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MBB Game Notes: Sioux open regular season with trifecta at Grizzly Basketball Tournament
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Article Audio/Video
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Press conference: Men's basketball, Brian Jones 11-11-09
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GRAND FORKS, N.D. - North Dakota opens its 2009-10 regular season this weekend with a trio of contests at the Karl Tyler Chevrolet Grizzly Basketball Tournament. The host Montana Grizzlies will be the first challenger for UND as the two teams tip-off on Friday at approximately 9 p.m. CT. The Sioux will also take on Loyola Marymount (Calif.) on Saturday (7 p.m.), followed by a clash with the Boise State Broncos on Sunday at 2 p.m.
SCOUTING THE GRIZZLIES: The Grizzlies and Sioux will be meeting for the 11th time in the history of the two programs. Montana holds a 6-4 edge in the all-time series, including an 83-63 triumph last season in Missoula on Dec. 2. Montanta finished tied for second in the Big Sky a season ago (11-5 with Portland State) under the directrion of head coach Wayne Tinkle. Tinkle, like UND head coach Brian Jones, is in his fourth season in that role at UM. The team finished 17-12 overall and were led in scoring by Anthony Johnson (17.6 ppg.). The 6-foot-2 guard is one of three returning starters back for Tinkle and the Grizz. Johnson also led the club in assists with 3.2/game.
LAST TIME VS. THE GRIZZLIES: UM built a 14-point halftime advantage and the Sioux played better in the second half, but could not chip away at the deficit. Senior Daniel Harkins led the Sioux with 16 points, while Travis Bledsoe added 11 off the bench. Grizz guard Ryan Staudacher, a returning starter for this year’s team, led all scorers with 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the 3-point line. Johnson added 14 points in the contest.
SCOUTING THE LIONS: LMU is coming off a 3-28 season that saw the Lions place eighth (2-12) in the West Coast Conference. Head coach Max Good is entering his second season with the Lions and 18th overall as a head coach. He has also directed programs at Bryant (2001-08), UNLV (2000-01) and at his alma mater Eastern Kentucky (1981-89). Good started three freshmen a season ago, including leading scorer Jarred DuBois, who was a WCC All-Freshman performer. He averaged 13.5 ppg and started all 31 contests along with classmate Kevin Young, who led the club in rebounding (7.2 rpg). Junior guard Vernon Teel averaged 14.6 ppg and 5.3 rpg in 10 starts, but was limited to just 16 appearances overall. Forward LaRon Armstead rounds out the trio of rookie starters back for their sophomore campaigns. Armstead posted scored 8.1 ppg and grabbed 5.1 rpg.
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS: The Broncos are coming off a 19-13 campaign that saw the team tie for third in the WAC and earn an invite to the College Basketball Invitational. BSU lost to Stanford in the first round (96-76). Seven different players made at least 17 starts for head coach Greg Graham, who is in his eighth season steering the Broncos. Four of those players are back this season and all averaged at least 8.9 ppg for a club that put up 72.8 ppg. Senior center Kurt Cunningham led that quartet of returners with a 10.2 ppg clip, while forward Paul Noonan chipped in with 10.0 ppg. The Broncos blitzed Concordia in exhibition play 109-89 on Nov. 7. Forward Ike Okoye led the way with 21 points and nine rebounds in that contest.
ALL-TIME VS. THE GRIZZLY TOURNAMENT FIELD: The Fighting Sioux have faced Montana on 10 different occasions in a series that dates all the way back to December of 1929. UND won back-to-back contests over the Grizzlies in Grand Forks that month, winning 24-22 on Dec. 30 and 25-24 in overtime on Dec. 31. The teams played seven more times up until 1964 before the resuming the series with last year’s tilt in Missoula. The Grizz won five straight in the series before UND won tha 1964 contest in Missoula, 71-62. The Broncos and Sioux have met only once before on the hardwood. That contest occured in 1972 with Boise State getting the upperhand, 92-79 in a game played there in Boise. Saturday’s contest against Loyola Marymount will be the first in the all-time series with the Lions.
MEDIA INFORMATION: All three of the games that the Sioux play in the Grizzly Tournament can be heard locally on 100.3 FM Cat Country and regionally on stations across the Fighting Sioux Radio Network. Paul Ralston will handle the play-by-play duties. The games can also be heard live on FightingSioux.com along with live stats.
