LIVE VIDEO / LIVE STATS: Live Video will not be available for either exhibition game in Utah, however, Live Stats can be accessed for the Utah State game through the
USU SIDEARM Stats Portal, however no live coverage of the UVU game will be provided by the host – with in-game updates via the
Coyote Athletics Twitter Feed.
COMPLETE MEDIA GAME NOTES
SEASON TICKETS ON SALE: Renewals for reserved season tickets finished on Oct. 18, with all season tickets (reserved and general admission seats) to go on sale this week. Reserved season tickets for the 2019-20 season are $200, with general admission season tickets $150. Additional plans are available, with all ticket information located at the
C of I Basketball Ticket Portal.
YOTES PICKED SECOND IN CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL, NO. 3 IN THE NAIA POLL: Fresh off their second-straight trip to the NAIA Division II national semifinals, the Coyotes were picked second in the annual Cascade Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll, released by the league office on Oct. 9. C of I, coming of a record-setting 31-6 season, received two first-place votes and 111 voter points from the 11 league coaches - the first time since the 2013-14 season that C of I was not the odds-on favorite in the tabulation. In the Preseason NAIA Division II Top-25 Poll, the Yotes were picked No. 3 for the second-straight year – trailing only defending NAIA champ, Spring Arbor (Mich.) and CCC rival, Oregon Tech.
OFF TO BATTLE DIVISION I TEAMS: C of I steps away from counting games this week, playing consecutive exhibition contests against NCAA Division I foes Utah State and Utah Valley. It is the third-straight year the Yotes have played two Division I exhibition games in a season (Boise State/Gonzaga in 2017, Utah/Montana in 2018) – equaling the most games against D-I teams in a year since 2003-04, when C of I played Nevada, Weber State and Boise State.
HISTORY IN DIVISION I EXHIBITIONS: The two games this week mark the Yotes 13th and 14th exhibition games against D-I squads since the NAIA allowed exhibition games in 2004. The Yotes are 1-11 in non-counters vs. Division I foes – facing Boise State (W 87-66 in 2004-05, L 91-64 in 2005-06, L 73-68 in 2017-18), Idaho State (L 91-80 in 2006-07), Stanford (L 81 -53 in 2007-08), St. Mary's (L 81-43 in 2010-11), Utah (L 72-38 in 2012-13, L 115-74 in 2015-16, L 96-76 in 2018-19), Arizona (L 89-35 in 2016-17), Gonzaga (L 94-58 in 2017-18) and Montana (L 80-52 in 2018-19).
IN EXHIBITIONS: C of I has played 21 total exhibition games against NCAA Division I or II squads, going a combined 6-15 since 2004.
AGAINST DIVISION I TEAMS: Outside of the 12 exhibition games, C of I has played 149 counting games against current NCAA Division I teams (the last a 69-54 loss at Weber State in 2004-05), posting an all-time record of 55-94 against the current D-I members (including multiple wins over Boise State, Sacramento State, Idaho State, Nevada, Seattle U. and Weber State). The last counting victory against a D-I team came during the 2002-03 season, a 72-68 win at Idaho State.
THE LAST TWO D-I WINS: C of I's first-ever exhibition game was arguably their biggest, as the Yotes dominated a Boise State team that featured future professional players in Coby Karl, Jermaine Blackburn and Jason Ellis, winning 87-66 in the 2004-05 season opener. Dan McFaul led the Coyotes with 24 points, as the NAIA squad led by as many as 37 points in the second half against a Broncos team that was coming off a quarterfinal appearance in the NIT. C of I's most recent counting victory against a Division I opponent was during the 2002-03 season, defeating Idaho State in the Bengals season opener, 72-68 – which was played at a neutral site at American Falls High. Eric Hare led the Yotes with 15 points, with C of I making 7-of-8 free throws in the final two minutes to complete the stunner. The 2002- 03 team won the CCC Tournament title and advanced to the second-round of the NAIA Championships, while the 2004-05 squad reached the CCC finals and qualified for the NAIA Championships.
RANKED NCAA DIVISION I TEAMS: Wednesday game at No. 17 Utah State marks the fourth against a Top-25 Division I team – as the Yotes faced No. 10 Arizona in 2016, No. 17 Gonzaga in 2017 and No. 21 Utah in 2015.
OPPONENT PREVIEW – UTAH STATE: C of I tangles Wednesday with Utah State, the defending Mountain West Conference champion and the unanimous preseason league favorite. The No. 17 ranked Aggies are coming off a 28-7 season, losing to Washington in the first-round of the NCAA National Tournament in Columbus, Ohio. USU is led by MWC Player of the Year and All-America candidate Sam Merrill (20.9 ppg, 4.2 apg), a 6-foot-5 combo-guard, along with 7-foot All-MWC center Neemias Queta (11.8 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 84 blocks) – part of a team that averaged nearly nine more rebounds than their opponents. The two teams have not met since 1939 – a 60-35 USU victory.
OPPONENT PREVIEW – UTAH VALLEY: Friday, the Yotes make the drive south to Orem for their first-ever meeting with Utah Valley – with the Wolverines debuting new head coach, Mark Madsen. UVU had a quality 2018-19 season, going 25-10, advancing to the second-round of the College Basketball Invitational, but lost 4-of-5 starters to graduation. 6-foot-7 guard Isaiah White (8.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg) is the top returning scorer, with the Wolverines looking for big things from Oklahoma State transfer Brandon Averette. In addition, former C of I assistant, Michael Johnson, serves as the Director of Basketball Operations for UVU.
