THE OPENING TIP

UMD men's basketball (14-6 Overall, 10-4 NSIC) enjoys some home-cooking in Duluth this weekend as it welcomes two NSIC foes to Romano. The Bulldogs' first visitor will be Wayne State on Friday, Jan. 27 at 5:30 p.m. followed by Augustana on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 3:30 p.m.

 

LAST TIME OUT

Safe to say it was a pretty strong start for the Bulldogs on last weekend's road trip.

Once it took a 4-2 lead in the wee stages of the first half against the Cougars in Sioux Falls, UMD never let it go. The Bulldogs' advantage sprouted to eight at 10-2, eventually to a half-high of 13 at 25-12, before they entered the break with a 27-19 lead to their names. The first five minutes of the second frame can be described as "the death of tension." A colossal 15-3 run left UMD up by 20 at 42-22 with 15:17 on the clock. If you're wondering if the Cougars were able to cut into this deficit over time, by the 5:36 mark of the contest, the Bulldogs were up by… a new game-high of 21 at 62-41. Sioux Falls would fight hard down the stretch and end the game on a 12-6 run, but it simply ran out of time. The Bulldogs took this one- in convincing fashion- 68-53.

Drew Blair and Austin Andrews teamed up to lead the offensive operation on Friday, each of them closing with 16 points. Both did so with efficiency, too, shooting 8-14 and 8-15 respectively. Funny enough, each ended up with six rebounds, too. Charlie Katona put up 10 points on 4-5 shooting while Joshua Brown scored much of his 10 from the charity stripe, going 5-6 from the line. Brown also had four rebounds.

Saturday night in Marshall was much more of a dogfight. 

And it's one the Bulldogs quickly had to start pulling themselves back into. The Mustangs struck first by taking a 16-7 lead by the 14:35 mark of the first frame. It took a slow-but-steady effort from UMD leading up to the break, but by the time there were just 50 ticks remaining on the clock,the Bulldogs had finally taken a lead of their own at 35-33. Admittedly, it wouldn't last until halftime- the teams would enter the second frame knotted up at 35 a pop. Still, UMD had closed out the first 20 minutes of this one by doing a lot of meaningful work in terms of keeping itself in it. 

But much like what happened in half number one, it was the Mustangs that started out hot in half number two. The 16:21 mark of the frame saw SMSU up five at a score of 42-37. History kept repeating itself- the Bulldogs gradually stormed back. UMD didn't just tie the game up again at 46-all- it eventually re-established a lead at 51-50 with just 8:30 to go in the game. In what was a night full of impactful runs, this next one might have been the biggest backbreaker of them all- six straight Mustang points put them back on top 56-51 by the 7:10 mark of the final frame. The Bulldogs battled and battled and battled down the stretch. They were even down just two points at a score of 65-63 with 1:12 still to work with on the clock. Alas, they could never fully close the gap again. SMSU ended up securing a 69-63 home victory.

This was the first time UMD lost in a true road game setting, the team having one its first seven in-conference matchups in those conditions heading into Saturday. 

Four Bulldogs again crossed into double-figures in scoring against the Mustangs. Jack Middleton led the way with 16 points while going 4-8 from three. Katona closed with 14 while going 5-8 from the floor. The junior forward also grabbed a team-leading six boards. Joshua Strong had 11 on 3-5 shooting from deep. Blair registered 10 points.

 

RANKINGS ROUNDUP

UMD did not receive votes in the newest editions of the NABC or D2SIDA Poll. However, the Bulldogs did bump up from No. 7 to No. 6 in the most recent D2SIDA Regional Rankings. 

 

STATS STATUS REPORT

Blair continues to lead UMD in scoring with 19.4 points a game. Three other Bulldogs find themselves in the double-digit scoring ranks. Katona averages 12.7 points a night on efficient 54.1% shooting from the field. Andrews is a similar story, averaging 12.2 points a game while shooting at an uber-precise clip of 59.2%. Joshua Brown rounds out the list of double-figure averagers with 11.2 points a contest.

Circling back to efficiency, both Mattie Thompson and Lincoln Meister have proven to be dependable rotational pieces when it comes to their abilities to sink buckets. Thompson's shooting at a clip of 56.1% from the court on 57 attempts, while Meister's field goal percentage is all the way up to 62.2% through 45 attempts.

In terms of pure three-point shooting ability, Strong finds himself at the top of the charts. The sophomore guard's working at a rate of 41.5% from deep right now. 

Elsewhere on the stat sheet, Blair also finds himself leading the team in average assists with 2.4 a night. Two other Bulldogs average two or more dimes a contest, those being Andrews (2.3) and Strong (two). Andrews takes home the title of best on-average rebounder with 6.7 boards a night, Katona hovering right behind with a 6.1 average of his own. 

