THE OPENING TIP
The UMD men's basketball team (10-4 overall, 6-2 conference) embarks on its first road trip of 2023 this weekend with two in-state stops on the docket. The Bulldogs first make a visit to St. Paul to face off against the Golden Bears on Friday, Jan. 6 at 7:30 p.m. before making the trek to Mankato to meet the Mavericks on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 5:30 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend is one the Bulldogs will look to leave in the rear-view mirror.
UMD started off New Year's Weekend by welcoming Northern State to Romano on Dec. 31. Though they kept things interesting throughout the first half (and were at points within just a score of tying or taking the lead), the Bulldogs found themselves trailing for almost the entirety of the first 20 minutes. The Wolves eventually took a 33-27 lead into the break. The second half started with more of the same, with Northern actually developing its lead to as high as 45-32 with 16:24 remaining. But the Bulldogs continued to bend without breaking- they'd rally off 13 unanswered points to knot things up at 45 a pop. Soon enough, UMD had a six-point lead of their own at 53-47 with 9:21 on the clock. Not so fast- Northern quickly countered with a 14-3 run of its own to hold a 61-56 lead with just 6:33 remaining.
From there, the two teams started to trade back-and-forth blows in the form of brief runs that would either tie things back up or establish a small, temporary advantage. Once the Wolves broke the seal on a 66-66 tie, they held the lead and never looked back, pushing it to as high as five at 74-69 with just 32 seconds on the clock. Credit to the Bulldogs- they kept fighting for all 32 of those ticks. Alas, they simply ran out of time. Northern would go on to win the contest 75-73.
Joshua Brown led the Bulldogs in that one with a season-high 20 points off of 4-10 shooting from three. Brown also had eight boards.
Next came New Year's Day's Date with the Dragons.
MSU Moorhead wasted absolutely no time taking control of this one. The Dragons already held a 12-4 advantage over UMD just under six minutes into the first frame. It's an advantage that would only grow and grow, despite valiant comeback bids from the Bulldogs. When the smoke settled on the first half, MSU Moorhead found itself ahead 42-25.
Again, more of the same to open the second frame. The Dragons were able to build their cushion to as high as 55-32 with just 13:24 left for the Bulldogs to pull off a miracle. And for just a little while… that seemed to be where things were headed. Sparked by 11 quick points from a surging Drew Blair, UMD suddenly found itself on a 17-3 run and back within single digits of a tie at 58-49 with 8:02 to go.
But it was just too little, too late for the Bulldogs.
MSU Moorhead would go on to retake a double-figure advantage shortly thereafter- one they were more careful to hold onto. Eventually, the Dragons walked out of Romano with a 72-58 victory.
Blair was the Bulldogs' leading scorer on Sunday. The guard ended the day with 19 points on 7-15 (46.7%) shooting.
RANKINGS ROUNDUP
The Bulldogs bounced out of the top 25 in the most recent NABC and D2SIDA Polls. UMD fell from third to eighth in the D2SIDA's newest Central Region Rankings.
STATS STATUS REPORT
Drew Blair continues to lead the charge for the Bulldog offense with a team-high 21.3 points a game. That clip is good for 2nd in the NSIC and 18th in the country. Blair's 298 total points scored on the season is 11th in the nation and also 2nd in the conference.
SCOUTING REPORT ON CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL (3-11 OVERALL, 1-7 CONFERENCE)
COACHING CONVO
Concordia head coach Matt Fletcher came to St. Paul by way of Mankato- just not from the school you have in mind. Fletcher was the bench boss of Division III program Bethany Lutheran for four seasons before making the jump to the DII level with the Golden Bears. Across those four campaigns with the Vikings, Fletcher amassed a stout 76-33 record, good for a 69.7% winning percentage. He oversaw what was (and still stands as) Bethany Lutheran's most successful campaign in school history in 2017-18. It's not just that the Vikings set a program high for wins with a 20-9 record by the season's end. In the process, the team won both the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Regular Season and Tournament Championships, the latter for the first time ever. Speaking of firsts, this effort was good enough for the Vikings to make their debut in the NCAA Tournament. And they'd do more than just show up- Bethany Lutheran would go on to upset No. 7 St. John's in the first round. That'd eventually mark the end of a historic run, but it was a historic run, nonetheless.
