UND (11-3, 16-8) @ Weber (11-2, 16-8) 2/18 8 PM

[UND-FB-FAN]

Huge win. UND is now first in the Big Sky Conference standings with three regular season games left. This team sure looks like it has the potential to be the one to break through and win the Big Sky Conference (and also save Jones his job). 

I would love to travel and support this team at the conference tournament if it wasn't at such an odd place like Reno. Horrible. The Summit League tournament in Sioux Falls can't come soon enough!

Go Hawks!

[Cratter]

Fun game to watch. 

Good job boys.

[homer]

Great win. This team is playing well right now.  Impressed with the team play.  Different guys making plays.  Congrats to the coaches and players on a fantastic team win.  

[SWSiouxMN]

The 3 biggest reasons why UND won this game?

1) Q

2) Defense

3) Seales

[UND1983]

Once again, I will give credit to Jones.  I have ripped on him in past but this team is playing lights out at home and on the road.  

[UND1983]

Just now, SWSiouxMN said:

The 3 biggest reasons why UND won this game?

1) Q

2) Defense

3) Seales

Crandall is #1 with a bullet.

[UNDBIZ]

Huge win. Congrats to the team and Coach Jones. The stars seem to be aligning.

[SWSiouxMN]

UND tonight punched a first round bye in Reno.  If PSU can come back to beat the Griz, UND will punch a top 3 finish (and the more valuable bye)

[bincitysioux]

12 minutes ago, ChrisUND1 said:

Someone from Weber is reading this forum...tell us why there are so many empty seats when this is your only thing going in that area.  Well?

It's an 11,000 seat arena.........

[bincitysioux]

Easily the biggest win for this program in 15 years, maybe more......

[Cratter]

"UND has an easy Big Sky schedule this year."

[MoSiouxFan]

On 2/17/2017 at 10:35 AM, SWSiouxMN said:

UND began their last road trip of the season last night with a 16 point win over ISU.  Only 6 players scored for UND but 5 of them were in double figures as Geno, Drick, Q, Baldwin and Seales all had solid nights.  Now its on to the rematch.  First place is on the line when UND travels down the Weber.

Its really simple: The winner of this game is more than likely going to go into Reno as the number 1 seed.  Either UND is going to leave with a 1/2 game lead and the head-to-head tiebreaker over Weber, or Weber is going to have a 1.5 game lead.  I don't see UND losing again if they beat Weber and I don't see Weber losing 3 out of 4 the rest of the way if they beat UND. 

In the 6 point win at home, it was a two man show for UND with Geno and Q piling in 53 out of UND's 83 points.  The difference in the past month for UND has been the emergence of Seales off the bench, who has averages of 11.4 points and 5.4 rebounds off the bench in his last 7 games.  One promising trend for Weber has been the play of their big guy Braxton, who in his last 4 games is nearly averaging a double-double with 16.3 ppg and 9.8 rpg.  Both teams have had some evolution since the previous matchup but the key will once again be the stars of Q and Senglin, which this game could also decide who gets the Big Sky POY at the end of the year.

This is the 12th meeting in Big Sky play between the two teams.  UND is 2-9 all time and 0-3 in Weber.

UND has a chance to match their total wins from last year and the most Big Sky wins they ever had since moving to the conference.

Other Games:

Idaho (8-5) @ EWU (9-4) *Tonight

Critical clash between 3rd and 4th ranked teams in the conference.  EWU with a chance to gain the tiebreaker and have a 2 game lead for the all important 3rd seed.  Idaho needs to steal one on the road to make things interesting down the stretch (and avoid the MSU/Montana/SAC mess for the final bye) with Weber and ISU visiting next week for both squads.

Sac (7-6) @ MSU (8-6)

In the previous thread, I stated that this was an opportunity for Sac State to get back in the race for the final bye.  Well sweeping the Griz and being a half game back is a great start.  Now they need to avoid what happened last time and take care of business in Bozeman, where MSU got an OT victory over PSU last night.  With the Hornets remaining schedule, if they can swipe this one on the road (with their toughest game left in Grand Forks), Sac State would be in the driver seat for the last spot.  MSU has a chance to gain a critical tiebreak with a sweep of Sac State.  Bobcats next two games will go a long way to determining if they are going to get that last bye of not (they host the GrIz next week).

PSU (5-8) @ Montana (8-6)

This is strange to state but this is a must win at home for the Griz after shockingly dropping one against Sac State last night.  Portland had a tough loss in OT in Bozeman.  The Viks are fading down the stretch as playing on day 1 is more and more likely unless they win out and get lots of help. Griz on the other hand need this one to keep pace with whoever comes out of the Sac State/MSU game as the winner.  With their last 3 on the road against MSU/Weber/and ISU. They need this win or playing day 1 in Reno is a big possibility. 

UNC (4-10) @ ISU (3-10).  ISU lost once again to UND and UNC nearly pulled off the upset at Weber. Its been bad news for UNC this week as not only were they denied possible their defining win in a trying year but the full extend of the NCAA investigation was revealed.  UNC could be in serious hot water for the next few years.  Have 4 games left in their season and looking to play any team tough down the stretch.  ISU just needs to start piling up wins to position themselves better for day 1 in Reno

SUU (2-11) @ NAU (4-9)

Travel partner matchup with actually some implications. SUU has a chance to sweep a season series and potentially be tied with ISU and NAU trying to perhaps pass PSU for the 8th spot.  Both teams are playing day 1 in Reno but they both can start the preparations. 