 

BLAIR'S (STILL) ALMOST THERE

Blair scored in double-figures in each of UMD's two games last weekend, adding 26 points to his career tally. The redshirt-senior guard now sits with 1687 points in total, just eight away from eclipsing Dave Baker's 1694 for sixth on the Bulldogs' all-time scoring list. It's always a good idea to work one step at a time, but… No. 5 (Josh Quigley) holds a career tally of 1718. Even now, Blair is just 32 points away from that mark. Always remember his average of 19.4 points a game… something the fans that find themselves in Romano this weekend should probably keep a close eye on. 

 

SCOUTING REPORT ON WAYNE STATE (14-6 OVERALL, 9-5 NSIC)

COACHING CONVO

"Around the world, around the world"

Well, sort of.

Jeff Kaminsky's head coaching career is one that's seen him bounce between three different states. It all started in Wisconsin, where Kaminsky took over as the leader of DIII program UW-Superior. Across 11 seasons as a Yellowjacket starting in 1994 and working into the new millennium until 2005, Kaminsky amassed an overall record of 116-163 (.416 winning percentage). Ahead of the 2005-06 season, Kaminsky made the first of his intercontinental jumps by taking over as the coach of NAIA school Valley City State. Must have been something about that 11 year mark, because Kaminsky was a Viking for just as long as he was a Yellowjacket. But the coach would find much more success in his second decade behind a bench. In his tenure in Valley City, N.D., Kaminsky posted a commendable 183-144 (.560 winning percentage) mark. In 2007-08, Kaminsky led the Vikings to a 20-win campaign for the first time since 1987-88, finishing the year 22-8. The very next year, Valley City State would lay claim to a share of the DAC championship with a 20-10 record. Finally, in 2012-13, Kaminsky was able to lead the Vikings to the big dance of the NAIA Tournament on the back of a 23-7 record. It was the first time Valley City State had seen postseason play like that since 1987. 

Adventure called Kaminsky once again in the summer of 2016- as did a jump up to the DII ranks. It's a call the seasoned coaching veteran answered. Welcome to state number three: Nebraska. 

How has Kaminsky fared across his seven-year tenure with Wayne? Well, honestly… the jury's still out. At this present point, when factoring in his work so far in 2022-23, the coach sits with an exact record of 94-94. He's had three winning seasons and three losing seasons to his name. It doesn't get much more break-even than that. Good news for Wildcats fans, though- much of that success has been recent. Two of those three winning campaigns have come in the team's last two tries. This includes what proved to be a loaded 2020-21 effort. Perhaps the season was shortened due to COVID, but there was no such limitation on the level of success the team was able to reach. The Wildcats' 11-7 overall record was crafted largely by a 10-4 in-conference mark that led them to NSIC South gold. But Wayne State's scope that year spanned across a little more than just their conference- the team also made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 21 tries. All of this was good enough to land Kaminsky NSIC South Division Coach of the Year honors. 

 

2021-22 IN A NUTSHELL

Last year was another positive step in the era of Kaminsky. His Wildcats finished with an overall record of 14-12 and an NSIC mark of 11-8. This marked the first time Wayne State had tallied consecutive winning campaigns since 2006-07 and 2007-08. The Wildcats would make it to the NSIC Tournament but eventually come up on the wrong side of a 100-98 overtime heartbreaker against St. Cloud State in the first round, spelling an end to their season.

 

THE LEGEND OF JORDAN JANSSEN

It's only January, but Wayne State has already matched its total win output from all of last year at 14.

That's pretty impressive- what's going so right for them? Well, we have two words for you- they both start with J.

Jordan Janssen has been a reliable bucket for the Wildcats throughout the entirety of a five-season career that dates back to 2018-19. He's never failed to close a season averaging double-digits in scoring. Take last year, for example. The then-senior forward ended 2021-22 at second on the team in scoring with 15.4 points a night. What's most frightening about this figure is that it came on a whopping 54.6% shooting clip from the field. As if this wasn't enough, Janssen was also second in the rebound department with 7.1 boards a night. This was good enough to land him Second Team All-NSIC honors.

If the above statline struck any fear into your heart, you may want to look away for a second.

So far in 2022-23, Janssen has absolutely exploded onto the scene. The fifth-year forward has eclipsed the 20-point mark in average scoring at 21 points a night, leaving him at third in the NSIC and 20th in the entire country in that regard. And as a pure scorer of the basketball, even few are better than Janssen- his 163 made field goals are good for first in the conference and fourth in DII men's basketball. All of this has translated to a total points mark of 419 that's third in the NSIC and 11th in the country. Here's the kicker: despite all of this, Janssen's efficiency clip has done nothing but improve. He currently holds a 54.6% field goal percentage through 20 games. 

