The University of Minnesota Duluth men's basketball team opens the 2025 American Family Insurance Classic tonight against the Michigan Technological University Huskies inside Romano Gymnasium. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. with tomorrow's round against Lake Superior State University set for 3:30 p.m.

OPENING DOMINANCE: The Bulldogs opened the 2025-26 campaign on the road in the GAC/NSIC Challenge, where they earned two back-to-back wins over East Central University and Southeastern Oklahoma State University last weekend. This marked their second straight 2-0 start to the season. After that they returned home to face the College of St. Scholastica earning a n overwhelming 89-58 victory.

SIWEK ON THE RISE: After being chosen as the NSIC's Player to Watch for the Bulldogs, it took only two matches for redshirt junior Caleb Siwek to get off to his best start in his career. With 34 points on opening day, 20 points the following day,  and 21 points this past Tuesday, Siwek is leading the NSIC in scoring. He tops both the overall points (75) and average points per game (25).

COACH WIECK'S 8TH SEASON: Head Coach Justin Wieck enters his eighth season at the helm of UMD men's basketball. Since taking over the program in 2018, he has led the team to three NCAA II Tournament berths, all of which happened back-to-back, with one going all the way to the Elite Eight in the 2023-24 season. Wieck has an overall record of 142-58 with 99-43 in conference play.

NSIC LEADERS: The Bulldogs as a unit while only playing in three games, are leading the scoring defense (61.7 avg/g) and scoring margin (19.7) categories. Notably, the team also leads in contesting opponent field goal percentage (39.2% made). They also hold first in team defensive rebounds (29.3 avg/g) and rebounding margin (11.7).

LAST TIME OUT AGAINST THE HUSKIES: UMD owns a 8-3 regular season record over Michigan Tech in the last ten games with them facing off nearly every years since 2013. 

After falling behind 2-0 to open the evening, UMD collected eight unanswered points with 19:14 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Brown, to take an early 8-2 lead. With the help of a Nick Katona three pointer and seven successful shots from the foul line, the Bulldogs added five points to their lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 34-23 advantage. UMD did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 22 of their 34 points close to the basket.

The Bulldogs kept their lead intact to open the second half before going on a 10 point run, growing the lead to 63-43 with 7:54 to go in the contest. The Huskies narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, out-scoring UMD 27-17 throughout the final seven and a half minutes, but the Bulldogs were able to outlast MTU the rest of the way for the 80-70 win. The Bulldogs found success in the paint much like they did in the first half, recording 24 of their 46 second half points in the lane.

Brown collected 20 points to help lead the Bulldogs, adding five rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Austin Andrews helped out with 12 points and eight rebounds, and Charlie Katona chipped in with 15 points and two steals. UMD collected 32 rebounds throughout the game compared to Michigan Tech's 30, led by Andrews' eight boards.
 
The Bulldogs forced 15 Michigan Tech turnovers while only committing 10 themselves. The Bulldogs turned those takeaways into 20 points on the other end of the floor, with Katona's two steals leading the way for UMD.

LAST TIME OUT AGAINST LAKE SUPERIOR: The two teams faced off last year where the Bulldogs narrowly dropped the matchu 53-49.

After falling behind 2-0, UMD went on a 7-0 run with 18:03 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Nick Katona, to take a 7-2 lead. The Bulldogs then surrendered that lead, being out-scored by the Lakers 22-15 throughout the final 14 minutes of the first half, and entered the halftime intermission at a 24-22 deficit.

Lake Superior State continued to widen its lead after intermission, constructing a 45-37 advantage before UMD collected six unanswered points to shrink the deficit to 45-43 with 5:26 to go in the contest. Lake Superior State protected their lead and outscored the Bulldogs 8-6 the rest of the way, ending the game with a final score of 53-49.

UMD had two players score in double figures, led by Caleb Siwek, who had 14 points. Jayden Johnson added 10 points and three steals off the bench and Mattie Thompson added six points. The Bulldog defense held Lake Superior State to only 4.5% shooting from beyond the arc and 35.2% from the field. The Bulldogs were able to force 17 turnovers and also limited Tyson Edmondson to 0-of-8 shooting from range in the game.

NSIC REINSTITUTES NORTH/SOUTH DIVISION: With the reestablishment of a two-division system, the University of Minnesota Duluth men's basketball team has been selected as the favorites to win the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) North Division.

In the NSIC's annual preseason poll, UMD has been ranked as the favorite to win the North Division, receiving 47 points, with the next closest team being Minnesota State University Moorhead with 43 points. Overall, the team finds itself in a tie for fifth with Augustana University, earning an identical 174 points. They both trail Concordia University St. Paul in fourth (176), Minnesota State University Mankato in third (189), St. Cloud State University in second (194), and Southwestern Minnesota State University as the favorites (219).

The conference spent the last two seasons with a single division structure where the Bulldogs combined for a 33-11 record in conference play. In the last five seasons of the dual division structure, UMD has had four top-three finishes in the conference, including a North Division win in the 2021-22 season.