THE OPENING TIP 

The UMD men's basketball team (22-8 overall, 16-6 conference) is squaring up for its second-straight NSIC Tournament Semifinals appearance, this time going against Northern State on Monday, Feb. 27. 

 

LAST TIME OUT- TOURNAMENT EDITION

UMD's first twenty minutes in The Pentagon this season were tightly contested.

The Bulldogs and Peacocks traded shots back-and-forth all throughout the opening half of their NSIC Tournament Quarterfinals clash on Sunday. By the break, no team had held a lead higher than two scores. A game that'd already seen five ties and five lead changes ultimately settled at a halftime score of 34-32 UIU.

It was a similar story for much of the second half. Great example: a 41-second sequence in which there were three total lead changes. By the end of that frenzy, UMD was up 45-44 with 12:11 on the clock. As it turns out, the Bulldogs wouldn't trail for the rest of that runtime.

The Peacocks were able to get things to within just one at a score of 49-48 with 7:14 left, but that'd be the last time they'd get so close. Shutdown defense from the Bulldogs coupled with timely scoring ultimately guided UMD to a huge 72-61 win. Speaking of timely buckets, a notable momentum-swinger of a moment was a massive Blair three-ball in transition that extended the Bulldog lead all the way to what was then a game-high eight-point lead at 60-52 with 3:36 on the clock.

Charlie Katona led all Bulldogs with 21 points on 10-15 shooting to go with eight rebounds. Blair rode a huge second half to 18 points. Austin Andrews had 10 points to go with nine boards. Joshua Brown was a Swiss Army Knife against UIU, scoring eight points, grabbing 10 boards and blocking five shots. 

 

DREW'S NO. 2

Blair ultimately recorded just one three in Sunday's contest against UIU- but it was a big one for more reasons than one. In-game impact aside, the bucket was also enough to leave the redshirt-senior guard at a tie for second all-time on UMD's three-pointers made list with Chris Stanley at 239. Blair now needs just two more triples to tie Jordan Nuness' record of 241. 

 

STATS STATUS REPORT

Blair leads the Bulldogs offensively with 19.7 points a game. The guard also leads the club in average assists with 2.2 a contest. Katona is second on the scoring charts with 12.6 points a game on a 55.4% shooting clip from the field. Brown's averaging 11.5 points a night. Andrews rounds out the list of UMD's double-digit scorers with 11.3 points a game scored at an efficiency clip of 58.2%.

 A major strength of this UMD club as it continues its postseason journey is its overall scoring production. The Bulldogs hold the 36th offense in the country in terms of average output, putting up 81.4 points a game. That's the highest figure in all of the NSIC. Better yet, it's an operation that's handled with efficiency. UMD's offense fires at an overall field goal percentage of 49.1%, the second-highest mark in the conference. 

CATCHING UP WITH: NORTHERN STATE

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

This isn't the first time the Bulldogs will dance with the Wolves this season. These two are already well familiar with each other.

It started with a New Year's Eve clash in Romano. Ultimately, it'd be NSU that would control the first half in that one, taking an early lead in the frame and failing to relinquish it. But the Bulldogs would do good work to keep things interesting at the break, the Wolves' lead just six at a score of 33-27 through 20 minutes. 

NSU was ultimately able to parlay its strong start into a 45-32 lead with 16:25 remaining in the game. The Bulldogs did the exact opposite of backing down- they went and seized total control. Over the next seven minutes, UMD would jump put on a game-changing 21-2 run to find itself up 53-47. The Wolves would storm back in their own right, and the two squads would end up operating in lockstep down the stretch. With the game still tied at 66-all by the 3:09 mark, NSU was first to strike, scoring four unanswered points to take a 70-66 advantage with 2:02 to go. Northern was able to ride this to a to-the-wire 75-73 victory. 

It was a scorers delight in this one, as four players closed with double-digit points on both sides. Brown led the way for UMD with 20 points to go with eight rebounds. Blair had 17 to couple with nine boards and four assists. Andrews had 11 points and six boards. Katona had a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds. 

Jacksen Moni potted 27 points. Sam Masten had 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Jordan Belka also recorded a double-double, his coming with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Josh Dilling recorded 12 points. 

It was the Bulldogs' turn to travel to Aberdeen for the rematch on Feb. 4. The Wolves took advantage of a home crowd that was in the thousands by having a strong first half once again, jumping out to several multi-possession leads. Still, UMD hung around, fighting back every time to trim the deficit down to a marginal level. Through 20 minutes, the score read 49-44 Northern State. But unlike the last meeting between these two squads, the second half wasn't so level in South Dakota. The Wolves kept stable control throughout a frame that they'd outscore the Bulldogs 40-31 in, ultimately taking the contest 89-75.

Blair and Brown had had massive first halves for UMD to keep the team alive throughout the first half, so it was only fitting that they'd tied for the team lead in points with 22 by the game's end. Brown paired his with 13 rebounds to seal a double-double. Andrews had 10 points on 5-7 shooting. On the other end, Masten put up 26 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Moni and Belka each had 17 points, Belka's being paired with eight rebounds. Dilling had 15 points and six rebounds. 

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

The Wolves never took much time to slow down this season, continuing their success until they ultimately closed as both the NSIC North and outright NSIC Champions. They did so on the back of a 19-3 conference record. NSU's overall record is currently 24-5. The Wolves enter this contest ranked No. 18 in the country in the NABC Coaches Poll.

The last notch on the left side of that dash came in an NSIC Quarterfinals bout against Minot State on Saturday. The Beavers gave the Wolves a real battle, even holding a 27-25 lead through 20 minutes. However, half two would prove to belong to NSU, which would outscore Minot 40-33 in the closing half to seal a 65-60 victory.  

Five Wolves closed in double-figures for scoring. Belka had a double-double of 15 points and 10 boards. Masten had 14 points to go with eight rebounds and five assists.  Dilling had 12 points, Augustin Reede put up 11 and Moni registered 10. 

 

NSU'S ALL-NSIC NODS

What a massive year it was for Masten.

The senior guard ended the regular season by being crowned the NSIC North's Player of the Year, also landing on the All-NSIC First Team. Taking a glance at his current numbers, it makes sense. It's not just that Masten's averaging 18.2 points a night- he's doing it at a shooting clip of 56.8%. Add an average of seven rebounds to the mix, too. 

But Masten was far from the only all-conference honoree on this NSU squad. Joining him on the First Team was Jacksen Moni, a sophomore forward posting 15.4 points and 4.8 rebounds a contest. Landing on the Second Team was Jordan Belka, who's averaging 13.3 points and 6.3 boards.

 

BETTER CALL SAUL

Leading this talented bunch of Wolves is a coach with an equally impressive resume: Saul Phillips, the NSIC Coach of the Year. 

This year's NSIC Championship is the third Phillips has secured at the helm of NSU in just four tries. This helps to make sense of his impressive 89-24 overall record across hist tenure with the program. Now a two-time NSIC COY winner, Phillips' coaching success has transcended the Northern Sun. The coach recorded his 300th overall victory back in February and now sits with 304 total across what's already been a storied career. 

 

LAST MEETING ON TOURNAMENT TIME

These two squads last ran into each other in a conference tourney setting back in 2018, when the Bulldogs played the No. 11 Wolves in the quarterfinals. NSU ultimately took that one 75-62 after outscoring UMD 39-31 in the first half. 

 

THE BROADCAST

Catch the action live free-of-charge through the NSIC Network by clicking the link below:

NSIC Tournament Semifinals vs Northern State (Monday, Feb. 27 @ 4:30 p.m.): bit.ly/3ZrmP1A