The The University of Minnesota Duluth will head to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for its first road test of the year, taking on Michigan Tech University in Houghton on Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs (1-0) opened the season with a tight 61-59 victory against the University of Wis.-Stout and will look to improve upon that success as tip-off against the Huskies this weekend.
Senior guards
Peter Crawford and
Jordan Reetz lead the young UMD squad into action. They combined for 30 points and 10 rebounds while playing 30-plus minutes each in the win. Reetz had nine points and five boards against Michigan Tech last season.
The Huskies
The 2012-13 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champions of Michigan Tech will open their season officially hosting the Bulldogs. Head coach Kevin Luke's Huskies earned a 100-51 exhibition win against Finlandia University last week. Like UMD, the Huskies are a young team with 14 underclassmen and a pair of seniors. Junior Ben Stelzer led the way with 22 points on the night while six Huskies hit double-figures. Tech nailed 13 three-pointers in the game and averaged over seven per outing in 2012-13.
UMD is 32-26 all-time against the Huskies, including a 70-58 win at Romano Gym last season on Nov. 17, 2012.
Last time out, the Bulldogs tied a single-game record when junior
Kristofer Jackson smacked six blocks against Stout. Three players had notched six in a game on four occassions for UMD. Former Cleveland Cavaliers center Jay Guidinger did it, also against UW-Stout, on Jan. 7, 1989. Two-time All-NSIC center Josh Quigley did it twice against Bemidji State on Jan. 28, 1998 and Feb. 29, 2000. Another all-conference selection, Jason Schneeweis was the latest to perform the feat on Feb. 8, 2003 against Minnesota State Moorhead.
UMD returns home next Tuesday, but will need to make good on the road-opener against Michigan Tech first. The Bulldogs and Huskies are set to tip-off at 3:00 p.m. CST Saturday.
