SWSiouxMN Posted November 24, 2018 Posted November 24, 2018 UND did what they needed to do again against an inferior non-D1 opponent, beating up on Concordia (NE). Now UND will turn its attention back on the road to take on an old Great West foe, Utah Valley. Utah Valley is coming off a 22 win campaign and a CBI appearance. They are picked 4th in the coaches and 3rd in the media in the preseason polls, so they are expected to a be a top team in the WACky WAC. This will be the first of two WAC opponents that UND plays this year, (they get UT Rio Grande Valley in a few weeks). They are coached by Mark Pope, who is in his 4th year at Utah Valley. These two teams played last year in GF, with UVU coming away with an OT victory, as they had difficulty stopping their 7 footer (who has since graduated). Numbers: 53 - number of points Avants needs to get to 1000 career points .753: Current free throw percentage of the entire team (keep that margin all year please!) Key player: Conner Toolson (6'4 Senior Guard) The Preseason 1st team all-WAC player has definitely been living up to the billing. His 3 point percentage is a little lower than his average, but he is one that can light it up. Shot it around 40% from 3 and 80% from the line last year, so he is due for that monster game. Be a good matchup for Cortez, or maybe Jal off the bench. X-Factor: Baylee Steel (6'11 Junior Forward) You are probably wondering why I am choosing him as the x-factor, someone who is averaging 6.7 ppg. Well it isn't the points that I am concern about, but his rebounding ability. He has already produced two double digit rebounding performances, including a 19 board performance against BYU. In that game, he also had 7 offensive rebounds. Bottom line, when he is in the game, you need to keep him off the boards. Keys to the Game: 1) Rebound the ball UND needs to have a good performance on the boards, prevent UVU from getting 2nd chances. You got some players who can rebound now, lets see them have good games on the boards. 2) How will UND handle the competition Its no secret that UND has had an uneven schedule to say the least, so we don't know how they will fare against like teams. Will they take that confidence that they have gain by pounding inferior opponent and translate it into success, or will this be a crashing back to reality moment for this young squad. 3) The Youth of UND I'm not so worried about the senior leaders, or so much Brown and Walter. How will the rest of the team handle playing probably a better opponent that Milwaukee. Rebraca has been solid, but this will be a good test to see how fast he is maturing. Will Jal or Marko have their breakthrough game? Can Davids be solid at the point and Moody shooting the ball lights out? The Call This would be a good win for UND to get on the road and could spur them to bigger and better things. I think out of this stretch of games, this will be the toughest matchup of the 5. I'm waiting for that one game where the youth shows up in full force and I am worried this might be the one where it does. If this was in GF, I would take UND... but since it is out in Utah, I think the more experienced team will take the win and defend their home court.. I hope I am wrong though UVU 79-74 Game is Free on WAC Digital Network: Link is here http://www.wacdigitalnetwork.com/ Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted November 24, 2018 Author Posted November 24, 2018 Odds are I won't get to watch this one live (family comes first), so someone else will have to carry the mantle for the live thread. Quote
cpa_guy Posted November 24, 2018 Posted November 24, 2018 Less than a few hundred people actually I'm the stands today. Quote
cpa_guy Posted November 24, 2018 Posted November 24, 2018 12-4 15:46 UVU with 5 uncontested threes early. Quote
cpa_guy Posted November 24, 2018 Posted November 24, 2018 23-17 8:00 UVU. Defense picking up a bit. Quote
nodak651 Posted November 25, 2018 Posted November 25, 2018 Did Jal travel? Sealed not selecting the best shots... Quote
cpa_guy Posted November 25, 2018 Posted November 25, 2018 58-55 7:13 UND. Defense better in 2nd half. Quote
LDL Posted November 25, 2018 Posted November 25, 2018 I replayed the non call on over and back. Pretty sure uvu guy touched it. Quote
UND Fan Posted November 25, 2018 Posted November 25, 2018 We certainly could have won but we played pretty well against a bunch of upperclassmen on the road. That might be the type of game that we would win a month or two from now. Moody had a couple of "in & outs" that may have made a difference. It was interesting to see who got the minutes in a competitive game. Quote
UND Fan Posted November 25, 2018 Posted November 25, 2018 2 minutes ago, LDL said: I replayed the non call on over and back. Pretty sure uvu guy touched it. That was a huge non-call! Quote
siouxfan512 Posted November 25, 2018 Posted November 25, 2018 Tons of potential on this team over the next few seasons. Quote
SiouxFan100 Posted November 26, 2018 Posted November 26, 2018 On 11/24/2018 at 6:58 PM, siouxfan512 said: Tons of potential on this team over the next few seasons. UND teams always seem to have a lot of potential. Sigh would be great to actually cash in on all the potential every now and then. Quote
UNDBIZ Posted November 26, 2018 Posted November 26, 2018 1 minute ago, SiouxFan100 said: UND teams always seem to have a lot of potential. Sigh would be great to actually cash in on all the potential every now and then. March 2017? 1 Quote
SiouxFan100 Posted November 26, 2018 Posted November 26, 2018 2 minutes ago, UNDBIZ said: March 2017? You are correct. 2017 would be every now and then. We had 3 or 4 years prior to that with all sorts of potential. Hopefully it’s not once every 4 or 5 years. Quote
SiouxVolley Posted November 26, 2018 Posted November 26, 2018 55 minutes ago, SiouxFan100 said: You are correct. 2017 would be every now and then. We had 3 or 4 years prior to that with all sorts of potential. Hopefully it’s not once every 4 or 5 years. The Sweet Sixteen should be a goal, not appearances. Quote
bounce Posted November 26, 2018 Posted November 26, 2018 12 hours ago, SiouxVolley said: The Sweet Sixteen should be a goal, not appearances. NCAA titles should be the goal not sweet 16 appearances Quote
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