The new-look University of Minnesota Duluth will open the 2013-14 season at home Saturday, taking on the University of Wisconsin-Stout at Romano Gym.

The Bulldogs finished 2012-13 with an 8-19 and 6-16 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, but UMD will returns just five players from 2013 joined by ten newcomers from across Minnesota and the nation.

Senior forward Brett Ervin, named the 2013-14 NSIC North Preseason Player of the Year, suffered a preseason knee injury and the Bulldogs will be without their star indefinitely, so UMD will rely on a pair of senior guards, Peter Crawford and Jordan Reetz to lead the way this season. Crawford is the lone Bulldog to player every game for UMD over the past three seasons, averagining 5.2 points per game in his career, while Reetz joined the Bulldogs last season after transferring from Michigan Tech, putting up 8.8 PPG while hauling in 3.1 boards in 18 starts and 21 games.

Junior guards Kristofer Jackson and Reece Zoelle round out the returning force for UMD. Jackson played in 25 games last year after transferring from Glendale (Ariz.) Community College. Zoelle has averaged 8.3 points in his two years of service and shot 43.5%  for the Bulldogs. A pair of junior transfers will see the floor for UMD this season in guards Jack Connors and Junior Coleman. Connors comes to UMD via the University of Missouri-St. Louis with Coleman coming from Northwest (Wyo.) College. Another junior, Pierre Newton, will receive a redshirt in the 2013-14 season after transferring from Nebraska-Kearney.

The Bulldogs will rely on youth to fill out their frontcourt with six freshmen at the forward and center positions: Charles Benson, Treyton Daniels, Jonah Eisenschenck, Jake Harder, Lane Olson, and Jake Wilson will compete for time on the floor. Rounding out the freshmen class are guards Justin Byrd and Garrison Gillard.  It will be a youth movement at UMD as they prepare for their season opener.

The Opponent
UW-Stout returns four starters from last season's team that went 20-7, the Blue Devils' best record since 2005-06. Senior forward Alex Oman averaged 14.4 points per game for the Blue Devils and will be joined by fellow seniors forward Jarvis Ragland, center Josh Kosloske, and guard Aaron Jenny. The Blue Devils will look to replaces their starting point man with nine additional returners and five freshmen. The Blue Devils fell to NSIC rival Winona State by a 56-83 score last Monday. In a scheduling quirk, the game counts as an exhibition for the visitors as the Division III season starts after the Division II season.

Still, UW-Stout will have upset on its mind as they travel to meet the Bulldogs in their season opener. The action is set to tip off at 4:00 p.m.