Aberdeen, S.D.- UMD men's basketball fell 89-75 in a road contest against Northern State on Saturday. The loss leaves the Bulldogs' overall record at 16-8 and their NSIC standing at 12-6. The Wolves remain at the top of the NSIC with a 15-3 conference mark. 

The start of Saturday's first half saw a reverse in fate for the Bulldogs compared to what they'd experienced a night prior, as UMD quickly found itself down nine at a score of 13-4 with 16:02 on the clock. Despite being trimmed down to as little as four by way of a Joshua Brown three (get used to hearing those three words together) that made it 13-9 Northern, the deficit ended up blooming to double-figures at 19-9 by the 14:01 mark. The Wolves' lead then ballooned to a half-high of 12 at 27-15 off of a Jacksen Moni three-pointer 40 seconds before the midway point of the half. Hope you remembered to get acquainted with Brown's name- if you still haven't this next sequence will leave you with few other options. The junior guard sank a massive three through contact and eventually completed his four-point play at the stripe to trim the work down to just single digits at 27-19 with 10:22 remaining in the frame. A Drew Blair three shortly thereafter left UMD down just two scores at 27-22, but that's ultimately the closest the Bulldogs would get before Northern started re-fortifying its advantage back up to nine at 33-24 by the 8:31 mark.  

Cue up a massive 7-0 UMD run, the points of which were fostered entirely by Brown. A colossal three-ball from the junior guard capped off his hot streak to leave the Bulldogs down just a single score at 33-31 with 7:21 left until the break. But once again, UMD wasn't quite able to finish the job- soon enough, Northern's grip was back up to nine once more at 42-33 with only 3:58 left in half number one. 

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Ladies and gentlemen, allow us to reintroduce Blair.

It was the redshirt-senior's turn to tag in for an unanswered stretch of his own. Blair rattled off three-consecutive three-balls in the span of just over a minute to trim Northern's lead back down to four at 46-42. The advantage would eventually slim down to just a bucket at 47-44 with only 1:14 remaining. A Jordan Belka jumper with 47 seconds left would ultimately sink the Bulldogs' hopes of bringing just a one-possession deficit into the break, but they'd still done good work to leave the halftime tally at 49-44 Northern. 

Not often will you see a two-headed monster of a performance like the one Blair and Brown put on throughout the first frame for UMD. Blair closed with 18 points on 7-12 shooting from the floor and 4-5 shooting from deep through 20 minutes. Brown wasn't all that far behind, clocking in at 14 points on 3-6 shooting from three. Brown also had three assists and a team-leading eight rebounds through one frame of play. 

The Bulldogs' offense was in good hands in the first- what hindered them were numbers in a few other categories. For as well as UMD scored the ball in the frame, Northern was able to match the pace- the Wolves shot 18–33 (54.5%) as a team compared to the Bulldogs' 16-32 (50%) mark. Northern was also more disciplined with the ball, the team holding just two turnovers to its name compared to five for UMD. 

So when UMD's offense started to cool faster than Northern's, it spelled trouble for the Bulldogs.

By the 18:13 mark of the second half, the Wolves' lead remained at five at a score of 53-48. This ended up being the last time the margin would be this low- a Moni layup at the 17:58 mark extended Northern's advantage past two-possessions the rest of the way. A Sam Masten bucket with 9:33 left in the game marked the start of a streak of double-digit leads that would continue until the final buzzer. Northern's advantage ultimately peaked at 23 at a score of 89-66 with just 2:58 remaining. In spite of all of this, the Bulldogs never stopped competing. In fact, the game was sent off by a 9-0 UMD run to close the gap all the way back down to 14. At that point, though, the Bulldogs had simply run out of time. Northern State ultimately seized the day with an 89-75 victory. 

Brown landed at the top of UMD's scoring chart in this half, this time putting up eight points to go with five rebounds. Austin Andrews and Charlie Katona each potted six points, Andrews' coming on a 3-3 shooting effort and Katona's being paired with four rebounds and two assists. The Wolves had been led by a duo of Maston and Josh Dilling, who each scored nine points. Maston also had four assists, Dilling coming in with five rebounds. 

One of the core second-half kickers for UMD was its pure shooting efficiency. The Bulldogs shot 11-28 from the field in the last 20 minutes, a clip of 39.3%. Part of this was a 1-10 outing from beyond the arc. Northern's efforts in the efficiency arena weren't leaps-and-bounds better, but the marginal discrepancies proved to make a difference. The Wolves shot 13-31 (45.2%) from the field and 4-11 (36.4%) from deep. 

But perhaps the core vice of the night for the Bulldogs was free-throw shooting, particularly in that second frame. Northern went 8-8 from the stripe in half number two- UMD went 8-16. 

All-told, it was Blair and Brown that found themselves as UMD's overall leading scorers in this one. Each ended the night with 22 points. For Brown, this was the first part of a double-double, as the junior guard also grabbed 13 boards. But both players boasted strong efforts from deep on their paths to 22- Brown went 6-8 from three while Blair finished 4-6. Andrews was the third Bulldog to secure double-digit scoring, closing with 10 points on 5-7 shooting. Joshua Strong led the team in assists with five. 

Four Wolves ended their nights in double figures. Masten was chief among them with 26 points on a 10-17 shooting effort to go with six rebounds and seven assists. Moni had 17 points on 7-10 shooting and a 3-5 mark from deep. Belka also registered 17 points, his coming on a 7-14 outing and sharing the stage with eight rebounds and two assists. Dilling scored 15 points on 5-9 shooting to couple with six rebounds and an impressive nine assists. 

WORDS FROM WIECK

A major brightspot in this game for UMD was undoubtedly the hot starts of both Blair and Brown. 

The performance of both players only grows in relevance in the context of UMD's shooting woes in the second half. In the eyes of UMD head coach Justin Wieck, the difference there had nothing to do with any changes in Northern's defensive effort and everything to do with the team (Blair and Brown included) being able to work through that effort through 20 minutes. 

"Northern did a great job defensively all night against us," Wieck said. "We made some tough shots in the first half. Drew and (Brown) really kept us in the game." 

Speaking of consistency from the Wolves, something that has yet to be mentioned was Northern's ability to hang with UMD under the glass all game long. In fact, the Wolves ended up winning the battle of the paint from a scoring perspective, putting up 38 points in that arena compared to the Bulldogs' 36. 

One aspect of this fight stood out to Wieck above all others- a simple height discrepancy. 

"Their length inside really bothered us," Wieck said. "They go 6'10 and 6'9 and were allowed to be super physical all night with us."

But remember that in spite of all of this, it was the Bulldogs that closed the game with nine unanswered points. It was still a gritty road performance from UMD, but such performances aren't always rewarded with a victory- such is the reality of NSIC play. The rest of the conference pool is just as talented, and when they're able to catch you on their home turf, that never helps. Wieck is well aware of both of these facts.

"Our guys really battled but Northern was the better team tonight," Wieck said. "Their atmosphere was electric, and their guys fed off that extra burst."

Speaking of home turf… it's the Bulldogs that get to enjoy such an advantage next weekend when they head back to Romano for a two-game homestand. 

Every single game from this point onwards is bigger than the last one for UMD. In the spirit of this, Wieck hopes that those across Bulldog Country show up and show out for the team to give them that additional kick, something that even the best of squads could benefit from.

"We have some huge games coming up back in Romano," Wieck said. "It would be great to bring a big time atmosphere to Duluth down the stretch."