The No.16 ranked University of Minnesota Duluth men’s basketball team started off their Michigan road trip this weekend with a 85-70 victory today over the Michigan Tech University Huskies.
Halftime: UMD (47) – MTU (37)
Scoring would get going for the Bulldogs with an early three pointer from Jack Middleton, who would come out with the only two successful three point shots today. The two teams would stick close to each other, trading buckets back and forth throughout the early minutes of the half. Strings of six, six, and seven unanswered points for UMD would give them a double digit lead going into the final five and a half minutes of the half, a lead that they would continue to hold onto going into the break.
UMD shot 18-30 from the field and 9-14 from the free throw line. The Bulldogs would actually out foul the Huskies, tallying 12 compared to MTU’s 11, but the UMD defense would prove impactful collecting four steals and three blocks through the first half whereas the Huskies would not collect any steals or blocks.
Final: UMD (85) – MTU (70)
UMD would carry their offenseive momentum over into the second half of the matchup, outscoring MTU 15-4 within the first five minutes. The Bulldogs kept the Huskies at a distance, matching the opposing scoring and capitalizing on all of their free throw attempts through the second half. They would carry a 15 point lead to the end of the game to close things out.
UMD would end the game shooting 33-58 from the field, 2-10 from three point range, and 17-22 from the free throw line. Their 32 team rebounds would help contribute to their 62 total points in the paint, while the 14 MTU turnovers would keep the Huskies playing from behind til the end of the game.
Wieck Reaches 100 UMD Wins
With today’s win, head coach Justin Wieck secured his 100th win at the helm of UMD men’s basketball. Wieck took over as head coach of the program in the 2018-19 season, and starts this season off 4-1 in their hunt to return to the NCAA tournament..
Top Performers
Graduate student Drew Blair led the scoring for the Bulldogs today, shooting 6-13 from the field and a perfect 9-9 from the line for 21 total points. Senior Joshua Brown shot 4-8 for a total nine points while tallying a game high eight rebounds.
Looking Ahead
Men’s basketball will head down to Marquette, MI to take on the Northern Michigan University Wildcats tomorrow. The action for the Bulldogs will kick off at 12:00 PM.