You don't even know about Janssen's juggling abilities yet! Remember his stout rebounding abilities from a season ago- those have gone nowhere. The forward is working at a rate of 8.6 boards a game now, in fact, a team-high. And if you can believe it, a new dimension has actually started to take shape within Janssen's game amidst all this progression: a reliable passing touch. Janssen now averages 3.1 assists a contest, once again leading the team in this regard. 

 

THE REST OF THE PACK

But basketball is a team sport. For as integral to the Wayne State unit as Janssen has proven to be, its still a unit. 

In that way, it's helpful that two other double-digit scorers from a season ago have also continued to produce in this new campaign. It starts with another fifth-year player in Nate Mohr. Mohr is a real scorer at heart- that's his role, and he's played it quite well. Last year, the guard averaged 12.8 points a night. So far this season, that number's up to 13.9, good for second on the team.

Next is Justin Eagins. It was a breakout effort for Eagins in 2021-22, as the freshman sensation led all Wildcats in scoring with 16.2 points a night all while grabbing an average of 4.7 rebounds. Perhaps Eagins' sophomore season hasn't quite reached that mark with the emergence of Janssen, but he's still been more than impactful. Eagins is currently averaging a scoring clip of 12.9 points a game (third on the team) while averaging 4.3 rebounds and 2.55 assists a night.

 

CASHING IN

So far we've highlighted a lot of individual names within this Wayne State club. Here's something that rings true as a generality for every Wildcat- you probably don't want to send them to the line.

From the charity stripe, this Wayne State bunch is about as automatic as it gets. The Wildcats shoot 80.7% from the line, tops in the NSIC and third in the nation.

 

SCOUTING REPORT ON AUGUSTANA (9-11 OVERALL, 5-9 NSIC)

TOM TERRIFIC

The year is 1992, the setting, North Dakota. A 31 year-old Tom Billeter has taken the reins as the new head coach of the North Dakota State men's basketball program. 

Fast forward to the end of Billeters inaugural 1992-93 campaign. His Bison would finish that season with a 12-17 record. Oh well- new coach, new schemes, it happens. We'll see what Billeter and company have in store now that all involved have gotten a chance to settle in.

The Bison sure were settled, all right. How's a 21-9 record (paired with an NCAA Tournament appearance) in Billeter's second season sound? Hopefully it sounds good, because… this would essentially be the formula moving forward for the rest of Billeter's stint with the club. After that initial below-.500 outing, it was 20+ win seasons and tickets to the Big Dance the rest of the way. 

After the last of those successful campaigns with North Dakota State in 1996-97, Billeter took some time away from coaching. But ahead of the 2003-04 season, Augustana came a-knocking. Just like that, it was time for Billeter to dawn an entirely different pair of horns. 

It took a little longer for the coach to get things going in this new Dakota- his first three seasons as a Viking saw the club finish below-.500. Patience is, of course, a virtue. And in 2006-07, that patience was finally rewarded with a 16-12 finish.

Last time Billeter broke across the .500 plateau with a team, he never looked back. This time around, it'd be no different. Dating back to that 16-12 mark, Augustana has failed to post a losing effort in 16 consecutive seasons.

That sounds good enough on its own- but there's far, far much more to it than that. It's one thing to barely break into the green- it's another to develop an entire winter surplus of victories. Billeter has chosen the later route during his tenure as a Viking. All-told, including his work so far in 2022-23, the Augustana legend has amassed a 368-210 record, a winning percentage of .637. Included in this 20-year run are eight seasons of 20+ wins. Billeter's already the winningest coach in program history- and he's still going. 

And they've (probably)  had to build an entirely new trophy case to account for all the hardware Billeter has helped bring to Sioux Falls already. Look, if we mentioned everything, we'd be here all weekend- let's run through some highlights. As a bit of a prelude, you can't be the life of any party unless you get your foot in the door of said party to begin with. So when Billeter helped will the Vikings back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 19 years in 2007-08, that was a pretty big deal. The kind of deal that can help set the framework for something like Augustana's 2015-16 effort… which is almost a little difficult to quantify. The Vikings finished a whopping 34-2 that season. Forget just winning the NSIC. Forget Billeter winning the NABC Coach of the Year Award, one of two on his resume. All that's great, but it pales in comparison to something else- a national title. Yeah, you know where this is going- the Vikings won the whole thing that season.

There's about a thousand mini articles looming within Billeter's time in South Dakota. One of them would be bound to mention his two NSIC Tournament Championships, another the 10 players that produced 11 Conference Player of the Year efforts under his watch… but we'll leave those duties to those hypothetical mini articles in-question. For now, let's just leave it at this- Billeter's a pretty good coach.

 

2021-22 IN A NUTSHELL 

And as if you needed any proof, he demonstrated this again last season.

