The University of Minnesota Duluth men's basketball team is set to face the University of Minnesota Crookston for the second time this season. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. tomorrow inside Lysaker Gymnasium.
FOUR MATCHES REMAIN: The Bulldogs are tied with Jamestown for first place in the North Division. The final two matches will decide if UMD can hold on to its first North Division title since the 2021-22 season.
The 2025-26 NSIC Basketball Tournament is a twelve-team tournament and will be seeded using overall conference win percentage. (22-games).
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 eight double-digit games in the past eight outings. He tallied a career high 32 points against St. Cloud State to go along with 22 points against Minnesota State Mankato, 16 against Winona State, 28 against Concordia-St. Paul, 13 against Wayne State, 28 against Augustana, 14 against UMary, and 23 against Minot State.
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, the University of Jamestown,
Noah Paulson earned 28 points of the team's 70 while shooting 61.5% (8-13) from the field, 91.7% (11-12) in free throws, and 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 (71.7 avg/g) in the NSIC, fourth in scoring margin (5.9), fourth in opponent field goals (43.8%), third in rebounding margin (2.7), first in combined opponent rebounds (32.9), first in turnover margin (2.77), and fifth in steals (7.19 avg/g).
EARLIER AGAINST CROOKSTON: UMD advanced to a 2-0 start in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) competition after putting up their highest scoring effort of the season in a 99-86 victory over the University of Minnesota Crookston.
The Bulldogs' best scoring effort of the season was led by a staggering career-high 24-point effort from
Kole Hanson. In the outing, he shot 62.5% (5-8) from the field, 50% (2-4) from beyond the arc, and a near-perfect 80% (12-15) from the free throw line.
Mattie Thompson scored just behind him with 17 points, going 7 of 10 (70%) from the field.
Entering the first half, the Bulldog offense came out firing on all cylinders in an 11-2 scoring run in the first four minutes. The run was highlighted by a breakaway pass from
Jackson Fowlkes to
Mattie Thompson for a deafening dunk to force the Golden Eagles' first timeout. Minnesota Crookston responded with a 10-4 run that included two steals to get back within three of the Bulldogs with 13:55 to go.
UMD did not sit idle as
Daniel Molhoek,
Noah Paulson,
Caleb Siwek, and Hanson combined for an unanswered nine points to force a dominant 24-12 lead. With 11 minutes to go, the Golden Eagles remained a threat, responding with their own unanswered seven points in under two minutes to get back in at 24-19. The rest of the half saw the Bulldogs continue to hold a steady lead, not allowing Minnesota Crookston to come within four points.
Wyatt McBeth sealed off the half in the final second with a layup to walk off the court with a 48-41 advantage over the Golden Eagles.
The second half saw the Bulldogs take charge, pulling out to a 76-64 lead in the first 10 minutes, with Hanson letting loose for 12 of the 28 points. With under ten minutes to go, UMD held firm to the lead with a 23-22 scoring run to finish the match at 99-86. Helping seal the last half was a near-perfect effort from the free-throw line by Hanson, going 12 of 15 (80%).
All in all, the team scored their highest number of field goals (36), free throws (21), and total points (99) of the season. Overall, they shot 56.3% (36-64) in field goals, 33.3% (6-18) in three pointers, and 77.8% (21-27) from the free throw line. The Bulldogs combined to force 54 points in the paint against the Golden Eagles' 26.
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.
