Final photos from the men’s game

By Justin Wolfgang

Here’s a few pics from the second half of the game.

 Tyler Cain dishes the ball to Dustin Little who makes the following shot.

 Dylan Grimsley looks for a shot around a Maverick defender.

 Dustin Little yells for a timeout after scrambling for the ball with a Maverick defender. 

Second Half for the USD at MSU-Mankato men’s game

It looks like Coach Boots hammered into the Coyotes head the idea of rebounding as they have already grabbed a couple offensive rebounds and a couple of defensive rebounds. Both three point shots didn’t fall for the Coyotes though. Boots is still all over the officials and it is the most animated I have seen him with the officials in a while. He is constantly talking to them and in their ear. I am actually surprised he hasn’t gotten a technical foul yet. Granted most of the talking has been calm but he has lost it a couple of times. The Coyotes are starting to gain some momentum on the offensive end and their shot selection has improved this half. They still have some work to do at they are down 46-40 at the 17:00 mark. Dustin Little just grabbed a huge offensive rebound and called timeout. Little just showed the kind of hustle they need to commit for the rest of the half as he was on the ground when he pulled the ball away.

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Dylan Grimsley has started find his touch. He has 11 points in the game and five in the half. With four minutes past, Grimsley has almost reached his point total for the first half. Grimsley is usually the key cog for the Coyotes offensive game every game. Plus the defense he provides has always been solid. The Coyotes have been able to force more turnovers in this half as well and it has fueled the Coyotes. This is definitely a different team in the second half. The rebounding and defense has been completely different. The Coyotes just grabbed another two offense rebounds. At the 14:00 mark, the Mavs hold a slight one point lead at 46-45.

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Eric Hall picked up his third foul and Mitch Begeman has checked into the game for Grimsley. Steve Smith also has three fouls. If you remember Mankato’s coach, you know he is a character. You can probably hear him yelling all the way to Vermillion. Smith is abandoning his inside game and just took another three. He nailed it to give the Coyotes their first lead of the game. Smith can hit the three, I just don’t know how consistently. He does have 14 points in the game. Tyler Cain has become a beast inside and is the Cain we know and love again. He is starting to block shots and alter them as well. Hall just nailed a three to put the Coyotes up 57-56 at the 10:00 mark. Another friendly media timeout.

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The Coyotes rebounding has improved like I said. I just received stats and the rebounding is shared by both teams at 26. Tyler Cain has 2 blocks and 5 steals in the game, all in the second half. Santos has only two rebounds in the second half. Smith has 14 points, but the Mavericks has started a running game on the Coyotes. Grimsley checked back into the game for Begeman. Smith is on the bench getting some rest. The Coyotes have shot 50% in the second half which is up from 43% percent in the first half. The Mavericks have been able to run the floor well as Jake Morrow has started to head up a little. He just scored 7 points in the last couple of minutes after having only 2 points for the game. If they can contain him again, it would be huge for the Coyotes. Mankato leads 66-63 with Dustin Little at the line.

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The fouls have added up for the Mavericks and the Coyotes are in the bonus. Little is starting to make it to the free-throw line which is big because Little might be the Coyotes best player from the line. In fact, the whole team is pretty good from the line. Cain is their worst free throw shooter and he has improved from last year. Hopefully the Coyotes take advantage of this fact and take it inside to draw the foul. It looked like Dylan Grimsley took advantage of that fact and was uncontested as he went to the hole. Guard Jadee Jones has four fouls for the Mavericks. Morrow just missed two free throws and the game is tied 69 with 3:30 to go.

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The Mavericks want a timeout after Begeman nailed a huge three. The Coyotes are starting to gain a slight edge in momentum after that three. The Coyotes are up 72-69 with 3:14 to go. This matches their biggest lead of the game as they have had one three point lead about a couple minutes ago.

