SWSiouxMN Posted February 12, 2021 Posted February 12, 2021 UND had to settle for a split against Denver in two close overtime games this weekend. Now UND heads to the final home games of the season against an old rival, USD, who is a surprise leader of the Summit League. Since we last saw USD: So things have been a little different since the last time we saw USD. If you want the biggest surprise of the year so far in the Summit, it was the rise of USD to the top of the conference standings. How in the world did this happen? Well... Umude is still Umude, averaging almost 21 ppg and probably is the front runner for the Summit POY. The emergence of Augie transfer AJ Plitzuweit has given the Yotes a powerful 2nd option that can go get 30 a night as well. With those two weapons at the guard spot, its not hard to see why USD is in the place they are. Their bigs has slowly come around as well. Some had question how legit the Yotes were, as their 8-0 start was against the bottom of the conference. They answered a lot of questions last week getting a split against the hated Bunnies. They still have two showdowns with ORU and NDSU coming up here that could decide the conference. That being said... they have passed all the test against the teams they should beat, but they have one more to pass. If the Yotes want the crown, they need to avoid the trap. Key player: Stanley Umude (6'6 Senior) The senior has put together a great season and if the season ended today, he probably would be the odds on favorite to win Summit POY. He is scoring at a high level, scoring almost 21 points per game and grabbing near 7 rebounds a game as well. His 3 point shooting is around his career average and shown that he can go for 30+ at any point. Free throw shooting has improved to around 80%, which has allowed him to average a few more points. In the first matchup in Sioux Falls, he had 30 points and went blow for blow with Rebraca, but missed an open layup that could have won it for the Yotes. Series History: UND has a 101-92 series lead. USD has a 8-6 lead in the D1 series. Sather is 2-2 against USD so far, but no wins in Grand Forks so far. Key Questions 1) Who wins the Point Guard Battle? 2) Can UND put together a good 40? Other Games: SDSU (5-1) @ ORU (7-3): Series of the weekend is in Tulsa as ORU has possibly their biggest home games of the year. ORU is coming off a split in Fargo. SDSU is coming off a split against in-state rival USD. SDSU finally playing two weekends in a row for a change. ORU is capable of playing with and beating SDSU, especially at home. They are also capable of being swept. If ORU wants to be in the top 3, they cannot be swept, they must get at least one win. An SDSU sweep would be huge for their chances for the crown, especially with NDSU coming up next week. Abmas vs Friedel? Obanor vs Wilson? LETS GO! DU (1-7) @ WIU (3-7): The suddenly hot Leathernecks picked up a huge sweep of Omaha on the road. They find themselves in a great spot to return to Sioux Falls after missing last year. Jeter has this squad going. DU picked up their first win against UND last week and they find themselves getting healthy, but are still in the danger zone of missing Sioux Falls. A sweep by either team would be huge for their chances. WIU could start to threaten KC and even UND for the midpack. DU could use some space from Omaha. Omaha (0-8) @ Kansas City (3-5): The Mavs are coming off of two close losses at home. Status of Marlon Ruffin is in the air after he had a very scary fall and injury on Saturday. The Roos are coming off of a much needed bye week to get healthy. The Roos have a great chance to get to .500 and close the gap with UND for 5th place. With a favorable schedule the next two weeks, they have a great shot of doing just that. Omaha is starting to run out of time in regards to not only their first win but their place in Sioux Falls. It may behoove the Mavs to get their first win this weekend, otherwise the pressure will increase. Off: NDSU (9-3). The Bison check in with a 9-3 record and to a timely bye after splitting with Oral Roberts in Fargo. They still find themselves in the thick of the Summit League title race, but results in Grand Forks and Brookings this weekend will determine how serious those chances are. They have the South Dakota schools left on their schedule, getting rival SDSU next weekend before finishing at Vermillion. A good chance to rest up and try to finish in the top 3 in the conference. The call: UND has proven that they can beat some of the top teams in the conference this year, however... they have shown that they can use to the bottom teams as well. I think the battle is going to be at the point guard spot. Whoever can win that battle consistently is more than likely going to win these games. I expect USD to go after Rebraca hard and make someone else from UND beat them, so someone needs to be ready to step up. USD should be favored to sweep this series..... but I have one of those feelings, that UND is going to get one this weekend. I think they fall in game 1 as AJ and Umude are a little too much USD 79-74 Game is on the Tres, MidcoSN, and MidcoPlus! 1 Quote
ND-fan Posted February 12, 2021 Posted February 12, 2021 I have to agree with you on UND winning the point guard battle i watched USD play SDSU last weekend USD pretty much controlled the games when there point guard Plitzuweit was in control of the game but in the second game SDSU switched players defending him and shut him down in second half and they came back and won that game. I believe Ihenacho can do this because he is big enough and quick enough to defend and i also believe he is also quick enough and big enough that he can score if he wants to against Plitzuweit one on one situation. The thing that worries me most about South Dakota since we played the first time the development of their big center off the bench Zizic we may have no one big enough and strong enough to match up against him because of having to defend Umedo which usually requires help. 1 Quote
coyotecrazie5 Posted February 13, 2021 Posted February 13, 2021 I have to give ND-fan huge props as he is spot on with his analysis on USD Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted February 13, 2021 Author Posted February 13, 2021 Update on the Friday matchups KC takes down Omaha and now jumps ahead of UND in the standings WIU comes back from 14 down to beat DU, Leathernecks now winners of 4 straight. Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted February 13, 2021 Author Posted February 13, 2021 Usual Starters Ihenacho Panoam Igbanugo Sims Rebraca Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted February 13, 2021 Author Posted February 13, 2021 Igbanugo finishes the basket and gets fouled! Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted February 13, 2021 Author Posted February 13, 2021 Umude 4 all not much Sims can do there Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted February 13, 2021 Author Posted February 13, 2021 USD on a 5-0 mini run 9-4 USD Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted February 13, 2021 Author Posted February 13, 2021 Umude again, great D by UND 11-4 USD Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted February 13, 2021 Author Posted February 13, 2021 Lineup Panoam-Nero-Danielson-Sims-Sueker right now Umude free throw 12-10 USD Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted February 13, 2021 Author Posted February 13, 2021 14-10 USD Anderson layup after the USD O-board Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.