COMING UP: vs. Eastern Oregon, Thursday, 7 p.m.; NAIA Selection Show, March 4, 7 p.m. (CT)
COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTES
BROADCAST INFORMATION: Thursday's game with Eastern Oregon will be broadcast live on the
Yotes Digital Network with Mike Safford calling the action.
STRANGE WITHOUT THE YOTE FAM: The J.A. Albertson Activities Center is arguably one of the toughest venues in all of NAIA Basketball – but have been silent this season, as fans have been prohibited due to precautions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the start of the 2013-14, season, the Coyotes have posted a staggering 110-12 overall record on their home floor – including an 18-1 record at home last 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 330-98 all-time record – with the mark ballooning to 446-107 when accounting the previous decade at O'Connor Fieldhouse.
NAIA TOURNAMENT – CAN THE YOTES GET IN: After winning the past three Cascade Conference Tournament titles, the Coyotes passed the torch in 2021 to in-state rival, Lewis-Clark State, as the Warriors swept the best-of-three series to determine the league's bid to the NAIA Championships. LCSC received one of 36 automatic bids to the 48-team tournament, with 11 at-large bids to be determine – for the first time, by a selection committee. Instead of using the final Top-25 poll to determine the remaining teams in the field, a committee will work off multiple metrics – including strength of schedule, RPI and six regional ARC ratings. If the Yotes point high enough in the metric equation, they will earn one of the at-large bids, which will be announced on March 4.
FORGET THE D-I GAMES: Take out five games vs. NCAA Division I teams, the Yotes have posted a 7-4 record this season – with three of the four losses against Top-25 teams (two losses to Lewis-Clark State, one loss to William Jessup), with three of their wins against Top-25 teams (two wins over Whitworth, one win over William Jessup).
FEWEST GAMES IN A SEASON: The Coyotes have played 16 games so far this season heading into this week's game vs. Eastern Oregon. The fewest games played by a C of I team since the end of World War II was in 1945-46, when the Yotes played 19 games (going 2-17). The Coyotes played a total of 10 games combined from 1943-45, while from 1919-36, C of I never played more than 15 countable games – though the team added multiple games against local "town" teams (American Legion, Police Departments and Fire Departments)
POSTSEASON STREAK CONTINUES: The Coyotes qualified for their 23rd-straight postseason berth in 2020-21 and their 38th playoff appearance in the last 39 years. C of I has an 89-54 all-time playoff record, including a 35-19 mark in the CCC Championships. The Coyotes have qualified for 23 NAIA National Tournaments, making four-straight trips to the NAIA Championships. C of I has played 61 all-time postseason games at home (between Kirkpatrick Gym, O'Connor Fieldhouse and the Activities Center), posting a 51-10 all-time record.
NON-CON AFTER POSTSEASON: With the CCC Tournament completed, the Yotes will play a rare non-conference game in the interim (between the conference and potential national tournament). The last time the Coyotes have played a non-league game in this scenario was in 1958, defeating Northwest Nazarene 65-64 following the District II Tournament.
LONGEST CONTINUOUS RIVALRY TO CONTINUE: Thursday's game with Eastern Oregon will extend C of I's longest continuous basketball rivalry – as the Yotes and Mountaineers have met every season since the 1968-69 season – a stretch of 52-straight years. The two teams met every year from 1932-43, 1946-53 and 1956-65 – only missing games during World War II, during the 1953-54 and 1954-55 seasons, and during the 1966-67 and 1967-68 seasons. The 189 meetings between the rivals separated by 150 miles ranks second all-time for C of I (behind their rivalry with Northwest Nazarene), with the Coyotes holding a 120-69 series lead – including 8-straight wins.
ABOUT EASTERN OREGON: The Yotes close out February with a non-conference match-up vs. Eastern Oregon, the first non-conference, non-postseason match-up between the rivals since 1990. The Mountaineers (1-0) were picked to finish fifth in the initial CCC preseason poll and are coming off a 2019-20 season in which they advanced to the CCC Tournament semifinals – losing to the Yotes, 84-57. EOU must replace four of their top-five scorers from last season, while a fifth, former All-American Max McCullough (19.6 ppg), did not play in their opener vs. Multnomah. Zane Wright (5.4 ppg, 1.7 rpg) led the team with 20 points in the 96-80 win, with Gonzaga transfer Paul Pennington recording 19 points and 11 assists.
TIME DOUBLES UP: Senior
Ricardo Time has been a force for the Coyotes on both ends of the floor this season, averaging nearly 14 points per game and six rebounds a contest. In the CCC playoffs vs. LCSC, the guard averaged 14 points and nine rebounds in the two games – scoring a team-best 18 points in Thursday's game in Lewiston, while recording his second double-double of his career (10 points, 10 rebounds) in Sunday's loss. Time has posted 31 double-digit scoring games as a Coyote, but has also added 10 games with 8-or-more rebounds
ELZIE HAS CAREER NIGHT: C of I got a career night from point-guard
Charles Elzie in their upset-bid at Lewis-Clark State on Thursday. The sophomore scored 16 points in the narrow loss, converting 6-of-10 field goals, including a pair of 3-point shots. Elzie added five assists, his fifth game of the year with 5-or-more assists, with his 50 assists on the season tops on the team – while making both free throws in Lewiston, increasing his free throw percentage to 87-percent.
