2019-20 Men's Basketball Notebook - Week 5

LIVE VIDEO / LIVE STATS: Live Video and Live Stats will be available for Tuesday's United Heritage Insurance Mayors' Cup match-up, along with all four games of the Domino's Classic. Live Video will be available through C of I's Stretch Internet Portal with either Mike Safford or Sven Alskog on the call, with Live Stats available through C of I's SIDEARM Stats Portal.

COMPLETE MEDIA GAME NOTES
 
NOTE FOR FANS ON SATURDAY: With C of I hosting a NAIA Football Championship Series playoff game on Saturday, the Activities Center will have limited parking for the early games of the tournament – as the Activities Center parking lot is the designated Tailgate Zone. Parking will be available in the west end of the lot and in the McCain Center lot.
 
GAME TO BE TELEVISED: Tuesday's game will also be televised locally in the Treasure Valley on KTVB Channel 7.2 with Jay Tust and Brian King calling the action. It is the 16th-straight year that the C of I-NNU game will be televised on local television.
 
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.
 
208TH EDITION OF CANYON COUNTY CLASH: Tuesday, the Yotes rekindle the oldest basketball rivalry in the Gem State, hosting Northwest Nazarene in the first of two games of the United Heritage Insurance Mayors' Cup series. The recorded history of the C of I-NNU series began in 1933, with C of I knocking off NNU, 23-16. Statistically, the two teams have met 207 times in men's basketball, with the Coyotes holding a 121-81 advantage in countable games – not including a 1-4 mark in exhibition contests. The Coyotes have had three seven-game win streaks in the series (1952-56, 1960-62. 1984-86), while NNU's seven-game win streak was snapped in 2012.
 
HISTORY IN THE MAYORS' CUP: The United Heritage Insurance Mayors' Cup match-up marks the 11th-straight year that the Canyon County schools will meet in a home-and-home series. The two teams met seven times at the Idaho Center before the rivalry game was moved to campus sites in 2009, with the Yotes picking up wins in 2000 (73-59), 2001 (99-86), 2005 (78-71), 2006 (88-80), and 2007 (60-54), while NNU notched wins in 2004 (78-75) and 2008 (76- 71). C of I holds a 7-3 record in Caldwell since the home-and-home series restarted in 2009, including wins in 6-straight games in the Activities Center, while NNU has a 9-2 record in Nampa – including 5-straight wins.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – NORTHWEST NAZARENE: The Nighthawks (3-0) are off to a quality start, allowing just 66 points per game in their three wins – limiting their three opponents to just 38-percent shooting from the field. Newcomers Ezekiel Alley (14.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and George Reidy (13.3 ppg, 2.7 apg) lead the club in scoring, with returners Sam Roth (11.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg) and Adalberto Diaz (10.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg) providing experience.
 
DOMINO"S CLASSIC RETURNS: For the fifth-straight season, the Yotes will hold two tournaments during the preseason, as CCC-rival Corban, joins C of I in meeting Frontier Conference squads Montana Western and Lewis-Clark State. The Yotes went unbeaten in last season's tournament (defeating Montana Tech and Embry-Riddle) after going 1-1 in 2015 (defeating Montana Tech and losing to Metro State), and in 2016 (defeating Rocky Mountain and losing on a buzzer-beater to Montana Western). Metro State earned the title in 2015, Eastern Oregon claimed the 2016 title, with the Yotes winning the past two titles.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – MONTANA WESTERN: C of I looks for a series sweep of Western, as the Bulldogs (3-2) are coming off a two-week layoff following a loss to Warner Pacific. The duo of James Jones (18.2 ppg, 5.8 apg) and Cedric Boone (16.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg) have been the key to the Dawgs offense, as UMW has made 40-percent of their 3-point shots, averaging 92 points per game on the season.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – LEWIS-CLARK STATE: The tournament closes with a match-up against in-state rival Lewis-Clark State, as the Warriors (6-0) are coming off a season in which they advanced to the semifinals of the NAIA Division I national tournament and open the season ranked in the Top-25. L-C has dominated foes, averaging 94 points a game (while allowing just 60) – making 51-percent of their field goals – and holding a plus-15 rebound margin. Posts Trystan Bradley (12.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and Travis Yenor (11.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg) are key to the Warriors offense, with guards Hodges Bailey (12.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg) Josiah Westbrook (12.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg) and Damek Mitchell (12.0 ppg, 5.2 rpg) all averaging in double-figures.
 
