The University of Minnesota Duluth and the University of Wisconsin-Superior will do battle in their annual bridge rivalry game Wednesday afternoon with elementary school students from the Northland invited to fill the stands of Romano Gymnasium for "Education Day."
UMD (10-3, 7-1 NSIC), fresh off a weekend sweep that included a 91-84 defeat of then-No. 25 Minnesota State University Mankato on Sunday afternoon, comes into the game riding a string of momentum with a three-game winning streak overall and an undefeated record at home in 2015-16. The Bulldogs continued to climb the unofficial D2SIDA (NCAA Division II Sports Information Directors of America) Basketball Writer's regional poll, checking in at no. 5 in the NCAA II Central Region this week, up from eighth in the last poll of December just 14 days ago.
SCOUTING THE YELLOWJACKETS | 7-5, 4-1 UMAC
Wisconsin Superior has also won three straight at the tail end of four games in six nights, knocking off Crown (Minn.) College in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference action last time out ... UWS shares one common opponent with the Bulldogs, having been up-ended in exhibition play against Green Bay (NCAA I) 108-57 late last month ... the YellowJackets will play both of their bridge rivals this week, facing off against UMD's neighbor, the College of St. Scholastica this weekend in Superior ... junior guard Zach Schradle and senior forward Brian Lindblom have led the offense for UWS, averaging 19.7 and 18.4 points per game, respectively ... Schradle also leads the 'Jackets with 8.4 rebounds per game and has shot 54.7 percent overall and even better from three-point range, 55.9 percent ... head coach Brian Eberhardt is in his fourth season leading UWS ... UMD owns a 91-44 record all-time against Wisconsin Superior including an 80-70 victory over the YellowJackets last season on Nov. 18, 2014.
FREE THROWSThe Bulldogs continued to prove themselves in the NSIC landscape picking up a weekend sweep including a home defeat of No. 25 Minnesota State on Sunday afternoon ...UMD knocked off the Mavericks for the first time under head coach
Matt Bowen, a streak dating back to the 2010-11 season; the Bulldogs also defeated Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday afternoon in comeback fashion in overtime ... senior guard
Taylor Lavery led the Bulldogs offensively scoring 29 and 30 points in the two contests; five players reached double digits scoring against MSU Mankato ... senior guard
Pierre Newton averaged 23.0 points per game for UMD, adding three steals and collecting a double-double against Minnesota State.
HOW TO FOLLOWLive Stats & VideoUP NEXTThe Bulldogs and YellowJackets will take to the Romano Gym floor at 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon.
