Men's Basketball | 2/5/2021 9:49:00 PM

Written by Jordyn Daggs-Olson, BVU Sports Info Student Intern

STORM LAKE, Iowa?(February 5, 2021) – The Buena Vista University men's basketball team has a full weekend with two road games. The Beavers will travel to Decorah, Iowa, to play Luther College on Saturday, February 6 in hopes of improving their conference record. On Sunday, BVU goes to River Forest, Illinois to face Concordia University-Chicago in a non-conference matchup. Below is a breakdown of both road games. 

THE MATCH-UPS 
Who: Buena Vista (3-1, A-R-C 3-1) vs Luther College (0-0, A-R-C 0-0) 
When: Saturday, February 6 | 2:00 PM  
Where: Decorah, Iowa 

Who: Buena Vista (3-1, A-R-C 3-1) vs. Concordia University-Chicago (0-4, NACC 0-2) 
When: Sunday: Sunday, February 7 | 1:00 PM 
Where: River Forest, Ill. 

MEDIA LINKS 
Luther Video:?https://portal.stretchinternet.com/luther/
Luther Stats:?https://portal.stretchinternet.com/luther/

Concordia Video: https://www.youtube.com/cucsports
Concordia Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cuchicago/mbball/

SERIES HISTORY (LUTHER) 
Saturday's game between the Beavers and the Norse will be the 159th all-time meeting for the two programs. Luther holds the series 71-87. Last season's series split as BVU won 77-54 at home in January, followed by a road loss in Decorah 87-81. The year before was a record-setting for the game for the Beavers as they made 20 3-pointers in a 96-83 road victory that snapped a 5-game losing skid.  

Last 5 Match-Ups 
2/1/20 ?Luther 87, ?Buena Vista 81 ? Decorah, Iowa 

1/4/20 ?Buena Vista 77, ?Luther 54 ?Storm Lake, Iowa 

1/ 27/19 ?Buena Vista 96, ?Luther 83 ?Decorah, Iowa 

1/5/19 ?Buena Vista 89, ?Luther 81? Storm Lake, Iowa 

2/17/18  Buena Vista 71, ?Luther 70 ?Decorah, Iowa? 

ABOUT THE NORSE 

Saturday's game will be Luther's official first game of the season and in conference play. They traveled to Simpson College to face the Storm in an exhibition game back on January 16. The Norse ended up falling short as Simpson won 77-70. Leading scorers in that game for Luther were Aaron Blumberg with 19 points and three made from behind the arc. Two other Norse players finished in double-digits: Mitchell Schmieder (15) and Cole Peters (10). Luther went 8-21 from long range and shot 48.1 percent for field goals and 63.2 percent from the free throw line.  

LAST MEETING (CONCORDIA) 

BVU and Concordia as non-conference opponents have had few matchups. The last meeting was back in the 2017-18 season when the Beavers clinched a road victory over the Cougars with a final score 98-65.  

ABOUT THE COUGARS 
Concordia-Chicago is looking for its first win of the season after four straight losses. The Cougars are averaging just under 54 ppg, led by Jordan Matthews and Emanuel Wilson who average 14.3 and 12.3ppg, respectively. They are currently 33.2 percent from the field and just 21.5 percent in 3-point shooting. On the defense side, Izak Ruddell has seven steals and four blocks on the season along with an average of four rebounds per game.  

LAST TIME OUT FOR BVU 
The Beavers bounced back from their loss to Loras last Monday, defeating four-time A-R-C champions Nebraska Wesleyan 76-64 on Wednesday night in Siebens Fieldhouse. BVU quickly put themselves in the lead with a 19-9 lead midway through the first half and an additional six three pointers to go into halftime up 45-28. The Prairie Wolves charged in hopes for a comeback, cutting a 20-point lead down to 14 with six minutes left to play. The Beavers held on and sealed their victory despite Nebraska Wesleyan's efforts. Freshman Zane Neubaum continues to perform well for BVU as he led the team with 18 points, a career-high 4 three-pointers and 10 rebounds for this first double-double. Seniors Joe Lind and Michael Demers were also double-digit scorers for the Beavers as they each put up 10 points. BVU went 44.8 percent from the field and were 10-of-30 from beyond the arc.  

BEAVER NOTES 
– Team leads A-R-C in made three-pointers, averaging nearly 12 per game (11.5) 
– Michael Demers (.917) and Garrett Sittner (.833) in A-R-C top 5 for free throw percentage 

– Zane Neubaum is second in A-R-C for field goal percentage (.684)? 
– Three BVU players rank in conference Top-10 in 3-point shooting (Neubaum, Sittner and Santich) 

UP NEXT 
The Beavers will return to Siebens Fieldhouse to host undefeated Dubuque on Wednesday, February 10. Tip-off is set for 5:30 PM. Continue to check back to www.bvuathletics.com for additional schedule updates. 
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