THE OPENING TIP: A chance to avenge two early season Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference losses to begin the conference schedule, the University of Minnesota Duluth will battle the University of Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State University this Friday and Saturday at Romano Gymnasium. The Bulldogs enter the weekend 4-8 overall and 1-6 in the NSIC. They face the Golden Eagles first on Friday, Jan. 5 at 8:00 p.m. The festivities wrap up Saturday night with the Beavers at 6:00 p.m.

SCOUTING REPORT ON MINNESOTA CROOKSTON: The Golden Eagles are off to their best start in program's history of NCAA Division II as they come into Friday's contest 8-6 overall and 5-3 in the NSIC. 
Minnesota Crookston, who is directed by fourth-year coach Dan Weisse, has won three-straight games coming into this weekend. and took its first NSIC weekend sweep since 1999 with their wins over Upper Iowa University and Winona State University last weekend. They have limited their foes to 61.7 points per game in their three consecutive wins.
The conference's leading scorer is Harrison Cleary, who is averaging 24.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. Cleary is the nation's top free throw shooter at 97.1 percent. In addition, Alan Hodge in second with 16.9 points per game. In the post, Gable Smith averages 8.1 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds per game. Smith leads the country in blocked shots with 4.1 blocks per game. 

SCOUTING REPORT ON BEMIDJI STATE: The Beavers head into the weekend one win shy of reaching 1,000 total victories in program history. They split last weekend to end the 2017 calendar with an 84-75 loss to Upper Iowa University and a 62-59 win against Winona State University at BSU Gymnasium. 
BSU is coached by Mike Boschee, who is in his sixth season. Boschee has his squad sixth in the NSIC with 73.1 points allowed per game. It is one of the better defensive teams in the NSIC with its 43.8 percent field goal defense, which is fifth in the league.
Lucas Wendt, Sharif Black and Jai'Vionne Green are BSU's leading scorers this season. Wendt knocks down 14.0 points per match, Black averages 13.7 points per contest while Green follows with 12.5 points per game. Logan Bader the leading rebounder for the Beavers grabbing 5.2 boards per contest. Christian Pekarek leads the team with 4.0 assists per game.

THE SERIES: UMD will look for its 31st win in 36 all-time contests against Minnesota Crookston. The Eagles won a shootout at their place earlier this season capping a 98-90 victory. With the win, UMD had its six-game winning streak snapped. 
Bemidji State has won the previous three meetings but trails in the series 92-43. The Bulldogs lost on the road last month 73-63. UMD's last win came on Jan. 9, 2016 in Bemidji, Minn., when it capped off its fourth straight win.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and their opponents this weekend stack up in the NSIC standings and in the National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC) and the D2SIDA media polls.
TEAM        NSIC        NABC        D2SIDA
UMD         T-14th         NR              NR
UMC         T-6th           NR              NR
BSU         T-10th         NR               NR

THE BROADCAST: Both games this weekend will be carried live through a video stream and is available at:
portal.stretchinternet.com/umd/

LAST TIME OUT: UMD claimed a split over the weekend as it sealed a 63-58 win over the University of Mary then lost 80-71 to Minot State University. The Bulldogs clinched their first NSIC victory to snap a 19-game conference drought. It was also the first road NSIC win in 12 tries dating back to Jan. 6, 2017
The UMD defense was superb against the Marauders as they allowed a season-low 58 points. Brandon Myer had 20 points and Trevor Entwisle had 11 points to go along with five assists to lead the way. 
The following night, UMD almost erased a 19-point second half deficit to Minot State. The Bulldogs went on a ferocious 27-8 run in a span of 8:52 to march all the way back to tie the game at 64 a piece. The senior-heavy Beavers withstood the rally to close the game. Myer went off again for UMD, knocking down a team-high 28 points in the loss. Logan Rohrscheib was the only other Bulldog in double figures with 17 points.

CLOSING GAMES OUT AT CRUNCH TIME: UMD has made quite the turn around when it comes to dealing with close games. The Bulldogs are 3-1 this year with games decided by two possessions or less and 4-0 when tied or ahead with five minutes remaining. In 2016-17, UMD was 1-6 in close games and 3-5 in crunch time.

