UND92,96

Hopefully that turns out to be as accurate as the reports from this past summer that Mollberg was leaning towards NDSU.

Hindsight is of course 20/20, but in retrospect UND probably should have leaned a bit more on the top six players to play more minutes in a slowdown game like this. Points and possessions were at such a premium that when there were lineups out there with only two or three scorers, it was a problem. WIU only played eight, and two of those eight didn't play much. You may struggle to make it through an entire season with that short of a bench, but it worked for them in the short term anyway.

I won't argue that technically speaking, WIU plays some sort of man defense. But the phrase Jones used in the Herald article was something to the effect that they "pack it in so much on defense", so in essence it creates the same problems for UND as zone defense does--penetration was very difficult and Brekke could not get shots. Against teams like this, I question whether there are enough 3-point shooters on the team? Mitchell and Schuler certainly are, and at times Anderson, Webb and Huff can knock down 3's, but I wouldn't classify any of them as pure shooters. It seems to me that if somebody like Haugen is going to have a role, it has to be as a shooter against sagging defenses. I'm also concerned about the future as once Mitchell graduates, is there somebody else who can take his place in terms of providing another 3-point shooter?

Probably. I just didn't list them since it was a little different situation with an interim coach. For that matter, I suppose I could have listed Penn State too.

It's a bloodbath out there, with Ole Miss, Kansas, Arizona St., Illinois, Memphis, UCLA, Colorado St., Washington St., UAB and Akron either having already fired their coaches this weekend, or being expected to shortly, along with possibly Tennessee and Texas A & M. But the all-time low may be Rob Ianello at Akron, who was fired. By phone. On the way to his mother's funeral.

Another possible prospective recruit from Illinois--Anthony Taylor: http://www.mysuburba...ruiting-on-hold UND has reportedly offered: http://espn.go.com/b.../anthony-taylor

I think it was an absolute necessity this year given the lack of any high school quarterback recruits in 2009 and 2011, and the early departure of Demler from the class of 2010.

New commitment--Ryan Bartels from Sycamore, IL: http://www.daily-chronicle.com/2011/11/25/sycamores-bartels-commits-to-north-dakota/aikkh86/

Sure looked like zone to me, which was probably why penetration and Brekke on the inside were taken away so effectively. In any event, I think it's safe to say UND will see very little straight-up man defense this season, and will need to figure out a way to attack zones better than what we've seen so far. Does anybody know what the story is with Goodman?

63 UND 46 NMSU final

61 UND 43 NMSU 2:37

59 UND 42 NMSU 4:08

49 UND 34 NMSU 7:57 remaining

UND is up 43-27 with just under 10 minutes to play in the second half.

Really disappointing performance today. Three of UND's top six players struggled, and scoring against the zone continues to be a problem. If Western Illinois finishes in the bottom part of the Summit as expected, this just isn't the type of team you should lose to at home. First home non-conference loss in just over a year.

Will be interesting to see how Bradley does tonight on a neutral court against Wisconsin. It can be seen on the Big 10 network.

I agree. Normally Schuler and Anderson are reliable free throw shooters and smart with the ball. They are who should have the ball in their hands late in a close game. Anderson struggled with free throw shooting last night, but I believe that was an aberration.

All five sophomores scored in double figures, and combined for 76 of UND's 88 points.

I used to be one of the more avid UND basketball fans around, but admittedly lost some interest in the past few years. However, I am as enthusiastic about the future of UND men's basketball right now as I've been in 20 years. This was a great win tonight, and I suspect people will start taking notice and the attendance will greatly improve.

If he's not playing even with Goodman out, you kind of have to wonder whether he is going to see much time this season at all.

Mitchell did start.

Former UND great Don Gulseth has passed away. http://www.fightingsioux.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=205337879 Condolences to his family.

https://www.nmnathletics.com//pdf8/800060.pdf?ATCLID=205337765&SPSID=58640&SPID=6399&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=13500 Muss named coach of the year. Hardin, Jake Miller and Hendrickson are first teamers, and Kleason, McKendry, Wisthoff, Zeb Miller, Brenneman and Belotti are second teamers.

You bring up a valid point regarding Goska's running ability. We didn't see much of it this year, but teams knew he had that ability from last year's film and had to respect it. One of my concerns with Bradley is that we didn't really see much from him to suggest he can be a running threat. I think you really need a quarterback in this day and age who can buy time with his feet, and get you a first down now and then by running. Hopefully Bradley has that ability and just didn't display much of it through six-plus games.

I think it was a little more than Bradley having one bad game. I believe he only threw for more than 150 yards once, averaged just 122 yards per game in the six and a half games he played, completed just 52% of his passes and threw just 3 td's. By contrast, Goska averaged 222 yards per game in the four and a half games he played, completed nearly 60% of his passes and threw 9 td's. It seems weird that the guy known as a running quarterback had significantly better passing numbers than the guy who was brought in to be the passing quarterback, but I fully acknowledge that Bradley could very well improve with another year in the program.