By Vance Janak
The Volante
The fourth-ranked USD men’s basketball team hopes things are a little easier the second time around against North Central Conference foe Nebraska-Omaha.
In the first meeting this season Jan. 24 in the DakotaDome, the Coyotes (19-1, 4-1 NCC) came away with an 81-70 victory while hitting just 4-of-23 3-pointers.
But Junior guard Jesse Becker, who scored a team-high 19 in the victory over the Mavericks (17-4, 3-3 NCC), said the game plan is pretty much the same for Saturday’s 4 p.m. game in the Sapp Fieldhouse, but noted areas of possible improvement.
“They like to push the ball so we’re going to have to get that set zone defense on them and keep shooting the ball well offensively,” Becker said. “Hopefully we’ll make more than 3-of-23 3’s like last game.”
Junior guard Dylan Grimsley, whose averaged 17 points and 3.3 steals in three games against the Mavericks, said he expects a tough game on UNO’s home court because they are 11-1 at home and are riding an eight-game home win streak.
“It will be real tough just because we’ve played them once before and it’s going to be even tougher when we play at their place,” Grimsley said. “Last year, I don’t think they are as good as they are this year and we had a real tough time winning. It was a real dogfight down there. So we’re expecting the same thing.”
Becker said winning on the road in the NCC is always difficult, but the difficulty is multiplied against a quality team like the Mavericks.
“Obviously they have a couple guys who are real good scorers,” Becker said. “They have a point guard who’s real good and they have a two guard who is in the top three or four in the conference in scoring so we’re going to have to watch out for those guys.”
Four Maverick starters and sixth man Mitch Albers average double figures to propel the Mavericks offense, which leads the league in points per game with 85.8 points per game.
Michael Jenkins, a 6-foot-3 junior guard, averages a team-high 16.4 points per game, while Andrew Bridger, a 6-foot sophomore guard, averages 12.8 points per game.
Jerry Bennett, UNO’s 6-foot-7 senior forward, averages 12.2 points per game, while 6-foot-4 senior forward Denny Johnston averages 11.6 points per game and Albers, a 6-foot-4 freshman guard, averages 10.9 points per game off the bench.
USD head coach Dave Boots said the Mavericks four-guard line up is difficult to defend.
“They play those four guards, which causes us some problems with their quickness and the fact that all four can shoot it,” Boots said. “They are very quick off the dribble. They can really break you down, so if you extend your defense so hard to get out to the shooters, they’re going to go by you and put you into some breakdown situations and potentially foul trouble situations.”
Allowing the Mavericks to get to the free throw line can be costly as UNO leads the NCC in free throws made (381) and free throw percentage (79.5).
With the strong guard play comes the ability to hit 3-point shots, which is something Boots said the Coyotes need to limit.
“We’re going to have to defend the perimeter,” Boots said. “We’ve got to get back on defense better than the first time we played them and somehow you’ve got to contain that dribble-drive penetration situation without fouling them and putting them at that free throw line for 30 plus attempts.
“It is a good challenge for us and we have to play outstanding basketball.”
Coyote men remain third in North Central Region basketball poll
The North Central Region rankings came out yesterday and the USD men’s basketball team remained in the third spot behind Winona State and Northern State.
Here is a link to the rankings:
Eventually, I think the Coyotes will jump Northern State even if both teams keep winning. The Wolves squeaked out two wins last weekend, getting by Wayne State 68-61 and got by Southwest Minnesota State 71-69 in overtime last Saturday in Aberdeen.
Winona got by Upper Iowa 72-62 Saturday.
Now onto this week.
Winona travels to Wayne State Friday and is also on the road Saturday against Southwest Minnesota State.
The Wildcats and the Mustangs are both 13-9 overall and 8-5 in the Northern Sun to tie for third. It will be interesting to see how the Warriors do against the third-best teams in their league.
The Wolves, on the other hand, are at Minnesota State Moorhead Friday at 8 p.m. and are at Concordia St. Paul Saturday at 8 p.m.
Moorhead is 13-8, 6-6 in the NSIC while Concordia is 12-9, 6-6 in the NSIC. The two teams are tied for fifth in the NSIC.
I don’t think either team will be upset against the better teams in the league, but I’m sure the Coyotes would take in whatever way they can get it.
I’ll let you know if there are any shakeups.
- – Vance Janak