Duluth, Minn.- The UMD men's basketball team secured a commanding win in their first exhibition match of the season, defeating UW-Superior 102-64.

Look up "starting off hot" in the dictionary, and you'll see a picture of Drew Blair. The redshirt-senior guard didn't appear to have lost as step from last year as he catapulted his team to a big early lead off of 17 points in just under five minutes. He was a perfect 6-6 from the floor in this stretch. By the time Blair's big run ended, the score was 21-4 Bulldogs. 

UMD head coach Justin Wieck liked what he saw , but it was hard for him to be surprised by the performance given Blair's proven scoring prowess. 

"He sure set the tone, right?" Wieck said. "He's a guy where his range is limitless, so when he touches it, you've got to guard him. He was feeling it there for a while, too, which is awesome. It's good to see him shoot like that- he shot like that most of his career. He's one of the best scorers in this league, so it was good to see him get off to a good start. I didn't think he forced any bad ones- he shot decently good shots but didn't do anything crazy."

Twenty three of Blair's 29 points on the night came in the first half. He barged the door open, and the rest of the Bulldogs stormed through in the second frame. Besides Blair, three other UMD players also racked up double-digit points on the night. Joshua Strong closed with 13. Austin Andrews recorded 12 points while going 3-4 from the floor and 6-6 from the line. To close out the night's fab four, Charlie Katona had 10 points, going 5-5 from the field.  

By the end of the night, the Bulldogs had shot 55.7% from the field. This includes a 41.9% efficiency clip from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs had gone 9-19 from three in the first half, a strong rate of 47.4%. Defensively, UMD out-rebounded UW-Superior 46-21 in the game. The Bulldogs held the Yellow Jackets to a field goal percentage of just 29% in the first half, including a three-point percentage of just 22.2%. 

All things considered, Wieck was encouraged by what he saw from his team tonight. Emphasis on team- all 13 Bulldogs that dressed on Tuesday saw some action on the court. This made for a great opportunity for this team to grow ahead of a massive test in Division I opponent Drake, whom UMD matches up with in Des Moines for an exhibition matchup on Thursday. 

"I thought we came out with a ton of energy, which is what we had really talked about. Obviously, we shot it really well in the first half, which helps. Good defense in that first period as well- held them to (29%). Overall, it was awesome to get all 13 guys who were able to play in in both halves and get game experience for some of those new guys. We like our pieces, we like what we have. Good first step, and looking forward to playing a really good Division I team on Thursday. "