And this week will be no exception to that. I’m heading out this morning for Colorado to help install some lighting (I work for a lighting company) out there. Won’t be updating much, if at all this week. And probably won’t catch any of the games.

So Go Mavs!  And hopefully when I get back next weekend I’ll be able to jump back into this full force!

Thankfully Rob White wrote one… so check it out!  http://www.omaha.com/article/20111122/MAVS/711229812/-1#baptism-by-fire-in-uno-s-first-division-i-test

Good luck Mavs. I’ll recap both men from last night and women from today when I’m back!

Click Here

North Dakota State

North Dakota State was founded in 1890 as North Dakota Agricultural College. The named changed to North Dakota State in 1960. North Dakota State is located in Fargo, which is a city of around 105,000 with a metro area around 208,000. Fargo is located about seven hours north of Omaha on I-29, right on the Minnesota border.  In 2004 NDSU moved from the NCC to D1, eventually landing in the Summit League.

North Dakota State was a long time member of the NCC and won ten conference titles, though never any closer than ten years apart after 1954. They made eight NCAA Tournaments between 1971 and 1997 including four straight between 1995 and 1997.  In 2009, their first year of eligibility in the Summit League, NDSU won the conference, won the tournament and almost upset Kansas in the NCAA Tournament.

North Dakota State last played Wednesday against Green Bay in Fargo. The game was tight throughout with North Dakota State stretching the lead to seven late in the game before a Green Bay three at the end cut the final margin to 65-61. Mike Felt came off the bench and led NDSU with 17 points, Lawrence Alexander had 12 points and seven assists and Marshall Bjorklund had 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Starters: 
Guard – Dylan Hale – 6-1 Sophomore – St. Paul, Minn. – Averaging 6.3 points, 1.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
Guard – Lawrence Alexander – 6-3 Freshman – Peoria, Ill. - Averaging 12.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists.
Guard – Taylor Braun – 6-7 Sophomore – Newberg, Ore. – Averaging 14 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists.
Forward – TrayVonn Wright – 6-7 Sophomore – Waterloo, Iowa – Averaging 8.3 points, five rebounds, and 1.5 blocks.
Forward – Marshall Bjorklund – 6-8 Sophomore – Arlington, Minn. – Averaging 10.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 0.8 blocks.

NDSU has four players scoring in double figures, led by Mike Felt who is averaging 14.5 off the bench. Four different players average more than three boards, though the Bison have been out rebounded by an average of four boards per game. NDSU allows their opponents to grab 32.5% of their available offensive rebounds and 77.9% of their available defensive rebounds. If UNO could duplicate either of those numbers it would be a season best performance.

NDSU has been averaging 64 possessions a game, seven less than UNO’s average so we could see some contrasting of styles on Tuesday night. NDSU’s offensive rating has been 111.66 and their defensive rating has been 94.48. The defense does worry me a bit since that’s better than anyone has played against UNO so far this year. Their offense could really do well since they’ve actually played better than UNO this year on offense and UNO’s defense has struggled at times.

NDSU leads the all-time series 38-28 but UNO won seven of the last 10. Their final meeting in the NCC was a 81-74 UNO win in the 2004 Conference Tournament.

UNO

UNO’s last game was another close battle. UNO was down eight at the end of the first half, but came back strong in the 2nd half before falling 83-81 at South Dakota after leading late. The game was fast paced with almost 80 possessions.

Starters:
Guard – Caleb Steffensmeier – 6-1 Sophomore from  Omaha, Neb. – Averaging 4.3 points, two rebound and 3.3 assists.
Guard – C.J. Carter – 6-0 Freshman from Omaha, Neb. – Averaging 12.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists.
Guard – Mitch Albers – 6-4 Senior from Papillion, Neb. – Averaging 23.5 points, three rebounds, and 5.5 assists.
Forward – Alex Welhouse – 6-7 Junior from Kaukauna, Wis. – Averaging 12 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists.
Center – John Karhoff – 6-8 Sophomore from Omaha, Neb. – Averaging 14 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists.

3 Things to watch:

1) Rebounding - UNO has one of their best chances to hit the boards hard on Tuesday nights as NDSU is being out rebounded on the year by an average of 3.8.  None of NDSU’s starters are over 6-8, so John Karhoff and Alex Welhouse shouldn’t be at a size disadvantage. NDSU is especially porous on the offensive glass so UNO should be able to limit their 2nd chance points.

