GAME #22
ART U (3-18, 1-10 PWC) vs. Dominican (6-15, 5-5 PWC)
February 7, 2012 at 7:30 PM
San Rafael, CA -- Clonan Rec Center
Live Audio

GAME #23
ART U (3-18, 1-10 PWC) vs. Dixie State College (15-4, 10-1 PWC)
February 11, 2012 at 7:30 PM MST (6:30 PST)
St. George, UT -- Burns Arena
Live Stats
Live Audio

GAME #24
ART U (3-18, 1-10 PWC) vs. Grand Canyon (12-7, 6-5 PWC)
February 13, 2012 at 6:30 PM MST (5:30 PST)
Phoenix, AZ -- Antelope Arena
Live Stats
Live Audio


TIPPING OFF
The Urban Knights faced their two local rivals this past week, and dropped both contests in what proved to be two hard-fought battles that came down to the final minutes. Ameer Shamsud-din scored 16 points against Dominican, and then 24 against Notre Dame de Namur in a contest that ended in an overtime buzzer-beater in favor of the Argonauts.

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION
Shamsud-din made his seventh PacWest Top 10 Honor Roll this week, and is now ranked second in the PacWest in scoring average, while holding down the first-place spot for total points (344). He has also shown an impressive improvement in his free-throw shooting game since the turning of the calendar to 2012. In the first half of the season (before Jan. 1), Shamsud-din was shooting only 57% from the charity stripe, but since then has shot 87% to rank as one of the top free-throw shooters in conference play.

MELTING THE ICEBOX
Academy of Art will invade the Clonan Rec Center and match up again with the Penguins of Dominican. This comes a week after a loss that had the Knights only allowing the top scorer for Dominican to rack up 15 points. The Penguins went on to defeat NDNU later that week in another close game, and have pulled to a .500 record in the PacWest, thanks in part to Jacob Noisat, who has led them in scoring in four of the past five games.

HAYD-ERS GONNA HATE
Hunter Hayden had another double-double last week against NDNU, the fifth of his career, and will most likely play his 100th game as an Urban Knight on this three-game swing. Hayden is the career leader in many categories, having surpassed the 2000 minute mark earlier this season. He is now closing in on a monumental achievement, as he is creeping up on becoming the first player in Academy of Art history with 600 points and 600 rebounds. Hayden currently has 588 points and 579 rebounds, and the distinction is one of a prominent dual threat around the basket.

DIXIE'S COLE SEEING DEAD RED
Dixie State is in first place in the PacWest and have won eight in a row heading into this week. They're led by senior guard Maurice Cole, who was named as the PacWest Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks after averaging 11.3 points, 6.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 52.0% (13 for 25) from the floor. The Red Storm defended first place twice against Chaminade and BYU-Hawaii and stayed on top of the conference. Cole (13.3), Griffon Jones (13.4), and McKay Massey (10.4) are all averaging over 10.0 points per game in conference play.

SHOOTING UP THE CHARTS
Shamsud-din, point guard Czar Robotham, and swingman William Overton, Jr. have all seen their statistics get better as the season has gone on. Shamsud-din, as mentioned, is among the league leaders in scoring, and is one of the deadliest marksmen in program history from long range. Robotham has seen a huge increase in his scoring output, more than doubling his numbers from last year, and in assists, where he ranks second in the PacWest in average and first in total dishes. And Overton has become the ART U scoring leader in only his second season as an Urban Knight.

UP TO SPEED
Grand Canyon's Kyle Speed has led the Lopes in scoring almost all season, finishing with the top mark in points in nine of their 19 games. Speed is averaging 13.8 points per game (14.1 during PacWest play) and is on the floor much more than any other GCU player, averaging over 30.0 minutes per game, almost sevenn minutes more than the next highest total. Speed also leads the team with 2.8 assists per game.

WHAT'S ON TAP
After the three-game road trip, the Urban Knights return back to Kezar Pavilion to finish off the season with a four-game homestand, starting off with a matchup with Hawaii Pacific on February 21st. The Knights defeated HPU 76-68 back on January 16 in Hawaii.