SWSiouxMN

UND 15 DU 12 11:05 1st

now cold 12 all

UND off to a hot start 12-6 UND

Another road trip, another road loss for UND. They couldn't solve the Bison puzzle and suffered their 3rd road loss in a row and 4th overall. UND looks to change their fates at home as they host Denver, who is coming off their first win of the conference season. Since we last met Denver: DU had gotten off to a rocky start. Despite close calls against USD and WIU, they lost their first 5 straight games and was seeing their chances of making it to Sioux Falls potentially slip away early. Then Omaha came to visit and the breakthrough finally happened at home. This youthful squad finally tasted a conference victory, behind a 32 point effort from Townsend, who was white hot from 3.Another move that DU has made was moving freshman Robert Jones to the starting lineup and he has responded with 4 double figures games in a row. DU is now hoping to build off of that performance and start to pile some wins. They are hoping to prevent UND from completing an early sweep, (and thus losing the tiebreaker) and put themselves back in the race to Sioux Falls. Key Player: Jase Townsend The sophomore guard has been white hot in the last two games. So far, he has been averaging 30 points per game and has carried the load for this young squad. He has been stepping into a bigger and bigger role and is becoming one of the better young players in the league. He should be something that DU will be happy to build around for the next 2.5 years. In the First Matchup: Behind 4 players in double-figures, UND was able to pick up a road victory in their conference opener. Marlon had 22 points and DAE had 18. Rebraca had 11 points but grabbed 16 rebounds. Denver was led by Townsend, who had 23 points. Milestone Watch: Marlon sits at 996 career points (and 989 at UND). He is 4 points away from 1000 career points and 11 away from 1000 at UND. He should be able to get both of those milestones tomorrow against DU, provided everything goes well. Filip Rebraca is currently shooting at 61.5% for the season. If this holds, this would be 3rd best in school history in a single season. Other Games: Tonight: NDSU (4-1) @ SDSU (5-2): It is a first place throwdown in Brookings! It was widely expected that it would be the Bison here, but SDSU has proven that their rebuild was a reload. The Jacks are hoping for a statement win and to climb in first place. The Bison are hoping to hold back the upstart Jacks Tomorrow: WIU (2-4) @ Omaha (3-2): WIU had a split weekend. They beat DU but lost to ORU. Omaha dropped a stunner to DU. The Mavs need to hold serve at hold to make sure they can stay with the top teams in the Summit. WIU needs wins to make sure they stay out of the cellar. Fort Wayne (2-3) @ USD (3-3): The Yotes had a split week, lost a heartbreaker in Fargo but then held serve at home against the arch-rival Jacks. Fort Wayne got crushed against ORU. Both teams desperate for a win to keep their title hopes alive. Keys: 1) Get the Defense back 2) Find some Bench Help 3) Slow down Townsend The Call: This is a two game stretch at home that UND MUST win. This cannot be understated. Two UND losses here would be devastating and would require a lot of work to avoid missing Sioux Falls. Two wins on the other hand would put UND at .500 in conference play and given their schedule, they could still surpass last years totals. DU will be a better team this time around and Townsend has been white hot. However, UND is at home and they will use that and solid play from the starters to come away with the win and a series sweep of DU. UND 79-69 Game is on the Plus

I really don't think he is going anywhere.

Awful situation. I am hoping for the best for her, she is a class act through and through.

Well that sucks, but at least he got the redshirt.

I’m getting worried it might be a season ender.......

When the coaching change happened, I felt out of all the sophomores not named Rebraca or Moody that he would have benefited. He was in the rotation earlier in the year but since that injury he has been out of the rotation and relegated to mop up duty. isn’t he still super young for his age? Or am I thinking of someone different?

There is also this idea as well.

That might be the case and you could (and might be) right, but I am hoping that it was for other reasons that aren't basketball related. (didn't he need to pass an entrance exam to get eligible? So it could be academic related)

The next two at home are must wins, they need to finish the first half at .500 in the conference. They must beat DU and WIU.

You could plug this post into last years game as well. Just had the same feeling in this game as well. It is becoming obvious that Sather is going to stick with these 7 and not play anyone else unless there is foul trouble, blowout or a hot hand (or until Moody is back and then it will be 8). Going to be an interesting offseason, that is for sure.

Yeah, it doesn't help that he is thrown into the fire since Moody is out with injury and Davids and Panoam didn't step into the void. Surprised Sather hasn't tried Ethan, wouldn't hurt. Wonder why they redshirted Ramsey? I wonder if he could have been of help at all this year

The Bergan kid from Aberdeen Central (Walter replacement) , Nate Shockey out of Illinois (an answer at point guard) and Tyree Ihenacho (athletic guard from Prior Lake). That was a clunker from DAE. His biggest thing holding him back is his outside shot from really blossoming into a star. Still a lot to like with him so far this year.

I've seen the other two guards behind him play... I'd take Brady getting the minutes. Truth is, he is the best guard off the bench right now (since Moody is hurt). He does have a scholarship I like what he is bringing in next year, but yeah... this stretch has shown just how empty things are right now, especially when down a guard. Some tough decision are going to have to be made in the offseason. I could see UND having zero seniors on next years squad.

I'm all for the Chiefs winning it all this year. I want to see Andy Reid win the big one

For starters: whiffing on the junior class.

He'd swap for Vinnie in a second as well.

Final NDSU 83 UND 74 back home with 2 winnable games. Lets get back to .500 in conference with two wins

Oh now Marlon makes an impact.... 83-74 Bison

83-71 Bison

0-12 against the I-29 schools since joining the Summit That needs to end. This is gross

If you are looking for a positive: 4th game in a row where turnovers have been around the 10-12 range. So they are finally taking care of the ball better.

4-19 from 3 yuck