THE OPENING TIP
The University of Minnesota Duluth men's basketball team (23-9 overall, 16-6 NSIC) will kick off its NCAA Tournament bid in Maryville, Mo. this weekend with a contest against Central Oklahoma on Saturday, March 11 at 12:00 p.m. The Bulldogs enter as the No. 6 seed in the Central, the Bronchos taking the No. 3 spot. It's the second-straight season that UMD's punched a ticket to the bid dance after having done so last year for the first time since 2003.

LAST TIME OUT
UMD's NSIC Tournament run was certainly one indicative of a team that's built to compete in March. 

The Bulldogs kicked things off in Romano, playing host Minnesota State for a first round matchup. UMD clearly fed off of the home crowd's energy, as it defeated the Mavericks by double-digits, the final score reading 86-66 Bulldogs. This bought UMD a trip to the Sanford Pentagon, a stay that started with a quarterfinals contest against NSIC South Champion Upper Iowa. It was a tight contest for much of its runtime, but the Bulldogs were able to ride lock-down defense in the second half to an eventual 72-61 victory.

This set the stage for a semifinals clash against Northern State, the outright champs of the NSIC in the regular season. Once again, it was a second-half effort that swung the tide in the Bulldogs' favor. Down five at halftime at a score of 31-26, UMD ended up outscoring NSU 49-38 in the last 20 minutes to take that one 75-69 and advance to its second-straight NSIC Championship.

There, in another bit of deja vu dating back to last season, the Bulldogs once again faced off against MSU Moorhead. The Dragons rode a strong shooting effort through the first 20 minutes to a 47-28 lead at the half. UMD was down, but certainly not out- and it fought hard all the way until the final buzzer. The Bulldogs ended up outscoring the Dragons in the half and seemed to get stronger and stronger as the frame progressed. Unfortunately, UMD simply ran out of time. MSUM won the contest 79-69 to secure its second-straight NSIC Tournament championship.

AN ALL-TOURNEY TEAM PERFORMANCE 
At the forefront of UMD's efforts through its conference postseason push was Drew Blair.

The redshirt senior guard started things off with a 22-point effort on 9-14 shooting against the Mavericks in the first round and immediately followed that with 18 more points against the Peacocks in round two. Hey, 18's not a bad number- why not score that many again in the semifinals to help send your team to the championship? All of this set the scene for the Stevens Point, Wis. native's best shooting effort of the tournament- and at just the right time. Blair popped off for 31 points (he'd already had 18 by halftime of this one) to pair with seven rebounds in the Bulldogs' fight against the Dragons. 

All-told, the guard closed the tournament with a 22.3 points per game average. Not a bad chunk of scoring- good enough to land him on the NSIC All-Tournament Team, in fact. 

STATS STATUS REPORT
Blair continues to lead UMD in average scoring, his NSIC Tournament effort boosting his PPG mark to exactly 20. The guard also leads the club in assists per game with 2.19. Charlie Katona is next on the charts, potting 12.4 points a game on a 55.3% field goal percentage. The junior forward also holds a Bulldog-high average of 5.8 rebounds a night. Cap it all off with two assists a game, too. Right behind Katona is Joshua Brown, who's averaging 11.6 points a contest. The junior guard also snags 5.5 boards a game. The last of UMD's double-digit averagers is Austin Andrews, who's scoring 11.3 a night at a shooting clip of 58.1%. The junior forward also brings in 5.6 rebounds a night. 

It's a top-50 offense for UMD on a national stage, as it lands at 41st in average scoring with 80.8 points a game. The thing is… it's an efficient 80.8, too. The Bulldogs are shooting at an average clip of 49.1% from the floor, the 20th-best figure in all of the country. 

ALL-NSIC NODS
Two Bulldogs closed NSIC play with the honor of landing on an All-Conference squad. Blair secured a spot on the All-NSIC First Team, his second time earning the accolade and his fourth appearance on an All-Conference team overall. Katona made his career debut on an All-NSIC squad by being named to the Second Team.

