[BasketballAlum] one more win, and again-on to tournament

[gary holquist]

Bulldog Basketball Alumni and Friends:

We picked up two very good wins last week against the University of 
Nebraska-Omaha (69 to 64) and the University of North Dakota (91 to 
67).  Thursday's game against UNO was a hard fought contest.  We did 
not play particular well but were solid at the aspects of the game 
needed to grind out a win.  We out rebounded our opponent by a 38 to 25 
margin, were 17 of 20 from the foul line, turned the ball over only 6 
times (not a turnover in the second half), and made multiple 
consecutive stops at the midpoint of the second half when we were down 
by 11.  We only shot 41% from the field, but had 15 offensive rebounds 
that kept giving us chances to score.  Matt Hockett (6-5, 225 lbs. Sr. 
McFarland-WI) had another excellent game off the bench scoring 17 
points.  The "Big 3" in Bryan Foss (6-7, 210 lbs. Sr. Osseo High 
School-MN) had his seventh double-double scoring 10 points with 11 
rebounds, John Vaudreuil (6-8, 260 lbs. Jr. Bloomington-MN) had eleven 
points, and Jordan Nuness (6-3, 210 lbs. Jr. Eden Prairie-MN) had 14 
points.  Once again, "Spud" Schade (5-8, 160 lbs. Fr. Oshkosh North 
High School-WI) made two free throws at the end of the game to secure 
the win.  Through the good wins we have had in February, the victory 
over UNO was perhaps the best because we won the game how teams need to 
win in tournament play.  Rebound, defend, take care of the ball, and 
make free throws-all while playing in the constraints of a half court 
game.  By winning this game on Thursday, we secured a home seed for the 
conference tournament.

The game against UND on Saturday was tougher than the score indicated. 
We knew going in that that if we won; our first round opponent in the 
tournament would probably be the same UND team.  Prophetically that did 
come to fruition, as we play UND this Wednesday at Romano for a 
quarter-final NCC tournament game.  We played well, shooting 58% from 
the floor, stretching the lead as the game progressed.  Nuness was 7 
for 8 from the three point line, ending the game with 24 points.  Foss 
scored 17 points and had 5 assists.  Vaudreuil had 19 points and 9 
rebounds.  Matt Rawley (6-8, 220 lbs. Sr. Milwaukee Lutheran High 
School-WI) scored 10 off the bench.  (Nuness was named NCC "Player of 
the Week" after his two game performance.  This is the third time in 
four weeks that a 'Dog was awarded this honor.  I should also mention 
that Vaudreuil was named to the ten member NCC All Academic Team this 
past week as well.)  Two notable performances also came from Ryan 
Meissner (6-6, 190 lbs. Jr. Osseo High School-MN) shutting down their 
leading scorer who was averaging 20 points a game, holding him to just 
10, and Schade who distributed 8 assists.  Of the 30 baskets we scored, 
25 of them were assisted.  We turned the ball over just 12 times.  This 
will be the key to the game on Wednesday evening.  UND plays pressure 
defense in multiple ways.  They trap full court as well as half court, 
through both man to man and zone schemes.  They are very athletic and 
quick, and have the ability to present many problems defensively as 
well as offensively.  We played well in both our previous victories 
over UND.  I told the team after our 91 to 67 victory on Saturday, that 
we just kicked a hornet's nest.  The game on Saturday got very physical 
and chippy as it progressed.  Wednesday's game will not be for the 
faint of heart.  It will be a very physical contest that many 
tournament games evolve into.  This game will be settled in the last 
few minutes.

We are preparing the team to have this type of mind set.  Our mental 
approach to this contest will be very important.  Tournament games are 
games of survival.  The thought process revolves around the attitude of 
surviving to give yourself a chance to play again.  When you think 
about it, this is exactly what we have done the last month.  After 
going 0 for January, we have not lost in February.  We battled and 
fought our way back from being buried in last place to finishing fourth 
and securing a home seed after beating two #1 teams.  Along the way, we 
developed some toughness and a mentality to keep battling and 
competing.  This will be needed to get a win tomorrow.  We are 
grinders, we need to continue to grind out a win.  The strategy we have 
has not changed.  We need to offensively have solid post touches in the 
lane scoring area that will open catch and shoot opportunities on the 
perimeter.  We need to break down their defensive pressure and traps 
through ball movement and body movement, keeping the ball of the floor 
and being "boss with the ball."  We need to play defense through 
converting to stop transition scores, by stopping their dribble 
penetration, by making them play deeper into the shot clock, and not 
having our poor offensive execution lead to scores for UND.  We need to 
REBOUND, REBOUND, REBOUND.  We need to get to the foul line and make 
free throws.  We will need to continue to play hard.  Simple 
proposition.  Survive to play again!  If we do survive, it is on to 
Vermillion, SD this weekend to play the University of South Dakota.

Go Bulldogs!


Gary W. Holquist
University of Minnesota Duluth
Head Men's Basketball Coach
218-726-6185