PREVIEW: Men's Basketball vs. Schreiner University (1/20) | Trinity University (1/22)
MULTIMEDIA COVERAGE
(Schreiner University 1/20)
(Trinity University 1/22)
SOCIAL MEDIA
Dallas Twitter: @UDallasSports
Men's Basketball Twitter: @UDallasMBB
Facebook: University of Dallas Athletics
Instagram: udallassports
OPENING TIP
The University of Dallas men's basketball team is back home at the Maher Center for a pair of Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) games on Friday and Sunday. Dallas plays Schreiner University around 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Trinity University around 2 p.m. on Sunday. Both tip-offs follow the women's basketball game each day.
Dallas enters 5-9 overall and 0-5 against SCAC teams. The Crusaders have dropped the past four games – all to conference teams. UD is 3-2 at the friendly confines, with both setbacks most recently coming in this slide. The Crusaders most recent game was a 97-81 loss at Centenary College.
UD NOTES
- Two players are tied at 12.4 points-per-game (ppg) with Darrius Colvin (Waco, Texas) and Prince Giadolor (Rockwall, Texas) holding that mark. Michael Sarrat (Colleyville, Texas) is right behind at a 12.3-clip.
- The trio are within one point of each other with Colvin at 174, Giadolor at 173, and Sarrat at 172.
- Tom Kaiser (Nashville, Tenn.) completes the quartet of double-digit scorers with 10.6 ppg. He remains atop the SCAC in field goal percentage at 75.8 mark. He also leads the squad in blocked shots with 18. His 78 rebounds are second on the team.
- Colvin continues to rank first on UD with 91 boards. That surpasses the sophomore's career-best his rookie campaign by one. His 13 blocks match a personal best and rank him second on UD. Colvin has a team-high 12 double-digit scoring performances, including the past five contests.
- Giadolor had achieve 10 games with double figures and had a seven-game streak snapped last weekend at Austin College. At home he is shooting 52.4 percent (33-63) and perfect from three (4-4). He has six made treys overall. He also has 55 rebounds and is second on team with 59 assists.
- Lorenzo Gonzalez (San Antonio, Texas) leads the team in assists with 64 and steals with 28. His 4.6 dimes per game rank him 3rd in SCAC.
- As a team, Dallas ranks second in the league in assists (235) and steals (115).
A LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS
(Schreiner University)
The Mountaineers enter with a 6-9 record and 3-1 SCAC mark. Their last game resulted in a 77-72 victory at Southwestern University. This was on the heels of a two-point loss at Texas Lutheran University (74-72) to split a current four-game road trip. Schreiner is 2-5 on opponent courts and 2-7 away from the home confines. Since the calendar flipped to 2017, SU has won three-of-four.
Schreiner leads the conference in three-point field goal percentage (38.5). Three players are pacing the offense in double figures with Jared Thompson (13.0 ppg), Keenan Gumbs (12.5), and Wes Miller (10.0). In addition to that trio, Blake Kelley (14.5) and Phillip Kee (10.3) make up five players averaging double-digits in conference play. Thomas is 30-for-64 (46.9%) from downtown to rank 2nd in SCAC. Kelley leads the boards with 80. Nathan Robbins has 48 assists.
Dallas is 7-8 in the all-time series against the Mountaineers. The squads each won at their home venue in 2015-16. In Irving, the Crusaders prevailed 71-55 in the widest margin win against a conference team that year. Sarrat led with 17 points. Kaiser and Gonzalez added 11 and 10, respectively.
(Trinity University)
The Tigers are 7-8 overall and 2-2 in conference. They fell last Saturday at Texas Lutheran University 80-70. Trinity will play at Colorado College on Friday before wrapping up a four-game road stint at the Maher Center. TU is 2-4 on opponent courts and 3-5 away from the friendly confines.
Danny Rivara headlines the top three Tiger scorers above 10 ppg with 15.1 mark (212 points). Matt Jones follows with 11.5 ppg and A.J. Pulliam completes the unit with 10.7 ppg. Jayden Holden and Brooks Mays each have 129 total points to rank tied for third on the team for that column. Pulliam is third in scoring average but has played and started nine of the team's 15 contests. Rivara also is the top rebounder on the team with 113. His 8.1 per game ranks 2nd in SCAC. Jones has delivered 72 assists and swiped 33 steals to carry the Tigers. Rivara is the only player with at least three blocks with 16.
Overall, UD is 6-35 versus Trinity University. The Crusaders have won past three-of-four meetings against the Tigers, including two at the Maher Center. The victory in 2014-15 snapped a 23-game losing streak dating back to Jan. 5, 1995. The past four games have resulted with more success. Last season at home, UD triumphed 77-70. Colvin scored 20 points, which remains a career-most. He did match that mark a few weeks ago against Rhodes College. Sarrat added 18 points behind four treys and Giadolor had 13 points. Trinity was led by Pulliam with 17 points.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The teams will get another look at each other next weekend as the venues flip. On January 27, Dallas will be at Schreiner (7:30 p.m.) and then at Trinity (6 p.m.) the next day to conclude the month.