The NCAA Central Region Tournament continues for the No. 10 ranked University of Minnesota Duluth men's basketball team, who looks to take on the No. 4 ranked Northwest Missouri State Bearcats in the semifinal round after a thrilling buzzer beater win in the quarterfinals.
MATCHUP INFORMATION
Sunday, March 17
5:00 PM vs. Northwest Missouri State
Watch Live: https://www.ncaa.com/game/6285202
Live Stats: https://msumavericks.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
THE SEASON SO FAR
The Bulldogs ended the 2023-24 regular season with an overall record of 22-5 and a conference record of 18-4, earning them a first round bye in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate conference tournament. UMD defeated Augustana and Winona State to make it to the conference championship game, where they would fall to MSU Mankato. The Bulldogs earned a third seed spot for this year's NCAA Central Region tournament, their third consecutive regional tournament since the 2021-22 season.
RANKINGS, RANKINGS, RANKINGS
The Bulldogs moved into the No. 10 spot in the final NABC national rankings of the season, with MSU Moorhead slotting in just behind them at No. 11 and MSU Mankato sitting in the top three at the No. 2 spot. UMD continues to hold on to the highest average free throw attempts per game (22.6) and three point percentage defense (31.3) in the conference, while remaining top three in seven other statistical categories, including: assist / turnover ratio (1.40), effective FG pct (0.548), field goal percentage (49.0), free throws made per game (15.3), scoring margin (10.5), scoring offense (81.2), and winning percentage (80.6).
SCOUTING REPORT - NORTHWEST MO. STATE
The Northwest Missouri State Bearcats ended their regular season 24-4 overall and 20-2 in their conference. The Bearcats went on to win the MIAA conference championship, defeating the Pittsburg State Gorillas by double digits. The Bulldogs 1-0 over the Bearcats in program history, defeating them 97-67 at home in November 2002.
BLAIR BREAKS SCORING RECORD
Fifth year senior Drew Blair became UMD men's basketball all time leading scorer earlier this season, breaking the previous record of 2,045 career points formerly held by Brandon Myer. Blair is now up to 2,751 career points as he also leads the Bulldogs this season in points with 733.
WIECK'S 100 WINS
Head coach Justin Wieck reached 100 wins under the UMD men's basketball banner earlier this season against Northern Michigan. Now in his sixth season with the Bulldogs, the head coach has reached 122 wins and continues to tally on as the season goes.
WIECK'S MILLENNIALS
All five of the Bulldog's core starters (Austin Andrews, Drew Blair, Joshua Brown, Charlie Katona, and Jack Middleton) have achieved 1,000+ career points. The group currently has 8,052 combined points and look to grow that number throughout the season.
KATONA - DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Senior Charlie Katona became the first Bulldog since Jake Nettleton in the 2001-02 season to earn the NSIC Defensive Player of the Year award. Katona ranked seventh in the NSIC for steals this year and set a career high 16 rebounds in a game against MSU Mankato, all while helping lead the third best defense in the NSIC which held opponents to an average 70.6 points per game.
ALL CONFERENCE SUPERSTARS
Senior Charlie Katona and fifth year senior Drew Blair both earned NSIC all conference first team nominations this year. This nomination makes Blair the first Bulldog to ever earn four all conference team nominations throughout their career. This all conference nomination is Katona's second overall nomination, but first all conference first team nomination.
NSIC ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM PLAYERS
All NSIC players Charlie Katona and Drew Blair both earned All NSIC Tournament team honors following their matchup in the conference championship game. Katona averaged 13.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists throughout the Bulldogs' three conference tournament games while Blair averaged 33.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists.
