THE OPENING TIP: The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference begins for the University of Minnesota Duluth as it embarks the conference opener against St. Cloud State University at Halenbeck Hall on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 4:00 p.m.

SCOUTING REPORT ON ST. CLOUD STATE: The Huskies are 5-1 heading into the NSIC opener. They grabbed key victories over then-No. 25 Missouri Southern State University and Point Loma Nazarene University. St. Cloud State has climbed up to No. 13 in the recent national coaches' poll. The Huskies went undefeated in the NSIC/MIAA Crossover and the Sea Lion Thanksgiving Classic. The lone loss this season came to Minnesota State University, Mankato at home.
Sean Smith and Gage Davis have been named NSIC Division Players of Week already this season. Davis is the reigning player of the week after averaging 17.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game last weekend in the Thanksgiving Classic. For the season, Davis is scoring 20.0 points per game (fifth in the NSIC) and 8.0 rebounds. Smith is second on the team in scoring with 15.2 per game. He is also pulling down 8.3 rebounds and 5.5 blocks per game, both team-highs. 
St. Cloud State is No. 1 in the nation with 7.0 blocks shots per game. Smith is the NCAA II individual leader in blocks. The Huskies are averaging 86.8 points per contest, 35th best in the country, and have the 24th best field-goal percentage in the nation at 50.8 percent.  Three-pointers are hard to come by against the Huskies as teams are shooting 26.2 percent fro behind the arc, the 10th lowest clip in the nation.

THE SERIES: The Bulldogs and Huskies have played 87 times overall with St. Cloud State leading the all-time series 54-33. SCSU has won the last four contests, netting sweeps in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons. UMD grabbed the season sweep the year prior to the four-game skid. The Huskies defeated the Bulldogs last season 80-68 in St. Cloud on Dec. 16, 2017 then won on Feb. 6, 2018 at Romano Gym 76-63.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and SCSU stack up with their records, in the NSIC preseason poll and in the NABC Coaches Poll.
 

TEAM	RECORD	NSIC	NABC
UMD	3-1	10th	NR
SCSU	5-1	T-1st	13th

THE BROADCAST: The game on Saturday can viewed at: portal.stretchinternet.com/umd/

In addition, live stats are available at: scsuhuskies.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary

LAST TIME OUT: UMD used a giant second-half effort to down Michigan Tech University in non-conference action at Romano Gymnasium on Nov. 18. The Bulldogs erased a seven-point deficit with 39 points in the final 20 minutes to capture a 61-56 win over the Huskies. Michigan Tech fell to 1-2 after blowing a 12 point lead.
Defense and hustle were the major contributors to the second half comeback. UMD forced 14 turnovers and corralled 15 offensive boards and turned them into 12 second-chance points. The Huskies, who shot 48 percent in the first 20 minutes to build that seven-point cushion, hit on only 10 of their 25 looks. The Bulldogs recovered from a 16-4 whooping in the opening 10 minutes. UMD scored 17 of their 19 made field goals from inside the paint. They shot a healthy 56 percent (17-for-30) from inside the restricted area. Collectively, UMD shot 34.5 percent from the field.

CONFERENCE WEEKLY HONOR: Junior forward Brandon Myer was named he NSIC North Division Player of the Week on Nov. 19. He has took home the award three times in his career, winning the honor twice last season. Myer, the 2017-18 All-NSIC Second Team honoree, averaged 20.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals in three games.

TAKING CARE OF THE BALL: The Bulldogs for the third consecutive season are good at getting the most out of their possessions. They are giving the ball away 8.8 times per game. That is the fifth best clip in the nation and the best in NSIC.

NO MARGIN OF ERROR: UMD is ninth in the county in turnover margin. It is No. 1 in the NSIC as well with a 6.3 positive turnover margin. 

BALL CONTROL AT ITS FINEST: The Bulldogs have a team assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.63. Thirteen other teams have a better ratio.

DE-FENSE: The Bulldog defense has been key to the 3-1 non-conference record. The team is allowing 58.3 points per game and opposing clubs are shooting 39.7 percent from the floor. Those totals are seventh and 34th in the nation, respectively.

EARLY FREE THROW WOES: UMD has hit on 63.2 percent of its free throws in four games this season. That clip is dead last in the NSIC. There is still plenty of time to boost that number but the Bulldogs have hit on 55 of their 87 attempts. Last season, UMD shot 75.4 percent form the line.

PICKPOCKET ARTIST: Junior forward Brandon Myer leads the NSIC with 2.50 steals per game. Myer amassed a collegiate high six steals in the contest against Wisconsin-Superior.

ALPHA DOG: Junior forward Brandon Myer is leading the team is scoring with 19.5 points per game. He has the seventh best scoring average in the NSIC.

RELENTLESS POST FINISHER: Senior forward Sean Burns is averaging 12.8 points and 8.5 rebounds this season. Burns is the leading the conference in field-goal percentage at a robust 67.7 percent. Only 12 other qualifying players sport a better shooting percentage. His 8.5 rebounds is fifth in the NSIC but it's the work he does on the offensive glass. He notches 3.8 offensive boards, the No. 1 player in the NSIC and 22nd in the nation.

DEBUTED IN STYLE: Justin Wieck's first game as the head coach was a successful one. Wieck grabbed his first win at the Division II level on Nov. 10, 2018 against St. Scholastica.