Results that will help UND for seeding purposes:

-EWU over Idaho

-PSU over Griz

The call:

This is without question the biggest game in UND's brief history in the Big Sky (yes, even bigger than the BSC title game in 2014).  UND is going to need a similar effort put out against Idaho last weekend to pull this one off. It is imperative that UND gets off to good starts in halves and finishes strong.  The first and last 5 of halves will be critical.  Weber should still be favored in this despite their less than impressive win against UNC and Senglin's struggles.  This game will once again come down to one person: Geno Crandall.  If he plays like he did against Weber in Grand Forks UND is coming out with a win.  If he throws up a clunker, Weber is going to hold serve at home.  Sometimes you just have a feeling about a team when it is their time.... I think its finally UNDs time. Q and Geno bring home UNDs biggest Big Sky win ever and heads back home in 1st place.

UND 81-77

Nice call!

[teamsioux]

Montana hangs on.  PSU has lost 7 of 8.  4 of them in OT and tonight it was a one point game with 2 seconds left.

 

[SWSiouxMN]

here is your standings update after tonight's action

UND 12-3%

Weber 11-3

EWU 10-4

Griz 9-6

MSU 9-6

Idaho 8-6

SAC 7-7

PSU 5-9

NAU 4-10

UNC 4-10*

SUU 3-11

ISU 3-11

%Clinched first round bye

*Ineligible for Reno

[ChrisUND1]

21 minutes ago, bincitysioux said:

It's an 11,000 seat arena.........

?

My question stands.  It is Weber State, basketball is their one and only thing. This is a battle for 1st.  UND fills the Ralph with 11,800 each game for hockey  and has a smaller metro area.  What gives Weber??? 

[teamsioux]

UND M/W BB teams both on top in Big Sky with a combined conference record of 25-5.  

[MoSiouxFan]

1 hour ago, Cratter said:

Defense the difference for this team vs previous years.

My thoughts exactly.  I think that's been the key.  That, and having someone (Q) you can count on down the stretch.

[bincitysioux]

41 minutes ago, ChrisUND1 said:

?

My question stands.  It is Weber State, basketball is their one and only thing. This is a battle for 1st.  UND fills the Ralph with 11,800 each game for hockey  and has a smaller metro area.  What gives Weber??? 

The attendance was 7700.  It was Weber's second biggest draw of the year......

[GDPritch]

1 hour ago, jdub27 said:

He's shooting 53% from the field this year. 

Damn, the fg shooting % really surprises me.  I guess all the other things he doesn't do so well distorts our thinking on his shooting ability. Maybe it cus he's 7 ft tall and majority of his shots are from within 5 ft but he's still only making half of them despite a decided height advantage most games.

[GDPritch]

1 hour ago, UND1983 said:

Crandall is #1 with a bullet.

It helps having two BSC 1st teamers in Q and Crandall.  Plus, diff this year is this team (barring Brick) for most part makes free throws to win the close one's at games end. You have great/good scorers in Q and Geno and then add in Baldwin, Cortes, Avants and Bernstine (the Shankster occasionally) chipping in with some good scoring numbers in random games and you have nice production most nights.

 

[GDPritch]

1 hour ago, Cratter said:

"UND has an easy Big Sky schedule this year."

HAH, football talk!  

[darell1976]

Great win!!! Have to keep this momentum up heading into Reno. 

[cpa_guy]

9 hours ago, ChrisUND1 said:

?

My question stands.  It is Weber State, basketball is their one and only thing. This is a battle for 1st.  UND fills the Ralph with 11,800 each game for hockey  and has a smaller metro area.  What gives Weber??? 

Here's my take living 65 miles away and speaking with others on the 20+  ocassions that I have been on campus for sporting events:

It's a combination of factors. Weber State is largely a commuter school for students living in the area north of Salt Lake. According to some, they do very little in the way of promoting games. Although it may be the only game in town, many affiliated with it (administration, staff, community) have no allegiance to the school and still cheer for BYU and Utah over it (even some students). Of the several people that I know that went there, none of them will readily admit to it (it's just a degree to them).

These factors are highly evident in the attendance at women's games. Although Utah is a basketball centric state, no one goes to them. The stated attendance for the five UND games that I have attended has ranged from 527 to 656; actual attendance has been between 150-200.

Likewise, it's the same for the men. I guessed the stated number for last night would be 7,500; actual attendance was around 5,000. Attendance has been overstated by about 2,500 in the three previous regular season games that I attended.The only time that the Dee Event Center reported actual attendance was during the Big Sky playoffs. The attendance for the 2014 final was 6,294; I can guarantee that were substantially more people there that night than last night.

[ChrisUND1]

7 hours ago, cpa_guy said:

Here's my take living 65 miles away and speaking with others on the 20+  ocassions that I have been on campus for sporting events:

It's a combination of factors. Weber State is largely a commuter school for students living in the area north of Salt Lake. According to some, they do very little in the way of promoting games. Although it may be the only game in town, many affiliated with it (administration, staff, community) have no allegiance to the school and still cheer for BYU and Utah over it (even some students). Of the several people that I know that went there, none of them will readily admit to it (it's just a degree to them).

These factors are highly evident in the attendance at women's games. Although Utah is a basketball centric state, no one goes to them. The stated attendance for the five UND games that I have attended has ranged from 527 to 656; actual attendance has been between 150-200.

Likewise, it's the same for the men. I guessed the stated number for last night would be 7,500; actual attendance was around 5,000. Attendance has been overstated by about 2,500 in the three previous regular season games that I attended.The only time that the Dee Event Center reported actual attendance was during the Big Sky playoffs. The attendance for the 2014 final was 6,294; I can guarantee that were substantially more people there that night than last night.

Excellent info, thanks!

[sioux24/7]

Jones is going to get an extension isn't he?