Box Score The University of Minnesota Duluth Men's Basketball team dropped a 83-73 decision to Washburn University in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday in Sioux Falls, SD. With the loss, the Bulldogs finish the 2021-22 season with an overall record of 25-6. The Bulldogs earned an NCAA Tournament bid after their NSIC Championship game appearance in Sioux Falls, SD a few weeks ago. UMD was given the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Central Regional, and were matched up against No. 7 Washburn.

Junior Drew Blair led the way for the Bulldogs with 20 points, 3 assists, and 8 rebounds. Blair was closely followed by his sophomore teammate, Josh Brown, who had 19 points, 2 assists, and 2 rebounds. Jack Middleton and Jacob Shields also put up double-digit points, with Middleton at 11 and Shields at 10. Middleton followed Blair with 7 rebounds and Shields was behind both of them with 5. Lincoln Meister also had 5 rebounds and Charlie Katona was ahead of Sheilds and Meister with 6.

Washburn started off hot as they took a 6-0 lead early on, but it wouldn't last long as Charlie Katona scored UMD's first points and was followed by back-to-back three-pointers from Drew Blair and Jack Middleton. Those back-to-back three-pointers helped tie the game at 8. Despite Washburn's 11 personal fouls in the first half, it was still a close game. The largest lead for both teams was just 6 points. The Bulldogs held the lead for the majority of the first half and it wasn't until the 1:48 mark where Washburn took the lead 29-28. The first half ended with Washburn scoring another basket and leading 32-28.

UMD pushed back in the early moments of the second half as they took the lead 33-32. With the lead, the Bulldogs were unable keep the pressure on Washburn. Washburn quickly took the lead back from the Bulldogs and didn't look back. Making basket after basket, Washburn went on to hold a 16 point lead two separate times in the second half. With about 5 minutes left in the game, the Bulldogs made a hard push to bring the game back within 6 points, but Washburn was able to hold the Bulldogs off in the end. UMD fell to Washburn 83-73 in their opening round matchup of the NCAA Tournament.