SWSiouxMN

I don't want to wait 30 more minutes!

So far we haven't had any "true" upsets I don't consider the MTSU an upset, considering they came in favored Xavier... meh

and then get Jones and Thompson the year after. Now watch Pitino take a job elsewhere

well 1st quarters haven't been their thing this year.

Be interesting to see if this is the only coaching move in the conference

You guys wanted it? You got it In a game that can be best described as Never Say Die, UND stormed back from deficits again and again to force OT. UND finally gained the upper hand in the OT session to bring the school a Big Sky Tournament Championship to go along with its Regular Season Title. More importantly, it punched their ticket to the Big Dance for the 1st time in school history. Their reward was a 15 seed in the West Regional and a matchup with perennial PAC-12 and National power Arizona. Before diving into the meat of the preview: I tip my hat to the coaches and players of this team for their season so far. They have accomplished a lot this season and while some of it was a bit rough at times, they did put it all together at the end when the chips were down. From the head coach on down, congratulations on a fantastic season. Of course, they aren't happy just being in SLC, they want to be the 9th team in NCAA Tournament history to knock off a 2 seed. Arizona is coached by Sean Miller, who's brother Archie Miller is the coach over at Dayton. Its another banner year for Wildcat Basketball, capturing their 4th Regular Season title under Miller, which they tied Oregon for, and took the Tournament crown as well. Since taking over in the 2009-10 season for the retiring Hall of Fame coach and Mayville-born Lute Olson, every time that they have won a share or the outright regular season title, it has translated to an Elite 8 appearance. Despite the success, two things currently hound this Arizona program. #1 They want to get the bad taste of being upset last year out of their mouths and make a run #2 Despite the Elite 8 appearances, the last time Zona made it all the way to the Final 4 was in 2000-01, where they made it all the way to the championship game before falling to a well coached and talented Duke team. Its been a long time and it is also the one thing that Miller hasn't done with Arizona yet. Could this be the breakthrough year? The Wildcats are deeply talented and are lead by the big Fin Lauri Markkanen. The comparisons to Frank the Tank of Wisconsin is very comparable, as he can hurt teams both inside and out. The 7 footer is shooting 43.2 percent from downtown, around 50% overall and shoots a good clip from the line. Potential Top 10 pick in this years NBA draft. The other big cog is Allonzo Trier, a 6'5 Sophomore guard. Out for the first half of the season due to PEDs (yeah, seriously). Trier has made up for lost time in a big way and has really torn it up in late February and into the Pac-12 tournament. Sneaky rebounder and he can shoot it very well. Geno, he is all yours. Zona also has another 7 foot big from Serbia in Dusan Ristic, who is more of your traditional post player. They can do just as much Around the Big Sky: -Weber, Idaho and EWU all made postseason tournaments. Weber and Idaho in the CIT and EWU in CBI -PSU announced that Gelving will not be returning next year How UND can do the unthinkable: 1) Win every 50/50 ball. When teams pull upsets, they do every little thing right. They dive for loose balls, save balls from going out, force jump balls. 2) Bring what got you to the dance Sometimes you just have to go with what got you here at this point. It might be tempting to try something funky, but sometimes you might have your greatest success with the normal game plan... with a tweak or two. Strong guard play got us here, strong guard play is going to be needed. 3) A senior guard who can shoot Hey Q, your time to shine. Small schools who pull upsets traditionally have that one guard that can fill it up and give their team a chance. 3) UND Bigs: play the best game of your life You have a potential top 10 NBA pick, find a way to slow him down. Carson Shanks... play the best you ever have. 4) Don't be afraid to throw the first punch and take their best punch without panicking Come out swinging, Mike Tyson once said everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Rock Arizona to start the game, get those jitters out of the way. On the reverse side of the coin, if they come out hot. Do not panic, take their best blows and come back. Let them know you are not going away Prediction: The key word today is Pressure: How much of it can UND force upon Arizona on the court and in their heads. Its house money for UND, so they can play as loose as a goose. Can they get to the final media timeout within legit striking distance. If they do, all bets are off. I think they do within the first half before the Finnish Frank the Tank becomes too much in the 2nd half. Hooker and company do provide one shining moment for the UND faithful. I hope I am wrong but I think Arizona wins by 12. Zona 84-72

To me: this is much ado about nothing Of course people will say, you can do much with $75,000 than do that? Now add another zero at the end and I might raise a few eyebrows.

Wait, a game thread was started without me? BOOOO! I think they give them a scare. Like a Zona pulling out a win at the last 2 minutes kind of scare

I think UND will be okay next season, projected return of 3 starters in the lineup and Seales and Shanks from the bench as decent to significant contributors. Seales gets bumped to a starting role and the transfer Stewart gets the other spot. depth of the Bench is going to need to find a new player or two. If they can get production from the bench and Stewart is as advertised, they will win a lot games and be in the mix with the top teams in the Sky next year. League will be tougher next year with Idaho, Weber, Montana, and MSU all going to be very good. Sac State and PSU won't be too bad either. Projected it right now, I'd say UND would be battling for the 4th spot with MSU. Get a better idea once we get through the transfer/coaches leaving/etc part of the season. If Hall leaves MSU, changes the dynamics a bit. Wouldn't say they are going to repeat, but when Reno comes around they are more than capable of making a run. Now lets hope nobody from UND leaves this year for a change.

I call for this thread to be shut down until further notice

They met my high expectation They had the horses and got the job done Mission accomplished

change the tag to #WewantNova and we are good (defending champ until Duke wins it this year of course )

Give us the Ducks

yeah right....

FT shooting was maligned. Down the stretch, they only missed once

WE'RE GOING DANCING! WE'RE GOING DANCING! WE'RE GOING DANCING!

Oh Q was so excited on that he just had a brain cramp on that travel

FINISH 1 good possession and 1 stop all I ask

WEAK....

WE'RE NOT DEAD YET!

UND gets the ball back down 4 get something good please

offensive goaltending... oh wait... because its Weber

should have just dove on that loose ball

1 stop