2.) Defense! - NDSU could be in for a big night offensively. They already average 47.5% shooting from the field and 37.5% from three, and now they are taking on a UNO team that has struggled to contain teams defensively.

3.) Can UNO heat up from 3? - UNO has found a lot of their offense via driving the lane and Karhoff has gotten a lot of baskets off a great passes on these drives. Someone is going to shut down that source of points, and UNO will need to hit some outside shots to counter that. I think UNO has some good outside shooters in Alex Welhouse, Mitch Albers, and Caleb Steffesnmeier, but they have yet to really heat up yet. Bill Freeman and CJ Carter might be good from three too, we just haven’t seen enough to know. Maybe Tuesday night is when UNO finally starts pouring it in from deep.

Prediction: I think this will be UNO’s toughest test since IPFW and maybe even tougher than that. NDSU is playing well. I imagine this game will be in the 70′s, though if UNO can control the pace it could be in the 80′s. I’ll take NDSU 79-72. There are a few things that give me hope for UNO, but I think this one goes to the Bison.

Linkage:
Omaha.com Preview
GoBison.com Preview
Omavs.com Preview
Live Stats
Live Audio
Live Video ($9.95)

I will be running a live blog on here since I’ll be at home watching the game.

I’d recommend following myself (@maverickmaniacs) and UNO’s Basketball twitter account (@UNO_Basketball) for updates.

Go Mavs!

Rob White wrote an article about UNO’s season so far and how they’ve been competing against mid-level Summit League teams with only a few months of warning and a worse team than last year. Read it here.

UNO Opponents In Action:

Teams UNO is playing are in ALL CAPS. The winners are in bold.

11/21
Women – NEW ORLEANS @ Tulane – LOSS 86-39 (0-4)
Women – LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE @ McNeese State – LOSS 80-59 (0-3)
Men – IPFW vs. Judson – WIN 85-59 (1-1)
Men - ST. MARY’S vs. Rhema Bible College – WIN 81-59 (6-2)
Men – COLORADO STATE vs. utsa – WIN 85-75 (3-2)

UNO Opponent Records:

These records do not include games against UNO.

Women:
Overall (46-49)

D1 (13-20)
Kentucky (4-0)
South Dakota (1-0)
Loyola Chicago (3-1)
UMKC (2-1)
Marshall (1-2)
Cornell (1-2)
Saint Louis (1-3)
Louisiana-Lafayette (0-3)
Western Illinois (0-2)
Tulsa (0-3)
Texas-Arlington (0-3)

D2 (7-13)
Sioux Falls (2-1)
Metro State (1-0)
West Virginia State (1-1)
Western State (1-1)
Missouri Western (1-2)
Northwest Missouri State (1-3)
Upper Iowa (0-1)
New Orleans (0-4)

NCCAA (1-8)
Dallas Christian (1-8)

NAIA (25-8)
Concordia (6-0)
College of St. Mary (7-1)
Briar Cliff (6-1)
Dakota Wesleyan (3-2)
York (3-5)

Men:
Overall (54-60)

D1 (19-24)
North Dakota State (4-0)
Wisconsin-Milwaukee (4-0)
Cal State Bakersfield (2-1)
Colorado State (3-2)
Nevada (2-2)
Michigan State (2-2)
IPFW (1-1)
Coppin State (1-3)
Seattle (0-2)
Western Illinois (0-2)
South Dakota (0-2)
UMKC (0-3)
Northern Illinois (0-4)

D2 (3-5)
Nebraska Kearney (1-1)
Washburn (2-2)
Chardon State (0-2)

NAIA (32-31)
Briar Cliff (7-0)
St. Mary’s (Kan.) (6-2)
Concordia (Neb.) (3-2)
Doane College (4-3)
Benedictine College (3-3)
Avila (3-4)
Hastings College (3-4)
Johnson & Wales (2-6)
Peru State (1-7)

Upcoming Opponents:

Kentucky’s Bria Goss was named the SEC freshman of the week after averaging 11 points, 5.3 rebounds and three assists last week. Story from LEX18.com.

