The University of Minnesota Duluth men's basketball collected a win in their first home game of 2025 this afternoon, leading a defensive clinic to take down the St. Cloud State University Huskies 66-58 in their annual Sophie's Squad mental health awareness game.
Final Score: UMD (66) - SCSU (58)
After falling behind 10-8 to open the afternoon, UMD went on a 6-0 run with 14:36 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Mattie Thompson, to take a 14-10 lead. The Bulldogs then lost some of that lead, but still entered the halftime break with a 33-31 advantage. UMD did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 18 of its 33 points close to the basket.
Following intermission, the Bulldogs continued to widen their lead, expanding it to 47-44 before collecting seven unanswered points, finished off by a Jayden Johnson jumper, to grow the lead to 54-44 with 8:32 to go in the contest. The Huskies narrowed the margin by two before the game was over, but the Bulldogs still cruised the rest of the way for a 66-58 victory. UMD capitalized on eight SCSU turnovers in the period, collecting 12 points off those turnovers.
Bulldog Notes vs. SCSU
The Bulldogs had two players score in double figures, led by Charlie Katona, who had a game high 21 points. Joshua Brown tacked on 10 points and four assists and Nick Katona added five points, a team high eight rebounds and two steals.
UMD's defense held SCSU to only 3 for 18 (16.7%) shooting from beyond the arc and 16 for 45 (35.6%) from the field, all while forcing 15 turnovers along the way. The Huskies did not have much luck cleaning up their misses on the offensive glass either, as they finished with three offensive rebounds and managed two second chance points while the Bulldogs cleared 28 defensive rebounds.
Looking Ahead
Bulldog men's basketball (10-5, 5-4 NSIC) face off against the Bemidji State University Beavers and the University of Minnesota Crookston next weekend to close out their three game homestand. Tip-off against the Beavers is currently set for Friday, Jan. 17, at 5:30 PM.