Fletcher is still looking to establish his footing with Concordia in hopes to eventually bring the Golden Bears to the kinds of heights his Vikings once experienced. Across three seasons in St. Paul, Fletcher's teams have gone a combined 7-49.
2021-22 IN A NUTSHELL
Last season was one to forget for the Golden Bears. Concordia finished the year with a 3-25 overall record and a 2-19 mark in NSIC play. This left the team finishing last in the conference overall.
THE TRANSFER PORTAL TAKETH…
To make matters worse, a player who had been a major brightspot for the Golden Bears had opportunity come a-knocking, one he couldn't pass up.
Elijah Ormiston had an electric year in St. Paul last season. In just his freshman campaign, the forward averaged a team-high 16.9 points a game on a wild 53.7% shooting clip from the field. And don't forget his 6.3 boards a game, too. It's clear that no aspect of Ormiston's game went unnoticed by Division I program South Alabama, because the Jaguars felt comfortable letting him make the jump ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.
BUT THE TRANSFER PORTAL GIVETH, TOO
Life has a funny way of working itself out sometimes.
In the same off-season that the team lost a player to the DI ranks, Concordia would turn right around and bring in a DI player to its own roster. Enter Antwan Kimmons, a junior guard who spent three seasons with the University of Northern Iowa before coming over to St. Paul. It's safe to say Kimmons' game has transferred over well to Division II play- and then some. So far this year, the guard's leading all Golden Bears in scoring with a whopping 19.9 points a night. He's doing it on 51.9% shooting from the field, too. And when he's not scoring, Kimmons is dishing out a sizable serving of assists. In fact, he's leading the team in that arena, too, averaging 3.86 dimes a night.
SKEETE STICKS AROUND
Through all of this, an integral part of Concordia's foundation stood pat- Marcus Skeete. As a freshman, Skeete made it clear that he could play a role in turning fortunes around in St. Paul. The dual guard/forward was second on the team in scoring with 12.8 points a night on a shooting clip of 47.4% from the field. Skeete was making his presence known elsewhere, too- he also averaged a team-best 3.38 assists and 5.6 rebounds (second on the team) a night.
So far, it's been business as usual for Skeete in his sophomore campaign. He's averaging 13.8 points a game (still second on the team) on 48.9% shooting while bringing in a team-high 5.7 rebounds a contest.
SCOUTING REPORT ON MINNESOTA STATE (11-3 OVERALL, 5-3 CONFERENCE)
COACHING CONVO
What a ride it's been for Minnesota State head coach Matt Margenthaler.
Across more than two decades with the Mavericks, Margenthaler's built himself quite the resume. He's only had two losing seasons in 21 tries- and one of those was his very first year at the helm back in 2001-02. Instead, Margenthaler's been busy winning- and doing a lot of it. The Mavericks have closed with 20 or more wins in 13 of his seasons at the helm. Through it all, Margenthaler sits with a cumulative record of 447-200, a 69.1% win percentage.
Surrounding him on this throne is a pretty decent amount of hardware. Margenthaler's helped lead Minnesota State to seven total regular-season conference titles, four in the NSIC and three in the now-defunct North Central Conference (NCC). The Mavericks have also made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances during Margenthaler's tenure, running all the way to the program's first final four bid in 2010-11.
2021-22 (AND A LITTLE BEYOND THAT) IN A NUTSHELL
Compared to the usual standards in Mankato across these last two decades, last season left a little bit to be desired. The Mavericks finished 16-10 overall with an even 9-9 mark in conference play that saw them sandwiched in the middle of the NSIC ranks. Minnesota State would make the NSIC Tournament, but it'd lose in the first round to a tough draw in the form of Northern State.
Gazing back a little further than last year, it's been five seasons since the Mavericks have hit 20 or more victories. Granted, one of the seasons in this half-decade span was shortened due to COVID, but that still leaves four full campaigns to consider. So far this year, it sure seems like Minnesota State is set on ending this streak.
