STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The No. 19 UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team heads to Phoeniz, Ariz. for the Arizona Shootout, where it will face Keene State (N.H.) and Hamilton (N.Y.) on Tuesday and Wednesday.
 
THE BASICS
Who: No. 19 UW-Stevens Point (5-4) vs. Keene State (6-1)
When: Tuesday, Dec. 29 – 5 p.m. CT
Where: Phoenix, Ariz. – Phoenix Convention Center
 
Who: No. 19 UW-Stevens Point (5-4) vs. Hamilton (6-3)
When: Wednesday, Dec. 30 – 7 p.m. CT
Where: Phoenix, Ariz. – Phoenix Convention Center
 
FOLLOW THE GAMES
Live video - both games, pay per view
Live audio - Keene State game only, provided by Keene State

Click here to visit the tournament website. Tickets are available at the door only.

LAST TIME OUT
Four players scored in double figures for No. 19 UW-Stevens Point in an 82-66 road win over Edgewood on Tuesday evening at the Todd Wehr Edgedome in Madison. Sean McGann (Baraboo, WI/Baraboo) and Zack Goedeke (Valders, WI/Valders) each had 17 points, Brett Tauber (Madison, WI/Memorial) recorded his first collegiate double-double of 11 points and 12 boards and Ethan Bublitz (Jackson, WI/Kettle Moraine Lutheran) added 10 points in the win.
 
After a close start to the game, the Pointers used a 14-2 run to take a 30-14 lead in the first half. UWSP took a 17-point lead into the locker room and led by at least 12 points the rest of the way. UW-Stevens Point outrebounded Edgewood 39-24 and held a 24-8 advantage in second chance points.
 
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FOUR IN DOUBLE FIGURES
In the win at Edgewood, UW-Stevens Point had a season-high four players in double figures in scoring. The Pointers had three players in double figures in wins over UW-Superior and No. 15 St. Olaf to start the season but had two or fewer double-digit scorers in the last six games.
 
For the season, seniors McGann and Stephen Pelkofer (Hales Corner, WI/Whitnall) average in double figures at 14.9 and 11.1 points per game, respectively. Bublitz (9.4 ppg) has four double-digit scoring performances this season and Goedeke (8.9 ppg) has three games with at least 17 points.
 
TAUBER'S DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Tauber's 11-point, 12-rebound performance at Edgewood was the second double-double by a UW-Stevens Point player this season, joining McGann's 19-point, 10-rebound outing in the win over St. Olaf on Nov. 18.
 
The freshman is the 11th Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) player to record a double-double this season and his 12 rebounds are tied for the fourth-most by a WIAC player in a game so far in 2015-16.
 
THE CHARITY STRIPE
UW-Stevens Point set season-highs in free throws made (21) and attempted (28) at Edgewood, eclipsing a 19-for-27 performance against Hope on Nov. 21. The team's 75.0 percent showing at the line was the Pointers' best this season outside of going 8-for-9 (88.9 percent) at Augustana (Ill.) on Dec. 5.
 
The Pointers rank second in the WIAC in free-throw shooting at 70.5 percent as a team, trailing UW-Platteville's mark of 75.9 percent. Pelkofer (77.3 percent) and McGann (71.4 percent) are UWSP's top-two free-throw shooters among those with more than 10 attempts.
 
IRON MEN
McGann, Pelkofer and Bublitz all rank in the WIAC's top four in terms of minutes played per game this season. Pelkofer has played at least 35 minutes in seven of nine games, McGann has done so six times and Bublitz has done so on five occasions.
 
McGann – 35.7 min/game
Boston Johnson (UW-Platteville) – 35.3 min/game
Pelkofer – 35.0 min/game
Bublitz – 33.0 min/game
 
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Keene State saw its six-game winning streak to start the season snapped in a 77-70 loss at Little East Conference foe UMass Boston in its last game back on Saturday, Dec. 12. UMass Boston led by as many as 13 points early in the second half before Keene State battled back to tie the game at 65-65 with 2:09 to go. However, the Beacons scored the next four points and hit eight consecutive free throws in the final 25 seconds to seal the win.
 
Prior to the loss at UMass Boston, the Owls had won their first six games of the season and had scored at least 87 points in each of the six wins, including topping 100 points three times. Keene State ranks 12th in the country in scoring offense (92.9 ppg) but will be challenged by UW-Stevens Point's 27th-ranked scoring defense (63.5 ppg).
 
