SWSiouxMN

Defense has been good to above average so far. UND 24 UNC 22 8:18 1st Geno has 10 to pace the team

Stewart 3 gives UND its first lead at 24-22

Geno is feeling it Rebound is atrocious

nice shot by Geno tied up at 17

saw that one coming, UNC player was parked there. UNC 15 UND 15 under 12 media

Brown smacks a 3 and we are tied at 15!

Geno isn't getting the calls

I swear Walter has concrete in his shoes

UND has a little 6-0 run to get back into this after a slow start, we are at the first media UNC 11 UND 8 15:21 1st

Davis has speed, speed and more speed UNC 6 UND 2 18:01 1st

UND exacted a little revenged on an old rival and future conference member as they went down to Fargo and came away with a road victory to complete a 5-7 conference record. Its conference play from here on out and a critical 3 game road stretch faces UND to finish our the first half of conference play. First up, an old opponent from the NCC days, the Bears of Northern Colorado. Put yourselves in the situation that UNC faced last year, knowing that you have no postseason due to the transgressions of the previous coach. You would imagine that it would lead to a very tough year and it did. Now with the ban behind them and under coach Jeff Linder, the Bears were a surprise pick by the coaches to finish in the top 4 of the conference. They certainly made an early splash by knocking off Idaho at home, but were brought back down to earth with losses to the Griz, Cats, and Weber. They bounced back against ISU to even the record and now look to re-establish themselves as a threat in the conference race. Since UND has joined the Big Sky, the series is dead even at 5-5, UNC had the advantage at home by a margin of 3-2. The story of this series has been how close these matchups have been between the two. Last year, both games went to overtime. Key Players: Andre Spight and Jordan Davis This 1-2 punch at the guard post is a big reason why UNC has enjoyed its success. The ASU transfer Spight has been averaging nearly 20 points a game and is a threat on both ends of the floor. Davis is shooting an impressive 52% from the field, although his 3 point percentage is a little low alongside his free throw percentage. Nevertheless, they are both capable of putting up 30+ points at any time. Geno and Marlon are going to have another tough matchup. Key Questions: 1) Can UND improve its rebounding margins? Despite the win, one troubling number was the rebounding where NDSU dominated 38-21 on the boards. While this team won't be mistaken for a great rebounding team, a better effort in keep the margins respectful is a must going forward. 2) Will the team continue its improved play? UND has played well in most facets in the last two weeks, picking up a couple of decent wins. Will this continue on in this important stretch or will the team revert back to its play from the beginning of conference play? 3) Who will make more of the "little" plays? With this series being traditionally close, the "little" plays become that much more important for the two years, whoever can come away with more of them will more than likely win this one Other Games: Griz (6-0) @ Cats (4-2) Game of the day will be in Bozeman as the in-state rivals go at it. The Griz have been solid in the 1st third of conference play and look to stay at least two ahead of their competition with a win. The Cats had a bad roadtrip and would like to be the ones to give their arch-rivals their first lost. Should be a great matchup EWU (4-2) @ SUU (1-5) The Eagles have been a pleasant surprise in the first 1/3 of the conference season, finding itself positioned in the slog of 2 loss teams behind Montana. They hope to sweep the road trip by taking on a T-Birds teams that has improved from last year but hasn't been getting the results to show it. If the Eagles truly want to be a threat, they need to win this one and then prep for a big homestand. Idaho (4-2) @ NAU (0-6) The Vandals also find themselves in the slog of two loss teams and outside of a couple of hiccups they have been taking care of business so far. NAU looks to once again be the worst team in the conference but they aren't going to make it easy on anybody. Idaho needs to get this one and prepare for a big home stand next weekend. PSU (3-3) @ Weber (4-2) Weber bounced back from a disappointing loss at UND by holding off a pesky Sac State team, PSU got a win in Poky. It would be a big win for the Vikings if they can go into Odgen and come away with the victory and find themselves in the hunt for a first round bye. Weber just needs to defend the homecourt and stay within striking distance of the Griz. SAC (2-4) @ ISU (3-3) ISU needs to stop the bleeding after dropping its 3rd straight conference game. Sac State has been better than what their record shows and would like to continue ISU misery. The Call: This is an important stretch for UND. A good showing on the road these next 3 games would put them in decent shape for the 2nd half of the conference season. Heck if things broke right today they could find themselves back in the middle of the pack standing wise. They certainly have been playing much better but can they keep this going. This has been close games between the two and I wouldn't expect anything less between the travel partners. I think they will hit some shots, improve the margins and do just enough to come away with their 4th win in a row. UND 82-80 In the other games: MSU, EWU, Idaho, Weber, Sac

Depends, if Shurmur goes to the Giants, which is the rumor, I doubt it If he goes to Arizona, its way more likely. Whether the season ends Sunday, a Super Bowl loss or win, the Vikings have a critical decision to make on QB with Case or Teddy (I'm not including Sam, he is going to be gone)

CWU, as in Central Washington? Why don't they join the Summit alongside Northern Colorado, that hasn't been done before right?

CAN I GET A WITNESS!?! You gotta love Geno

I fully expect another player or two to be added to this class. I won't cry if they stayed away from the JUCOs for a while...

The Griz game was really the moment where things needed and had to change with this team. The rotations are more guard heavy and have been shortened, they are knocking down more shots and getting better defensive play. The emergence of Tray off the bench has given them much needed scoring and gives Jones another trusted guard to run that 4 guard + Avants/Dale rotation. Zone offense is much improved, they are more aggressive in attacking it and getting into the gaps so they are getting quality looks. They look more confident. With all of that said. These next three on the road are CRITICAL, dropping all 3 puts UND right back where they were and will take a little shine off of this little run. If they want to think about a 2nd half run, getting at least 2 will be critical and the way they are playing, I think they can do it. That would put them at 4-5 in conference play, maybe go 6-3 in the 2nd half and finish 10-8, its doable. I think they can go into EWU and win, can they beat either UNC or Idaho to get the 2nd one.

Think it was just a bad night shooting for Seales, he was pretty good the last 3 games previous. He had 4 steals on the defensive end so it wasn't all bad.

I'm in no way saying that they need to dominate the boards, you are right on their limitations. Keeping the margins respectable will be enough with this team.

38-21 is bad.... I don't expect them to truly outrebound teams, but I expect them to keep the margins respectable. NDSU nearly had as many O-Boards than UND had D-Boards. UND can't have that going forward. They were able to overcome it.

First off: Rebounding was god awful all night, they need to work on rebounding out of that small lineup Other than that... UND overcame those poor rebounding numbers by forcing a lot of turnovers and making the Bison pay for them. They also went 12-23 from downtown. Jones hit some big 3's early and knocked down a couple in the 2nd half, Geno hit some big shots in the 2nd half, Tray played big minutes in the 1st half when Geno was sitting, Avants was huge in the 2nd half. Stewart was steady-eddy all night long. Back to conference play with a trip to Greely. Lets make it 4 in a row.

UND 86 NDSU 77 Final

Good win 3 in a row keep that momentum rolling

So it used to be was anyone going to win on the road, now its can anyone win on their home court anymore?

UND 83-75 :24 TO UND

too many opportunities for the Bison but they came up empty Brown fouled :24 left up 6