LOCKED IN AT THE CHARITY STRIPE: The Bulldogs have been doing an excellence job at drawing contact and getting to the line. UMD is hitting 80.4 percent of its free throws, which is the third best percentage in the division II landscape. Barry University hold the mark with 82.3 percent. More importantly, they get better at hitting their freebies in the second half up to 85 percent (147-for-173) and 86.9 percent (73-for-84) under five minutes.
The Bulldogs have relied on three players to take the majority of its free throws. Logan Rohrscheib has the best percentage of all Bulldogs with 88.7, which places him second in the NSIC and 35th in all of Division II. Brandon Myer and Trevor Entwisle are close behind knocking down 85.7 and 84.1 percent, respectively. In total, all three are in the top 10 in the NSIC in terms of free throw percentage.
UMD used its strength to the line 45 times against Northern Michigan, almost reaching the program record of 48 set back on Nov. 30, 1998. As a team, it made 35 of those attempts, which was one short of tying the school record also set on that same date against the University of Minnesota Crookston.

MYER'S ON FIRE: Double figures in eight of the last nine games and seven or more rebounds in six of eight outings, Brandon Myer has given UMD everything he has got. The Superior, Wis. native has posted UMD's only two double-doubles this season. 
Myer set a personal collegiate best with 32 points against the Wildcats and has led the team in scoring the last five times. He is shooting a blazing 59.0 percent from the floor since that time. During that stretch, Myer has dialed in 26.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks.

WEEKLY RAZZLE DAZZLE: The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference bestowed Brandon Myer with NSIC North Division Player of the Week for his outstanding contributions on Dec 20, 2017.
The Superior, Wis. native averaged 31.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and a block per game while shooting a robust 75.0 percent on the floor, hitting 21 of his 28 shots. He created new career highs in consecutive outings as his back-to-back 30-point efforts for the Bulldogs since Ryan Rasmussen posted 30 and 32 back on Jan. 20-21, 2012.
His 32 points was the most since Newton put up 42 points when he won weekly award back on Feb. 1, 2016. 

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH: Coach Bowen for the second straight season will have to direct a very youthful squad from the sidelines. Only two seniors (Kyle Schalow and Jake Wilson) are on the roster with a combined nine freshmen and sophomores. The five sophomores tallied an average of 19 minutes during their freshmen seasons. Four sophomores pace the Bulldogs in points this season. Their outburst has accounted for 613 points on the season or 72.2 percent of the total points.

THE DISTRIBUTOR: No one last year for UMD averaged at least three assists per game but Trevor Entwisle is doing just that this season. The Neenah, Wis., native recorded a Bulldog season-high six assists versus the Cougars. Entwisle is dishing out 3.6 assists per contest and has a 1.7 assist-to-turnover ratio. He has at least three assists in the last seven games. 

IT'S RAINING THREES: Not one, not two ... Jake Wilson nailed six threes in the outing at St. Cloud State. The senior out of Zimmerman Minn., doubled his season makes on the season going six-of-seven from long distance. Wilson started the first half a perfect 5-for-5 and finished with 20 points, tying a season high. Wilson is hitting a team-high 43.2 percent from behind the arc and is three behind Trevor Entiwisle for the team lead despite averaging 10 minutes per game less playing time.

CHECK YOUR POCKETS: Brandon Myer and Trevor Entwisle are the only two players on the Bulldogs who are averaging at least a steal per contest. Myer and Entwisle is each have 13 steals. Myer and Entwisle have 44.8 percent of the squad's steals this season.

AMONG THE NSIC BESTS: In addition, the duo of Brandon Myer and Trevor Entwisle are in the mix of the top categories in the NSIC.
Myer is sixth in the conference in scoring (19.3), tenth in rebounding (6.9) and fourth in blocks (1.3). Meanwhile, Entwisle is 11th in assists per game and 13th in total assists. 

NO EXTRA POSSESSIONS: Limiting turnovers has been a specialty in the past under the direction of Matt Bowen. His teams have ranked among the best at not turning the ball over and this year is no exception. UMD is the third best in the NSIC in fewest turnovers per game (9.6), which is sixth in the Division II landscape. Northwest Missouri State is first with 8.1 per contest. It has recorded the 13th fewest turnovers on the year, only coughing up the ball 115 times in 102games. No other team in the NSIC has turned the ball over fewer times than the Bulldogs.

