THE OPENING TIP:
The UMD men's basketball team will start off its season in style when it plays host to the American Family Insurance Classic from Friday, November 11 to Saturday, November 12. The Bulldogs' slate of opponents consists of fellow Central Region members in Southern Arkansas on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. The tournament itinerary also includes games between Bemidji State and Nebraska-Kearney Friday at 4:00 p.m. and Bemidji vs Southern Arkansas Saturday at 1:00 p.m.


LAST TIME OUT:
The Bulldogs tuned-up for the start of the regular season with a pair of exhibition matches over the past week. First, UMD welcomed UW-Superior for a game on November 1. The Bulldogs would go on to take that contest 102-64 with help from a massive run from Drew Blair in which it took him less than five minutes to score 17 points. UMD followed this up with a trip to Des Moines for a tough challenge against Division I's Drake University. UMD would battle the fellow Bulldogs squad all the way to the end but come up short 100-77. Charlie Katona had 24 points on 10-12 shooting from the field. 


RANKINGS ROUNDUP:
Entering the season, the Bulldogs are certainly drawing the attention of the nation. UMD sits at No. 7 in the NABC Preseason Coaches' Poll and tied for 10th in the D2SIDA Preseason Media Poll. This is the first time the Bulldogs have started the year with a top ten ranking in any poll since the program's transition into Division II - they decided to make the occasion even more special by double-dipping. 


SCOUTING REPORT ON SOUTHERN ARKANSAS:
A new era is on the horizon in Magnolia. 

After a decade-long tenure as the leader of the Muleriders, Southern Arkansas' Andy Sharpe stepped away from the head coaching position following this past season. Sharpe departed as one of the most decorated Mulerider coaches of all time. Within his laundry list of accomplishments is not only bringing Southern Arkansas to its first ever Great American Conference (GAC) title game but also its first NCAA postseason berth, both feats occurring in a COVID-shortened 2020-2021 season that saw the team go 15-6. All things considered, Sharpe was the third-winningest coach in program history 

Filling these shoes was never going to be an easy task. To attempt to do so, Southern Arkansas searched from within. What they found was Logan Quinn.

Quinn's been with the Muleriders since 2019-20, being on the bench for the team's historic 20-21 campaign. With Quinn being a point guard in his playing days, it tracks that his time with the team would align with sound offensive progression. In Quinn's first year at Southern Arkansas, the Muleriders averaged a touch under 69 points,10.1 assists and 5.9 threes a game. This past year, those averages were 74.8, 13.1 and 8.3. 

The three players that rode at the front of the pack for Southern Arkansas last year sure didn't hurt these efforts.

It was a trifecta led in part by the Brooks Brothers, Devante and Jalen. Devante Jones' senior season was a memorable one. The 6'6" forward averaged a double-double of 17.6 points and 11.3 rebounds, leading the team in both fields. It should come as no surprise then that Devante Jones was fifth in the entire country with five double-doubles on the year. Included in that 11.3 figure (which was fifth in the country in its own right) was a clip of 3.80 offensive rebounds per game, ninth-best in the nation. What about Jalen Brooks? The 6'5" forward/guard wasn't all that far behind. Jalen Brooks was third on the team in scoring with 13 points per game and second in rebounds per game with 8.7 Jalen did have one leg-up on his brother, averaging more offensive boards at 4.03 (the sixth best clip in the country). Shocker: the Muleriders were the third best team in the country in offensive rebounds per game last year with 14.73. And don't forget Aaron Lucas. The 5'9 point guard was second in team scoring with 13.9 points per game. It helped that Lucas wasn't afraid to shoot the three- most of his shots came from beyond the arc, his 202 attempts from three-point land landing him at 45th in the country in that arena. 

A peak at this year's roster will quickly reveal that every single member of this trio has since ridden off into the sunset. All three graduated over the summer. 

While this immediately sounds some alarms on the offensive side of the ball, things may not be so defensively. That's because the Muleriders' defense wasn't just good last season- it's been good for some time. Southern Arkansas has finished the last three seasons ranked in the top 50 nationally in both three-point scoring defense and rebound margin. This past year, the team was 25th and 11th in those fields respectively. The Muleriders were also top-20 in both total rebounds (17th with 1,218) and rebounds per game (12 with 40.60). Still, the sting of losing the Brooks brothers comes back around here. Not all of Devante Brooks' 338 total rebounds last year (fourth in the country) were offensive, nor were Jalen Brooks', who had 261 (26th in the nation). 

These are the challenges Quinn will have to maneuver with total control at the reins. 

There are answers to be found internally. For example, Blake Rogers is returning for his senior year. The 6'1" guard was the team's fourth leading scorer last year with 10.4. Rogers too was a three-point aficionado last season, and with Lucas gone, he might develop into even more of one. Still, Quinn and the rest of his coaching staff decided to also dive heavily into the world of the external. Southern Arkansas brought in nine new players over the summer. Six of these nine players come into the program with previous collegiate/junior collegiate experience. Regardless, this means that more than half of the Muleriders' 14-man roster is an amalgamation of fresh faces, pieces not present for the team's recent successes. Only time will tell whether this bunch will work well enough together to start off Quinn's head coaching career on a high note. 


