BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The tough start to the 2024 portion of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule for the Western Washington University men's basketball team continues this week with road games at first-place Montana State Billings and rival Seattle Pacific.

 

The Vikings carry a 10-4 overall record and 2-1 GNAC mark into the road games this week, crossing the conference footprint playing Thursday at MSUB (5:15 pm MT/4:15 pm PT) and returning to Washington on Saturday taking on SPU (4:15 pm).

 

WWU is in fourth place in conference standings with a 2-1 record and is coming off a home split defeating Western Oregon (82-68) and falling to nationally-ranked Saint Martin's (112-105).

 

Western features one of the highest scoring offenses in the nation leading the GNAC and ranking 5th in NCAA II averaging 95.6 points per game. The Vikings have reached the 100-point mark in five of its last seven games.

 

Junior guard Kai Johnson leads the conference averaging 21.7 points per game, followed by junior guard Will Wilson with 16.5 points per game (4th in GNAC) and senior forward Jonathan Ned at 13.4 points per game (8th in GNAC). Junior forward Nic Welp leads the team and ranks fifth in the GNAC averaging 7.2 rebounds per game and has recorded four double-doubles.

 

Thursday's game at MSUB features a pair of regionally-ranked teams, with WWU listed No. 7 in the West Region and the Yellowjackets at No. 10. MSUB is 10-4 overall and off to a perfect 4-0 start in GNAC play, earning the conference Team of the Week award last week.

 

 

Junior guard Kai Johnson has picked up right where he left off last season, currently leading the GNAC in scoring averaging 21.7 points per game to rank 13th in NCAA II. Johnson is coming off a 31-point effort vs. Saint Martin's, his second 30-point performance of the season. He has scored in double-digits in all 14 games this season and has recorded nine games with 20+ points. In addition to pacing the league in scoring, Johnson has been filling up the stat sheet dishing out 3.9 assists per game (3rd in GNAC), recording 1.6 steals per game (T-4th in GNAC), ranking in the top 10 in blocked shots (0.9 per game) and steals (1.6 per game), and shooting at a .551 clip (9th in GNAC). Last season Johnson averaged 12.9 points (11th), 5.3 rebounds (11th), 3.0 assists (7th) and 0.7 blocked shots (16th) to earn Second Team All-GNAC honors.

 

Here is a look at the series history between WWU and opponents this week:

 

·         MSU Billings: The Yellowjackets swept last year's series winning 80-76 in Bellingham and 80-75 in Billings, taking the games by a combined nine points…WWU leads the all-time series 25-12 with a 10-7 record in Alterowitz Gym.

·         Seattle Pacific: The Vikings and Falcons split last year's series with each team winning on the road…WWU won 72-67 in Seattle and the Falcons prevailed 90-73 in Bellingham…WWU and SPU have split the last two seasons with each team racking up wins on the road…SPU leads the all-time series 88-58.

 

WWU returns to Carver Gym next week hosting Alaska Anchorage (Thursday, Jan. 18) and Alaska Fairbanks (Saturday, Jan. 20) in GNAC contests on WECU Court with both games featuring a 7 pm tip-off. The complete 2023-24 WWU men's basketball schedule can be viewed online at WWUVikings.com/23-24_MBB.

 

WWU's conference games this week at MSUB and SPU will feature live webcasts on YouTube provided by the host school. All live links are available at wwuvikings.com/Live. All home games during the 2023-24 season will stream live on YouTube via Vikings TV and every away GNAC game contest will feature a webcast on YouTube produced by the visiting team. To watch WWU home matches on your Smart TV, navigate to the YouTube application and search for WWU Athletics, or for away games search for the opposing school's YouTube channel (example: MSUB Athletics). All WWU links to follow the Vikings online can be found online, but be sure to bookmark the following links for easy access:

 

·         Vikings TV (WWU home matches)

·         GNAC Live Streams

·         Direct Link to watch WWU games (wwuvikings.com/MBB_Watch)

·         Direct Link to follow WWU games via live stats (wwuvikings.com/MBB_Stats)

 

Junior guard Will Wilson is second on the team and ranks fourth in the GNAC averaging 16.5 points per game. Wilson, a transfer from Mt. Hood Community College, has scored in double-digits in 11 of 13 games, with four 20-point games. Wilson is also averaging 4.2 rebounds per game while shooting 49.7-percent from the field (77-for-155).

