SWSiouxMN Posted January 7, 2020 Posted January 7, 2020 UND used a 2nd half push and 5 players scoring in double figures to take down Fort Wayne and do something that hasn't been done in the D1 era, start a conference season 2-0. The competition picks up at home on Wednesday as the Mavericks of Omaha come to town, also sporting an unblemished conference record. UND has done a nice job in starting the conference on the right foot, defending the home court and beating the teams you need to beat on the road. This team has improved, even without their best shooter, but there is still much to improve upon. We know the story from last year, Omaha beat UND three times, including in the QF at Sioux Falls. UND also went 0-9 playing against the I-29 schools. If UND wants to finish higher in the conference standings, they need to rectify this. This also starts a tough 4 game stretch for UND. They go on the road to Tulsa, Brookings, and Fargo after this. The goal here is to at least get a split and get back home with 2 winnable games against DU and Western. Beating Omaha would give them a 3-0 mark and potentially turn a few heads that UND could be the "Omaha" of this years conference race. What do I mean by that? Well... About Omaha: The Mavs come in knowing that they will NOT be sneaking up on anybody this year. Not much was expected of the Mavs last year, as they were picked 8th in the conference. Funny thing happened: They showed why games are NOT played on paper. They finished with 21 wins, a 13-3 record in the conference (good for 2nd), and marched all the way to the title game, where they were denied their glory by the Bison and their magical run through the tournament. Looking at Omaha's recent history, it has been trending upward. 3 out of the last four years they have finished in the top 3 spots in the conference (the other was 7th). They might be ready to be the team that crashes the party and breaks through the Dakota Monopoly on the Summit League Autobid. Picked 4th in the conference, they have the guards and a big capable of making some noise. The question however is this. Is Omaha ready to make that final step? About Derrin Hansen: Hansen has entered his 15th year at Nebraska-Omaha and has been at Omaha since 1998: first as an assistant and now as a head coach. He is 236-207 overall as a coach and is 106-103 in conference play (NCC, MIAA, Summit) His D1 record is 115-120 overall and 54-56 in Summit League Play. As mentioned above, Hansen has done a good job in putting Omaha in the top half of the Summit recently, and now is looking for the crowning achievement of his Omaha career, their first NCAA tournament bid. They have come close twice, will the third time be the charm if they get to the final? Key Player: JT Gibson (6'3 Senior) The Senior from Brooklyn Park is looking to finish a solid career at Omaha with a bang. Over 1,100 points in his career he is the guard that makes Omaha go. His numbers are a little lower than last year, minus the free throw percentage, which has gone up. Someone who is going to be a handful against UND, so Stewart is going to have to be ready to go head to head against him. Averaged 13 ppg in 3 contests verses UND last year. Series History: While UND leads the all time series (54-40) and at home (32-9), UND has a 10 game losing streak against Omaha that dates back to January 2007.... They have never beaten Omaha in D1 history (0-6) Stats: Walter is shooting 32 of 33 from the free throw line, that is 96.96% so far. Stewart is now 3rd in the conference in scoring at 16.7 ppg Matt Pile and Rebraca are both 1st and 2nd in the league in rebounds (10.5 vs 9.9) and blocks (1.5 vs 1.3) Milestone Watch: Marlon currently sit at 919 career points (912 at UND). He is 81 points away from 1000 career points. If he can maintain his current average, he should reach it sometime while the team is home against either DU or WIU, but as we have seen, another outburst like against Fort Wayne could put the road trip firmly in play. He would be the 38th player all time to do it DAE has 221 points in his freshman season. The freshman scoring record was set by Troy Huff with 452 in 2010-11. Right Now DAE is averaging more points that Huff did (13.8 to 13.3), if he can hold that and get enough games, he can a good chance of breaking that record. Something to watch. There is one more milestone I could mention, but I REFUSE to mention it (you can dig through the stat sheets and put two and two together) Keys: 1) Battle of the Boardmen: Pile and Rebraca are the leaders in the Summit in rebounding, so this will be an excellent battle inside on who can be the better rebounder. 