After UNO drew first blood with an Alex Welhouse three, South Dakota took a 7-3 lead after three and a half minutes. That’s when CJ Carter went on a run scoring 11 of UNO’s next 13 as the Mavericks raced out to a 16-10 lead. It became a game of runs as South Dakota would rattle off the next nine straight led by five from Charlie Westbrook. By the 5:50 mark South Dakota had pulled ahead by eight, 36-28, on the back of three straight treys. UNO responded with a 6-0 run of their own keyed by John Karhoff getting easy buckets inside off of driving assists. Unfortunately South Dakota once again went on a run closing the half up eight, 44-36.

South Dakota stretched the lead to nine early in the 2nd half and for a bit it seemed like they might pull away, but an Alex Welhouse three sparked a 12-4 UNO run that brought it to 50-49 South Dakota. For the next 12 minutes UNO would draw close, and South Dakota would pull back away. Finally with 4:18 to go Mitch Albers was able to make a driving layup to give UNO a 76-75 lead. South Dakota went back by three before Alex Welhouse tied things with a triple with two minutes to go. Mitch Albers hit two foul shots to put UNO up 81-79 with 1:38 left.

UNO got another stop and ran some clock, but a missed entry pass to John Karhoff opened the door back up for USD. They responded quickly with a layup to tie things. UNO again ran the clock and got a Mitch Albers layup attempt with 12 seconds left. The layup fell off the rim and South Dakota moved quickly in transition drawing a foul from Caleb Steffensmeier with seven seconds left. Gruis hit both FTs to give South Dakota the two point lead. CJ Carter took the inbound and drove the length of the court. He was able to outflank South Dakota and got to the rim, but they had collapsed inside and his reverse layup attempt was blocked. Carter probably should have made a pass on that play, we’ll chalk it up to a freshman mistake that he tried to do it all himself.

UNO got a nice balanced attack on Sunday getting 23 from Albers, 19 from Welhouse, 15 from Karhoff, and 14 from Carter. Bill Freeman also almost got into double figures with eight. The rebounding was also balanced with Welhouse with seven, Carter and Karhoff with six, and Albers, Freeman, and Ring all with four. Albers had four assists while Welhouse, Karhoff, and Steffensmeier all added three. Six Mavericks registered a steal led by Albers’ three.

UNO really shrank their rotation playing only Ring off the bench (to spell Karhoff and Welhouse for a total of 14 minutes) and Freeman (to spell Albers, Steffensmeier and Carter for a total of 19 minutes). Carter’s PG ability creates a nice opportunity for Freeman to allow CJ and Caleb to rest at seperate times. Mitch will probably play 38+ minutes in the big games since he is so valuable to the team.

UNO shot 43% from the field, 29% from three and only 64% from the FT line. South Dakota shot 44% from the field, 35% from three and 75% from the FT line. UNO was sharp from inside the arc hitting 50% of their shots on the way to 44 points in the paint and played well in transition scoring 21 points off 14 turnovers. South Dakota had a 45-38 edge on the boards.

South Dakota was paced by Louie Krogman in the first half when he scored 16 points and went 4-6 from three. He went cold in the 2nd half though and was held scoreless, but the slack was picked up by Charlie Westbrook and Trevor Gruis who added 15 a piece. Jordan Boots scored 11 off the bench on 5-5 shooting.

It was Over When: UNO’s chance was gone when CJ Carter’s layup attempt was blocked. USD missed two FTs with 0.3 seconds left, but that wasn’t time to get a shot off.

Player of the Game: Alex Welhouse wins this one because of his fantastic 2nd half. He scored 16 of his 19 in the 2nd half as he carried the Mavericks back into the game. He led UNO with seven rebounds, was one off the team lead with three assists and grabbed a steal. He also played only 33 minutes, the lowest of any of the five starters.

Season Total:
John Karhoff (1)
Alex Welhouse (1)
Mitch Albers (1)
Bill Freeman (1)

Stat Leaders: Mitch Albers led UNO in points for the 3rd time with 23, followed by Alex Welhouse with 19. Welhouse led the team in rebounds for the 4th straight game with seven followed by CJ Carter and John Karhoff with six. Mitch Albers led the team in assists for the 4th straight game with four while Welhouse, Karhoff and Steffensmeier had three a piece. Mitch Albers lead the team in steals for the 2nd time with three. Caleb Steffensmeier added two.