BLAIR STATS ROUNDUP
A First Team placement was just another in a sea of achievements for Blair so far this season. 

Back in December, the redshirt-senior guard cemented himself in UMD history by landing in the top 10 in program history in career scoring. Since then, the guard has done nothing but climb the ranks. Blair's worked himself all the way to third on the all-time scoring charts with 1939 total points. He sits just five points shy of surpassing Jay Guidinger's mark of 1953 points for sole possession of second.

But when it comes to sinking threes… no Bulldog has ever done it more than Blair. The Stevens Point, Wis. native's soared to the top spot in UMD history in three-pointers made, currently sitting with 243. 

SCOUTING REPORT ON CENTRAL OKLAHOMA (No. 3 Central)
IN THE MIX IN THE MIAA
The Bronchos didn't quite walk out of a season of play in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) with any new hardware, but they continually came about as close as they could've to doing so. 

In the regular season, for example, Central Oklahoma finished second in the MIAA ranks, just two wins behind conference champ Northwest Missouri State. It was a similar story in the MIAA Tournament. The Bronchos pushed all the way to the championship game, defeating Norwest Missouri Southern (76-60) and Fort Hays State (55-51) in the process. There, they met Northwest Missouri State. Unfortunately for UCO, it would come up just short to the Bearcats once more, as Northwest would prevail in that contest 61-53. 

FOUR BRONCHOS
It's been a fab four of scorers that have led UCO's offense into March Madness.

At the top of the charts is Jaden Wells. The impressive sophomore guard's averaging 16.8 points per game while being a threat from behind the arc, shooting at a clip of 43% from three. Wells also averages 4.5 rebounds a game. It's a trio of seniors that make up the rest of the group, starting with Camryn Givens. Givens pots 13.7 points a game while leading the club in averaging rebounds with six. Up next is Curtis Haywood, who also does much more than just shoot. The guard pairs his 11.9 points a contest with averages of 5.7 rebounds, two steals and 4.03 assists. That assists mark is best among all Bronchos. Rounding out the list of double-digit scorers is Callen Hayden, who's scoring 11.1 points a night.


A CENTRAL FOCUS ON DEFENSE
Of course, you need to score points to win a game of basketball, a mission the four mentioned above are spark plugging for UCO. But it's also not a bad idea to keep the other team from scoring at all… and in that arena, the Bronchos excel.

And excel at a national level. UCO is seventh in the entire country in scoring defense, holding opposing squads to an average of just 60.7 points a night. It's not just pure offensive output the Bronchos aim to disrupt- they want to keep offenses on their heels all game. It's an effort that's translated into an average opponent field goal percentage of just 39.5%- the fifth-lowest in all the land. 

HOFFMAN'S AT THE HELM
Overseeing this operation is a seasoned coaching veteran in Bob Hoffman. It may just be Hoffman's fourth year at the bench for the Bronchos, but it's year 29 as a coach overall. Looking at Hoffman's tenure with UCO in a vacuum, he's led the club to three-straight winning seasons and what is now two-straight 20+ win efforts. Not a bad start.

FIRST DANCE
Some inherent history will be on-hand in Mayville, as this will mark the first meeting between the Bulldogs and Bronchos in an NCAA Tournament setting.

THE BULLDOGS IN THE TOURNAMENT
UMD will search for its first NCAA Tournament win on Saturday, as the program is currently 0-4 in the Big Dance. Back in the NAIA ranks, the Bulldogs amassed a 5-8 record across eight DI tournament appearances. 

THE BROADCAST
Catch the tournament action live free-of-charge through the MIAA Network by clicking the link below:

vs No. 3 Central Oklahoma (Saturday, March 11 @ 12:00 p.m.): bit.ly/3F7eZ5J

REGIONAL INFO
For more information on the 2023 NCAA Tournament Central Regional, including a complete team list and a full game schedule, visited the dedicated Regional website through this link: bit.ly/3kZlyR1