The University of Minnesota Duluth men's basketball team got a much needed win to return to the win column, defeating the Northern State University Wolves 96-72 in tonight's Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) matchup. 

Halftime: UMD (52) - NSU (44)

The Bulldogs opened up the night commandingly, going on a six unanswered point run to open the half. Katona would drive in his first dunk of the night to open up another six point run for the Dogs, putting them up 14-6 all within the first five minutes. The two teams would go back and forth throughout the rest of the half, scoring an equal 38-38, and the UMD would carry their early lead into the intermission.

The Bulldogs closed out the first half tonight shooting 23-36 (63.9%) from the field, 4-13 (30.8%) from outside the arc, and 2-4 (50%) from the charity line. UMD showed how dominant they can be up on the glass, collecting 18 rebounds compared to NSU's 11 and had everything rolling on the offensive side of the ball.

Final Score: UMD (96) - NSU (72)

The two teams would continue to match each other throughout the early minutes of the second half, with a Blair three pointer helping the Dogs narrowly outscore NSU 9-8 after roughly four minutes. UMD would continue to dominate through small bucket shots from the field, collecting three more runs of six, six, and eight points respectively to outscore the Wolves 35-20 through the final sixteen minutes and tallying another game into the win column on the 2023-24 season.

UMD finished out the game tonight shooting 42-71 (59.2%) from the field, 7-25 (28%) from three point range, and 5-12 (41.7%) from the free throw line. The Bulldogs continued to benefit from their aggressive, body-to-body playstyle collecting 43 rebounds contributing to their 60 points in the paint. 

Top Performers

Senior forward Austin Andrews led the Bulldogs tonight shooting 8-11 (72.7%) from the field for 19 total points while also tallying five rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Senior guard Joshua Brown recorded a double double performance tonight by collecting 16 points and a team high 10 rebounds, while also collecting four assists and two steals.

Looking Ahead

Men's basketball will return to Romano Gymnasium next weekend to host Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State. The action for the Bulldogs will tip off on Friday, Jan. 26, at 7:30 PM.