CONFERENCE GAME NEXT YEAR: Lewis-Clark State is in their final season in the Frontier Conference, with the Warriors joining the Cascade Conference in all sports during the 2020-21 campaign.
 
FOURTH TEAM – CORBAN: The fourth team in the tournament is CCC rival Corban, as the Warriors (6-1) head to Idaho on a 6-game win streak – averaging 95 points per game. Newcomer Reece Van Lierop (14.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg) leads the squad in scoring – one of six players in double-figures – with returners Denis Kirichenko (13.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg) and Beau Roggenbach (10.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg) among the group.
 
HOME SWEET HOME: Since the start of the 2013-14 season, the Coyotes have posted a 94-11 record inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center – including a 16-1 home mark last season and a 37-game win streak from 2013-15 – and have a current 7-game home win streak. Since the JAAC opened in 1991, the Yotes are 310-94 all-time in the arena and have posted a 426-103 in home games since 1981-82 (including a 56-game home win streak in the 1980s). C of I averaged over 1,100 fans a game over their opening weekend and have drawn at least 1,000 fans to each of their last nine regular-season home games.
 
TOUGH NIGHT IN NAMPA: Struggles in the Johnson Sports Center continued for the Coyotes, as the Yotes lost for the fifth-straight time on NNU's home court. The Coyotes jumped out to a 23-11 lead in the first eight minutes, making nine of their first 14 shots – but struggled the rest of the way, making a combined 10 of their final 45 shots – scoring just 57 total points in the loss.
 
TRYING TO BREAK OUT OF SHOOTING SLUMP: The Coyotes made a combined 55-percent of their field goals and 47-percent of their 3-point shots in the season-opening trip to Montana – but have struggled from the floor over the past three contest. C of I has made a combined 38-percent of their field goals in the three games and just 21-percent of their shots from outside the arc.
 
SOLID ON THE GLASS: Defense has been stellar for the Yotes, holding opponents to 39-percent shooting from the field, with C of I outrebounding each of their last three opponents by an average of seven boards per game. Three Coyotes are averaging six rebounds or more per game – as Connor Desaulniers is averaging 7.7 boards a night and both Jake Bruner and Ricardo Time averaging six rebounds a game.

UNDER 60 / OVER 95 EQUALS WINS: C of I currently has a 36-game win streak in games where opponents fail to reach 60 points – and a dominating 193-12 mark in such games over the last 40 years. During the same stretch, the Coyotes are 55-2 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 1,009 – 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 are ranked among the Top-60 in the career book, paced by Talon Pinckney, who sits at No. 4 in assists (453), No. 6 in steals (184), No. 16 in field goal attempts (918), No. 18 in field goals made (400) and in points scored (1,099), No. 30 in free throws made (210), No. 31 in 3-point attempts (265), No. 33 in 3-pointers made (89), No. 35 in free throw attempts (274) and No. 41 in blocked shots (24). Nate Bruneel is No. 22 in 3-pointers made (128), No. 26 in 3-point attempts (299), No. 29 in points scored (934), No. 40 in blocked shots (26) and in free throws made (176), No. 43 in free throw attempts (245), No. 45 in field goals made (315), No. 50 in field goal attempts (661) and No. 59 in rebounds (360); Connor Desaulniers is No. 28 in blocked shots (35) and Jake Bruner is No. 35 in blocked shots (29) and No. 57 in rebounds (370).
 
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.
 
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.