It was an effort to remember for Augustana in 2021-22. The Vikings finished 26-4, adding another NSIC Championship to the mix in the process. Again, though, Augustana had their eyes set on something bigger- and a No. 1 overall ranking in the Central Region of the NCAA Tournament put the team in a pretty decent spot to get their hands on it. Ultimately, though, there'd be no National Title headed to Sioux Falls this time around. Still, pretty hard to consider last year anything short of a success
 

SAILING AWAY

The thing is, though… it was success largely driven by a crop of talented upperclassmen.

In the case of someone like Tyler Riemersma, talented almost doesn't even cut it. "Going out with a bang" is a great phrase, but it too seems a little lacking in this context- Riemersma went full thermonuclear. A double-double average of 18.6 points per game and 11.1 rebounds. A 57.4% shooting percentage. All that while averaging 3.54 assists, too? There were hardly any players like Riemersma in all of DII men's basketball throughout his senior season- and it was an effort that was treated as such. The forward was named the NSIC South Player of the Year and a member of the All-NSIC First Team. Outside of the vacuum of his conference, Riemersma was deemed an NABC All-American and a D2SIDA Second Team All-American. Quite a swansong. 

Unfortunately for the Vikings, a swansong it most certainly was. And Riemersma wasn't the only player to bid farewell to the roster ahead of the new 2022-23 campaign, either. 

Take Adam Dykman, for example. The forward was third on the team in average scoring last season with 12.2 points a night. Dykman was an assassin from beyond the arc- his shooting percentage from deep closed at 40.5%. All the while, he also found time to grab 6.5 boards a game. And then there was Dylan LeBrun, yet another double-figure scorer at 10.5 points a night that could also generate offense with a 2.9 assists per game mark. All this scoring, all this experience, all this talent- all gone.
 

COMING TO SHORE

It's tough to endure an exodus like this, especially with a program as accustomed to winning as Augustana has become. Of the remedies that exist to this kind of problem, one can often prove to provide more immediate relief than the rest- the transfer portal. 

Two new players joined the Viking crew from distant lands ahead of the 2022-23 season- both have made immediate impacts in their new home. Consider Ryan Miller, for example. Miller came to Augustana by way of NAIA program Grand View. Across three seasons as a (Grand View) Viking, Miller left a lasting legacy. He finished his tenure there at eighth on the school's all-time scoring list with 1446 points. It probably helped that he averaged 20.7 points a game in his final season with the team. He's not quite at that level of production yet with this new Viking clan, but he leads them in scoring nonetheless. The graduate guard is averaging a team-high mark of 13.7 points a game right now. Chuck in 3.6 rebounds and two assists, for good measure.

The next new face is Jadan Graves, a Juco product out of Des Moines Iowa Community College (DMACC). Graves had an all-around effort kind of a season in his last stint as a Bear, averaging 16.6 points to go along with 3.1 assists and 4.7 rebounds. Especially considering the jump in competition level, it's been so far, so good for the junior guard this year. He's already averaging 11.2 points a game (third on the team). Beyond that, he's outright leading all Vikings in the assists department with 4.1 dimes a night. Not back for a first go-around in the DII space. 
 

VIKING VETERANS

But this isn't a group made up entirely of newcomers. Two old faces in particular stand out as critical pieces of this Vikings' squad's efforts to turn its 2022-23 campaign around.

The first is Isaac Fink. A senior, Fink's been a Viking his entire collegiate career. Last year saw him at the peak of his statistical powers, averaging 15 points on top of 7.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists a game. This season, Fink's continued to be an important presence on the ship. He's averaging 12.4 points a game thus far while maintaining his rebounding prowess, grabbing 7.7 boards a night. The guard's also continued to be a worthwhile distributor, averaging 2.3 assists a night.

Perhaps "veteran" is a strong word to use to describe this next player, but he has at least been around the block as a Viking before. Akoi Akoi is just a sophomore. The guard averaged 3.7 points and 2.7 rebounds with Augustana last year. In year two, something sure had clicked. Akoi's now fourth on the team in scoring with 10.7 points a night. To be able to score is one thing- to do it efficiently is another thing entirely. Akoi knows both worlds well. He's not just shooting at a clip of 50% from the field- his three-point shooting percentage is all the way up to 46.4%. For reference, that latter mark was at just 13% last season. Quite the improvement- and Akoi's just getting started.

 

THE BROADCASTS

Can't make it to Romano this weekend? Don't sweat it! Catch all the action live through the NSIC Network by following the links below:

vs Wayne State (Friday, Jan. 27 @ 5:30 p.m.): bit.ly/3janxAY

vs Augustana (Saturday, Jan. 28 @ 3:30 p.m.): bit.ly/3WJcxIk

 

UP NEXT 

UMD hops back on the road next weekend for another crack at two NSIC North foes. The Bulldogs first take on MSU Moorhead on Friday, Feb. 3 at 5:30 p.m. before heading to Aberdeen to face Northern State on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 4:00 p.m.