The University of Minnesota Duluth men's basketball team is set to face Wayne State College and Augustana University this weekend. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. against WSC tomorrow inside Rice Auditorium with AU to follow on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. inside the Elmen Center.

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 earn a home opener victory over the College of St. Scholastica, with an overwhelming 89-58 score inside Romano Gymnasium.
 
HANSON HEATING UP: Kole has four double digit games in the past four outings. He tallied a career high 32 points against St. Cloud State to go along with 22 points against Minnesota State Mankato, 16 points against Winona State, and 28 points against Concordia-St. Paul.
 
SIWEK ON THE RISE: After being chosen as the NSIC's Player to Watch for the Bulldogs, redshirt junior Caleb Siwek has gotten off to the best start in his career. He has earned six straight games in the double-digit points category with 34 points on opening day against East Central, 20 points against Southeastern Oklahoma,  21 points against St. Scholastica, 12 points against Michigan Tech, 22 points against Lake Superior State, and 23 points against Bemidji State. He also tallied 28 points against Minnesota State University Moorhead. 
 
A COLOSSAL OUTING FOR PAULSON: In a narrow loss to the conference newcomer, University of Jamestown, Noah Paulson earned 28 points of the teams 70 while shooting 61.5% (8-13) from the field, 91.7% (11-12) in free throws, making his only three pointer for his best outing so far. 
 
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, are the third best in scoring defense (70.8 avg/g) in the NSIC, fourth in scoring margin (5.6), fourth in opponent field goals (42.8%), fourth in rebounding margin (2.7), third in team defensive rebounds (26.7), first in turnover margin (2.60), and fifth in steals (7.45 avg/g).
 
Individually, Hanson is fourth in free throw percentage with a 88.3% (68-77).
 
LAST MATCH: The Bulldogs earned their second straight victory inside Romano Gymnasium Saturday after overcoming Concordia University St. Paul in 71-61 fashion.
 
Leading the victory for the Bulldogs was Kole Hanson with his sixth over 20-point game this season, in a staggering 28-point outing. He had one of his best outings this season, making 58.8% (10-17) from the field, a career best 55.6% (5-9) beyond the arc, and 100% (3-3) from the free throw line. He also tallied a season high of four steals along with three rebounds and one assist.
 
Hanson and Nick Katona opened the scoring for UMD with six points for an early 6-5 lead. By the 10:47 mark, CSP had completed an 11-9 scoring run to take the lead at 16-15. The lead continued to be traded for the next 10 minutes as the Bears again claimed a narrow scoring advantage off a 15-14 run.
 
With the score at 31-29 and only seconds remaining before halftime, Katona sent in a buzzer-beater three-pointer to take a 32-31 lead into the break.
 
Entering the second half, UMD broke out on a 13-6 scoring run lifted by Hanson (6), Katona (5), and Mattie Thompson (2) for a 45-37 lead with 16:26 remaining. Over the next six minutes, Jackson Fowlkes, Hanson, Katona, and Caleb Siwek combined for another 11 points to widen the gap to 56-43.
 
By the 3:31 mark, the Bears completed a 16-9 scoring run to get close to the Bulldogs at 65-59. With the clock winding down, Hanson continued to dominate with five of UMD's six points to close out the match at 71-61.
 
Overall, the Bulldogs earned a season high 12 total steals while shooting 48.1% (26-54) from the field, 34.6% (9-26) beyond the arc, and 76.9% (10-13) from the free throw line. UMD won the rebounding battle with 37 to CSP's 31. Leading the team in rebounds was Thompson with 8 rebounds (two offensive).
 
MORE ON THE WILDCATS: The Bulldogs own a 9-3 overall record since 2014 and own the last seven games (2019-24). Matt Noll leads the scoring effort for the Wildcats with 265 points to start the season. He is averaging 44.6% from the field, 36.8% beyond the arc, and 70.7% from the free throw line. He also averages 13.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game.
 
LAST TIME OUT AGAINST WSC: After falling behind 13-9 to open the evening, UMD went on an 8-0 run with 15:15 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Johnson, to take a 17-13 lead. The Bulldogs then added one point to that lead by the end of the period, out-scoring WSC 20-14 the rest of the way and entering halftime with a 37-32 advantage. UMD relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down five shots to account for 15 of its 37 points.
 
Following the halftime intermission, UMD continued to widen their lead, expanding it to 72-54 before collecting six unanswered points to grow the lead to 78-54 with 3:34 to go in the contest. The Wildcats narrowed the margin down to 17 points before the game was over, but the Bulldogs still cruised the rest of the way for the 83-66 win. UMD got a boost from its bench in the period, as non-starters accounted for 25 of its 46 total points.
 
The Bulldogs shot 11-22 (50%) from beyond the arc and 32-58 (55.2%) from the field on the way to their 83-66 victory. UMD had three players score in double figures, led by Joshua Brown, who had 18 points and nine rebounds. Charlie Katona added 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists and Jayden Johnson chipped in as well with 14 points off of the bench.
 
The Bulldogs grabbed 41 rebounds in Saturday's game compared to Wayne State's 20, led by Brown's nine boards. The Bulldogs also cleaned up on the offensive glass, turning 14 rebounds into 18 second chance points.
 
MORE ON THE VIKINGS: The Vikings hold a slight advantage with a 9-7 record over the Bulldogs since 2014. AU won the last outing 74-63 snapping a five game winning streak by UMD (2023-25). The Vikings are led by a four time recipient of the NSIC South Division Player of the Week award, Tameron Ferguson. He is shooting 54.7% from the field, 35.6% beyond the arc, and 69.3% from the free throw line for a total of 392 points this season. He is averaging 20.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 6.5 assists, and 1.6 steals.
 
LAST TIME OUT AGAINST AU: UMD struggled out of the gate, falling behind 29-16 throughout the opening ten minutes of the game. Seven unanswered points, bookended by a Noah Paulson layup, put the Bulldogs back within striking distance. However, the Vikings would answer back to out-score the Bulldogs 13-3 to end the half at a 42-26 deficit.
 
Augustana kept widening its lead after intermission, constructing a 44-26 advantage before UMD went on a 7-0 run, finished off by Hanson's layup, to shrink the deficit to 44-33 with 16:49 to go in the contest. The Bulldogs were unable to cut further into the deficit by the end of the game, losing 74-63. UMD took care of business in the paint, recording 22 of its 37 points in the lane.
 
The Bulldogs had three players score in double figures, led by Joshua Brown, who had 18 points and seven rebounds. Charlie Katona tacked on 14 points and Kole Hanson chipped in as well with 11 points.
 
Mattie Thompson pulled down two offensive rebounds to lead the Bulldog offense, which grabbed 10 boards and turned them into eight second chance points.
 
The UMD defense was effective at taking away the basketball in Wednesday's game, forcing 13 Viking turnovers while committing 12. Those takeaways turned into 12 points on the other end of the floor. Noah Paulson led the way individually for the Bulldogs with one steal.
 
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.