HITTING TRIPLE DIGITS: The 116 points scored against the Saints is the most since a 126-124 overtime win over Bemidji State University on Feb. 25, 2009. Its the first time UMD has reached triple digits since Jan. 30, 2015.

BLOWOUT BASH: That 48-point victory over the Saints was the largest margin of victory by UMD since it won by 56 points against Northland College (95-39) on Dec. 3, 2004.

HE'LL GET HIS: Last season, junior forward Brandon Myer racked up 55 points and 23 rebounds while shooting 62 percent from the field against SCSU. He had a 30-point night at St. Cloud in their first meeting.

SUPPORTING CLASS INCLUDED: Myer won't be able to pull off the upset by himself. Five Huskies are putting up double figures. Junior forward Luke Harris and senior forward Sean Burns each missed a game last season but both collected 12 points a piece in their battles versus the Huskies.

GET THEM TO EARN THEIR BUCKETS: St. Cloud State had its way with UMD last season with the ball. The Huskies shot 52.7 percent overall and 42.9 from outside the arc. They also averaged 32 points in the paint and 17 points off turnovers. 

NSIC PRESEASON COACHES POLL: The Bulldogs were tabbed with a 10th place finish in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' poll released on Oct. 18. UMD exceeded expectations placed on them a season ago and received 103 points in the poll. The Bulldogs were picked to finish fifth in the North Division.
St. Cloud State University and Minnesota State University were selected by the NSIC coaches as the preseason favorites in the NSIC for the 2018-19 season. Both St. Cloud State and Minnesota State received 209 points with the Mavericks garnering eight first places votes and the Huskies with five. NCAA National runner-up Northern State University was picked to finish fifth overall with 177 points. 
In the divisional rankings, St. Cloud State was the unanimous choice in the north, picking up all seven first place votes. In the south, Minnesota State and Sioux Falls shared the top spot as both had 43 points and four first place votes.
St. Cloud State senior guard Gage Davis was the North Division Preseason Player of the Year for the second straight season. SMSU junior guard Ryan Bruggeman and Trevon Evans were named the South Division Co-Preseason Player of the Year. Bruggeman is the preseason favorite again for a second straight year.

NEW DOGS ON THE BLOCK: The Bulldogs have three freshman at their disposal for the 2018-19 season. The local Northland product, Ethan Youso (Virginia, Minn.), provides UMD with another element of a big man with a soft shooting touch from the outside. A highly successful high school tennis player, Youso finished fourth all-time in scoring and averaged 19.1 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.1 blocks his senior season. Guard Mason Steffen (Waunakee, Wis.) is a second generation UMD basketball player with his father, Richard Steffen, suiting up from 1990-94. Steffen collected over 1,100 points at Waunakee Community. Another freshman turning heads in the preseason is guard Hunter Plamann (Appleton, Wis.). Hunter acclimated 1,750 points and is the all-time leading scorer in Xavier history after back-to-back All-State Associated Press accolades.

THE COACH: Justin Wieck, who spent the past four seasons on the Minnesota State University-Moorhead coaching staff, took over as the University of Minnesota Duluth head men's basketball coach on May 1, 2018, becoming the 17th head coach in the 88-year history of the Bulldog program.
During Wieck's successful four years of assistant coaching service (offensive coordinator) at MSU-Moorhead, the Dragons rolled up a 96-38 overall record, made three NCAA Tournament appearances, captured at least a share of two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular titles, advanced to two NSIC Tournament finals and reigned as the NSIC North Division champions three times. Over that span, he helped produced two NSIC Players of the Year in Aaron Lien (2016-17) and Jordan Riewer (2014-15), six All-NSIC first team selections and two National Association of Basketball Coaches All-Americans.
In 2014-15 -- Wieck's first season -- MSU-Moorhead enjoyed its most productive season in program history. In addition to setting a team single-season record for victories by going 35-4, the Dragons laid claim to the NCAA II Central Region crown and made it to the NCAA Division II Elite 8 for the first time ever.
Prior to his arrival in Moorhead, Wieck served as the head men's basketball coach for two years at the University of Jamestown (N.D.), where he went 32-31 while directing the Jimmies to a NAIA Division II National Tournament appearance in 2012-13 as well as a second-place finish in the Association of Independent Institutions (Aii) Tournament. The following year, Jamestown captured both the inaugural North Star Athletic Association regular season and tournament championships while finishing 17-12 overall. Wieck, the 2013-14 NSAA Coach of the Year, saw four of his players receive all-conference first team honors and two become All-Americans during his time in Jamestown.
Wieck's resume also includes a two-year assistant coaching stint at NSIC member Northern State University (2010-12) where he handled the Wolves' recruiting coordinator duties. In addition, he was employed for a total of four seasons as the video coordinator (2008-10) and graduate assistant coach (2006-08) at his alma mater, the University of Iowa. He also served as assistant camp director for Iowa Summer Basketball Camps and was active in the academic monitoring and community outreach for the Hawkeye program.
A native of North Liberty, Iowa, Wieck joined the Iowa program as walk-on forward in 2004, fresh off a rewarding two-season career at Kirkwood Community College (Cedar Rapids, Iowa). Wieck, an Academic All-Big Ten selection, earned both his Bachelor's degree in finance (2006) and Master's degree in athletic administration (2008) from Iowa. He and his wife, Laura, have two children – son Jordy (6) and daughter Anya (4).

ON TAP: UMD is on the road one more weekend before entering home for its NSIC home opener. First though, the Bulldogs take on Minot State University and the University of Mary on Dec. 7-8.