WILSON LOGS SEASON HIGH: It has been a learning season for 7-foot post
Paul Wilson, returning to the court after using a redshirt year in 2019-20. The freshman has been instrumental over the past two weeks, averaging nine points and five rebounds in the four games – playing an average of 15 minutes a night. Wilson has been efficient, making 15-of 25 field goal attempts (60-percent) and has converted 23 of his last 33 attempts from the field (.697 percent).
WADSWORTH KEY DOWN THE STRETCH: The Yotes have received key production from
Derek Wadsworth in the last five games, as the junior has posted three double-digit scoring nights and averaged 10.1 points per game during the stretch. After starting the first six games of the season, Wadsworth has been in a reserve role since – however, he has seen his playing time increase – playing at least 20 minutes in all 10 games, equaling a career-high with his 15-point effort on Sunday vs. LCSC.
TAYLOR SEES INCREASED ROLE: After playing in just 22 total minutes during the first 12 games of the season, the Yotes have turned to senior
Otto Taylor as one of the first players off the bench. The guard, who scored a season-best 18 points on Feb. 13 vs. Multnomah, averaged 17 minutes a game in the series with LCSC – including scoring five points, with four rebounds, in the road loss on Thursday night.
RECORD BOOK: Four Yotes rank among the Top-50 in C of I's career record book, as
Connor Desaulniers is No. 8 in blocked shots (86) and No. 20 in rebounds (527);
Ricardo Time is No. 27 in 3-pointers made (105) and No. 32 in 3-point attempts (263);
Derek Wadsworth is No. 40 in 3-pointers attempted (227) and No. 41 in 3-pointers made (78); with
Ivory Miles-Williams No. 34 in games played (94).
CCC RETURNS TO PLAY: The Cascade Conference had its Return to Play Protocol signed off by the State of Oregon, allowing the league to proceed with a limited spring season. Oregon Tech, Bushnell, Corban, Multnomah, Warner Pacific, Eastern Oregon and Northwest will compete in a 12-game schedule – with four teams (MU, WPU, EOU and NU) all having played games earlier this month.
ALL-CCC TEAM: The CCC will announce a 5-player All-CCC team (comprised of C of I and LCSC players) next Tuesday – which will be voted on by a panel of three coaches from the CCC teams who did not play during the winter.
NAIA CHANGES NATIONAL TOURNAMENT STRUCTURE DUE TO COVID: The 2020-21 season marks the first time since 1991 that the NAIA will operate with just one division in basketball – combining the Division I and Division II leagues. The association will operate with an eight scholarship maximum (three less than the Division I used previously, but two more than the Division II allowed). However, the original plans for the NAIA Championships have been scrapped due to COVID-19, as the original field has been downsized from 64 to 48 teams – with 34 automatic bids and 14 at-large bids available. The size of the field at the Final Site in Kansas City will remain at 16, however, instead of 16 Opening Round venues with four teams each, there will be eight Opening Round venues with two 3-team pods at each. The 3-team pods will feature two games – the No. 2 seed meeting the No. 3 seed, with the winner playing the No. 1 seed to determine the national bid. Eight sites have been selected for the Opening Round – Crestview Hills (Ky.), Lewiston (Idaho), Marion (Ind.), Montgomery (Ala.), Omaha (Neb.), Park City (Kan.), Wichita (Kan.) and Alexandria (La.).
AROUND THE NAIA: The 21 leagues in the NAIA have begun their conference tournaments, with the games culminating on March 2 to determine the 36 automatic bids to the national championships. Currently, 13 teams have punched their ticket to the tournament – Faulkner (Ala.), Warner (Fla.), Olivet Nazarene (Ill.), St. Ambrose (Iowa), Shawnee State (Ohio), Indiana Wesleyan, Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas), Morningside (Iowa), William Penn (Iowa) and Bethel (Kan.) – along with three West Coast teams (Lewis-Clark State, Arizona Christian, Vanguard).
3-POINT STREAK: 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 1,054 – one of six programs (UNLV – 1,123, Duke – 1,111, CCC rival, Corban – 1,092, Arkansas – 1,068 and Western Kentucky – 1,060) which have made a 3-pointer in over 1,050-or-more straight games.
UNDER 60 POINTS / OVER 95 POINTS: C of I currently has a 48-game win streak in games where opponents fail to reach 60 points – and a dominating 205-12 mark in such games over the last 41 years. During the same stretch, the Coyotes are 58-2 when opponents fail to score 50. In addition, the Yotes have won 48 of their last 49 contests (dating back to 2006) when scoring 95 points per game.