DEUCES TO TWO DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORERS
The fact that the Mavericks are doing what they're doing so far this year in the face of the off-season shifts they faced only makes things even more impressive.
Ahead of the 2022-23 season, Minnesota State lost who had been the team's leading scorer a year ago in Quincy Henderson when he landed a chance to join Division I's Murray State. Anderson had been huge for the Mavericks in 2021-22, leading the team in points per game with 17.8 while bringing down an average of 6.4 boards to boot. Also gone was Devonte Thedford, a starting guard who'd put up 11 points a game in his last campaign in Mankato.
THE WILLINGHAMS TAKE MANKATO
As the age-old saying goes, when one door closes, another opens- actually, in this case, make that two opening doors.
The departures of Anderson and Thedford left significant team roles and playing time up for grabs in 2022-23. Two brothers were among those to rise to the occasion to vill these voids.
Malik Willingham's game has completely changed with more reps in-tow. The junior guard has doubled his standard output of 9.7 points a game last year to 18.5 a night this season. He's doing it more efficiently, too, shooting at clips of 44.5% from the field and 42.1% from three. Speaking of the three-ball, if there's one thing the Bulldogs should know about Malik ahead of Saturday, it's that the guard loves to shoot from deep. He's currently 18th in the country (fourth in the NSIC) in three-point attempts with 107 and 18th in the nation (second in-conference) in three-pointers made per game at 3.21 But wait, there's more- Malik also leads the team in average assists with 4.5 while grabbing 5.2 boards a game, too.
Kyreese, the younger of the Willingham duo, isn't all that far behind. In just his sophomore campaign, Kyreese is averaging 12 points a game- on 51.9% shooting from the field no less. He's also snagging 5.4 rebounds a game.
ADDITIONAL CALVARY
The Willinghams have been irreplaceable for the Mavericks so far in 2022-23, but several other key pieces have surrounded them. Take Harrison Braudis, for example. The sophomore guard is currently second on the team in scoring through 14 games with 12.6 points a night on an eye-popping 55% shooting percentage from the field to go with a 44.7% clip from three. Want to hear something crazy? Braudis has only started two games for the Mavericks so far this year.
The young-gun movement continues in the form of Brady Williams. Williams was a key contributor even as a freshman last year, having averaged 12.2 points on 51.2% shooting to pair with 5.5 boards a night. This year, the forward's still been a noticeable presence. He's scoring nine points a game while placing second on the team rebounding charts with 6.2 boards a night.
But in the midst of this underclassmen uprising, it's a seasoned senior that closes out Minnesota State's list of double-digit scorers. Trevor Moore, a transfer from Division I's Morgan State, has quickly found his role on this Mavericks squad. He's averaging 11.9 points a game, fourth on the team, while rounding things out with 4.1 rebounds a night.
BULLISH ON THE BOARDS
As a team, the Mavericks don't mess around when it comes to rebounding- perhaps this was already clear by now. Minnesota State grabs 40.29 boards a night as a team- that's 25th in the country and first in the NSIC. The Mavericks seem to fancy the defensive glass in particular, with 29.79 of those nightly rebounds being defensive boards. That's good for 13th nationally and is also the best mark in the NSIC.
THE BROADCAST
Watch all of the weekend's action live through the NSIC Network by clicking the links below:
vs Concordia St. Paul (Friday, Jan. 6 @ 7:30 p.m.): bit.ly/3vIPMJO
vs Minnesota State (Saturday, Jan. 7 @ 5:30 p.m.): bit.ly/3XdPNRH
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs head back to Romano next weekend for their first full homestand of the new year. And who says festivities have to end after New Year's Weekend? UMD will be putting on a variety of theme nights over the course of two NSIC matchups. The Bulldogs first welcome Upper Iowa on Friday, Jan. 13 at 7:30 p.m. for Pack the Gym Night, otherwise known as Project 2028. Saturday, Jan 14's contest against Winona State features a co-headliner of themes, as it'll be both 80's Night and a Romano Blackout. Tip-off for that one is slated for 5:30 p.m.