Leading the Team Season Total
Points:
Mitch Albers (3)
C.J. Carter (1)

Rebounds:
Alex Welhouse (4)

Assists:
Mitch Albers (4)

Steals:
C.J. Carter (2)
Mitch Albers (2)
Caleb Steffensmeier (1)

Player Ratings (Positionally Adjusted Win Score): 
Alex Welhouse – 1.621
Mitch Albers – 1.558
Bill Freeman – 1.039
John Karhoff – 0.337
John Ring – 0.317
C.J. Carter – 0.223
Caleb Steffensmeier – (-0.135)

Alex Welhouse had his best game of the year and Bill Freeman was better than Carter/Steffensmeier who struggled to put up good stats. Ring spelled Karhoff well, but Karhoff took too many shots to get his points. Mitch was his usual solid self.

Season Total:
Tyler Egli – 7.031
Jacques Coleman – 1.894
Bill Freeman – 1.716
Mitch Albers – 1.670
Alex Welhouse – 0.937
John Karhoff – 0.933
Matt Hagerbaumer – 0.930
Caleb Steffensmeier – 0.882
C.J. Carter – 0.549
John Ring – 0.305
Mitchell Farr – (-0.651)

Team Ratings: The 79.37 possessions, were ten more than the game against UMKC and six more than the previous high against IPFW and Concordia (Neb.). The Offensive Rating was down from the last 2 games, but was better than they did against IPFW in their first game. The defensive rating has actually improved in each of the D1 games and the season average is now comparable to the 2007-08 and 2009-10 seasons, the only times in the last 5 years UNO has had a defensive rating below 110.

It was the worst shooting game for UNO since the game against IPFW and the numbers are almost identical to that game. By comparing the eFG% against the Interior Shooting% you can see if the added 3 pointers make up for the lower % from three. On Sunday if almost did, but wasn’t quite “worth it”. The only game so far this year where UNO had a better eFG% than Interior Shooting % was the Concordia game.

It was a much better Offensive Rebounding game for UNO, twice as good as against UMKC but not  quite as good as against IPFW. Defensively they rebounded better than against IPFW but not quite as well as against UMKC. UNO has been pretty consistently between 68.8 and 72.7 on their defensive rebounding this year which is pretty respectable and very comparable to the last five years. UNO has only had a 70% Def Rebounding rate twice in the last five years (the two years they won conference tournaments).

Possessions: 79.37
Offensive Rating: 102.05
Defensive Rating: 104.57
eFG%: 46.5%
True Shooting: 49.6%
Interior Shooting: 47.3%
Offensive Rebounding: 26.1%
Defensive Rebounding: 70.3%
Overall Rebounding: 45.8%

3 stats that tell the tale of the game: 

1) FT % - UNO was only 63.6 (14-22) from the FT line leaving some precious points at the line in a tight game.

2) Bench Scoring – South Dakota outscored UNO 30-10 off the bench. This ability to go to extra options off the bench was big for South Dakota as they got major contributions and were able to avoid a few players who had cold streaks.

3) Rebounding - The 7 point board advantage for South Dakota was crucial in a game that hung on every possession near the end.

Response to 3 things to watch:

1) Mitch’s supporting cast - UNO has done a great job of finding scorers alongside Albers and tonight was no different. Six players have scored in double figures and Alex Welhouse stepped up in a major way tonight with his 2nd half performance.

2.) Alex Welhouse’s supporting cast - Until today the only other players than Welhouse to grab five rebounds in a game were Bill Freeman against IPFW, John Ring with six against Concordia, and John Karhoff with five against UMKC. This time both CJ Carter and John Karhoff grabbed six as UNO had a season high six players grab at least four boards.

3.) Defense, especially against the 3 - Defense improved once again today. South Dakota played well offensively but not as well as UMKC or IPFW did. If you take away Louie Krogman in the first half, when he went 4-6 from three, USD shot just 23.5% from three for the game.

Prediction Response: I was pretty close. There were more possessions than I expected as the pace was really pushed so the total ended up higher than I expected. I was impressed by how close UNO came to pulling off the upset though, I thought South Dakota would have control by the final minute.

Upcoming Opponent: North Dakota State on Tuesday night in Fargo. North Dakota State is off to a 4-0 start to the year and has an RPI of 40 at this point!

Linkage:

Omavs.com recap

USDCoyotes.com recap

Yankton Press & Dakotan recap

Argus Leader recap

I’ll share some of it, but you’ll have to click on over to midmajority to get the rest .