YEAR TWO: The three-game swing through Montana officially the second full season of transition for the Fighting Sioux into Division I basketball. This season, the Sioux will play 27 of their 30 games against DI-competition after playing 15 games against teams from that level a season ago en route to posting a 16-12 record. For fourth-year head coach Brian Jones, it was his third consecutive season to improve the team’s win total.
GO GREAT WEST YOUNG MEN: Year two of the transition also brings with it a conference schedule as UND will be one of seven schools to play in the inaugural Great West Conference season. The Sioux will play a 12-game conference slate with home-and-home series against Chicago State, Houston Baptist, New Jersey Institute of Technology, South Dakota, Texas-Pan American and Utah Valley. Besides those six DI home games, UND will also entertain UMKC, Northern Colorado, Green Bay, Northern Iowa and SIU-Edwarsdville at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center this season.
SIOUX PICKED FOURTH, BLEDSOE AND MERTENS NAMED TO ALL-GREAT WEST PRESEASON TEAM: The University of North Dakota men’s basketball team was selected to finish fourth overall in the Great West Conference preseason coaches’ poll. The seven league coaches also voted on a preseason all-conference team and Fighting Sioux seniors Travis Bledsoe and Travis Mertens were named to the second team. Bledsoe, who is UND’s top returning scorer with an average of 10.7 ppg, and Mertens, who is the lone returning starter for the Sioux, were joined on the second team by Utah Valley’s Jordan Swarbrick, South Dakota’s Roman Gentry and NJIT’s Isaiah Wilkerson.
South Dakota’s Tyler Cain was a first-team honoree and picked as the Preseason Player of the Year. He was joined on the first team by fellow Coyote Louie Krogman, Carl Montgomery from Chicago State, NJIT’s Jheryl Wilson, UTPA’s Nick Weiermiller and Louie Krogman from South Dakota.
NEW NUMBERS, SAME FACES: Half of the six returners on the 2009-10 roster will be wearing new uniform numbers during the 2009-10 season. Senior guard Travis Bledsoe changed from his customary No. 14 and will be wearing No. 13. Senior wing Travis Mertens made the switch from No. 21 to No. 15 and sophomore wing Patrick Mitchell added a four in front of his old No. 5 and will wear No. 45 this season.
SIOUX MO BOYS: In some cases you may have to get a magnifying glass out, but the entire men’s basketball team along with the coaching and support staff are growing mustaches as part of their participation in the ‘Movember’ initiative. The campaign has raised more than $47 million globally since its inception in Australia back in 2003. All proceeds generated in the United States are shared between the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The players and staff will be growing their Mo’s (slang for mustache in Australia) for the entire month and fans will have a chance to donate to these foundations at all home men’s basketball games in Movember.
Check back frequently to FightingSioux.com throughout the month to guage the ‘Mo’ growing process of the players and coaches. Junior Chris Clausen will be supplying a video blog as well on the website for fans. Clausen is the ring leader behind the movement having participated in the initiative in the past during his days in Australia.
BLOOD LINES: A pair of former Sioux teammates will have the pleasure of watching their sons compete as teammates on the 2009-10 roster. UND Hall of Famers Dan Clausen (2007) and Steve Brekke (1997) teamed together to lead UND to a 27-5 record and the 1982 North Central Conference Championship during their one season together. That team was also inducted into the UND Hall of Fame in 2007. Clausen was named the league’s MVP that season, while Brekke joined him on the All-NCC first team.
Clausen’s son Chris is a junior this season after transferring to UND following a season at North Iowa Area Community College. The elder Clausen went on to play professionally in Australia and still resides there. Chris grew up in Adelaide and earned league MVP honors of his own as a prep player at Trinity College. Brekke currently works for the UND Alumni Foundation as its Director of Athletic Development. His youngest son Brandon is a true freshman on the 2009-10 squad. He prepped at East Grand Forks (Minn.) High School where he was honorable mention all-state as a senior after averaging 20 ppg and 14 rpg.
TRIO OF CAPTAINS: The three seniors on the 2009-10 roster will also serve as the team’s captains this season. Guards Travis Bledsoe and Dustin Monsebroten will join wing Travis Mertens in handling those duties for the Fighting Sioux this season.
LONE WOLF: The lone returning starter on this year’s squad is senior wing Travis Mertens, who averaged 9.1 ppg in his first season with the Sioux after transferring from Lake Region College. He started all 28 games and reached double figures in scoring on 15 occasions. He tallied a career-high 16 points in an overtime win vs. Minot State and finished the season on a strong note, averaging 14.7 ppg in the final three contests.
