Sports

Shootout 101: Quick looks at the tournament's 10 Division I teams

Increase your basketball IQ with this quick look at the 10 Division I teams coming to Anchorage this week for the 37th annual Great Alaska Shootout.

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UC-SANTA BARBARA

The Gauchos boast what could be the nation's best-kept secret in Alan Williams.

The 6-foot-9 senior center averaged a double-double last season — 21.3 points and 11.5 rebounds per game -- to help Santa Barbara to a 21-9 record.

Though Williams is the reigning Big West Conference player of the year and appears on a couple of preseason top-player lists, Santa Barbara has two things against it when it comes to gaining the national spotlight -- it's a mid-major school, and it plays on the West Coast, so its games are still going on when nightly highlight packages are being put together on the East Coast.

COLORADO STATE

Larry Eustachy's teams have been money at two previous Shootouts -- in 1998 he coached Iowa State to third place and in 2011 he led Southern Mississippi to the championship game, where it fell to Murray State.

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This time Eustachy comes to town with Colorado State. The Rams have a one-year-only star in Stanton Kidd, a 6-8 senior who sat out last season after transferring from North Carolina Central. Going into a Sunday game against Mercer, Kidd was averaging 17. 5 points and 7.5 rebounds in two games.

Eustachy is in his third year with the Rams, who went to the third round of the NCAA Tournament in 2012-13, Eustachy's first season. They were 16-16 last season.

MERCER

Here's what you need to know about the Mercer Bears:

Mercer 78, Duke 71.

The Bears pulled off one of last season's biggest NCAA Tournament upsets, knocking off Duke in the first round.

But the Mercer coming to the Shootout isn't the same Mercer that busted a bunch of brackets. All five starters are gone from last season's 27-9 team. Nine players return and nine more were added to the roster, a group that includes 6-5 guard Iwe Nwamu, who is averaging 17 points a game.

MISSOURI STATE

Marcus Marshall was last season's Freshman of the Year in the Missouri Valley Conference — the conference that is home to powerhouse Wichita State. And this season, he's looking better than ever.

Marshall poured in 38 points in Missouri State's season opener, the most points scored by a Bear since 1979. Through three games, the 6-3 guard is averaging 26 points. A year ago, he was worth 20 points a game.

PACIFIC

The good news for UAA fans: Pacific has struggled against Seawolves this season. The bad news: Pacific is 1-0 against Seawolves this season.

Pacific and UAA have already played a common opponent this season — Sonoma State, which shares UAA's nickname.

UAA suffered a 74-66 neutral-court loss to Sonoma State on Nov. 14, six days after Pacific beat Sonoma State 83-62 in an exhibition game on the Tigers' home court in Stockton, California. Pacific needed a 29-5 late run to hold off those Seawolves.

RICE OWLS

Nothing like a Smart hiring decision to pump excitement into a program that hasn't gone to the NCAA Tournament since 1970.

Rice snatched away Shaka Smart's top assistant coach when it hired Mike Rhoades, a 42-year-old who helped Smart turn Virginia Commonwealth into a top program and tournament darling.

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Rhoades is already making a splash at the Houston school known as much for its academics as its basketball. Earlier this month he signed three well-regarded recruits, and after getting his first win in a game against Prairie View A&M, a fully-clothed Rhoades celebrated by dunking himself in a cold tub as his players cheered, a moment captured on video.

WASHINGTON STATE

The Cougars won the 2009 Shootout championship, but the title came with an asterisk. That was the year when the tournament shrank to six teams instead of the usual eight.

If Washington State makes another title run, look for an exciting young player named Josh Hawkinson to play a role. Hawkinson, a 6-10 sophomore forward, racked up double-doubles in the first two games this season. In the Cougars' win over Idaho State last week, Hawkinson poured in 26 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.

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BOISE STATE

Anchorage's Keiahnna Engel will no doubt make Boise State a crowd favorite at the Shootout, unless the Broncos are playing the Seawolves. She's also helping to make Boise State a favorite in the Mountain West Conference.

The Broncos return everyone from last season's 18-14 team. Leading the way are players that were named the conference's newcomer of the year (Deanna Weaver) and the freshman of the year (Yaiza Rodriguez Ortego) last season.

A tantalizing thought for UAA fans in the event the Seawolves wind up playing Boise State on Wednesday: In an exhibition game this season, the Broncos pulled out a one-point win over Northwest Nazarene, which plays with UAA in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Northwest Nazarene was picked seventh in the GNAC's preseason poll; UAA was picked second.

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LONG BEACH STATE

Long Beach State was a juggernaut back in the 1980s and early 1990s, an NCAA Tournament regular that twice advanced to the Final Four.

More recently, the tournament has been out of reach for the 49ers, whose 17-15 record last season marked their first winning campaign in nine years. Their 2-1 start this year is their best since 2004.

The 49ers rely on depth and a couple of dependable seniors who are on pace to reach the 1,000-point club -- Alex Sanchez (889 career points) and Lauren Spargo (766). Spargo and sophomore Anna Kim give Long Beach State a pair of dangerous long-range shooters -- Spargo has drained 125 treys during her career, and Kim hits 43.4 percent of her 3-pointers.

YALE

Old school meets new school when Yale and UAA play Tuesday.

Yale, established in 1701, is the third oldest university in the nation. UAA, which opened in 1954, is a baby by comparison.

The Bulldogs themselves are a blend of old and new. Senior Sarah Halejian is a two-time All-Ivy League first-team selection who passed the 1,000-point mark as a junior, and freshman forward Jen Berkowitz has been a smashing success in her first two collegiate games, averaging 16 points and 11 rebounds.

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