 

Here is a look at the Vikings record breakdown for the 2023-24 season:

 

 

The Vikings lead the GNAC and rank 5th in NCAA II averaging 95.6 points per game. WWU has reached the 100-point mark five times this season, including five in the last seven games. The Vikings have scored at least 90 points in eight of 14 games. Here is a look at the top 10 scoring teams in NCAA II heading into this weekend's games:

 

 

The Vikings lead the GNAC and rank in the top 15 nationally shooting 40.1-percent from three-point range, connecting on 133-of-332 shots from beyond the arc. Junior guard Will Wilson ranks fourth in the GNAC shooting 46.6-percent from long distance (27-for-58), with redshirt freshman Tijan Saine (.457/21-for-46) also ranking in the top 10 in the conference at No. 6.

 

Junior forward Nic Welp is tied for the GNAC lead with four double-doubles this season. Welp is averaging 10.5 points and a team-best 7.2 rebounds per game while starting 13 of 14 contests. He is also shooting 57.5-percent from the field (50-for-87) to rank sixth in the conference.

 

Senior forward Jonathan Ned leads the Vikings and is 2nd in the GNAC averaging 2.0 steals per game. In 13 games Ned has recorded 26 steals, trailing only the 32 steals by Northwest Nazarene junior guard Tru Allen. WWU is tied for second in the GNAC averaging 8.0 steals per game.

 

The Vikings enter the week ranked No. 7 in the D2CSC (College Sports Communicators) West Region poll with 20 points:

 

 

Here is an updated look at the 2023-24 GNAC Men's Basketball standings heading into the third week of conference play, with the Vikings at 2-1 to open league play:

 

 

Here is a game-by-game look at the 2023-24 season heading into this week's GNAC action:

 

 

Senior forward Jonathan Ned has reached the 1,000 point milestone for his collegiate career spanning three different schools. Ned began his collegiate journey in the junior college ranks scoring 612 points in 63 games for East Florida State College. After two seasons at the University of Georgia (23 points in 14 games), Ned landed in Bellingham where he has scored 451 points in 41 games (11.0 points/game), including 13.4 points per game this season.

 

The Vikings will have a trio of team captains for the 2023-24 season, with junior guard Kai Johnson, sophomore forward BJ Kolly and senior guard Darius Gary serving as the team leadership.

 

Head coach Tony Dominguez is in his 12th season at the helm of the program, and 29th overall at WWU. Dominguez has led the Vikings to a 207-107 record (.659) and was the 2016-17 GNAC Coach of the Year. He is assisted by AJ Albritton (3rd season), Bob Hofstetter (11th season) and Atiavo Jude (11th season).

 

WWU head coach Tony Dominguez recorded his 200th career head coaching victory at the helm of the Vikings with the 81-58 victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills on November 10 in Arcata, California. Dominguez is 207-107 in his 11 seasons (12 years) since taking over in 2012-13, a .659 winning percentage. He has been associated with WWU Basketball for nearly the last 30 seasons.

 

One of the premier basketball programs in NCAA Division II, WWU has recorded a 20-win season in eight of the last 12 seasons. WWU is a six-time Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion and has appeared in the NCAA II Elite 8 three times. The Vikings won the 2012 NCAA Division II National Championship and advanced the following season to the NCAA II Final Four. Western has 20-win seasons in three of the last five years (and seven of 10) and won the 2020 GNAC Championships Tournament. WWU is amongst the top 15 winningest Division II programs with its 1,553 all-time victories.