Duluth, Minn. - UMD Men's Basketball was able to manage Minnesota State 88-68 in an NSIC Tournament First Round bout in Romano on Tuesday. The win propels the Bulldogs to Sioux Falls for a Round Two contest against Upper Iowa in the Sanford Pentagon on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 4:30 p.m. UMD's record on the season is now 21-8.

UMD certainly played like a team on a mission in the early goings of this one. By just the 13:01 mark, a Charlie Katona layup had left the Bulldogs up double-digits at 20-10. That double-figure advantage wouldn't stick around forever, but UMD's lead was still eight at 26-18 with 8:43 until the break. This is precisely when the Mavericks started a mini offensive stampede- an 8-2 MSU run capped by a Mason Muller triple brought the Bulldogs' lead all the way down to a single score at 28-26. It's a stretch that took the Mavericks a little over two minutes to concoct, Muller's bucket finding the bottom of the net with 6:06 left in the half. 

Unfortunately for MSU… UMD had a bit of a response dialed up itself. 

In almost the same amount of time as it'd taken the Mavericks to score eight, the Bulldogs put up 12. And UMD did it all while holding MSU completely scoreless. By the time Joshua Brown went to the line to sink two attempts with 3:30 left until the break, the Bulldogs were suddenly up 40-26. 

Only briefly would UMD's first-half lead fall back down to a single digit from this point onwards, something that occurred when a Malik Willingham three left the score at 42-33 with 1:35 to play in the first. It was a shot immediately countered by an Austin Andrews layup to leave the lead at 11 at 44-33 through 20 minutes.

Drew Blair had been big for the Bulldogs offensively throughout the initial frame. The redshirt-senior guard already had 15 points on 6-10 shooting. Not far behind him were a pair of Bulldogs who tallied nine points in the half, those being Jack Middleton and Katona. Middleton scored his on a perfect 4-4 effort from the field, Katona not far off from this with a 4-5 shooting mark of his own. As a unit, the Bulldogs worked at a precise clip of 58.1% (18-31) in the first half. 

For the Mavericks, it'd been a familiar name that had done the most damage to this point: Moore. The senior guard, who potted a team-high 27 points against UMD when these two teams last met in January, already had 16 through 20 minutes. It was an effort that came on 6-9 shooting from the field.  

The first five or so minutes of the second half proved that UMD would not be able to ride its 11-point lead from the half before off into the sunset. With 15:12 to go in the game, Kyreese Willingham potted a layup to trim the Bulldogs' lead down to just four at 52-48. And with plenty of time remaining on the clock, there seemed to be no reason why the Mavericks couldn't just keep on pushing. That is unless the Bulldogs decided to break off on their biggest offensive stretch of the entire game at this particular moment- which is what they did.

It took UMD less than three minutes dating back to that 52-48 score to have re-established a double-digit lead at 62-51 (capped by a Blair layup) on the back of a 10-3 run. With 10:08 left on the clock, a pair of Katona free throws made it a 14-3 stretch, the score now 66-51 UMD. Talk about a response.

And it was one that the Mavericks could never fully answer. There'd be no other 15-8 run or stretch akin to it in store for MSU- instead, the Bulldogs' lead just kept growing. Soon enough, UMD's advantage had peaked all the way at 25 by way of an Andrews layup that made it 85-60 with just 2:15 remaining in the game. Ultimately, the advantage would settle at a solid 20, UMD taking the contest 86-66. 

Katona put on a clinic of a performance through the final 20 minutes of this one to help aid UMD's efforts in shutting down the Mavericks for good. The junior forward put up 14 points on a perfect 4-4 shooting effort in the half. Joining Katona in the flawless field goal shooting department throughout the final frame was Brown, who tallied nine points on a 3-3 effort. Mattie Thompson grabbed five boards in the half to lead the team. All-together, it was yet another period of efficiency for UMD- the club shot 55.6% (15-27) to close things out. 

Throughout the second half, Moore, who seemed destined to be a perennial thorn in UMD's side, posted exactly… zero points. The Bulldogs had managed to hold the senior guard to a 0-6 outing from the field in frame number two. But that doesn't mean all scoring was lost for the Mavericks- not by a longshot. The Willingham Brothers in Malik and Kyreese posted 13 and 12 points in the frame, respectively. Malik's came on 5-8 shooting from the field while Kyreese's was by way of a 5-10 shooting mark. This combined effort made up all but 10 of MSU's points in the second half.

The final buzzer saw Katona at the top of the Bulldog charts for scoring on the back of a near-perfect night. The junior forward potted 23 points on an 8-9 mark from the field to couple with a team-high four assists. Right behind Katona was Blair, who closed the game with 22 points on a 9-14 shooting effort. Powered by a big second half, Brown was third in team scoring with 14 points while going 4-7 overall and 3-6 from deep. Middleton was the last of the Bulldogs' double-digit scorers with 11. Thompson touted a Bulldog-best eight rebounds in this one. 

The Mavericks were led by Malik Willingham's 18 points and his team-high eight boards. Kyreese Willingham had 17 points to pair with five rebounds and three assists. Moore's big first half left him at third on the podium with 16 points and three assists.

WORDS FROM WIECK

Theme of the day: consistency yielding results. It's a common thread that can be found throughout UMD head coach Justin Wieck's thoughts about his team's performance in this one. 

For one example, look at the foul totals: 19 for MSU compared to just eight for UMD. The Bulldogs shot 17 total free throws (and made 13 of them) while the Mavericks went just 2-4 from the stripe the entire game. To Wieck, this is nothing new- it was just a matter of his players executing a long-established game plan to a high level.

"We've gotten to the FT line a ton throughout the season and led the league in FT attempts," Wieck said. "Our guys did a great job of attacking different switches and matchups."

And what about UMD's offensive output at-large? The Bulldogs shot above 50% in each half en route to an overall mark of 56.9% (33-58) against the Mavericks. It's pretty impressive- only more so when you realize this is already the 13th time UMD has closed a game above the .500 line as a team this season. UMD came into this game with the 26th best team field goal percentage in the nation at 49% for a reason.

 Again: stick to a successful formula, and you'll probably find success. Just ask Wieck.

We've proven to score at a pretty good rate most of the year," Wieck said. "Our guys have really committed to hunting great shots for teammates as we've gotten down the stretch."

To echo that last point, UMD's finished above 50% from the field as a team in four of its last seven games. Seems this group might be heating up to a whole different level as its postseason journey begins.

And in the case of Tuesday's instance of high-tier shooting… it sure never hurts to play at home.

In the Bulldogs' regular-season finale against Bemidji State back on Feb. 18, a whopping 1444 fans took the stands to help guide UMD to an 87-53 victory. Tuesday, in spite of two separate schedule changes and an impending snowstorm, a sizable (and rowdy) showing from Bulldog Country still made its presence known in a big way. This kind of consistency isn't lost on Wieck, either- and it's no less important.

"It was such an energy boost walking out to that crowd," Wieck said. "Our guys felt it and fed off them. Bulldog Country is a special place, and our crowd has had a huge impact on our last two games. Thank you!"