The University of Minnesota Duluth men’s basketball team will host the University of North Dakota in North Central Conference action this Saturday (Feb. 16). The game is slated for 3 p.m. at Romano Gymnasium.



THE GAME: The Bulldogs (8-15, 1-7 NCC) and North Dakota (12-10, 1-6 NCC) will play for the first time since meeting three times last season. UMD beat UND 73-68 and 91-67 during the regular-season. The Bulldogs and North Dakota faced one another in the first round of the NCC tournament with UMD winning 85-63. UMD is 8-15 life-time against UND.

NORTH DAKOTA NOTES: North Dakota fell to St. Cloud State University 73-65 in its only game last week...Ervin Youmans scored a team-high 21 points...Youmans is UND's all-time leader in career three-point percentage at 44.9 percent...North Dakota has the top rebounding defense among all NCC members this season...Emmanuel Little leads UND in scoring this season with a 15.5 points per game average...He also has a team-best 7.8 rebounds per game average...Little is the team's workhorse with an average of 31 minutes per game played.

BULLDOG NOTES: The likelihood of a team winning a game when it shoots under 30 percent for a game is slim to none and that is exactly what happened to the University of Minnesota Duluth in both of its games last week…The Bulldogs shot just 27.5 percent and lost to Minnesota State, Mankato 73-60 on Thursday and followed that up with a 62-46 loss to Augustana on Saturday…UMD shot just 28.3 percent against the Vikings…Senior guard Jordan Nuness recorded a team-high 19 points and sophomore guard Jordan Schade chipped in 15 against MSU…Sophomore guard Alex White scored a career-high 10 points to lead the Bulldogs in scoring against Augustana…Freshman forward Ivan Franklin chipped in nine points and six rebounds for UMD…Senior center Mark Bauch tallied career-highs for points (8) and rebounds (6)…UMD has been held to below 50 points just one other time this season, a 66-47 loss to Concordia University-St. Paul back on Nov. 27, 2007.

TOP DOGS: Nuness is scoring at an 18.5 ppg clip which places him at No. 1 out of all players from NCC schools. In conference play, Nuness is No. 3 with a 17.5 ppg average. Junior forward Brian Sykora is averaging 15.5 ppg this season and is scoring 13.9 ppg in NCC play.

GRABBING THE REBOUND: Sykora is No. 3 out of all NCC players with a 8.0 rpg average and is No. 2 in league games for rebounds with 9.0 rpg.

LENDING A HELPING HAND: Senior guard/forward Ryan Meissner currently has 82 assists in 23 games for a 3.57 assists per game average. He is No. 6 out all players from NCC schools in that category this season.

ARE YOU SURE YOU HAVE IT? Meissner is averaging 1.65 steals per game. He has 38 total steals and is No. 5 out of all NCC players in that category.

THEIR PRESENCE ON THE COURT IS FELT: Nuness and Meissner are both averaging 31 minutes per game this season and have been key figures in UMD's eight wins.

ANOTHER DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Sykora has five double-doubles. His latest came in the form of 27 points and 14 rebounds against South Dakota on Jan. 31.

3-POINT FIELD GOALS MADE: Nuness has 87 three-pointers in 23 games this season for a 3.78 average.

BEST IN THE LEAGUE: UMD has the most offensive rebounds in conference play with a 12.38 per game average. The Bulldogs currently have 99 offensive rebounds in NCC play.

PRESEASON NCC POLL: UMD was picked to finish fourth in the NCC media poll. The same position they finished league play last season.

HEAD COACH GARY HOLQUIST: With hard work and determination, Gary Holquist has molded the University of Minnesota Duluth men’s basketball program into a regional power during his 10 seasons at the helm.

Since taking over UMD’s head coaching duties on Holquist has compiled an overall record of 146-118 entering this season while guiding UMD to a pair of NCAA Division II playoff berths (2001-02 and 2002-2003), one Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season title (2001-02), and two NSIC tournament championships (2001-02 and 2002-03).



Holquist spent 12 years as a Bulldog assistant coach before becoming the 15th head coach in the program’s storied history. During his tenure as both as an assistant and as a head coach, UMD has made 12 national tournament appearances and has produced nine All-Americans and 11 Most Valuable Conference Player’s of the Year.

ON THE AIR: Most of the men's basketball games will be on the radio this season with Ray Schow doing the play-by-play. The games are on KDAL 610 AM or WGEE 970. You can also tune-in to the games on the web.

To access, click on the link, http://www.umdbulldogs.com/mens/basketball/ Then, click on the gray tab at the top--Bulldogs on the Air. Then, click on KDAL-Radio.