Last Weekend
The Bulldogs continued their strong start to the season as they improved their record to 7-0. The 7-0 start is the best start for the program since the 1984-85 season.

The Bulldogs opened up their week with their NSIC conference opener. The Bulldogs hosted the St. Cloud State Huskies. The matchup was of two of the projected top teams in the NSIC North Division. The matchup saw a close battle in the first 12 minutes
of the game. In the last 8 minutes of the first half saw the Bulldogs go on a 17-3 run to blow the game open. From there, the Bulldogs controlled the remainder of the game for a dominant performance as they went on to win the game 86-69, led by Austin Andrews who had a career high 32 points and also added 10 rebounds for a double-double.

The UMD Bulldogs followed up that up with a post-thanksgiving trip to Michigan. The Bulldogs faced off against Michigan Tech on Saturday. This game was never in doubt as the Bulldogs dominated the entire game. After jumping out to a early 19-2 lead with 10:38 left in the first half, the Bulldogs did not look back. They controlled the entire game as they built a 34 point lead in the second half. By the end, the Bulldogs won 76-42, thanks to Drew Blair's first career double-double.

The Bulldogs wrapped up their week with a trip to face off against Northern Michigan. The Bulldogs found themselves in what was
a battle in the first half as they were tied 31-31 at halftime. In the second half, the Bulldogs offense came alive as they went on to out- score Northern Michigan by 13 points as they shot over 50% in the second half, led by Joshua Brown who had 18 second half points. The Bulldogs went on to win the game 76-63 to extend their win streak to 7 games.

For The Record

The Bulldogs come into the matchup having won their first 7 games of the season with a 7-0 record.... Bemidji State comes into the matchup with a 3-2 record. Minnesota Crookston currently has a 4-3 record. They travel to face St. Cloud State before they face the Bulldogs on Saturday.

Previous Meetings

Since 2013, the Bulldogs have a 10-6 record over the Beavers. This includes a weekend split from this past February when teams faced off in Bemidji, MN.

The Bulldogs have controlled the matchup against Minnesota Crookston as they have a 13-3 series edge in the last 16 games. This includes the Bulldogs current 5-game win streak over the Golden Eagles.

Scouting the Beavers

The Beavers currently sit towards the top in the NSIC in point al- lowed per game as they are currently 4th while allowing 65 points per game. Bemidji comes into this game having gone 1-1 in the Eckerd Thanksgiving Classic down in St. Petersburg, FL. This will be Bemidji's second NSIC game as they lost their conference opener against Min- nesota Crookston.

Scouting the Golden Eagles

The Golden Eagles come into the matchup ranked 7th in the confer- ence in points allowed while they are allowing 67.9 points per game. Minnesota-Crookston is no stranger to Duluth and Romano gym as they were here when the Bulldogs hosted the American Family Classic at the beginning of the season. The Golden Eagles went 1-1 during the classic as they lost to Nebraska-Kearney.

NSIC North Player of the Week

Sophomore Austin Andrews was named the NSIC North Player of the Week following the Bulldogs most recent week of play. Andrews led the team to a 3-0 week. Andrews started off the week with a career best 32 point performance against St. Cloud State. After a solid performance against Michigan Tech, Andrews followed it up with a 20 point, 14 rebound performance against Northern Michigan. Overall, Andrews shot an impressive 64% on the week while he averaged 21 points, 10 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.0 steals per game. Andrews was the second Bulldogs to be named the NSIC North Division Player of the Week as Drew Blair was named that following the first week of play.

High Powered Offense

The Bulldogs come into the week with the second-best offense in the NSIC as they are averaging 89.9 points per game through 7 games. Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston rank lower in the rankings as the Beavers sit at 8th in average points while the Golden Eagles sit at 15th in the conference. The Bulldogs also have been allowing the third few- est points per game in the conference sitting at third as they allow 63.7 points per game. Bemidji state currently ranks 4th in the conference in points allowed while Minnesota Crookston ranks 7th.

Two of the Conferences Best

The Bulldogs currently feature two of the top six scorers in the conference. Redshirt junior Drew Blair currently is third in the conference averaging 20.4 points per game while sophomore Austin Andrews is currently averaging 18.3 points per game which is good for tied for 5th. Bemidji State is led by Mohamed Kone who is 19th in the conference in scoring averaging 15 points per game. The Golden Eagles are led by Uzo Dibiamaka who is averaging 12.7 points per game.

Preseason Coaches' Poll

Before the season started, the NSIC released their preseason coaches poll. In the North Division, Minnesota Duluth was picked to finish 3rd and 6th overall in the NSIC. Bemidji State was picked to finish 6th in the North Division and 12th overall, while Minnesota Crookston was picked to finish tied for last in the North Division and last overall.

Follow Along

UMD at BSU
You can watch Thursdays game here: https://bit.ly/3kpDTUl
You can follow along with the live stats here: https://bit.ly/3xN2nLY

UMD vs UMC
You will be able to follow along for Tuesday's matchup online at: https://bit.ly/3kpDTU.
You can follow along with the stats here: https://bit.ly/3onIhnh.