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TOP COMPETITION: Wildcats Drop Two In Duluth
 The Northern Michigan University men's basketball team battled hard against two highly-ramked teams this weekend, but took a pair of lossess in Minnesota. The Wildcats lost to third-ranked Minnesota State-Moorhead, 82-71, on Friday, and then fell to sixth ranked Minnesota-Duluth, 79-67, on Saturday. SATURDAY'S GAME RECAP (NMU SPORTS INFORMATION) DULUTH, Minn. - In a physical battle against the No. 6 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, Julien Smith scored a season-high 27 points, but the Wildcats weren't able to overcome a 22-point first half from UMD's Matt Thompson as the Bulldogs defeated the Wildcats, 79-67. Julien Smith led all scorers with 27 points, shooting 7-13 (53.8%) from the floor, 5-9 (55.6%) from beyond the arc, and a perfect 8-8 from the charity stripe. Northern struggled to find significant contributions outside of Smith, as the rest of the team combined for 40 points on 16-41 (39.0%) shooting. UMD's Matt Thompson scored 22 points, all in the first half, while Caleb Siwek added 20 and Charlie Katona chipped in another 18. Northern held the slight edge on the glass, 34-33, with Smith pacing NMU with seven. The 'Cats also led in points in the paint 26-18, but Duluth connected on 14 triples to NMU's eight while also commanding points off turnovers, 16-5. NMU struggled with UMD's defensive pressure early, committing five turnovers and shooting just 3-10 in the opening 10 minutes. In combination with a lethal shooting touch from Duluth's Thompson, the Wildcats trailed 20-8 as the first half crossed the 10-minute mark. Thompson scored all 22 of his points in less than a nine-minute stretch, connecting on six of his first seven triple attempts. The Wildcats trailed 29-12 with seven minutes before halftime. In the final eight minutes of the first half, Smith scored nine on three separate three-point plays, two triples and another of the old-fashioned variety. Weathering the initial storm, Northern trailed 37-24 at intermission. Smith kept the 'Cats within reach in the second half, scoring another quick six within the first minute to close the gap to single digits. With 17:25 to play, he hit another from downtown to make it a 41-35 game, but UMD scored the next 10 to balloon the gap back to 16, 51-35, with 15 minutes to play. The teams exchanged buckets over the next seven minutes before NMU went on a 7-0 run to once again make it a single-digit deficit at 65-56 with 5:38 remaining. Unfortunately for the Green and Gold, they were never able to fully get back in it as Duluth converted on its free throws down the stretch, along with a pair of triples, to put the game away. Northern fell to 3-2 with the loss while UMD improved to 5-0. FRIDAY GAME RECAP (NMU SPORTS INFORMATION) DULUTH, Minn. - Facing one of the top teams in the nation, the Northern Michigan men's basketball team battled and hung tight with the No. 3 Minnesota State-Moorhead Dragons, but couldn't quite get over the hump as Northern suffered its first loss of the season, 82-71 at the St. Louis County Basketball Classic. The Wildcats were able to keep the game within single digits for much of the night and held a brief lead in the first half and had the score tied four times, but each time the Green and Gold closed the gap, the Dragons answered and never let NMU regain control and play with a lead. The Dragons shot an efficient 30-53 (56.6%) from the floor while Northern was just 25-62 (40.3%), but the paint was the name of the game as the size of Moorhead was too much for the 'Cats to handle. The Dragons led in rebounds 39-24 and points in the paint 40-32, including a 26-10 advantage in the first half. A balanced attack continued to be the calling card for Northern, with Julien Smith and Dylan Kuehl co-leading the scoring with 16 points apiece. Sam Privet and Gerald Gittens Jr. each contributed a dozen. Moorhead's Logan Kinsey scored 22 to lead all scorers while Jacob Beeninga chipped in another 21. The offenses started hot on Friday evening in Duluth, with a Biggie Luster to Jackson Dudek connection giving the 'Cats its first lead of the night at 13-12 not even five minutes in. From there, the Dragons broke out on a 9-0 run and made 10 of its first 14 shots from the floor. NMU answered with its longest stretch of the night, a 10-0 spurt, with a tomahawk slam from Kuehl to lead 25-24 at 8:57, the last lead they'd hold on the night. Two more runs of 5-0 and 6-0 from MSUM in the first half would give them the lead at the break, 46-38, shooting 19-28 (67.9%) in the opening 20 minutes. Northern was 11-24 (45.8%), but an efficient 12-13 (92.3%) at the free throw line. Coming out of halftime, a pair of and-ones from Brian Parych under the hoop and from Smith beyond the arc closed the gap to 51-45 with 17:51 to play. Soon after, the 'Cats went on a 7-0 run to make it a one score game (54-52) at 14:22, the closest they could trim the deficit. Moorhead answered the NMU run with five straight of its own and went on another 7-0 stretch to push its lead back to double digits at 70-60 with just 6:05 to play. Northern continued to battle and had the score at 77-71 with 1:34 left, but the No. 3 ranked Dragons proved its ranking, hitting 10-12 from the charity stripe in the second half to get the victory. |
