The University of Minnesota Duluth men's basketball team is set to face Minnesota State University Moorhead for the second time this season in both the regular season finale and senior send-off. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. tomorrow. 

ONE MATCH REMAINS: The Bulldogs currently lead by one win over Jamestown and Northern State for the North Division title. With one more win, UMD could secure an undisputed North Division title.
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 (71.9 avg/g) in the NSIC, third in scoring margin (6.3), fourth in opponent field goals (43.8%), third in rebounding margin (2.7), first in combined opponent rebounds (32.9), first in turnover margin (2.81), and fifth in steals (7.15 avg/g). Individually, Kole Hanson ranks fifth in free throws (86%)

LAST MATCH: UMD earned a 95-78 victory over the University of Minnesota Crookston on the road Tuesday.
 
With the win and a 12-9 conference record, the Bulldogs are currently in charge of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) North Division by one victory, but the University of Jamestown (11-9) still has two games to play.
 
Leading the way for the Bulldogs was Caleb Siwek with 19 points, two steals, and two rebounds. He hit 80% (8-10) from the field and 60% (3-5) beyond the arc.
 
Entering the first half, Minnesota Crookston found room to gain a 10-6 advantage over UMD in the first four minutes. The Bulldogs climbed back on top by the ten-minute mark in a 16-5 scoring run off the effort of Caleb Siwek (5), Noah Paulson (4), Kole Hanson (3), Mattie Thompson (2), and Jackson Fowlkes (2).
 
UMD only managed to expand the lead by four on a 20-16 scoring run in the last ten minutes before halftime, led by a ten-point effort from Hanson and a seven-point effort from Siwek.
 
After halftime, the Bulldogs broke out ahead on a 20-6 run led by Thompson (8), Nick Katona (4), Siwek (3),  Hanson (3), and Paulson (2) for a 62-37 lead with 14 minutes left.
 
The Bulldogs continued to hold off the Golden, sealing a 95-78 victory after Minnesota Crookston was unable to overcome UMD's final 33 points.
 
Overall, the Bulldogs hit 59.6% (34-57) from the field, 52.4% (11-21) beyond the arc, and 59.3% (16-27) from the free throw line.

EARLIER AGAINST MSUM: UMD fell to 6-3 overall after dropping an overtime thriller to Minnesota State University Moorhead Saturday in 91-92 fashion inside Nemzek Fieldhouse.
 
Leading the scoring effort for the Bulldogs was Caleb Siwek with 28 points in his sixth over-20-point outing of the season. He made 52.6% (10-19) of his field goals while also earning 75% (6-8) from the free throw line. Following just behind was Nick Katona and Kole Hanson with 17 points each.
 
Entering the first half, Jackson Folkes earned the first points of the game after sending a three-point shot in the first two minutes of action. Those first points put UMD in the lead for the duration of the half as Hanson, Noah Paulson, Katona, Siwek, Mattie Thompson, Fowlkes, Daniel Molhoek, and Andrew Rader combined for a 37-17 scoring run over the Dragons to force a 40-19 lead with five minutes to go before halftime. MSU Moorhead found a rhythm to score 17 points in the final minutes to cut the lead to 45-36 at the halftime break.
 
The second half saw the Bulldogs hold onto the lead for the first seven minutes after a consistent effort by the Dragons put them on top at 57-55 with 12:47 to go. The Bulldogs fell behind by six points until a determined effort from Siwek and Paulson tied the game up at 65-65 with seven minutes left. The lead would continue to change hands until the final thirty seconds, where a three-pointer from Siwek looked to seal the game, but a three-pointer from Isa El-Amin forced the game into overtime at 79-79.
 
With a five-minute overtime to play, the same energy repeated as both teams continued to exchange the lead four times before a layup from Paulson established a four-point lead at 90-86 with 13 seconds remaining. A single free throw from Siwek over the remainder proved not enough as a layup from Levi Birkholz and a three-pointer from El-Amin in the final seconds forced a Bulldog loss in overtime at 91-92.
 
Overall, the team attempted their most field goals (73) of the season while making the most three-pointers (9) and free throws (24). In that effort, they shot 39.7% (29-73) from the field, 32.1% (9-28) from beyond the arc, and 77.4% (24-31) from the free throw line. The two teams were even in total rebounds, but the Bulldogs grabbed more on offense than the Dragons (22 to 17). Leading the rebounding effort was Katona with nine total rebounds (seven offensive).

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.