STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team hits the road to face Edgewood before a stretch of four-straight against ranked foes beginning on Friday in the Dells.
 
THE BASICS
Who: UW-Stevens Point (5-2) at Edgewood (3-6)
When: Thursday, December 21 – 7:00 p.m.
Where: Todd Wehr Edgedome – Madison, Wis.
 
Who: UW-Stevens Point (5-2) vs. No. 3 Augustana (8-1)
When: Friday, December 22 – 7:00 p.m.
Where: Justagame Fieldhouse – Wisconsin Dells, Wis.

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LAST TIME OUT
Junior Brett Tauber (Madison, Wis./Memorial) scored 18 points, one shy of his career-high, as the Pointers completed a sweep of their three-game home stand with a 70-66 victory over St. Thomas on Saturday.  UWSP also got 14 points from Nate Dodge (East Troy, Wis./East Troy) and never trailed in the three home wins.
 
HOME SWEEP HOME
The Pointers swept a three-game home stand with victories over Hope (Dec. 9), Lawrence (Dec. 13) and St. Thomas (Dec. 16) during the longest home stretch of the season.  UWSP led from wire-to-wire in all three games out-scoring the opponents by a combined 35 points.
 
HERE WE GO…
Following UWSP's game at Edgewood on Thursday, the Pointers will face four-consecutive foes ranked in this week's top-13 in the nation.  Friday in Wisconsin Dells, UWSP will play No. 3 Augustana.  Next week, the Pointers tangle with top-ranked Whitman and 13th-ranked Wartburg in Las Vegas in the D3Hoops Classic.  Then on Jan. 3, UWSP opens WIAC play at UW-River Falls, the No. 8 team in this week's poll.
 
SETTING RECORDS
Nate Dodge (East Troy, Wis./East Troy) set the school record with 10 made three-pointers in UWSP's win over Hope on Dec. 9.  He went 10-for-13 from behind the arc and made his last five attempts from long range.  Earlier in the season, he hit eight three-pointers as UWSP set a team single-game record with 22 makes from three-point range in a win at Buena Vista (Nov. 18).
 
DODGE BALL
Dodge is the top scorer in the conference at 18.1 points per game.  In UWSP's first three wins, he averaged 32.3 points.  In the Pointers' win at Buena Vista on Nov. 18, he made eight three-pointers, more than a third of the program record 22 three-point makes in the game.  On Dec. 2, he nearly matched that performance with seven made three-pointers at UW-Superior.  Dodge enters the weekend ranked in the top-11 in the country in both three-point shooting percentage (.577) and three-point field goals per game (4.29).
 
IN THE TOP-10
The Pointers have cooled off from long range lately, but still rank fifth in the country in three-point shooting at 45 percent.  UWSP is fourth in the country in fewest turnovers (70) and fifth in fewest turnovers per game at 10.0.  The Pointers also sit eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.59.
 
SHARING THE ROCK
Led by Mark Nelson (Madison, Wis./Monona Grove)'s 23 assists, the Pointers have gotten an assist from 13 different players this season.  UWSP has 111 assists through seven games and have recorded assists on the highest percentage of made baskets (.613) among WIAC teams.
 
CRASHING THE GLASS
The Pointers have out-rebounded their opponents in six of the first seven games this season.  Tauber has led the Pointers in rebounds five of the seven games this season.  He had a season-high of 10 rebounds versus Hope College (Dec. 8).
 
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UWSP is led in scoring by Dodge at 18.1 PPG, the highest scoring average in the WIAC.  In five games of action this season, MJ Delmore (Wisconsin Dells, Wis./Wisconsin Dells) is second at 10.8 points per contest.  Tauber leads the team with 43 rebounds, topping the squad in both offensive (19) and defensive boards (24).
 
ABOUT EDGEWOOD – Home | Schedule | Roster | Stats
Edgewood enters Thursday's matchup with back-to-back wins in conference play, including its first overtime victory in three seasons.  Senior Travis Kell is one of two scorers in double figures and leads the team at 14.9 points per game.  He also tops the Eagles in rebounds (69), blocked shots (14) and steals (9). Junior Sy Staver has a team-high 28 assists on the season.
 
ABOUT AUGUSTANA - Home | Schedule | Roster | Stats
The Vikings enter Friday's contest with an 8-1 record, the lone blemish a double overtime loss at UW-Oshkosh on Dec. 2.  Junior Chrishawn Orange leads the Vikings in scoring at 16.6 points per game, one of four Augustana players in double figures.  He also tops the team in rebounds (44) and steals (8).  Fellow junior Nolan Ebel, also in double-digit scoring at 14.0 PPG, has a team-best 29 assists on the year. 
 
SERIES HISTORY
UWSP holds the lead in both all-time series against Edgewood and Augustana.  The Pointers have won 24 of 27 meeting with the Eagles.  Last season, UWSP put up 53 first-half points en route to a 95-43 win over Edgewood.  The series lead against the Vikings stands at 4-3 after last season's two-point defeat to Augustana in Stevens Point.
 
THE COACHES
Bob Semling in his 13th 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 267-73, including a 141-34 mark in WIAC play. His .787 career winning percentage entering this season was the third-highest among active Division III coaches and ranks 10th all-time among all divisions for coaches with at least 10 seasons as a head coach.
 
Head coach Justin Meyer is in his sixth year at Edgewood College.  He has a career 45-94 with the Eagles and has guided five players to All-NACC honors during his tenure.  Meyer was an assistant with Edgewood for 11 years prior to becoming the head coach to begin the 2012-13 season.
 
Grey Giovanine is in his 19th season as head coach at Augustana.  He holds a 372-133 record, the all-time winningest coach in school history.  He has twice earned National Coach of the Year honors after leading the Vikings to the National Championship game in 2015 and 2017.  Giovanine has guided Augustana to eight regular season and five tournament championships in the CCIW, the most among active coaches in the league.  Prior to joining the Vikings, he coached at Lamar for six seasons. He also spent time as an assistant coach at both Wichita State and Rice.
 
UP NEXT
The Pointers head to Las Vegas for the D3Hoops Classic on Dec. 28 and 29.  UWSP will face No. 13 Wartburg on Thursday before a clash with top-ranked Whitman on Friday to close out non-conference play.