SCOUTING REPORT ON NEBRASKA-KEARNEY:
At the helm of Nebraska-Kearney is a name that has become synonymous with the program: Kevin Lofton. 

Lofton has been a Loper in some capacity for what will now be 28 years, moving up the ranks from graduate assistant in 1995 to co-head coach in 2006-2007 all the way to a solo head coaching gig in 2015-2016. Stick around any program for this long, and you're bound to see a few different permutations of it. In Lofton's first year as co-head coach, the Lopers went 23-8, winning the RMAC Tournament title and making an NCAA Tournament appearance in the posses. In his first year alone on the job, the team went 21-12, were GMAC Tournament runners up and won an NCAA Tournament game. This is the kind of standard Lofton hopes to re-introduce - and sustain- this coming season and beyond after an 11-17 campaign in 2021-22.

New coaches and seasoned coaches alike experience roster turnover. Lofton will be no exception in his pursuit of a return-to-form campaign for his squad.

Over the summer, the Lopers lost two of their top three scorers for this past season in David Simental and Austin Luger. Simental led the way for Kearney this past year with 18.8 points a contest while shooting 40.7% from three. He also consistently threw his hat in the ring elsewhere, averaging 3.1 assists and 3.4 rebounds on top of his scoring. In Luger, the Lopers lose a dual-threat of 10.9 points per game and 6.1 rebounds a game. 

But all is certainly far from lost. Enter Darrian Nebeker.

The 6'6" forward was nothing less than a jack of all trades for the Lopers last season. He was second on the team in scoring with 12.9. That's nice enough- then you hear about his efficiency numbers. Nebeker shot 54.1% from the field, tops on the team. It certainly wasn't for a lack of shooting- he put up 273 shots last season. Where Nebeker was a bit more selective of his spots was when it came to taking threes. He only put up 32 of them on the year, but they were often well strategized, because (exactly) half the time, they went in. A player like this being on the team helps to make sense of the fact that the Lopers were 15th nationally in team field goal percentage last year (49.3%) and sixth in the country in three-point percentage (39.8%). Even in the midst of all of this, Nebeker still found time to be the team's leading distributor last year, averaging 4.6 assists. Still not done. The graduate student was also second on the team in rebounds a game with six. It's not farfetched to say that if Nebeker can take yet another step forward during his 2022-23 campaign, he'll help to fill in some blanks.

Something else that will aid in that effort is an influx of new talent to the roster. The Lopers will enter next season with a perfect split of eight returners and eight fresh faces. Five of those newcomers are freshman while three are transfers. Of particular note is Skylar Wilson, a 6'7" guard/forward who comes to Nebraska after a redshirt season at D1's University of Portland. Perhaps the most daunting aspect of Wilson's game is that he can space the floor- even at 6'7", Wilson has a knack for shooting the three. For a team that was already so efficient with its shooting this past year, adding another dynamic offensive piece like Wilson opens even more doors. Lofton and his Lopers hope that one of these might lead the team back into the NCAA Tournament.


WORDS FROM WIECK:
In the dawn of a new season, change is always expected. Even still, UMD's opponents this weekend arguably offer more in that arena than the typical squad might. Especially when compared to the Bulldogs' massive crop of returning talent, the difference between UMD and these teams from a structural standpoint is notable. With changes in opponent personnel comes changes in prep, and in the case of a team like Southern Arkansas, that means an overhaul of scouting from the coaching staff down. This was something UMD head coach Justin Wieck discussed ahead of the weekend.

"This is a brand new team, with new coaches and ton of new faces," Wieck said. "Our focus as a staff these past few weeks is to hopefully get ready for everything. We'll stick to our principles and focus on what we do on both ends of the floor. We will no doubt have to figure some things out and adjust throughout the game."

While Southern Arkansas might be a totally foreign enemy, this isn't necessarily the case for Nebraska-Kearney.

UMD actually matched up against the Lopers to start last season, defeating them 77-64. This will give Wieck and the rest of the team something to work with that they won't have for the Muleriders, but even still, there are roster differences to consider.

"Kearney always plays very hard and physical," Wieck said. "Their system on both ends will be similar, but they have some new players as well. We'll use film from last year to learn, but I'd expect a totally different game." 


THE BROADCAST:
Can't make it to Romano this weekend? Follow the action from both of UMD's games through the links below:
vs Southern Arkansas (Friday, November 11 @ 6:00 p.m.): https://bit.ly/3Elnj1u
vs Nebraska-Kearney (Saturday, November 12 @ 3:00 p.m.): https://bit.ly/3A254f2


ROCKING IN ROMANO:
UMD enters this weekend on a home hotstreak. The Bulldogs haven't lost in Romano in 15 games after going perfect at home this past season. 


UP NEXT: 
The Bulldogs will go straight from tournament hosts to tournament hostees next weekend when they travel to Aberdeen, SD to be part of the inaugural Small College Basketball Champions Classic. UMD will start the weekend with a matchup against Point Loma on Friday, November 18 at 8:00 p.m. before meeting up with Ferris State on Saturday, November 19 at 8:00 p.m. This ties UMD for the fifth best active streak of this kind in the entire country.