From 1978 until 2008 Nebraska Omaha (UNO) and South Dakota were part of the North Central Conference and enjoyed yearly battle. The two schools made great competitors due to their proximity, just 2.5 hours apart. Over the years the two teams met in basketball 79 times with the record fittingly at 38-38-1. In 2007 the rivalry was ended as South Dakota announced they would move to Division I, while UNO decided to remain in Division II and join the MIAA. Traditional UNO fans had to give up the rivalries they had grown to love, and did their best to move on. All of that changed on March 13th 2011.

On March 13th 2011 UNO shocked the city by announcing they were cutting the football and wrestling programs, wrestling having just won the DII National Title the night before, and moving to Division I to join the Summit League. Most fans were furious. Cutting two of the most popular sports at UNO was a decision that people (including myself) were not willing to accept. Great tradition was lost, but lurking in the darkness of that day was the fact that some great rivalries were renewed with North Dakota State, South Dakota State, and the Coyotes of South Dakota!

…

The final score read 83-81, but this game wasn’t about the score. This game was about tradition being resumed, two familiar foes resuming their battle, and a program and an university moving on from a difficult March day into a bright November afternoon. Basketball is going to be an important part of the UNO experience in the future. The school and fans will long for the day that they get to play in the Big Dance and pray for the day that they upset that big name team. But what is going to make this special for UNO is going to be games like I saw on Sunday. It’s going to be games between two old rivals that are finally together again, where each possession matters, and both groups of fans are going to go home proud of their school and the effort shown on the court.

South Dakota, it’s good to be back.

http://www.midmajority.com/p/2117

CJ scored 18 in his first game against IPFW. As I mentioned in the recap for that game, that is the most by a freshman in the data available to me.  Mitch Albers was the only other freshman I could find who scored in double figures in his debut, he scored 12 in his first game in 2007.

Through two games Mitch was slightly better (27 total points to 24) and Tola Dada is the 3rd Maverick with 20+ points through two games as he scored 21 through two games in 2000.

Through three games Mitch again had the edge, 38 to 35, as they were the only two players with more than 23 points through three games.

Through four games Mitch extended his lead to 64-49. Mitch had a ginormous 26 point outing in his 4th game as a freshman. They are the only two players who scored more than 34 points (Michael Jenkins having 34 in 2005).

These are the top 10 single game scoring performances by freshman since 2000:
1. Mitch Albers – 26 – 11/24/07 vs. MSU-Billings
2. Mitch Albers – 25 – 2/23/08 @ North Dakota
3. Ryan Curtis – 21 – 12/21/02 vs. Midland Lutheran
4. Mitch Albers – 18 – 12/23/07 @ MSU-Billings
Mitch Albers – 18 – 3/1/08 vs. Minnesota State Mankato
Mitch Albers – 18 – 3/15/08 vs. Fort Lewis (Co.) – NCAA Tournament Game
CJ Carter – 18 – 11/12/11 @ IPFW
8. Tola Dada – 17 – 1/6/01 @ South Dakota
James Mills – 17 – 12/18/01 vs. Midland Lutheran
Denny Johnston – 17 – 2/19/05 vs. Minnesota Duluth
Mitch Albers – 17 – 1/31/08 @ Augustana
Mitch Albers – 17 - 3/8/08 @ Minnesota State Mankato – NCC Tournament Game
John Karhoff – 17 – 2/16/11 vs. Central Missouri

As you can see, Mitch Albers has the top two freshman scoring games, five of the top seven, and seven of the top 13. Mitch had an incredible Freshman season, one CJ will have a tough time comparing to.

Here are the 12 freshman at UNO since 2000 to score 100 or more points in a season:
1. Mitch Albers – 369
2. Ryan Curtis – 232
3. Tola Dada – 200
4. John Karhoff – 181
5. Michael Jenkins – 149
6. Denny Johnston – 144
7. Calvin Kapels – 141
8. Chris DeSpain – 129
9. Eric Wiebers – 115
10. James Mills – 108
11. Caleb Steffensmeier – 102
12. Zac Robinson – 101

CJ currently has 49 points, the 19th highest total for a freshman. He needs to score 2.04 points per game to reach 100, four points per game to reach 5th all-time, 7.32 points per game to reach 2nd all-time, and 12.8 points per game to beat Mitch Albers’ freshman season.