The Owls also are among the best Division III teams in the country in assists per game (sixth, 19.4), three-point field goal percentage (12th, 41.5 percent) and rebounding (12th, 45.9 rpg).
 
Keene State entered the week receiving four votes in the D3hoops.com Top 25. Last season, the Owls finished 20-9 for their first 20-win season since 2006-07 and made their first NCAA Tournament appearance since the same season, falling 95-78 to Johns Hopkins in the opening round.
 
The Owls are led by Nate Stitchell, who averages 18.3 points and 4.4 assists per game after scoring just 5.3 points per game last season. The senior guard is averaging 7.3 three-point attempts per game, while shooting 43.1 percent from behind the arc and 85.7 percent from the free-throw line.
 
Sophomore guard Dizel Wright (15.0 ppg), junior guard Lucas Hammel (13.0 ppg) and junior guard/forward Matt Ozzella (10.5 ppg) all average over 10 points per game. Seven Owls average over 8.3 points per game, including seven-foot senior center Nate Howard, who contributes 8.3 points and 8.6 rebounds a game.
 
The Owls transitioned from Division II to Division III in 1997-98 and have won at least 12 games in 17 of 18 seasons as a Division III program. Keene State had one season with double-digit wins in its final 14 seasons in Division II and had won 24 games in its final seven seasons.
 
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Hamilton has won three of its last four games and heads to Phoenix with a 6-3 record. The Continentals will face Southern Maine on Tuesday prior to taking on the Pointers on Wednesday.
 
The Continentals are coming off a 78-64 non-conference win over Bard College on Saturday, Dec. 12, a game that featured 68 fouls and 89 free throws between the two teams. Two days before, Hamilton topped Hobart at home 80-65 behind a 23-4 run midway through the second half.
 
Hamilton's first six games of the season were each decided by fewer than 10 points but the team's last three have each been decided by at least 11 points.
 
Freshman guard Peter Hoffman leads Hamilton in scoring at 14.1 points per game, followed by sophomore guard Jack Dwyer's 11.9 points and 4.7 assists a game. Senior guard Jack Donnelly contributes 9.9 points and has made a team-high 17 three-pointers on 39.5 percent shooting from behind the arc.
 
Eleven different players have made at least one start for the Continentals, who have 10 freshmen and sophomore on their 15-man roster. Hamilton ranks in a tie for 11th nationally as a team in blocked shots per game (5.6).
 
Hamilton has posted a winning record in 39 of the last 41 seasons since 1974-75 and the team's 10-14 record in 2009-10 is the only losing record the Continentals have had in that span. Hamilton, which entered this season with an all-time record of 1,101-800-1 (.579) has made nine NCAA Tournament appearances in program history but none since 2006 (1995-2000, 2003-04, 2006).
 
UW-Stevens Point will be Hamilton's second top-25 opponent of the season after the Continentals were defeated 77-69 by then-No. 14 Eastern Connecticut State in the championship game of the 2015 Hamilton College Invitational on Nov. 29. Later in the season, Hamilton will face No. 3 Amherst and Tufts and Trinity (Conn.), who both received votes in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25.
 
THE COACHES
Bob Semling is in his 11th season as the head coach at UW-Stevens Point and has won four national championships with the Pointers. He led the Pointers to national titles in 2010 and 2015 as a head coach and was an assistant on the back-to-back national title teams of 2004 and 2005. Semling has a career record of 247-58 (.810), including a 134-25 (.843) mark in WIAC play. His .818 career winning percentage entering this season was the highest among active Division III coaches and ranks fourth all-time among all divisions for coaches with at least 10 seasons as a head coach.
 
Ryan Cain was named the interim men's basketball coach at Keene State in August 2015. He came to Keene from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), where he spent 12 years as both a player and coach. Cain was the Engineers' all-time leading scorer and led WPI to four New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season titles and three NCAA Tournament berths. As an assistant at WPI, Cain was on the bench for six more NCAA Tournament appearances.
 
Adam Stockwell is in his fifth season as the head coach at Hamilton and has guided the Continentals to a 61-46 (.570) record through four-plus seasons. He has taken the Continentals to the quarterfinals of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) twice. Prior to becoming the ninth head coach at Hamilton, Stockwell guided SUNY Oswego and Clarkson University to one NCAA Tournament appearance apiece in seven total seasons as head coach at those schools. He was 37-18 in two seasons at Oswego from 2009-11 after leading Clarkson from 2004-09.
 
SERIES NOTES
UW-Stevens Point has never faced either Keene State or Hamilton.