Posted: Feb 02, 2016

Storm men return home to host Wartburg on Wednesday

The Simpson men's basketball team looks to get back on the winning track when it hosts Wartburg on Wednesday, Feb. 3 at Cowles Fieldhouse. One game out of first place, the Storm need a win to keep pace with the Iowa Conference frontrunners.

Game Setup
Matchup: Wartburg (11-8, 4-4) at Simpson (12-7, 5-3)
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 3
Time: 8 p.m.
Location: Cowles Fieldhouse - Indianola, Iowa

Live Coverage
Stats: SimpsonAthletics.com
Video: SimpsonAthletics.com

Last Time Out
Andre Norris had 24 points and 17 rebounds as Dubuque beat Simpson 74-60 on Saturday to take sole possession of first place in the Iowa Conference. Sam Amsbaugh had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Storm (12-7, 5-3), who fell into a tie for second place with Loras. Simpson trailed 46-43 with 10:55 to play before Dubuque pulled away with a 14-5 run.

A look at Wartburg
The Knights are 11-8 overall and 4-4 in the Iowa Conference following back-to-back home wins over Coe (93-70) and Buena Vista (88-60). Jordan Cannon leads Wartburg with 14.4 points per game to go along with 4.1 rebounds. He had 17 in the first meeting between the two teams for the Knights, who lead the league in field goal percentage (48.1).

The all-time series
Wednesday marks the 134th meeting in a series that dates back to the 1945-46 season. Simpson is 43-90 all-time against Wartburg, including 2-5 in the last four seasons. Simpson has a chance for a rare regular-season sweep against the Knights, which hasn't happened since 1997-98. Simpson won the first meeting, 80-75 at Wartburg.

TOP 5 STORM STORYLINES

1. Senior comes back from injuries to make impact off the bench
To say Tyler Anderson has had his share of bad luck would be an understatement. The Truman State transfer needed just one season to move into a starting role with the Storm in 2013-14. Then, in the first game of his junior season, Anderson suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. Shortly after he fully recovered, Anderson experienced another setback when he tore his ACL in a summer league. After missing the first 16 games of this season, Anderson came back Jan. 23 against Luther. In the next game, a win at Central, Anderson scored seven points on 2-for-2 shooting. He is averaging eight minutes since coming back.

2. Big man Amsbaugh develops outside game
Crafty forward Sam Amsbaugh brought another dimension to his game by adding the threat of an outside shot. At this point it's no longer just a threat, however. It's downright deadly. After going just 3-for-8 from beyond the arc in his rookie campaign, Amsbaugh is 20-for-41 this season. He's especially shined in the IIAC, shooting a league-high 72.7 percent (16-for-22) from downtown. The new wrinkle not only has allowed him to lead the team in scoring (14.8 ppg), but has opened lanes for drive-first Dillon Gretzky, who's averaging 14.5 per game.

3. Taking care of the ball
A big reason for Simpson's success in 2015-16 has been its ability to committ fewer turnovers than its opponents. Simpson has turned it over fewer times in all but one game this season, its 74-60 loss at Dubuque last Saturday. The Storm own one of the top turnover margins in all of Division III at +4.7, 16th-best in the country and tops in the Iowa Conference. Wartburg is second in turnover margin at +1.9.

4. The Cowles advantage
They say there is no place like home. That couldn't be more true for the Simpson men's basketball team in 2015-16. The Storm are 5-1 in front of the home crowd this season, winning by more than 11 points per game. The offense especially shines at Cowles Fieldhouse. Simpson scores more at home (81.3 points per game compared to 72.2 on the road) and distributes it better too (15.3 assists per game compared to 10.9 on the road). In the second half alone, Simpson is outscoring opponents by 11.6 points per game. Lucky for the Storm, four of the final six games will be contested at the friendly confines.

5. Skaar closing in on a milestone
Simpson's top deep threat over the past two seasons, Ryan Skaar is within reach of a career milestone. The junior enters Wednesday's game against Wartburg seven shy of 100 career 3-pointers. He is looking to become just the seventh player in school history to reach the mark. His 40 3-pointers this season are two shy of a career-high and tied for seventh-most in the Iowa Conference.

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 continues its homestand Saturday, Feb. 6 when Central visits Cowles Fieldhouse.