#8 UND (11-19) vs #9 MSU (13-18) BSC Tourney Round 1 3/6 2:05 PM

[SWSiouxMN]

Well,  the season ended with a missed opportunity to sweep the road trip with an OT loss to Portland State.  UND now turns its attention to the conference tournament in Reno, where if they want to defend their crown, they need to win 4 straight.  First up on the docket, the Bobcats of MSU.

For the most part, it was fully expected that UND was going to be playing in the first round in the beginning of the season.  Not so much MSU... they were discussed as one of the potential favorites amongst the Griz, Weber, and Idaho.  The 4-0 start game them hope... then finished 2 and 12 for the rest of the year and fell all the way to 9th place.  Now the Bobcats have talent and they are more than capable of putting together a run to forget about this season.  If they flame out, there will be a lot of questions going into next about about Hall, Frey and perhaps the coach.

UND has had an up and down season.  At some points, UND was capable of playing with the best of the conference.  At others, they played like the bottom of the conference.  If there has been one thing in the Jones era at UND, its this.  When it comes to conference tournaments, they are more than capable of making a run.  In every BSC they have made (minus the one they missed in 14-15) they have at least made the semis.  Doing it this time, will require a major upset. 

To me:  If UND really wants to have a shot at this. I think it will really come down to one guy.  If I was Jones, I take this player, sit him down in a room, pull up YouTube of the 2011 Big East Conference Tournament, and state this:  Be like Kemba Geno!  Because that is what it will take for UND to make a deep run in this tournament.  The rest of the team will need to do its part as well, but the star needs to play like a star.

These teams played twice this year, each splitting on their home courts.  

Keys to the Game: 

1) Who starts well:  MSU is a wounded animal, UND needs to jump of them immediately and get off to a strong start.  Don't give them any confidence going forward.

2) Guard the 3 ball:  In the first matchup, MSU was hitting bombs from 3.  The second matchup not so much.  UND needs to play that great defense around the perimeter that they are capable of playing.

3) UND bench:  Brown and Walter need to be productive off the bench.  They gave some good numbers this weekend, now can they do it this week.

Other Games:

#5 UNC vs #12 NAU

#7 ISU vs #10 SUU

#6 PSU vs #11 SAC

Who should win easy: UNC

Upset alert: ISU

The call:

The truth is either of these teams can make a deep run in Reno. They also can get blown out by 20 in the first round.  UND has players that have many BSC tournament games under their belt, they know what they need to do.  MSU only has two games in the BSC tournament the last two years.  I think all the pressure is on the Bobcats believe it or not and it will show.   UND gets off to a great start.  Geno goes for 25+  and UND will advance to take on the Griz.

UND 83-71

 

[homer]

Hopefully Geno takes being on the second team personally.  He has the all around game to be the best player in this league if he stays focused on the game on the court. 

[hoops44]

Geno too much of a turnover machine this season , did not shoot enough, and gets benched in first half for 2 fouls too often....pretty tough to rack up assists with a shortage of catch and shoot teammates...and almost impossible to make first team with a 8/9 th place finish.

[ND-fan]

Quote

 

I like how UND plays hard as a team and I think they are capable of beating anyone on given night but when you come to the tournament I just think there couple of players shy of winning the Tournament. We lack size and go to ball player inside and I think you need this if your going to win at DI level. You need that player you can go to inside when you need a basket and UND has AVants but he's little under sized and if he plays big minutes he gets worn down and usually in fall trouble. I thought this team would compete last year again this year but the loss of Berstein, Shanks, and Collins with the additions they made this year would have made for salty team. I don't think UND handling of Jones contract helped either in keeping players or recruiting players.  Could have been team that would have set a mark for the Big Sky but it slipped away.

[SWSiouxMN]

Someone else will have to run the thread.  I won't be able to watch as I will be occupied with other matters and can only follow on a smart phone.  Might chime in a time or two if I get a chance. 

[UNDBIZ]

Pluto working for anybody?

[MoSiouxFan]

Not for me, either.  Tried Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer.

[UNDBIZ]

Finally started working for me.  14-3 MSU 5 minutes in.

[MoSiouxFan]

Me, too.

[UNDBIZ]

20-8 MSU at the 11 minute break.

[Kab]

How do you come out flat knowing this may be your last game

3 defense stinks 

[HawksHoops]

I can't wait to never have to watch a game on Pluto TV again.  Pure and utter garbage.

[UNDBIZ]

30-18 MSU at the 7 minute mark.

[UNDBIZ]

36-23.  Stewart with some lazy defense.

[jdub27]

Points off Turnovers:
MSU - 8
UND - 3

2nd Chance Points
MSU - 14
UND - 0

 

Story of the game right there....Need to get it to under 10 before the half.

[UND1983]

We're really lighting up Reno with our two basketball teams, boy.  Leaving a lasting impression.

[UNDBIZ]

40-33 at half.  Geno with a half-court buzzer-beater.

[nodak651]

you guys need to just go to watchbigsky.com.  It works WAY better.  But I'd almost rather not be able to watch this tournament.

[siouxfan512]

8 minutes ago, UNDBIZ said:

40-33 at half.  Geno with a half-court buzzer-beater.

Shooting strategy for the second half?

[jdub27]

The only positive is the first 17 minutes went about as bad as they could have. Limit second chance points and keep playing defense. Geno has 13, needs to get 30.

[UNDBIZ]

50-42 Cats with 14:27 to go

[UNDBIZ]

MSU defense and rebounding effort proving far superior here.

56-42

[Kab]

Why do our players lose their man on 3 pointers 

cant this be coached 

 

[UNDBIZ]

59-42 with 12:10 to go.  Defensive effort lacking from UND.  Fatigue could be a factor too, as MSU is really passing the ball around nicely (UND hasn't made it overly difficult for them).

[UNDBIZ]

Geno with several lazy passes that MSU is converting to points.  64-45 with just over 11 to go.