Game #22
ART U Urban Knights (7-14, 5-9 PacWest) vs. Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (7-14, 5-10 PacWest)
Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020 at 7:30 p.m.
San Francisco – Kezar Pavilion 
Live Stats and Live Video
 
Game #23
ART U Urban Knights (7-14, 5-9 PacWest) vs. Biola Eagles (12-9, 8-7 PacWest)
Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020 at 3:30 p.m.
San Francisco – Kezar Pavilion
Live Stats and Live Video
 
THE HUNT IS ON
The Urban Knights return home from Hawai'i with a pair of victories in three games on the islands, putting them back in the thick of the postseason hunt for a spot in the Pacific West Conference tournament. This week will we see ART U try to defend home court against Fresno Pacific on Campus Safety Night, and take on Biola on Saturday. 

 
TIP-OFF
Fresno Pacific is up first, as tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. on Campus Safety Night, a night to recognize all the work done by Campus Safety, SFPD, and SFFD. It will also be a blackout rally towel giveaway night, where all fans in attendance will receive a black ART U rally towel, and one lucky fan in attendance will even have the chance to win $50,000 in a halftime contest. The week closes with an afternoon matinee against Biola on Saturday. 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 is just a game and a half out of the sixth seed in the PacWest, but finds themselves in ninth overall. Helping lead the Urban Knights to the two victories in Hawai'i was junior forward Josh Hill, who recorded his fourth, fifth, and sixth double-doubles of the season in three consecutive games. Hill tied a season-high 19 points to go with 10 rebounds, and junior guard Stefan Milivojevic also dropped 19 points, but both efforts came in defeat, as Chaminade would take the 90-75 victory. The two would again pace the team in a 74-59 win over Hawai'i Pacific, as Milivojevic poured in a game-high 24 points while Hill contributed 12 points and 12 boards. ART U as a whole was moving the ball well that night, totaling 20 assists, their most in a game this season, and their most since they had 20 assists on Feb. 10, 2019, also coming in a game against HPU. Totaling four assists apiece in the game were senior guard Victor Ruiz de Carranza, senior guard Nemanja Kovacevic, and junior guard Joshua Bagley, it was also the second straight game with four assists for Ruiz de Carranza. ART U never trailed in their final game of the trip, as they turned a seven-point halftime lead into a 76-66 victory over UH Hilo. Five Urban Knights scored in double-figures, led by Hill with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Ruiz de Carranza with 11 points and 12 boards. Together the team shot 59.3 percent from the floor in the first half, and would finish at 55.1 percent shooting for the game. Junior guard Dante Williams also finished with 12 points, while Ruiz de Carranza had a game-high 5 assists, finishing with 14 assists for the week, the most in the PacWest. 
 
With his PacWest-leading 54 points last week, Milivojevic is now fourth in scoring in the conference, averaging 16.8 points per game. Those totals have come on 55 percent shooting from the field, marking Milivojevic fifth in the conference. His 2.7 3-pointers per game is second in the PacWest, but his 49.6 percent 3-point percentage is first in the conference and fifth in all of the nation. In eighth place in rebounding is Hill, now averaging 6.6 boards per game. Also in the top-15 in rebounding is Ruiz de Carranza, as he averages 6.2 rebounds per game. When it comes to assists, Bagley comes in at seventh with an average of 3.2 per game. 

RECORD CHASING
As the season winds down, a few Urban Knights are drawing ever closer to the record books, beginning with Milivojevic. Already the career 3-point field goal leader with 123, Milivojevic currently finds himself sixth in career scoring with 736 career points, having just passed the mark of 704 points by Herman Pratt (2013-17). Next on the list is Uchenna Okeneme (2014-18) with 754 career points. A career scoring average of 10.2 points per game would currently make Milivojevic eighth place all-time at ART U, having just passed Czar Robotham (9.3 ppg; 2010-13) and now trailing seventh place Jase Harrison (10.4 ppg; 2014-16). Milivojevic's hot shooting in Hawai'i has also put him into the top-10 for career field goals made with 249, as he moves ahead of Hunter Hayden (235; 2008-12) for eighth place. Just ahead of Milivojevic in seventh place is Herman Pratt (254; 2013-17), and in sixth is Aaron Anderson (257; 2011-15). 
 
Milivojevic is also chasing a number of single-season records, beginning with 3-pointers made, as he is tied for the best single season mark of 57 3-pointers with Alexis Moore, who also made 57 during the 2013-14 season. Fifth place is where Milivojevic sits for scoring average, as his 16.8 points per game this season trails the 17.2 that Alexis Moore averaged during the 2013-14 season. It's a tie for 10th place for field goals made in a single season, as Milivojevic and Alex Carmon (2012-13) each have 122, while Kendall Brown (2017-18) comes in ninth place with 131. With 352 total points this year, Milivojevic is just outside the top 10 for scoring in a single season, as he looks up the list at Alex Carmon in 10th place (371; 2012-13) and William Overton Jr. in ninth place (393; 2011-12). 
 
Finding himself in second place for rebounds in a career is Ruiz de Carranza, as his total of 315 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 6.4 rebounds per game for his career.
 
Hill (139), along with Ruiz de Carranza (134), are chasing down the top-10 in rebounds for a single season, as they each look up at Jonathan Burnett (2009-10) and Kendall Brown (2017-18) who are tied for 10th place with 143 rebounds in a single season. 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.
 
Shootout With The Sunbirds
It will be a battle of the 7-14 teams when Academy of Art takes on Fresno Pacific. ART U finds itself a half-game ahead of FPU in the standings, so this will be a crucial game when it comes to the postseason hunt. Last time out, the Sunbirds notched the three-point victory over Dominican, stopping a three-game slide that saw losses against HPU in overtime 82-76, Point Loma, and a three-point loss to Notre Dame de Namur. While Fresno Pacific has one of the top-six offenses in the conference, averaging 74.3 points per game, its defense ranks 11th, allowing an average of 77.3 points per game. Aamondae Coleman is the scoring leader for FPU, averaging 17.7 points per game on 53.4 percent shooting, marking him third in the PacWest in scoring and sixth in shooting percentage. Coleman is also the leading rebounder with 5.4 boards per game, while Adrian Antunez averages 2.6 assists and 15.2 points per game on 56.6 percent shooting (third in the conference). FPU leads ART U in the all-time series, 8-4.
 
TITLE BIOLA
The fifth place Biola Eagles come into the matchup having lost two straight, and four of their past six, after losing by double-digits to both #23 Point Loma and #9 Azusa Pacific. The losses put Biola just one game up on the sixth seed Vulcans, and are now two games behind fourth seed Concordia. Both the offense and defense for BU rank fifth in the PacWest, as they score an average of 75.8 points per game while allowing just 72.3 points per game, making them one of five teams in the conference with a plus scoring margin at +2.8. Marquise Mosley (16.0) and Michael Bagatourian (15.1) are the top scorers, both averaging over 15 points per game. They rank sixth and eighth in the conference for scoring, respectively, and Alex Wright is the top rebounder for the Eagles by pulling down an average of 8.1 boards per game. Mosley tops the team in assists, averaging four per game, fifth in the PacWest. The all-time series between BU and ART U is even at 2-2, but the Urban Knights will look for revenge, as the Eagles got the win last time out on Jan. 11, 75-67. 

LOOKING AHEAD
The Urban Knights will continue its postseason push at home next week, as the Urban Knights will host cross-bay rivals Holy Names on Feb. 13 before the Vulcans of UH Hilo come into town on Feb. 15.