BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's basketball team returns home this week to take on Seattle Pacific on Thursday and Montana State Billings on Saturday.

 

The Vikings are 13-9 overall and in 7th place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings at 5-6. WWU is coming off a two-week road trip in which they went 1-3, dropping close contests against Northwest Nazarene and No. 7 Saint Martin's, falling against Central Washington and beating Western Oregon. The Vikings got back in the win column in their last game vs. Western Oregon (78-62) for their first road win in conference play this season. For the season Western leads the GNAC and ranks 6th in NCAA II averaging 91.3 points per game

 

The games this week feature a rivalry matchup against SPU (Thursday, 7 pm) and a face-off with GNAC leaders MSUB (Saturday, 7 pm). WWU is 7-2 in home games this season on WECU Court in Carver Gym and 2-5 on the road.

 

Tickets are available online via wwuvikings.com/Tickets and the Carver Gym Box Office opens one hour prior to tip-off for all games. Free parking is available on campus in the 19G lot for general fans and season ticket holders can park in 9G with their dedicated pass. More info at wwuvikings.com/Parking.

 

In addition to its high scoring output with six 100-point games this season, the Vikings lead the conference and rank No. 16 nationally with a 49.5-percent field goal percentage. Western is also one of the top three-point shooting teams in the nation with 37.9-percent accuracy from beyond the arc.

 

The Vikings are led by GNAC leading scorer Kai Johnson, who tops the league averaging 22.2 points per game to rank No. 9 in NCAA II. Johnson has scored in double-digits in all 22 games this season and paces the league with 15 games with 20-or-more points. Junior Will Wilson is 6th in the GNAC averaging 15.0 points per game and senior Jonathan Ned is 15th averaging 13.2 points per game. Junior forward Nic Welp is the team leader in rebounding averaging 7.6 rebounds per game (5th in the GNAC) and is coming off his fifth double-double of the season, a 17 point-12 rebound player-of-the-game performance against Western Oregon.

 

 

The Vikings return home to Carver Gym and WECU Court to play four of their final seven games of the 2024-24 regular season. WWU is 7-2 in Carver Gym this season with a 4-1 mark in conference games. 

 

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

 

 

WWU junior Kai Johnson is having a breakout season as a leading candidate for GNAC Player of the Year and All-America honors. Through the first 22 games of the season, Kai has scored in double-digits in all 22 games with a conference-best 15 games with 20-or-more points. Heading into this weekend's games, Johnson leads the GNAC and ranks 9th in NCAA Division II averaging 22.2 points per game. In addition to his prolific scoring, Johnson is amongst conference leaders in several statistical categories including 8th with a .534 field goal percentage (165-for-309), 4th in assists averaging 3.3 per game, 6th in steals (1.5/game), 6th in three-point shooting (.419/31-for-74) and 7th in the GNAC playing in an average of 32.0 minutes per game. 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.

 

 

WWU will hold its second WECU Night of the 2023-24 basketball season this Thursday when the Vikings host Seattle Pacific. To celebrate WECU's partnership with WWU Athletics, credit union members will receive up to four free tickets to watch the Vikings take on the Falcons. WECU members will need to redeem their free tickets at the WWU Ticket Office (opens at 6 pm) by showing their WECU card. Additionally, the first 250 fans through the doors in Carver Gym will receive a limited edition WWU Viking bobblehead courtesy of WECU.

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

 

·         Seattle Pacific: The Falcons defeated the Vikings in their first matchup this season 89-74 in Seattle …the Vikings and Falcons split last year's series with each team winning on the road … WWU and SPU have split the last two seasons with each team racking up wins on the road … SPU leads the all-time series 89-58.

·         Montana State Billings: The Yellowjackets won the first matchup of the series this year 97-84 in 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 25-13 … the Vikings are 15-4 against MSUB in Carver Gym, with all four MSUB victories coming since 2016.

 

Thanks to a partnership with WECU and The Foundation for WWU & Alumni, all current WWU students will receive free admission to all regular-season athletic events in Carver Gym and at Harrington Field. Students just need to show their W card at the door and then head over to the WECU Student Section to cheer on the Viks. Parking for all WWU home events in Carver Gym is also free and now located in the 19G Lot by the Student Recreation Center. Season ticket parking will be in the 9G lot. A parking map is available at wwuvikings.com.

 

WWU's conference games this week at Saint Martin's and Western Oregon 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: Saint Martin's 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 Kai Johnson is currently at 995 career points in his collegiate career. Johnson, in his third year as Viking, has averaged 12.9 points per game for his career (77 games), with a national top-10 mark of 22.2 points per game so far this year. Through the first 22 games of the season, Kai has scored in double-digits in all 22 games with a conference-best 15 games with 20-or-more points. Johnson has the opportunity during Thursday's game in Carver Gym to become just the 28th player in WWU men's basketball history to score 1,000 points as a Viking. The last member of the men's basketball program to reach 1,000 points was D'Angelo Minnis, who reached the milestone on February 9, 2023. Here is a look at the all-time 1,000-point scorers in program history:

 

 

The Vikings are 3rd in the GNAC and rank in the top 50 nationally shooting 37.9-percent from three-point range, connecting on 187-of-494 shots from beyond the arc. Redshirt freshman guard Tijan Saine leads the GNAC shooting 44.9-percent from long distance (31-69), and junior guard Will Wilson is 3rd on the conference leaderboard at 43.4-percent (36-83). WWU has made at least five three-pointers in 20 of 22 games this season and has a string of at least one three-pointer made in 355 consecutive games dating back to the start of the 2011-12 season.

 

Junior forward Nic Welp has posted a team-leading five double-doubles this season. Welp is averaging 9.6 points and a team-best 7.5 rebounds per game while starting 21 of 22 contests. He is also shooting 53.6-percent from the field (75-140) to rank 7th in the conference.

 

Parking for all WWU home events in Carver Gym is free and now located in the 19G Lot by the Student Recreation Center. Season ticket parking will be in the 9G lot. A parking map is available at wwuvikings.com.

 

Senior forward Jonathan Ned leads the Vikings and is 5th in the GNAC averaging 1.6 steals per game. In 21 games Ned has recorded 33 steals. WWU is sixth in the GNAC averaging 7.4 steals per game.

 

The Vikings lead the GNAC and rank 6th in NCAA II averaging 91.3 points per game. WWU has reached the 100-point mark six times this season, including six in the last 15 games. The Vikings have scored at least 90 points in 10 of 22 games. Here is a look at the top 10 scoring teams in NCAA II heading into this weekend's games:

 

 

Here is an updated look at the 2023-24 GNAC Men's Basketball standings heading into this week's action. The top six teams in the conference standings at the end of the regular season will qualify for the GNAC Championships held March 7-9 in Ellensburg:

 

 

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

 

 

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 210-112 record (.652) 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 210-112 in his 11 seasons (12 years) since taking over in 2012-13, a .652 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 1,556 all-time victories.