COMING UP: at Montana Tech Fall Classic (Butte, Mont.) – vs. Montana Tech, Friday, 7 p.m.; vs. No. 10 Carroll, Saturday, 5 p.m.
COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
TICKET / FAN PROTOCOLS: Montana Tech's HPER Complex does not have any COVID-19 restrictions for the 2021-22 basketball season. Tickets are $8.00 for general admission ($12.00 for reserved seating) and can be purchased at the door on game day.
LIVE LINKS: Both C of I games at the Montana Tech Tip-Off will be broadcast live on
Tech's YouTube Channel. Live Stats for both games are expected to be available through the
NAIA's PrestoStats Portal.
OFF TO MONTANA: The Coyotes return to action this weekend, traveling to Butte, Mont., for the Montana Tech Fall Classic - meeting longstanding NAIA rivals in Montana Tech and Carroll. It is the 14th time since 1958 that C of I has opened their road schedule in the Treasure State, posting an 8-17 record. C of I completed sweeps in Montana to open a season in 1988 (wins at Western and Carroll), in 2003 (wins at Tech and Western), in 2019 (wins vs. Western and Tech in Butte) and defeating Tech last season in Dillon. C of I split games in 1987 (winning at Tech, losing at Western). The Yotes dropped both games in 1971, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1992, 2010, 2012 and 2013.
HISTORY IN BIG SKY COUNTRY: C of I has played 55 games in Montana, posting an all-time record of 18-37 in the Treasure State. The Yotes have a winning record against one foe (1-0 vs. Providence), while they have lost their only game on the home floors of Montana, Montana State and MSU-Billings. C of I is 3-7 all-time at Carroll, 5-6 all-time at Montana Tech and 6-15 all-time at Montana Western.
OPPONENT PREVIEW – MONTANA TECH: The trip to Silver Bow County opens against host Montana Tech, as the Orediggers (3-1) are coming off a 13-11 season in 2020-21. Tech is averaging 78.5 points per game – with their lone loss in the season opener against Eastern Oregon. All-Frontier Conference picks Taylor England (13.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg) and Sindou Diallo (10.5 ppg, 3.8 apg, 3.5 rpg) return, with 6-foot-7 Montana State transfer Caleb Bellach (14.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg) the Diggers leading scorer. The Yotes have a 9-game win streak over Tech dating back to 2012 and have not lost on the Orediggers home floor since 1992.
OPPONENT PREVIEW – CARROLL: Saturday is a Top-25 match-up, as the Yotes meet tenth-ranked Carroll, the first time they have met the Fighting Saints (5-0) since 2013. The defending national quarterfinalists are unbeaten – including wins over Eastern Oregon, Warner Pacific and Whitworth – using a plus-16 rebound margin and a stellar 45-percent clip from outside the arc to their advantage. Frontier Conference Preseason Player of the Year, Jovan Sljivancanin (18.4 ppg, 13.8 rpg) has been dominant this season, as has shooting guard Shamrock Campbell (18.8 ppg, 2.8 apg) – who has made over 52-percent of his 3-point attempts. Forwards Ifeanyi Okeke (11.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and Brendan Temple (9.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg) are also tough match-ups. The winner will break a 16-16 stalemate in the all-time series.
COYOTES START 2-0: In the 102 years of Coyote basketball as a 4-year institution, C of I has opened the campaign with two consecutive wins 32-times – but just five times since 2007. The 2014-15 team recorded the longest opening win streak – 11 games, with the 1983-84 team winning 9-straight games to start the season.
DEFENSE THE KEY: Playing in front of the home crowd for the first time in 20 months, the Coyote defense was the story, limiting both opponents in the Taco Bell Shoot-Out to just 60 points. Coming off a season where C of I opponents scored at least 66 points in all 17 games, the Yotes limited Rocky Mountain and Park-Gilbert to a combined 37-percent shooting clip, while outrebounding both teams by seven boards. It was the fewest points the Coyotes have allowed in a game since a 67-49 win over Northwestern (Iowa) in the first-round of the 2020 NAIA Championships.
WELCOME BACK IVORY: Point-forward
Ivory Miles-Williams made a triumphant return to the line-up after missing the final 15 games of 2020-21 due to injury. The fifth-year player averaged 7.5 points over 15 minutes of action between the two games and currently is tied for the Cascade Conference lead in field goal percentage, converting 7-of-9 shot attempts.
TIME FOR SUPER-SENIOR YEAR: C of I graduate,
Ricardo Time, is back for a third-season, taking advantage of an extra year of eligibility due to COVID. The guard started quickly, canning two early 3-pointers in the win over Rocky Mountain and finished the weekend averaging 10 points and 5.5 rebounds in the two games. Time also led the Yotes at the free throw line, converting 6-of-7 attempts.
BIG DEBUT WEEKEND FOR WYMAN: The C of I coaching staff knew that true freshman
Drew Wyman had the ability to make an immediate impact – and the Montana native did so in his first weekend with the squad. Wyman led the Coyotes with 13 points against Rocky, converting a tough inside basket to help seal the victory. He finished the weekend averaging 10 points and seven rebounds – leading the team with three 3-point baskets.
