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News
News
BULLDOGS OVERPOWERED BY DIVISION I SOUTH DAKOTA; FALL 78-56
Friday, December 19, 2008
A year ago, the University of Minnesota Duluth men's basketball team was battling the University of South Dakota in the North Central Conference.
But when the NCC was dismissed, the Coyotes moved up to the Division I ranks, as the Bulldogs found out exactly why Friday night.
Host South Dakota used their pure size and strength to overpower visiting UMD 78-56 in a non-conference match up of the former rivals, before a packed-house of 1,085 rowdy fans at the DakotaDome in Vermillion, S.D.
The long bus trip seemed to affect the Bulldogs (8-5 overall; 3-1 NSIC), as they came out of gates slow, falling behind the Coyotes (6-5) high-powered offense from the opening tip. Just five minutes into the ball game, UMD found themselves trailing 15-6. The game then went back-and-forth for next seven minutes, until South Dakota scored 16 of the last 23 points to close out the half.
Though the Coyotes had a stellar night on the offensive side of things in the first half - shooting 52 percent (14-of-27) from the floor - their defense was nothing short of impressive, as they held the Bulldogs to just 29 percent (10-of-34) shooting from the field in the first half, as UMD walked into the locker room down 41-23 at the break.
The second frame didn't get any easier for the Bulldogs, as South Dakota didn't let their lead slip below 14 points throughout the entire half. Though UMD was only outscored by a total of four points in the second half, they shot just 38 percent from the floor (12-of-32) compared to the Coyotes 42 percent (14-of-33) field goal shooting percentage.
In total, South Dakota shot an eye-popping 47 percent (28-of-60) from the floor, while the Bulldogs could only muster a 33 percent (22-of-66) mark from the field for the game. The Coyotes put up a solid 35 percent (7-of-20) shooting percentage from behind the arc, as UMD hit just one of their 13 attempts (13 percent) from downtown. The Bulldogs also found themselves committing more turnovers, as they lost the handle 10 times compared to South Dakotas' eight for the match.
UMD was guided by their senior center John Vaudreuil, who posted a stellar evening by recording a double-double. The captain led the Bulldogs in both scoring and rebounding as the Bloomington, Minn. native racked up 21 points and ripped down 11 boards, while he shot 44 percent (7-of-16) from the floor, knocked down seven of his 10 shots (70 percent) from the charity stripe, handed out a pair of assists and blocked a shot.
Bulldog junior forward Brian Sykora also performed well, as the captain tallied 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds on the night, while the native of Bloomington, Minn. hit 43 percent of his shots from the field (6-of-14) and added a blocked shot in the non-conference loss.
Freshman guard Ryan Rasmussen provide a spark off of the bench as he collected eight points and hit both of his free-throws, while junior guard Ron White scored seven points, snagged six rebounds and ripped off a pair of steals.
UMD will now enjoy their holiday break, before they hit the hardwood again on Tuesday (Dec. 30), when they welcome in Division III rival Northland College. The tip at Romano Gymnasium is set for 7:00 p.m.
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