GAME #5
Academy of Art (2-2) at San Francisco State (0-1)
Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014 – 7 p.m.
San Francisco – The Swamp
LIVE STATS
 
GAME #6
Western Oregon (2-2) at Academy of Art (2-2)
Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014 – 3 p.m.
San Francisco – Kezar Pavilion
LIVE VIDEO/LIVE STATS
 
SAN FRANCISCO — The Academy of Art University men's basketball team is off to its best start in program history and looking to build more preseason momentum this week as it approaches the Pacific West Conference season with two non-conference games in The City.
 
Tuesday the Urban Knights (2-2) travel across town to face San Francisco State (0-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday ART U hosts Western Oregon in its final tune-up for PacWest play with tip at Kezar Pavilion scheduled for 3 p.m.
 
ART U evened its record Friday with a 107-94 win over Simon Fraser, picking up its second win of the year faster than any previous season in its fourth game. The previous mark was in its fifth game in 2010-11.
 
ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO STATE
The Gators (0-1) opened their season Saturday with a 63-41 loss at No. 24 Cal Baptist. Prior to its season opener SFSU played in three NCAA Division I exhibition games, falling to Maryland (86-52), Long Beach State (74-64) and Cal Poly (65-44).
 
San Francisco State returns five letter-winners from last year's team in seniors Bren Haley and Udun Osakue along with sophomores Derrick Brown, Nick Calcaterra and Malik Edwards. Brown was the team's leading scorer at CBU Saturday, scoring 14 on 6-for-14 shooting.
 
All-time Series: San Francisco State leads 2-0
Last Meeting: Nov. 12, 2011, San Francisco State won 93-61 in Chico, Calif. (Chico State).
 
ABOUT WESTERN OREGON
The Wolves (2-2) have two other games during the week at Dixie State (Tuesday) and Cal State Monterey Bay (Friday) before they meet up with the Urban Knights. They split their first four games at two different tournaments, first going 1-1 at the GNAC/PacWest Challenge, then splitting at their own Doubletree by Hilton D2 Shootout last week. WOU is 1-2 so far this season against PacWest Conference teams.
 
Western Oregon has shot 41.4 percent as a team this season while holding opponents to 43.1 percent shooting. Opponents have hit 40.8 percent of their 3-point attempts against the Wolves, though WOU has outrebounded  opponents 150-137 so far. Leading scorer Andy Avgi is averaging 15.3 points per game, one of two double-digit scorers for the Wolves. Julian Nichols and Lewis Thomas both lead the team with 7.5 rebounds per contest.
 
All-time Series: First meeting
 
OFFENSIVE OUTBURST
The Urban Knights set multiple single-game team records in its 107-94 win over Simon Fraser Friday. ART U equaled its highest-ever point total while setting records in field goals made (40) and rebounds (58). The Urban Knights shot 55.6 percent (40-for-72) in the game. Simon Fraser (3-1) shot 41.9 percent, including 35 percent in the second half alone.
 
KULICH STAYING COOL
Junior forward Yanick Kulich has quietly become the Urban Knights' leading scorer through four games this season. Kulich has scored 15 or more points in three games this season, including a season-high 24 Friday versus Simon Fraser. He's also shooting 61.7 percent from the floor, sixth-best in the PacWest.
 
STAYING BUSY
This week's games are the end of a busy portion on the Urban Knights' schedule. ART U is playing four games in 11 days, a stretch that started Wednesday, though all games will be played within the San Francisco city limits. The four games are split between the West Region's other two conferences – two against California Collegiate Athletic Conference teams (UC San Diego, San Francisco State), two against Great Northwest Athletic Conference teams (Simon Fraser, Western Oregon).