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The Coyotes have grabbed the advantage in rebounds at 32 to 29. Offensive rebounds go to the Coyotes at 12 to 9. The Coyotes shooting is up to 52% for the half, but the Mavs are shooting 52% as well to stay in this game. Jessie Clark nailed two free throws with a minute left as the Coyotes lead 75-74. The Coyotes just turned it over and Whitaker put back a rebound as the Mavs take the lead 76-75 with 28.9 left. The Coyotes have just called a timeout.

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Eric Hall hit a short jumper with 15 seconds left but Jadee Jones hit another short jumper with 5 seconds left. The Coyotes call a timeout and will have the last shot. The Mavs lead 78-77.

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Well, the Coyotes got what they wanted. Becker got the inbounds and found Begeman who drove down the court and just past the foul line put up the jumper that missed and Grimsley wasn’t able to put it back in. The Coyotes drop the game 78-77 to the Mavs. Unfortunately, this puts a major damper on the Coyotes hope for the NCC Title in the regular season. I will be back after getting comments from the Coyote players and final stats.

—- Justin Rust

Photos from the Men’s game

By Justin Wolfgang

Here are some photos from the first half of the men’s game against MSU-Mankato. 

 Jesse Becker goes to the basket.

Jesse Becker sees a lane and drives to the basket.

 

Eric Hall goes up to the basket over a Mankato defender.

Dylan Grimsley goes to the basket.

Jesse Becker drives around a Mankato defender. 

Halftime for the USD at MSU-Mankato game

The Coyotes need to come out with more energy at the half. Boots will make sure the adjustments are made. The Coyotes need to be more aggressive and less tentative on the offensive end. Things started to be clicking better as the half ended, but improvements still need to be made. Steve Smith leads the Coyotes with 7 points and was able to hold himself to 2 fouls. Eric Hall, Dylan Grimsley, and Mitch Begeman all have 6 points for the Coyotes. The Mavericks have been grabbing more rebounds with a 21-15 edge. Santos has 8 rebounds by himself right now and leads the Mavs in scoring with 11 points. Grimsley and Begeman both have 3 rebounds apiece. Tyler Cain and Smith have 2 combined boards. They need to attack the boards better against Santos and find a way to box him out. It seems Santos is having his way inside. If they can frustrate Santos like they did in the Dome, this game will turn around for the Coyotes. The Coyotes also have 7 turnovers to the Mavs 6. They need to pressure the Mavs into more turnovers. Let’s see if the Coyotes can turn it around in the second half.

Some NCC scores to pass along

UNO 53 at St. Cloud State 42 at the half. This game is important because UNO is playing great ball and St. Cloud State is not that easy to play at.

UND 12 at Augie 15 at the 12:00 mark in the first. I am just waiting for this game to break lose for Augie as they are at home.

—-Justin Rust

First half of the USD-MSU-Mankato men’s game

The Mavericks jump out to a quick 2-0 lead. Atila Santos got the first bucket and so far it seems he is going to touch the ball in every possession for the Mavericks. It looks like the Mavericks want him involved early. He just got to the line and forced the foul on Steve Smith. It is important that Smith stays out of foul trouble in order to contain Santos. He should be the one looking to draw the foul on Santos. It does look like Steve is going to do that as he just put a bucket it. Steve did that in the previous match-up and that will be key again. At 18:00, it is 4-2 Coyotes.

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Steve Smith did what the Coyotes couldn’t afford. He already has two fouls in 3:00 minutes of play. Rane Mergen checked in and picked up a quick foul as well. The Coyotes HAVE to stay out of foul trouble. Tyler Cain has zero fouls and look for him to hopefully become a factor inside. Cain just blocked Santos who was going up for the dunk! Eric Hall is stepping up as he got into position to cause a charge and then went inside against Santos for a layup. Watch for Dylan Grimsley and Eric Hall to go inside more with Smith out. At the 15:00 mark, the game is tied at 8.

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Cain is showing is he going to contest with Santos at every chance. He isn’t going to let Santos come down with an easy rebound and is going to work him to the bone on the offensive end. This is key for the Coyotes because it should wear Santos out and when Santos checks out, the Coyotes can bring in Nick Morrell to play inside. At the 13:00 mark, the game is tied at 10.