BTW I tweeted earlier saying through 3.5 games it’s not crazy to say CJ has a great chance to be a top 10 all time scorer at UNO if things play our right (i.e. no significant injuries and no disciplinary problems). 10th right now is Calvin Kapels with 1102 points. If CJ averages his current 12.25 through 29 games a year and four years, he would have 1,421 points, good for 4th all-time. It’s safe to say CJ has shown the potential so far to be one of the better scorers UNO has seen.

Well it’s not really an article ABOUT UNO since it’s BY UNO’s own John Ring. Check out his blog post here on the first four games. Ring does a great job recapping what’s happened and giving a tiny window into the team. Great stuff.

UNO Opponents In Action:

Teams UNO is playing are in ALL CAPS. The winners are in bold.

11/20
Women – LOYOLA CHICAGO vs. Eastern Michigan – LOSS 63-55 (3-1)
Men – MICHIGAN STATE vs. Arkansas-Little Rock – WIN 69-47 (2-2)
Men – NORTHERN ILLINOIS vs. Eastern Illinois – LOSS 67-55 (0-4)
Men – WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE vs. Texas Southern – WIN 73-38 (4-0)
Men – COPPIN STATE @ Connecticut – LOSS 87-70 (1-3)
Men – NEVADA vs. Prairie View A&M – WIN 60-47 (2-2)

UNO Opponent Records:

These records do not include games against UNO.

Women:
Overall (46-47)

D1 (13-19)
Kentucky (4-0)
South Dakota (1-0)
Loyola Chicago (3-1)
UMKC (2-1)
Marshall (1-2)
Cornell (1-2)
Saint Louis (1-3)
Louisiana-Lafayette (0-2)
Western Illinois (0-2)
Tulsa (0-3)
Texas-Arlington (0-3)

D2 (7-12)
Sioux Falls (2-1)
Metro State (1-0)
West Virginia State (1-1)
Western State (1-1)
Missouri Western (1-2)
Northwest Missouri State (1-3)
Upper Iowa (0-1)
New Orleans (0-3)

NCCAA (1-8)
Dallas Christian (1-8)

NAIA (25-8)
Concordia (6-0)
College of St. Mary (7-1)
Briar Cliff (6-1)
Dakota Wesleyan (3-2)
York (3-5)

Men:
Overall (51-60)

D1 (17-24)
North Dakota State (4-0)
Wisconsin-Milwaukee (4-0)
Cal State Bakersfield (2-1)
Colorado State (2-2)
Nevada (2-2)
Michigan State (2-2)
Coppin State (1-3)
IPFW (0-1)
Seattle (0-2)
Western Illinois (0-2)
South Dakota (0-2)
UMKC (0-3)
Northern Illinois (0-4)

D2 (3-5)
Nebraska Kearney (1-1)
Washburn (2-2)
Chardon State (0-2)

NAIA (31-31)
Briar Cliff (7-0)
St. Mary’s (Kan.) (5-2)
Concordia (Neb.) (3-2)
Doane College (4-3)
Benedictine College (3-3)
Avila (3-4)
Hastings College (3-4)
Johnson & Wales (2-6)
Peru State (1-7)

Upcoming Opponents:

UNO’s Women’s opponent next Sunday is Marshall. Marshall lost on Saturday the 19th to Ohio. Here’s the recap from the WV Metro News.

South Dakota

The University of South Dakota was founded in 1862 and is located in Vermillion, SD. It’s around 45 minute NW of Sioux City. USD was formerly a member of the NCC but moved to Division I in 2008-09. They are in their first year of official Summit League membership.

South Dakota has a good basketball history. They were the National Collegiate Small College Champion in 1958 and won 12 NCC titles over the years. In 1993 and 1994 they were in the Division II Elite 8. They have not lost more than three home games in the last 23 years.

USD’s last game as a 70-61 loss at Eastern Washington on Tuesday. USD got off to a good start leading 5-0 but fell behind as Eastern Washington took control and a 38-24 lead at that half.  Things got even worse in the 2nd half as Eastern Washington extend their lead to 17 at 45-28. USD got back within 10 at 52-42 with just over nine minutes left, but weren’t able to get any closer until the final bucket made it 70-61.

