Men's basketball set for St. Mary's, Monmouth
The games: The Simpson men's basketball team goes to Winona, Minn. to face St. Mary's on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 3 p.m. The Storm then return home to host Monmouth (Ill.) on Monday, Dec. 21. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.
Live coverage: Saturday's game will be broadcast live on KNIA 1320 AM/95.3 FM or heard online at www.kniakrls.com. Veteran broadcaster Rick Wilson will have the call. St. Mary's will also provide a video stream and live stats on www.stmaryssports.com. Live stats and video will also be available for Monday's home game against Monmouth.
Saturday at St. Mary's - Audio | Video
Monday vs. Monmouth - Video | Stats
A look at St. Mary's: The Cardinals are 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the MIAC following a 71-48 loss to Carleton on Wednesday. Prior to that, St. Mary's had won two in row, beating Macalester 85-70 on Dec. 5 and Augsburg 68-65 on Dec. 9. Connor Kaiser leads the team in scoring with 15 ppg but was held to a season-low eight points in the loss to Carleton. 6-foot-5 big man Will Swiggum averages 8.3 ppg and 8.1 rpg.
The teams have met only once on the hardwood, a 70-57 St. Mary's win during the 1965-66 season.
A look at Monmouth: The Scots are 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the Midwest Conference following a 142-135 win over Grinnell on Dec. 8. Monmouth will play Beloit in MWC action Saturday. Reigning MWC co-Player of the Week Riley Blea leads the team with 17.3 ppg following a season-high 32 on 11-for-11 shooting in the win over Grinnell. Will Jones averages 16.3 ppg and 8.4 rpg and put up a triple double against Grinnell with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Monday's game marks the fifth in the all-time series and the first since 1974-75. The teams have split the previous four meetings, three of which took place from 1907-1909. The Scots won the last meeting 65-60.
Last time out: Simpson played Division I Neb.-Omaha in an exhibition contest Wednesday, falling 81-71. The Storm trailed by as much as 28 but outscored the Mavericks 46-30 in the second half. Ryan Skaar went 6-for-8 from 3-point range to lead the Storm with 18 points. Jamie Montgomery scored 12 off the bench, hitting four 3s.
IIAC leaders: The Storm feature a pair of players currently at the top of the Iowa Conference in two statistical categories. Point guard Austin Turner leads the league with a 3.2 assist-to-turnover ratio and Ryan Skaar leads the way in 3-point percentage, hitting 51.7 from beyond the arc.
Gretzky does it all: Senior Dillon Gretzky is in the midst of a career season, leading the team in scoring and rebounding. The 6-2 guard is averaging 15.4 ppg and pulling down 6.9 rpg. He has scored in double figures in each of the last five games and is shooting nearly 50 percent from the field.
Gretzky named IIAC Player of the Week: Dillon Gretzky became Simpson's first IIAC Player of the Week in 2015-16 when he earned the award for the period ending Nov. 29. He led the Storm to a 3-0 week, averaging 20.7 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 58.8 percent from the field. Gretzky made the game-winner with 0.4 seconds left in a 69-67 win over previously unbeaten Wittenberg in the title game of the Rhodes Thanksgiving Tournament.
The coach: Brad Bjorkgren is in his first season as head coach of the Storm. The Simpson alum coached Urbandale High School for 27 seasons, winning nearly 400 games, nine conference championships and appearing in seven Class 4A State Tournaments.
Up next: Simpson goes to the Dubuque Jon Davison Classic on Dec. 29-30. The Storm will play Mt. Mercy on Tuesday at 3 p.m. and Illinois Tech on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