PLAYING SMART: The Bulldogs have committed 204 fouls on the year which is the third fewest fouls by any NSIC team, trailing SCSU and U-Mary.

FOUR WINS AND COUNTING: It's been a learning process for UMD the past two years but coach Matt Bowen as the ship heading in the right direction. Sporting the NSIC's youngest starting five, the Bulldogs have already tied last year's win total and tripled their road victories for the season.
No surprise that the Bulldogs do better when their shooting percentage is higher than their opposition. They are shooting 47.3-45.9 in wins and 39.3-49.2 in losses. However, it's the little things that have helped UMD gather more wins. It has cut down on its turnovers, had better ball movement and won the rebounding battle. Comparing wins to losses, the Bulldogs are averaging two full turnovers less per game (10.25 down to 8.25), over three assists per game (10.25 up to 13.50) and holding opponents to almost seven fewer rebounds a contest (36.0 down to 29.5).

GET IN THERE, ROOK: Two freshman have cracked minutes thus far in the 2017-18 campaign. Xavier Cummings played two games and made his first appearance versus Michigan Tech on Nov. 22. Jake Paper made his collegiate debut against SCSU on Dec. 16. Paper also played against Northern Michigan and tabbed four rebounds and an assist.

CONFERENCE COACHES CORNER: The NSIC 2017-18 Preseason Coaches' Poll slated UMD to a 13th-place finish. The Bulldogs, which finished eighth in the North Division and a 15th overall a season ago, received 46 points in the poll. The Bulldogs were picked to finish sixth in the North Division ahead of Minnesota Crookston and U-Mary.
Northern State University, who claimed preseason favorites in the North Division, topped out in the overall poll with 213 points slightly edging Southwest Minnesota State University, who was picked to finish first in the south.
St. Cloud State University junior guard Gage Davis was the North Division Preseason Player of the Year. SMSU junior guard Ryan Bruggeman was named the South Division Preseason Player of the Year.

NEW DOGS ON THE BLOCK: The Bulldogs bring in four freshmen (Jimmy Vollbrecht, Xavier Cummings, Adam Smith and Jake Paper) and a junior college transfer (Mamadou Ngom) to join the 2017-18 roster and the 11 returners from a season ago.

BOWEN'S BITS: Entering his sixth season in 2017, head coach Matt Bowen looks to take the next step to bringing the University of Minnesota Duluth to the top of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Armed with a lineup of experienced underclassman and vital leaders, the Bulldogs are set to improve upon the 2016-17 season.
Bowen is no stranger to turning a program around, having taken a perennial Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference underdog in Bemidji State University to a championship level that has not been repeated since he left the program to take over as UMD head coach in the summer of 2012. Bowen, just the third head coach for the Bulldogs since the mid-1980's, succeeded Gary Holquist, who stepped down in April 2012 to take the role of UMD's Athletic Development Director.
Under Bowen, UMD produced its first NABC All-Region selection since 2008-09 in Brett Ervin ('15) during the 2014-15 season as well as NABC Honors Court selection Jake Harder ('16) that season and All-NSIC guard Jordan Reetz ('14) the previous year. Along with an influx of young talent, the future seems bright for the Bulldogs under Bowen's guidance.
Bowen completed his turnaround of Bemidji State in his sixth and most productive year with the program, guiding the Beavers to a school record 22-9 overall mark which included an NSIC regular season championship and the program's second NCAA II playoff berth in the team's 91-year history. In addition to receiving votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II poll for the first-time ever, Bowen also produced the 2011-12 NSIC and NCAA II Player of the Year in James Ellisor. 
Prior to his appointment in Bemidji, Bowen spent 15 years on the staffs of three NCAA I institutions, working under the likes of Homer Drew (Valparaiso University), Gene Bartow (University of Alabama-Birmingham) and Bob Knight (Indiana University). 
A native of River Falls, Wisconsin, Bowen graduated from Indiana University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree in health, physical education and recreation and earned a Master's degree in health education from Alabama-Birmingham four years later. His father, Rick, was the head men's basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls from 1986-2006 and retired as that school's athletic director in 2010.

ON TAP: The Bulldogs head back out on the road again next weekend to play Winona State University and Upper Iowa University on Jan. 12-13.