UND had an opportunity to finally beat UNI and had the ball under their own basket down 2. Unfortunately, the pass clanged off the backboard and into the hands of UNI, denying UND their last chance at a non-conference win. With that part of the season now over, UND turns is attention to the Summit League and will play its first Summit game at home against Fort Wayne. UND hopes to reverse a trend in conference openers, as they have lost 5 out of the last 6 when they were in the Big Sky.
Fort Wayne is coached by Jon Coffman, who is in his 5th year as a head coach. He also spent 4 years as an assistant before ascending to the head coaching job. He currently has a 85-58 record and is 36-26 in the Summit. They were picked 4th in the Summit, and based off of history, that should be the expectation for them (3 of the last 4 years they finished 4th, the other year they were tied for 1st).
UND has shown signs of growth with this young squad. It has two good building blocks in Moody and Rebraca and finally has Marlon back. Did they let a few slip away, yes. However, these next 16+ games will be where the money is made.
Key Player: John Konchar (6'5 Senior)
Describe this player in three words: Double-Double Machine. He has gotten this 6 out of the last 7 games and is nearly averaging a double-double (18.6 pgg and 9.3 rpg). These numbers put him at 3rd and 2nd in the Summit respectively in those categories. He also isn't afraid to dish it as well, as he is nearly averaging 5 assists per game. The 3 time All-Summit 1st teamer will be a handful for UND to guard as he can do it all. His size will also be a problem as he is a solid 210 pounds. How UND chooses to guard him will be interesting, because they don't necessarily have the position player that could match up.
X-Factor: Kason Harrell (6'2 Senior)
The other senior on this team gives the Dons a lethal 1-2 punch. He is your traditional 2 guard that likes to get shots up and drive to the hoop. He leads the team in 3 point shooting with a solid 42.5% clip, which is good enough for 9th in the conference. The guards will have to keep a watchful eye and not let him go off.
Milestones
3 - Points Seales is away from 1000 career points. Unless he misses this game for some reason or get hurt, he should be able to reach it.
Keys to the game:
1) UND MUST win the rebounding game
UND needs to be strong on the boards in this one. Limit the o-boards and battle for every rebound. This means UND needs to keep Rebraca out of foul trouble so he can do his thing, alongside of Avants and Seales. If UND can win this by +5, I like their chances.
2) How does UND slow down Konchar… or do they?
He is a tough matchup due to his size and his strength. UND has the length and the size but not them put together. Do they decide to double? Do they risk Marlon and Brown on him? Cortez? This could also be a situation where Jones might say "okay, let him get 30, shut down everyone else and keep him from killing us on the board. This is where I wish Jal had 30+ lbs, because that would solve this problem.
3) UND has to hit outside shots
Cannot understate this enough. UND needs to get that consistent outside shooting in order to take the next step. It has to be more that Moody however: Brown, Walter, and Marlon need to step in and fill this void. Even Rebraca can't be afraid of taking one or two from time to time, he has a nice stroke.
4) The Juniors needs to step in for UND
The Junior class has been much aligned at UND for various reasons, but they need to step in and give this team a boost. If they can, UND will develop into a solid team in the Summit... if they can't... well it will be more of the same.
5) Make your FTs
UND does have one advantage... they are shooting better as a team than Fort Wayne as the free throw line. This needs to come true and could mean the different if the game is close.
Other Summit Games
SDSU (10-5) @ WIU (5-8)
DU (5-9) @ Omaha (6-7)
USD (6-7) @ NDSU (5-8)
ORU is off
The call:
Okay folks... I'm torn. On the one hand, I want to pick UND because I would like to see this young squad make a early statement that they can be a little better than people thing, and to do that, you need to defend their home court. However, history dicates that UND seems to drop conference openers. I think this will be another close game that will be determined at the line. I think UND gets off to a winning start in conference play
UND 77-74
Game is on Midco Sports 2, Fox College Sports, ESPN+
Other games:
I'll take SDSU, Omaha, and USD in the other 3.
