season as the head coach at UW-Stevens Point and has been a part of all four of the program's national championships. Through 10 seasons, Semling has compiled a 242-54 record, including a 134-26 mark in WIAC play. His .818 career winning percentage is the highest among active NCAA Division III coaches. Semling became the program's all-time winningest coach on Jan. 11, 2014 by recording his 201st career victory at UW-Superior. In 2014-15, Semling was named the Division III National Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and D3hoops.com for the second time in his career (2010, 2015). He is also a five-time WIAC Coach of the Year and has received the award in each of the last three seasons.
The 2015-16 season is Paul Eberhardt's fourth as the head coach of the Yellowjacket men's basketball team. Through three seasons, he his teams have gone 25-51, including a 9-16 mark a year ago. Eberhardt came to UW-Superior from Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls, Iowa, where he served as athletics director and dean of students. He has previously served on the staffs at UW-River Falls and Scottsdale Community College (Az.).
SERIES NOTESUW-Stevens Point and UW-Superior will meet for the 140th time on the hardwood on Saturday. The teams first met in 1900 and the Pointers hold a commanding 102-37 lead in the all-time series.
Last season, UW-Stevens Point swept UW-Superior to extend its winning streak in the series to 26 games. On Dec. 6, five players scored in double figures as No. 23 UW-Stevens Point shot 65.3 percent from the field in a 77-54 victory at Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse. In the final regular-season game of the season on Feb. 21, the Pointers clinched a share of the WIAC title with a 70-60 win after trailing by six at the half. The last Yellowjacket win in the series was on Feb. 21, 2004.
This is the first meeting between UW-Stevens Point and UW-Superior as non-conference opponents after UW-Superior left the WIAC to join the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) in all sports except men's and women's hockey for the 2015-16 athletic year.