Charlie Westbrook led South Dakota with 16 points, all in the 2nd half, Brandon Bos was the only other player in double figures with 10. Ricardo Andreotti led South Dakota with nine rebounds as South Dakota was outrebounded 40-37. South Dakota shot 40% from the field, 35% from three, and Eastern Washington shot 40%, 37% from three. Interestingly South Dakota’s starters only played 102 minutes (51%).

Starters: 
Guard – Charlie Westbrook – 6-4 Senior – Milwaukee, Wis. – Averaging 13 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals.
Guard – Louis Krogman – 6-1 Senior – White River, S.D. - Averaging 12.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and two assists.
Forward – Ricardo Andreotti – 6-8 Senior – Sao Paulo, Brazil – Averaging four points, eight rebounds and 1.5 assists.
Forward – Allen Saint-Gelais – 6-7 Junior – Guadeloupe, France – Averaging 2.5 points, three rebounds, and 0.5 assists.
Center – Trevor Gruis – 6-10 Sophomore – Ellsworth, Minn. – Averaging 4.5 points, two rebounds and 0.5 blocks.

USD has the odd combination of five international players (in addition to Andreotti and Saint-Gelais they have a player from England and two from Ontario) and five native South Dakotans. USD is average 64 possessions, much slower than UNO who is averaging 72. UNO will probably look to push things vs. South Dakota who will want to slow things down some. USD’s offensive rating is only 84.73, but that includes a game against Nebraska who is great defensively. Their defense rating is 104.94, so there might be some ability to score against them.

All-time USD leads the series 49-42 and have won four of five, but UNO did win the last game.

UNO

Last time out UNO put up a great effort against UMKC and led by as many as seven before falling behind late. Caleb Steffensmeier hit a jumper in the paint to tie things with 36 seconds left, but Reggie Chamberlain hit a three with just two seconds left to give UKMC a 77-74 win. UNO played well offensively, led by Mitch Albers’ 26 and  John Karhoff’s 18, but defensively they were suspect, especially against the three.

Starters:
Guard – Caleb Steffensmeier – 6-1 Sophomore from  Omaha, Neb. – Averaging 5.7 points, two rebound and 3.3 assists.
Guard – C.J. Carter – 6-0 Freshman from Omaha, Neb. – Averaging 11.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists.
Guard – Mitch Albers – 6-4 Senior from Papillion, Neb. – Averaging 23.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, and six assists.
Forward – Alex Welhouse – 6-7 Junior from Kaukauna, Wis. – Averaging 9.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 0.7 assists.
Center – John Karhoff – 6-8 Sophomore from Omaha, Neb. – Averaging 13.7 points, four rebounds, and 1.3 assists.

3 Things to watch:

1) Mitch’s supporting cast - Mitch Albers is playing phenomenal. He’s averaging 23.7 points and six assists. He’s shooting 27-37 from inside the arc. He’s shooting 82% from the FT line. But Mitch can’t do everything and teams are going to find a way to shut him down for stretches. It’s important UNO figures out how to play if Mitch can’t get it going. CJ Carter did a great job in Kansas City stepping up down the stretch. John Karhoff has been great, but how much of his game is dependent on Mitch drawing attention with his penetration? UNO has four players other than Mitch averaging over eight points so I think they are capable of helping out.

2.) Alex Welhouse’s supporting cast - This might be more troubling. Alex Welhouse has done a phenomenal job getting inside and rebounding the ball. He has 26 boards on the year, more than the next two players combined (Karhoff with 12 and Freeman with 11). While this is great to see since Alex is going to have to take on that responsibility, we need to see more boards out of the center position (Karhoff and Ring/Hagerbaumer). Freeman has been great from the guard spot so UNO might look to use him in situations where they need added presence.

3.) Defense, especially against the 3 - UNO got beat by UMKC in large part because they allowed too many threes. This wasn’t a strength of UMKC coming in, just as it isn’t for South Dakota (29% on 22 threes a game). However if UNO allows USD to get open looks, I imagine they’ll knock a lot of them down.

Prediction: I’m not going with UNO in this one. USD traditionally has played very well at home and I imagine they’ll do enough to get the W. USD wins 78-72.

Linkage:
USD Pregame Release
UNO Pregame Release
Omaha.com Pregame Info
Live Stats
Live Video ($9.95)
Live Audio

I’d recommend following myself (@maverickmaniacs) and UNO’s Basketball twitter account (@UNO_Basketball) for updates.

Go Mavs!