The University of Minnesota Duluth currently holds the fourth seed and a chance at a home playoff game in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference for the first time since the 2003-04 season
1, and the Bulldogs will have a chance to defend that spot in the coming weeks as they take on North Division competition the rest of the way, beginning with a road trip to No. 9-ranked Minnesota State University-Moorhead and Northern State University this weekend.
UMD (12-12, 9-9 NSIC) currently sits two games up on its nearest competition for the fourth spot, and two games back of St. Cloud State University for third place after the Bulldogs returned home for a respite from six of eight games on the road, splitting a pair of games at Romano Gymnasium against Upper Iowa University and Winona State University. UMD saw a comeback attempt fall just short, 68-64 against the Peacocks on Friday night, while the Bulldogs put together a complete team effort to down Winona State 76-63 on Saturday.
FREE THROWS• Junior guard
Pierre Newton averaged 15.0 points and 6.0 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs offensively last weekend, shooting 62.5 percent (10-of-16) from the floor and 60.0 percent (3-of-5) from three-point range with three assists, two steals, and one block on the weekend. He had 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting with three assists and a steal on Saturday night as UMD knocked off Winona State
• Senior guard
Reece Zoelle averaged 14.0 points and 4.0 rebounds off the bench for UMD, shooting 52.2 percent (12-of-23) on the weekend and 4-of-10 from three-point range while adding five assists. He matched his season-high output with a team-high 19 points on Saturday night against Winona State, shooting 8-of-12 from the floor and 3-of-6 from three-point range.
• UMD is 6-4 against the NSIC North this season with just four divisional games left on the regular season schedule. The Bulldogs are 2-2 against those upcoming foes this year. St. Cloud State, UMD's traveling partner, will face the same schedule and is 1-3 against the teams but does have a pair of wins over the Bulldogs this season. Minot State University, currently fifth, is 2-2 against its final foes (UMD, SCSU, Bemidji State University, and the University of Minnesota, Crookston). The Bulldogs will hope to have wrapped up positioning before, but the final meeting of the season with Minot could be an exciting one next Saturday.
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• No. 9
MSU-Moorhead (25-2, 16-2 NSIC) fell for just the second time all season last time out against No. 2 Augustana (S.D.) College. Before that, their only fall of the season came at the hands of UMD, 60-58 in Duluth back on Dec. 13, 2014. The Bulldogs are 77-38 all-time against the Dragons.
• Junior forward Isaac Seville scored 18 of Moorhead's 58 points against UMD, on 7-of-11 shooting, while grabbing a team-high five rebounds. Senior guard Jordan Riewer netted 16 points, 7-of-13 from the floor, but 0-for-4 beyond the arc. MSU shot just 40 percent on the game compared to 50.2 on the season. The Bulldogs held the Dragons to just 58 points while they average 83.7 on the year.
• Riewer currently ranks seventh in the conference averaging 17.0 points per game. He leads the conference in three-pointers, averaging 2.9 per outing and in assist-turnover ratio at +3.5. Seville is not far behind, scoring 13.0 ppg and is shooting a fourth-best 59.4 percent on the NSIC season. He also is second in the league with 1.6 blocks per game.
SCOUTING THE WOLVES (Saturday, Feb. 14, 7:00 p.m.) -
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Northern State (19-5, 13-5 NSIC) has won 6-of-8 overall, but stopped a two-game losing skid last time out when the Wolves knocked off Wayne State 85-61 on the road. Firmly in second place in the North, Northern State did do something MSU-Moorhead hasn't done this season, knocking off UMD 58-50 at Romano Gym on Dec. 12, 2014. The Bulldogs own a 38-32 all-time record against NSU.
• Three players hit double figures for the Wolves over UMD, led by sophomore guard Derin Peterka with 12, who shot 5-of-10 from the floor and 2-of-5 from range. Senior guard Tydan Storrusten added 11 on 8-of-8 free throws, while freshman guard D.J. Pollard had 11 points and 9-of-12 from the line. Northern State scored 21 points on free throws, shooting just 35.6 percent for the game. The Bulldogs got just five points from the line and shot 33.9 percent.
• Senior forward Seth Bachand leads the Wolves in scoring this season, scoring 13.8 points per game, and is third in the NSIC hauling in 7.8 rebounds per conference outing and shooting 63.8 percent on the season. Junior guard Skye Warwick has scored 2.6 threes per game, third-best in NSIC play.
The Bulldogs and Dragons will take the court on Friday night at 8:00 p.m., following the women's contest in Moorhead. Saturday's outing against Northern State is scheduled an hour later than usual - 7:00 p.m. - in Aberdeen, S.D.
1Competing in the North Central Conference from 2004-05 through 2007-08, UMD hosted a conference postseason game in 2005-06.