SEASON OPENING STREAK EXTENDED: With their win on Friday against Montana Western, the Yotes extended their win streak in season openers to six – the longest in program history. C of I improved to 47-39 in season openers, dating back to 1933.
RARE WINS IN MONTANA: Friday's win snapped a 7-game losing streak in the Treasure State, dating back to 2006 and was just the fourth time the Coyotes have swept back to back games in Montana. C of I is now a combined 17-37 all-time in games in Montana.
HOT SHOOTING NIGHT: The Coyotes opened the season with a quality 89-80 victory over Montana Western – making over 70-percent of their field goal attempts in the first half, finishing the night at 61-percent – the 38th time in program history a C of I team made 60-percent of their shots or better from the field.
BRUNEEL OPENS SEASON WITH BIG GAMES: Three-year starting guard
Nate Bruneel opening his senior season with back-to-back big outings averaging 18 points and 4.5 rebounds in the two victories. Bruneel made 7-of-9 field goal attempts – including all six of his 2-point shots – in the win over Western, following it up with 21 points vs. Tech, his seventh career game with 20-or-more points.
MILES-WILLIAMS HAS CAREER WEEKEND: The new season saw an expanded role for
Ivory Miles-Williams, as the combo-guard recorded career-high in minutes played and points scored in Montana. The junior scored a team-high 17 points in Friday's win – making 7-of-10 from the field – adding 15 points and five rebounds in the Saturday victory. Miles-Williams played a combined 51 minutes in the two games with the 26 minutes against Western surpassing his career-high of 21 minutes played vs. Southern Oregon in 2018-19.
WADSWORTH KEY IN THE CLUTCH: C of I struggled from the foul line against Western – making eight of their first 21 attempts – allowing the Bulldogs to inch back into the contest. Enter back-up point-guard
Derek Wadsworth, who calmly make 6-straight free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal the victory. The sophomore averaged 10 points in the two games – including 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range – while making all eight of his free throw attempts.
NEWCOMERS DEBUT: Four Coyotes saw action in the Purple and Gold for the first time – providing key minutes in the two wins. Transfer guard
Ricardo Time got the start at the 2-guard position, averaging 13 points and 5.5 rebounds in the two games, while fellow transfer
Otto Taylor scored two points, adding three rebounds and two assists. True freshman
Charles Elzie III scored eight points off the bench vs. Western, while redshirt frosh
Braydon West canned a 3-pointer in both victories.
AROUND THE CCC: Cascade Conference teams started their seasons with quality results – as both Eastern Oregon and Walla Walla went 2-0 at the Quinn Classic in La Grande, with Northwest and Corban sweeping matches at the Corban Tip-Off and Warner Pacific sweeping a pair of games against Vancouver Island. Northwest Christian split home games – losing in overtime to Lewis-Clark State and defeating Portland Bible – while Multnomah lost a road match-up at Cal Maritime, before their game vs. UC-Merced was canceled due to wildfires in the Bay Area. Eight conference teams will be in action this week, including the season debuts for Oregon Tech, Southern Oregon and Evergreen.
UNDER 60 / OVER 95 EQUALS WINS: C of I will take a 35-game win streak into the 2019-20 season in games where opponents fail to reach 60 points – and a dominating 192-12 mark in such games over the last 40 years. During the same stretch, the Coyotes are 54-2 when opponents fail to score 50. In addition, the Yotes have won 44 of their last 45 contests (dating back to 2006) when scoring 95 points in a game.
SPEAKING OF 3-POINTERS: Since college basketball adopted the 3-point line at the start of the 1986-87 season, the Coyotes have made a 3-pointer in every game but one – a loss to Idaho State during the U.S. Bank Tip-Off Tournament at Boise State on Dec. 2, 1988. Since then, C of I has run a string of games with a trey to 1,006 – one of four programs (Kentucky, UNLV and CCC rival Corban) which have made a 3-pointer in over 1,000-or-more straight games.
RECORD BOOK: Four Yotes begin 2019-20 ranked among the Top-60 in the career book, paced by
Talon Pinckney, who sits at No. 4 in assists (443), No. 6 in steals (181), No. 16 in field goal attempts (899), No. 18 in field goals made (392), No. 20 in points scored (1,067), No. 31 in free throws made (197), No. 32 in 3-point attempts (256), No. 35 in free throw attempts (260), No. 36 in 3-pointers made (86) and No. 41 in blocked shots (24).
Nate Bruneel is No. 22 in 3-pointers made (126), No. 27 in 3-point attempts (286), No. 30 in points scored (905), No. 41 in blocked shots (24), No. 44 in free throws made (169, No. 49 in field goals made (305) and free throw attempts (235), No. 58 in field goal attempts (637) and No. 59 in rebounds (350);
Connor Desaulniers is No. 30 in blocked shots (34) and
Jake Bruner is No. 17 in blocked shots (45) and No. 60 in rebounds (349).
LAST YEAR OF THE NAIA DIVISION II: The 2019-20 season will be the final season with the NAIA sponsoring two divisions, as the association will return to a single division for the first time since the 1991-92 season. Beginning in 2020-21, the new-look national tournament will feature 64 teams playing at 16 Opening Round sites, with the 16 Opening Round champions advancing to the Final Site of the NAIA Championships in Kansas City, Mo.
