UND used a big performance from Eaglestaff and a bounceback from Sueker to get win #2 against Elon. Now they return back home to take on old BSC rival Montana State, who looks to be the class of the BSC once again.
About Montana State:
When dealing with MSU in the Big Sky, I felt that it was a squad that had some talent but for some reason could not reach their potential under Brian Fish. Always seemed to underachieve.
Well in 2019, they replace a Fish with a Sprinkle of old. Now, hiring alum of programs tends to go two ways: A home run or a massive miss.
You can call this a grand slam!
He has improved the Cats every single year, cultivating with a 27 win season, BSC Regular Season and Conference Title and a trip to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1996. So sometimes you can go home again.
Now, they had to replace 3 of their top 5 this year, but they still have the best Defensive player in Belo and plenty of weapons. The BSC is going to be another tough place with the Griz and Bears, but they definitely have the team to go back to back. They have a decent win against Long Beach State and a close loss to Grand Canyon.
About Danny Sprinkle (58-35 overall record, 34-20 BSC)
The 4th year coach from Helena has done wonders turning around his alma matter, breaking through in his 3rd year to get to the NCAA tournament. He got his shot in 2019 after some assistant stints in Cal State Northridge (twice), Montana State, and Cal State Fullerton. Now he looks for the repeat trip to the NCAA tournament and... maybe a bigger job?
Key Player: Jubrile Belo (6'9" Senior)
In an offensive oriented league, it is weird that the player to look out for for this team would be a player with strong defensive tendenancies. Here we are however... The Senior from London is a 3 time all-BSC and won the Big Sky DPOY lasy year. Offensively, he is a very solid player and can hold his own on that end. If UND is going to win this game, they are going to have to figure out how to score in the frontcourt. Sueker, Mathews, and T, who is going to do it?
All-Time Record:
UND leads 15-13 all time, including an 8-5 record at the D1 level. They are 4-3 in Grand Forks.
Keys:
1) How do they handle Belo?
2) Can UND hit from outside?
3) Can they build off of the Elon game?
The call:
Last year, Montana came to town and UND scored a furious comeback win. Now, this is a better team that this Griz team and UND will want to show the hometown crowd that the Pacific game was a fluke. If UND is going to win this game, they need to do well enough on the frontcourt and hit shots from the outside. MSU hasn't shot the ball well from 3 this season (24%), lets hope that doesn't change. I think they take a good step forward and Eaglestaff and Omot have nice games, but expereince of the Cats will be a little too much
MSU 79-75
Game is on Midco and ESPN+
