SWSiouxMN

UND finished off their best result in a regular season tournament with a 80-71 win over Ark-Pine Bluff. They finished the tournament with a 2-1 record and was shot away from going 3-0. They resume their non-conference schedule on Sunday when they take the trip down to Lincoln to take on the Cornhuskers. The game will be on Big Ten Network Nebraska is of course coached by former Comet, Mustang, Bison, and Ram coach Tim Miles. It wasn't that long ago that Miles was a hot name in coaching. He was a builder of multiple programs and when Nebraska made the decision to hire him from CSU, and the upgrades in arena and facilities, it looked to be pretty good, especially in year 2 when they made the NCAA tournament. My how things have changed since that season. 3 disappointing seasons later and Miles finds himself square on the hot seat, and with a new AD now in charge, Miles knows he has to make something out of this year or else. Picked 2nd to last in the Big Ten, Cornhusker fans still have high hopes that this could be a team that can get back to the top half of the Big Ten standings. They won their first two games but got hammered last night out in New York City against St. John's. First glance at the roster and there is a lot of long bodies on this Cornhusker squad, and it shows in their rebounding numbers. However they have not shot the ball very well. Isaiah Roby has been a solid rebounder so far in his Sophomore campaign, averaging nearly 9 a game to with his 10 points per game. James Parmer Jr, the transfer from Miami, is doing his best to give Nebraska a solid inside outside threat at 6'6. Glynn Watson Jr is a tough-nosed PG who is still looking to get his shot going here in the early part of the season. This will be a huge opportunity for UND to get their first P5 win ever and continue to raise the profile of the Big Sky. I would like to see if Stewart and Dale can continue to knock off the rust and find a rhythm in this offense alongside Geno, Seales and Avants. Walter needs to build off of his last game and need to continue to have success. Rebound, rebound, rebound! The call: This is UNDs best shot of being a P5 school in quite a while. The only problem is that I feel there are still too many question marks and gelling that this team needs to go through. In order to pull this off UND is going to need to hit shots, especially from outside. Nebraska will look to spread out, attack the basket and find the open shooters. They need to keep the rebounding margin reasonable. If they can keep the Huskers to within 5 on the rebounds, that will help the cause. I expect Nebraska to escape, but if Geno has a game similar to Troy and gets help... all bets are off. Huskers 74 UND 67

I still think there is something to the allure of going down as a legend and being talked about for years to come. Especially if Geno led the team to a repeat this year and then again the following year in Sioux Falls?

The Jets stole one over the Flyers in a shootout. Its still early, but they could finally be a threat with all the young talent and Helle finally developing into a solid goalie.

Give me a couple 13-14 seconds and I might be able to find someone

2018 will be a mandate, especially with a new AD involved. Also, that whole "cutting sports" thing will be rearing its ugly head if UND continues to struggle on and off the grid-iron (If you don't believe that, check out social media). I want to see how the roster changes from now until spring. If they aren't going to chance the OC, can they get a QB coach?

Hope they can serve up a little revenge on Idaho tomorrow.

I’ll setting for beating Nebraska

I can try and fill in some of the gaps. Dale Jones is the grad (6th year) transfer from Iowa. He is filling in the role left void when Drick transferred to Wazzu. He is an inside-outside threat much like Drick was except Jones can shoot the 3. Hopefully he can also shoot free throws at a better clip (so far so good). The one major concern is that he has a history of injuries has he lost significant time due to knee and wrist injuries, so this will be need to be watched. He has shown flashes of what he can do (went 4-8 from 3 In the win against Ark-PB) but still needs to knock off some rust. Given our lack of height he is possibly our most important newcomer in the short-term. Marlon Stewart is the transfer from Creighton who sat out last year: can handle the ball and will attack the rim. Will get a lot of time besides Geno and Seales in the starting lineup, looking to fill the Hooker role. Has been okay but should get better as the season rolls along. I think if he could put up numbers similar to Geno his freshman year, we will be in good shape. Most important newcomer in the long-term (he is only a Soph). Also, he and Cortez were teammates back in HS. Tray Buchanan is the freshman guard that will get minutes off the bench and most likely will be the freshman that gets the most minutes. Will get better as the season gets along, He came in with a scoring mentality from Illinois, scorng 20 ppg in his jr and sr season. I think he has a bright future but this season he will be counted on to provide much needed scoring. IS 100% on both ends of the floor Jafar Kinsley gets out on the floor after redshirting: He will be counted on providing the 3 point threat off the bench, been okay in the first few games but will need to improve his shot percentage. Jones stated he was the most improved player on the team. Jaqwan McCauley is another JUCO transfer that will be filling in the role left by Collins off the bench. Hopefully with his size and athleticism he can take on some different defensive assignments and provide a scoring bunch. He has struggled so far to start the year

UND 80 Ark-PB 71 Final Not quite the dominating result I was expecting, but it is a win against a bad team and will head back 2-1. 31-38 from the line tonight. Solid Played about 30-35 minutes of solid basketball.

not exactly a strong finish to this one for UND UND 80 Ark-PB 71 :32 2nd

UND 79 Ark-PB 68 1:55 2nd

UND 77 Ark-PB 65 3:51 2nd can't let them get back into this one, need to slam the door shut

TO UND UND 73 Ark-PB 56 5:48 2nd largest lead of the game, back to back 3's by Dale, he has 14. You called it hoops, he has his stroke tonight

Dale! with another 3

Walter has responded with a decent game so far, he has 8 off of the bench

UND 67 Ark-PB 54 8:00 2nd

13-2 run by UND 58-46 UND 12:22 2nd

it just seems that UND is just about ready to pull away from this one.

lead back up to double digits after the Avants 3 point play 56-46 UND

Back to back lay-ups by Geno extends the lead to 53-44

TO UND UND 49 Ark-PB 44 15:13 2nd Seales up to 20

Jones hits his 2nd 3, he is now up to 8

NAU is about to lose to something call Embry-Riddle

UND 37 Ark-PB 33 Half Okay 1st half. If they can have 2nd halves like they have had in this tournament, they will be fine. Seales has 13, Geno has 12

Walter splashes a 3.