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For a game as this and an arena as nice as this, the crowd for Mankato is very disappointing. I know it isn’t hockey, which your team isn’t that great in the first place, but your basketball team is leading the NCC. Seriously, this place is half full at best. I know it is cold but you think they would find a way to make the game. Heck, we traveled from South Dakota and the roads were suppose to be bad. Not a great commitment on Mankato’s part. Very sad really. With Santos out, both teams have turned to the outside games and jumpers. The game remains physical and Santos is getting ready to check in. Cain is on the bench for the Coyotes as well. At the 10:00 mark, we have our friendly media timeout with Mankato leading 20-18.

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Coach Dave Boots is taking a risk and put Steve Smith back into the game with two fouls. Hopefully he can stay at two until half. Look for Cain to check in for Smith when he comes back into the game. The good thing is Smith is not backing down to Santos at all. Cain just checked into the game for Mitch Begeman actually. The Coyotes will have good size in the lineup and Smith will have to watch himself. He has played smart so far and has forced anyone going inside to alter their shots. Smith is the X-Factor of this game. Smith and Cain are looking for their shots inside still. The Mavericks still hold a lead with 6:30 to go in the half at 24-20. Coach Boots is not happy with the officiating and he letting the ref know every time down the court.

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Smith is getting the ball about every time down the court for the Coyotes. He has made some nice passes outside and Hall just nailed a three. The Mavericks are making sure they keep a body close on Grimsley and he hasn’t had much room to break free. The Coyotes will need Grimsley to find a way to get open for the Coyotes to break free. Also, the threes are starting to fall for the Coyotes as Begeman just hit a three. It is obvious Coach Boots is not happy with the quality of play the Coyotes are producing or the officiating in the game. If he isn’t animated at the players on the court, he is talking to the officials telling them what he sees they are doing wrong. Expect an animated Boots in the locker room at half and many adjustments to be made. At halftime, the Mavericks lead 41-34 as Preston Whitaker hit a three with 3 seconds left.

—-Justin Rust

Pregame for the USD men vs. MSU-Mankato

First off, on behalf of the Volante staff, I would like to apologize because of the technical difficulties we had during the women’s game. The USD women ran away with an easy victory over the Mavericks. Their will be an update shortly on the results of the women’s game.

Now onto the mens game. USD comes into this game after a disappointing loss to Nebraska-Omaha. UNO was able to harass USD into a rough game from three-point range. More importantly, UNO was able to outrebound USD on the offensive boards 18 to 5.

The Coyotes will look to rebound from the UNO game against MSU-Mankato. The Coyotes will have to improve their inside game, especially against North Central Conference rebound leader Atila Santos. In the first game against the Coyotes, Mankato lost big but Santos was able to grab 18 rebounds but never looked comfortable on offensive because of the defensive applied by Tyler Cain. Steve Smith was able to take it to Santos on the offense end which frustrated Santos.

The Coyotes will have to continue more of the same tonight. They are going to have to keep the same game plan and maybe even expand on it. Mankato doesn’t have much depth in the low-post after Santos. The Coyotes should continue to play him physical inside on offense draw some fouls on Santos to get him into foul trouble. This will cause a total change of philosophy of how Mankato plays defense without Santos.

The Coyotes will also have to keep an eye out on Jadee Jones as he had a good game against the Coyotes in the first game. Plus, expect Jake Morrow should have a better game then he did in the Dome. Morrow only had 4 points in the first meeting, but the Coyotes defense harassed Morrow into many bad shots and got into his head. Hopefully that continues into this game. Well the game is about to start so that’s your pregame for this game.

–Justin Rust

Photos from the Mankato Women’s game

By Justin Wolfgang

 Here are some photos from tonight’s game against MSU Mankato at Bresnan Arena. 

 

Freshman Amber Hegge gets the ball stolen from her during the first half.

 

Junior Shannon Daly drives to the basket.

 

Amber Hegge dishes the ball to Jenna Hoffman (unseen) during the first half.

 

 Amber Hegge on defense during the first half.