AT THE POINT: Two players shared the point-guard role – as both
Charles Elzie and
Caden Handran had success. Elzie had a big game vs. Rocky, scoring eight points with seven assists and a career-best five steals, while Handran played 19 minutes vs. Park, scoring three points, with three assists, two steals and six rebounds.
ROBINETT HAS CAREER DAY: A key to the Yotes win over Park-Gilbert was the play of
Tyler Robinett, as the second-year player led the team with a career-high 12 points. Robinett made 5-of-8 field goals, including a 3-pointer in the victory, adding two assists and a steal. It marked his third-career double-digit scoring game, having tallied 11 points last season vs. Eastern Washington and Portland.
BLOCK PARTY: Last season, the Yotes posted just 48 blocked shots in the 17 games – less than three blocks per game. Things were different at the Taco Bell Shoot-Out, as C of I combined for 11 blocks in the two games – with post
Paul Wilson leading the way with four swats in the win over Rocky Mountain. Wilson finished the weekend with five blocks and ranked third on the team with 13 total rebounds.
O'NEIL DOUBLES UP: Picking up right where he left off in 2020-21,
Jake O'Neil posted his fifth career double-double in the win over Rocky Mountain, posting 11 points and 11 rebounds. The second-year Coyote led the team with 16 total rebounds on the weekend and ranks among the Top-10 on the CCC rebounding charts after the first two weekend of play.
WADSWORTH KEY LATE: When the Coyotes needed a basket late against Park-Gilbert, they turned to veteran guard
Derek Wadsworth, who came up clutch in the 67-60 win. Wadsworth canned a big 3-pointer to stem a Park rally and added two crucial free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.
YOTES PICKED SECOND BY CCC COACHES: C of I was selected second overall in the 2021-22 Cascade Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll, released last week by the league office. The Yotes, who have won 20-straight CCC games and were the 2019-20 regular-season and conference champions, received 127 voter points and two first-place votes from the 12 league coaches. Oregon Tech claimed five first-place votes and grabbed the top spot with 135 points, Lewis-Clark State, which won the Best-of-3 series with C of I to claim an automatic bid to the 2021 NAIA Championships, was third with 125 points and spring season champ Corban was ranked fourth (108). C of I has won the past three CCC Tournament titles and have won four regular-season and five tournament titles since 2014. The Yotes are coming off a shortened 2020-21 season where they posted an 8-9 record, with eight of the losses against either Division I or ranked opponents.
CCC BACK TO FULL STRENGTH: After a season that saw just two teams compete in the full regular-season (C of I and Lewis-Clark State), seven teams compete in a spring season (Bushnell, Corban, Eastern Oregon, Multnomah, Oregon Tech, Southern Oregon, Warner Pacific), one team play a limited schedule (Northwest) and two teams opt-out completely (Evergreen, Walla Walla), the Cascade Conference is back to full strength. The CCC will compete as a 12-team league for the first time, with each team playing a 22-game conference schedule – a double round-robin slate against every team. The regular-season and conference tournament champions will earn automatic bids into the 64-team NAIA National Tournament.
AROUND THE LEAGUE: A total of 11 of the 12 teams in the CCC have opened their season, with three teams – C of I, Corban and Lewis-Clark State still unbeaten. Both C of I and Corban swept Rocky Mountain and Park-Gilbert, while LC posted two lopsided wins over Yellowstone Christian and a win over Northwest Indian. Eastern Oregon is 3-1, including impressive wins over Montana Tech and Montana Western and Warner Pacific has a road win at Rocky. Three teams – Oregon Tech, Southern Oregon and Bushnell – are all 0-2, dropping contests to Golden State Athletic Conference teams.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: The J.A. Albertson Activities Center is arguably one of the toughest venues in all of NAIA Basketball, as the Coyotes have posted a staggering 117-15 overall record on their home floor since the start of the 2013-14 season – averaging over 1,450 fans per game, tops among all small college teams in the Northwest. Since the Activities Center opened in 1991, the Yotes have recorded a 333-98 all-time record – with the mark ballooning to 449-107 when accounting the previous decade at O'Connor Fieldhouse.
RECORD BOOK: Three C of I players are ranked in the Top-50 of the career record book – as
Ricardo Time ranks No. 27 in 3-pointers made (107) and No. 31 in 3-point attempts (274),
Derek Wadsworth is No. 33 in 3-point attempts (241), No. 38 in 3-pointers made (85) and No. 47 in games played (85), with
Ivory Miles-Williams No. 32 in games played (96).
COMING UP: C of I returns to the Activities Center to start a 6-game homestand, beginning next Wednesday with the United Heritage Insurance Mayors' Cup match-up vs. rival Northwest Nazarene. The Yotes will also host the Domino's Classic, along with the CCC opener vs. Eastern Oregon and a return date with Montana Tech, before hitting the road.