TUBE TIME: Fox College Sports and the Fighting Sports Network are teaming together to broadcast six of the men’s basketball home games this season. Four of those broadcasts will be Great West clashes. The first of the six will be the regular-season home opener on Nov. 21 against UMKC - a team UND picked up its first Division I victory against a season ago. The Dec. 19 contest against Northern Iowa will also be aired live. The Panthers are coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance and former Sioux Ben Jacobson was named the Missouri Valley Coach of the Year after leading UNI to a school-record 23 wins and MVC title. The quartet of Great West games to be aired are the Jan. 23 match-up with long-time rival South Dakota, a Feb. 11 showdown with New Jersey Institute of Technology, the Feb. 13 tilt with Chicago State and the March 4 visit from Houston Baptist.
NEW ROLE: Sharpshooter Travis Bledsoe is the team’s leading returning scorer after averaging 10.3 ppg a season ago. He provided most of his production off the bench in 2008-09, although he did make five starts. So his new role as the team’s starting point guard should not be that big of an adjustment. He tied the school’s single-season record for 3-point accuracy in 2008-09, connecting on 47.7 percent of his attempts and he currently ranks second on the all-time list with a 43.6 percent clip (126-for-289). He had a season-high 21 points at Wisconsin-Parkside and twice during the season made five 3-pointers in a contest (at Northern Iowa and at South Dakota).
SWAT MITCHELL: Sophomore Patrick Mitchell logged valuable minutes during his redshirt freshman season, appearing in 27 games and averaging 6.7 ppg off the bench. He was also a presence on the defensive end, leading the team with 32 blocks. Mitchell’s total was nearly twice as much as his next closest teammate in that category (Travis Mertens, 17). With the departure of four senior starters, Mitchell will be a top candidate to fill one of those vacant spots. He spent a lot of his offseason pumping iron in the weight room as he added 30 pounds to his frame.
ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF: With only six returnering letterwinners, the bulk of the 2009-10 men’s basketball roster is made up of newcomers. Six of those players were part of the program a season ago, but watched from the sidelines while taking a redshirt season. That posse includes guard Nick Haugen, wings Doug Archer, Jordan Allard, Spencer Goodman and Dan Stockdale along with post Mitch Wilmer. Those six are joined by a pair of true freshman in guard Josh Schuler and post Brandon Brekke. Junior college transfer Chris Clausen rounds out the newcomers and will likely be a key contributor for the Fighting Sioux this season. Several of the newcomers will be counted on to help fill the void left by the four seniors, who accounted for more than 50 percent of the team’s offense a season ago.
NICE TO MEET YOU: The Sioux will be playing five first-time opponents during the 2009-10 season (Houston Baptist, IPFW, Loyola-Marymount, Utah Valley and Waldorf College). Houston Baptist and Utah Valley are members of the Great West Conference and will play the Sioux twice along with other league members Chicago State, New Jersey Tech, South Dakota and Texas-Pan American. UND will also play five games against schools from the state of Texas this season. Entering the campaign, UND has only played six games against Lone Star State teams in its hardwood history.
DANCE OFF: UND will play two teams that advanced to the 2009 NCAA Tournament (Northern Iowa and Texas A&M). The match-up with former NCC rival Northern Iowa will be the first between the two clubs in Grand Forks since Feb. 17, 1978. The two teams renewed their rivalry last December in Cedar Falls with the Panthers defeating the Soiux, 69-49. The Panthers won the Missouri Valley regular season and touranment championships last season under the direction of former Fighting Sioux standout Ben Jacobson. The Sioux lead the all-time series with the Panthers 47-32 and have won 16 of 17 overall. Texas A&M defeated UND 76-62 in the first meeting between the two teams last season (Jan. 5, 2009) in a game also played at College Station.
GREAT WEST MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPION TO RECEIVE AUTOMATIC POSTSEASON BERTH: The Sioux found out earlier this fall that they have a little more to play for this season than originally anticipated as the team embarks on their second year of transition to the Division I level. All transitional teams have to wait through a five-year period before playing in the NCAA postseason, but Collegeinsider.com officials announced that the inaugural Great West Conference tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to its postseason tournament (CIT) in March. The field for the 2010 CIT will be announced on Sunday, March 14, following the announcements of the fields for both the NCAA and NIT championships. First round action will begin on March 16. The championship game, which will be televised nationally by Fox College Sports, will be played on March 30. Old Dominion defeated Bradley to win the inaugural CIT last season.
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North Dakota Fighting Sioux
18 conference titles, 11 All-Americans
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