2) Fast Start: UND has not gotten off to great starts so far in conference play, this would be the prime time to get off to one. 3) Beware the Tut: This kid killed them in the Summit Tournament and can have a big game if not kept in check. Other Games: Wednesday Fort Wayne (1-1) @ WIU (1-2): Fort Wayne looking to bounce back after a setback in North Dakota. WIU has gotten a reality check against both NDSU and SDSU, leaving both places with losses. Good spot for WIU to defend the home court and get back to .500. The Dons need this to avoid a loss to a preseason bottom tiered team. SDSU (2-1) @ DU (0-3): SDSU with back to back win after losing a squeaker against Omaha to open conference play and has a great chance to get sitting at 3-1 when they go to Denver, who really, really, really needs a win. They cannot fall to 0-4 or otherwise they could be looking at 2 years in a row with no Sioux Falls trip Thursday NDSU (2-0) @ ORU (0-2): The other 2-0, the Bison, have done what has been expected of them, but now they reach their first test against a desperate ORU squad, who has started 0-2 on the season. An 0-3 start to league play could be the death blow for their chances at a regular season crown, which wouldn't be good for this team with high expectations. Can the Bison get the road win and get to 3-0 and prepare for the Yotes the following week? We shall see. The Call: As stated, this is a big game for a number of reasons. The winner comes out of this 3-0 and in good shape early in the race. With UNDs tough trip ahead and given Omaha's long winning streak and UNDs bad record against the I-29 schools, this is important. This will be fun battle between guards (Gibson vs Stewart) and big men (Pile vs Rebraca). I think this will come down to two things: How well UND can rebound and keep Pile off the glass and how well UND can shoot it from 3. If UND can do those two things, they will win. I'm going against instinct here, because Omaha has a little more seasoning and I'm bucking a trend, but it needs to end and end now. UND gets a statement win with another big game from Stewart and a star performance from DAE. UND 84-80 Game is on the Plus! And Midco 1 Quote
SiouxVolley Posted January 8, 2020 Posted January 8, 2020 Although I posted the RPI rankings that had Omaha #1 and UND #2 in the Summit, the NET rankings are different. https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basketball-men/d1/ncaa-mens-basketball-net-rankings. They show as 1,2,3 in the Summit NDSU,SDSU and ORU. Quote
sioux24/7 Posted January 8, 2020 Posted January 8, 2020 Man I was really hoping to get to this game but Wednesday’s are a no go for me. Quote
Nodak78 Posted January 8, 2020 Posted January 8, 2020 SWSiouxMN can you speak about the common opponents Omaha and UND have played. EWU. Omaha lost by 40+ something must be out of order Montana Omaha won in OT at home. I'm thinking this is a good match up for UND at least at home. Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2020 Author Posted January 9, 2020 Contested 3 goes for Billy 3-2 UND Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2020 Author Posted January 9, 2020 Now Walter joins the fun 6-2 UND Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2020 Author Posted January 9, 2020 8 hours ago, Nodak78 said: SWSiouxMN can you speak about the common opponents Omaha and UND have played. EWU. Omaha lost by 40+ something must be out of order Montana Omaha won in OT at home. I'm thinking this is a good match up for UND at least at home. could have just been a night where everything went wrong for Omaha, I think had Montana come here, UND would have won that. Now if this version of UND went out to Missoula and Cheaney, they would have gotten both. Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2020 Author Posted January 9, 2020 Pile and Rebraca going at it in the post all night is going to be a fun adventure. Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2020 Author Posted January 9, 2020 11:54 to go UND 12 Omaha 6 DAE leads all scorers with 4 points Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2020 Author Posted January 9, 2020 Going to see how UND does with Stewart in foul trouble. DAE or Rebraca needs to carry the load here. Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2020 Author Posted January 9, 2020 8-0 run for Omaha Tut is doing damage against UND.... again TO UND 14-12 Omaha 10:13 to go Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2020 Author Posted January 9, 2020 nevermind, a 10-0 run. Marlon back in with the 2 fouls Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2020 Author Posted January 9, 2020 Rebraca sinks 1 of 2 from the line 14-13 Omaha Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2020 Author Posted January 9, 2020 DAE 15-14 UND nice take to the rack, made a few good moves Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2020 Author Posted January 9, 2020 Marlon goes to the line and makes both see saw battle UND 17-16 Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2020 Author Posted January 9, 2020 Rebraca might have gotten bailed out with that call. Nevertheless, he will go to the line after the timeout 17-16 UND under 8 media Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2020 Author Posted January 9, 2020 I will guess that they will put Marlon in one more time this half and hope for the best. Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2020 Author Posted January 9, 2020 Rebraca makes both at the line 19-16 UND 7:38 to go in the half Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2020 Author Posted January 9, 2020 Gibson knocks in 2 free throws of his own 19-18 UND Marlon back in with his 2 fouls Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2020 Author Posted January 9, 2020 the length of DAE is giving Gibson fits. Marlon 3 22-18 UND Quote
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