Game #24
ART U Urban Knights (8-15, 6-10 PacWest) vs. Holy Names Hawks (8-15, 6-11 PacWest)
Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020 at 7:30 p.m.
Oakland, Calif. – Merritt College 
Live Stats and Live Video
 
Game #25
ART U Urban Knights (7-14, 5-9 PacWest) vs. Hawai'i Hilo (10-11, 8-9 PacWest)
Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020 at 3:30 p.m.
San Rafael, Calif. – Conlan Center
Live Stats and Live Video
 
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
The No. 8 seed Urban Knights finished with a 1-1 record in their two home contests last week, and they now prepare for two home games away from their normal home court of Kezar Pavilion. The battle for the sixth seed in the PacWest tournament remains a thrill ride, as ART U hosts two teams in playoff contention beginning with Holy Names on Thursday from Merritt College. On Saturday, the Urban Knights matchup against No. 6 seed UH Hilo in San Rafael, Calif.
 
TIP-OFF
This week will see one night contest and one matinee, with tip-off against HNU set for 7:30 p.m. while Saturday afternoon will be a 3:30 tip with UH Hilo. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights via the athletics app (Apple App Store, Google Play Store) and on Twitter & Instagram, as well as "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps. 
 
KNIGHT WATCH
ART U was riding a three-game winning streak after a 74-65 win over Fresno Pacific on Campus Safety Night, a game in which junior forward Josh Hill recorded his fourth-straight double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds, and junior guard Stefan Milivojevic poured in a team-high 24 points. Redshirt senior guard Victor Ruiz de Carranza tied a career-high in assists with seven, a mark he did twice last season, with the last time coming on Feb. 12, 2019 against Chaminade. As a team, the Urban Knights totaled 18 assists, their 12th time this season recording at least 15 assists. However, Biola would stop the streak the next time out, sweeping the season series against ART U with a 90-62 victory. Despite the loss, Hill recorded his fifth-straight and eighth double-double of the season by finishing with a game-high in both points (20) and rebounds (11). 
 
Milivojevic continues to climb in the PacWest stats leaders, as he is now averaging 17.0 points per game, good enough for fourth in the conference. Those point totals have come on the strength of 53.7 percent shooting, a clip that is fifth in the PacWest. In 3-point field goal percentage, Milivojevic remains in the top spot in the conference and is ninth in all of NCAA Division II, knocking down 47.7 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. Other Urban Knights that find themselves on the PacWest leaderboards are Hill, Ruiz de Carranza, and junior guard Joshua Bagley. Hill and Ruiz de Carranza are fifth and 11th, respectively, in rebounds per game, with Hill averaging 7.1 per game and Ruiz de Carranza with 6.2 per game. Bagley finds himself the top-10 for assists, coming in eighth with an average of 3.0 per game.

RECORD CHASING
As the season winds down, a few Urban Knights are drawing ever closer to the record books. Milivojevic, already the career 3-point field goal leader with 127, currently finds himself fifth in career scoring with 776 career points, having just passed the mark of 754 points by Uchenna Okeneme (2014-18). Next on the list is fourth place Alexis Moore (2013-15) with 788 career points. A career scoring average of 10.5 points per game would currently make Milivojevic seventh place all-time at ART U, having just passed Jase Harrison (10.4 ppg; 2014-16) and now trailing sixth place Chris Salas (10.9 ppg; 2015-17). Milivojevic's total of 15 buckets last week has him in the top-10 for career field goals made with 264, as he moves into fifth place just ahead of Alexis Moore's clip of 262. In front of Milivojevic in fourth place is Alex Carmon (271; 2012-14), and in third place is Uchenna Okeneme (288). 
 
Milivojevic is also chasing a number of single-season records, beginning with 3-pointers made, as he owns the mark for most 3-pointers in a single season with 61. He was previously tied with Alexis Moore, who set the old record of 57 during the 2013-14 season. Fifth place is where Milivojevic sits for scoring average, as his 17.0 points per game this season trails the 17.2 that Alexis Moore averaged during the 2013-14 season. With 392 total points this year, Milivojevic is No. 10 for scoring in a single season, as he one point behind William Overton Jr.'s 393 points in the 2011-12 season for ninth place. In eighth place is Andrija Blatancic (409; 2018-19) while Ameer Shamsud-din sits in seventh (410; 2012-13). In field goals made in a single season, Milivojevic is now ninth with 137, having moved past the previous 10th place Alex Carmon (122; 2012-13) and ninth place Kendall Brown (131; 2017-18). In front of Milivojevic in eighth is Ameer Shamsud-din (141; 2012-13) and in seventh is William Overton Jr. (147, 2011-12). 
 
Finding himself in second place for rebounds in a career is Ruiz de Carranza, as his total of 329 rebounds trails only Hunter Hayden's 612 (2008-12) in ART U history. Ruiz de Carranza is second to none in career rebounding average, as he is tops on the list with an average of 6.5 rebounds per game for his career (minimum 30 games played).
 
Hill (164), along with Ruiz de Carranza (148), are into the top-10 in rebounds for a single season, as Hill is currently seventh while Ruiz de Carranza is 10th. Hill trails sixth place Hunter Hayden's 167 from the 2008-09 season, and Ruiz de Carranza is behind Hayden's 157 from the 2011-12 campaign. Ruiz de Carranza already appears on that list, as his 181 rebounds in 2018-19 were the second-best single-season mark in ART U history, trailing only his teammate Andrija Blatancic's 202 rebounds from last season. 

RED HAWK-DOWN
While the Hawks of Holy Names are currently in the No. 10 spot in the PacWest, only a half game separates them from ART U in the conference standings. The Hawks have lost their last two times out by a combined four points to stop their previous three-game winning streak, as they dropped a heartbreaker to Concordia by a final of 94-91 before then losing in the final seconds to UH Hilo, 63-62. The leading scorers for HNU are Rob Fuller and Justin Chambers, both of whom are averaging 11.7 points per game. Fuller is the top assist-getter with 4.5 per game, a mark that is second in the PacWest, while Cameron Fini is the top rebounder with an average of 7.3 per game, fourth in the conference. The Urban Knights took the victory the last time out, as they pulled off an 85-76 victory on the road at Tobin Gymnasium. ART U has won the last five games versus Holy Names, and leads the all-time series over the Hawks, 13-5. 
 
VULCANIC VICTORY
The No. 6 seeded Vulcans squeaked out the one-point victory over Holy Names on Monday to put an end to their three-game losing streak, as they had lost all three contests by double-digits to the Urban Knights, Chaminade, and Dominican. That streak trimmed their lead in the coveted sixth spot to just a half-game lead over No. 7 Hawai'i Pacific, and ART U is just behind that at 1.5 games out. The player to watch for on the Vulcans is Kupaa Harrison, who is averaging 18.1 points per game (third in the PacWest) and 7.0 rebounds per game (seventh in the PacWest). The Urban Knights never trailed in the first matchup of the season between the two teams, defeating the Vulcans 76-66 back on Jan. 31. That gives ART U two consecutive wins over UH Hilo, one off of their best winning streak against the Vulcans (Feb. 23, 2012-Jan. 20, 2014). It is a tie in the all-time series between the two teams, with both teams having won and lost eight games. UH Hilo will take on Notre Dame de Namur prior to facing the Urban Knights. 

LOOKING AHEAD
Two of the top three teams in the PacWest await ART U, as ART U will battle against No. 1 Azusa Pacific before going up against No. 3 Concordia.