Golden Eagles Hit the Hard Wood Two Final Times This Weekend at Home Against UMD, on Road at SCSU
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Golden Eagle men's basketball wraps-up 2022-23 this weekend with a home-and-away with Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State. The Golden Eagles will look to finish the season strong after losing a pair last weekend to a pair of ranked teams in MSU Moorhead and Northern State. Minnesota Crookston will look for some revenge this weekend against the Bulldogs and Huskies.
· CAREER WEEKEND FOR X. Xzavier Jones has had an outstanding season in 2022-23. The junior from Milwaukee is second on his Golden Eagles in scoring at 13.4 points per game and is second in rebounding with 5.2 rebounds per game. Jones has also dished the ball well this season, leading the Golden Eagles with 59 assists on the season. This past weekend, Jones averaged 22 points per game, including a career-high 23 points against MSU Moorhead. There were times in the second half where Jones was single handedly keeping the Golden Eagles in the game. If the Golden Eagles can get that consistently from Jones, they will be set up nicely next season.
• MAN AMONG BOYS. Although it came in a losing effort to Northern State,
De'Antray Hughes had a breakout game for the maroon and gold. The big fella from New Orleans collected his second double-double on the season, finishing with 22 points and 10 rebounds. It was a career best in points, field goals attempted, field goals made and assists for the junior. On the weekend, Hughes averaged 9.5 rebounds per game, which is the best two game stretch of his season rebounding the basketball. Hughes can be dominant on the low block and he showed that last weekend.
· ONE LAST TIME AT HOME. It seems like just yesterday that the Golden Eagle men were opening up their season at home against St. Cloud State. That was December 3. Now, Minnesota Crookston will wrap-up their home schedule this weekend against Minnesota Duluth, who is fighting for position in the NSIC North, currently sitting at third place. The Golden Eagles would love to play spoiler this Thursday against their fellow system school.
· WHAT KIND OF PERFORMANCE FROM PEDRO? Pedro Rossi is an uber-talented big man. The six foot seven Argentinian and transfer from St. Bonaventure has shown this season that he can make a large impact for the Golden Eagles. Rossi has struggled as of late, but he can have a weekend like he did against Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State, where he averaged 14.5 points per game on 7-10 shooting from deep. In order to end the season on a high note, Minnesota Crookston will look to Rossi to add some pop on offense.
· HALTED THE DRAGONS FIRE. On Friday night against MSU Moorhead, the Golden Eagles fought and played a physical game, putting a scare into the nationally ranked Dragons. A big part of that scare was the ability for the Golden Eagles to make shots from deep. Minnesota Crookston was 10-21 from deep in the game. It was the second most made from deep as a team and the second best shooting percentage from long range as well. The Golden Eagles have the ability to shoot well from deep and they showed that this past Friday.
· WELCOME BACK ALUMNI. This past weekend, Minnesota Crookston welcomed back alumni. A large number of alumni came back, including some guys that were instrumental on the 2018-19 team. Chase Johnson, Chase Knickerbocker and Darin Viken were all back, as was Mark Baagason. All of the players played big roles in the Golden Eagles tradition and they were back at the place they once called home.
• FREE THROW DIFFERENCE. One big thing this season has been the difference at the charity stripe. Minnesota Crookston has gotten to the free throw line more than their opponent just ten times this season and has shot less than ten free throws in six games this season. The Golden Eagles will look to win the free throw battle the last two games of the season.
Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach:
Bryan Beamish
Record at UMC: 2-24 Season at UMC: Eighth Season (First as Head Coach)
Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs
Head Coach: Justin Wieck
Record at UMD: 88-40 Season at UMD: 5th Season
St. Cloud State Huskies
Head Coach: Quincy Henderson
Record at SCSU: 9-16 Season at SCSU: 1st Season
Minnesota Duluth @ Minnesota Crookston
Date: Thursday, Feb. 16
Time: 5:30 P.M.
Place: Crookston, Minn. / Gary Senske Court
Watch:
https://nsicnetwork.com/goldeneaglesports/
Live Stats:
https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: 38-3 in favor of UMD
Last Meeting: 89-61 win for the Bulldogs in Duluth
Officials: Mike Gullingsrud, Jordan Rheault and Kaden Kueneman
Minnesota Crookston @ St. Cloud State
Date: Sat. Feb. 18
Time: 3:30 P.M.
Place: St. Cloud, Minn. / Halenbeck Hall
Watch:
https://nsicnetwork.com/scsuhuskies/
Live Stats:
https://scsuhuskies.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: 17-4 in favor of SCSU
Last Meeting: 81-67 loss for the Golden Eagles at home
Officials: Chad Bjornson, Reid Flaagan and Joe Wollan
Weekly Snapshot
Minnesota Crookston (2-22, 1-17 NSIC)
Projected Starters
Jr. G 4
Xzavier Jones (6-4, Milwaukee, Wis.) 13.2 PPG, 5.4 RPG
So. G 1
Blaize Sagna (6-3, London, England) 15.9 PPG, 4.4 RPG
Fr. G 5
Chandler Meeks (6-1, Omaha, Neb.) 7.8 PPG, 2.4 RPG
R-Jr. F 2
De'Antray Hughes (6-7 New Orleans, La.) 5.0 PPG, 4.2 RPG
So. F 14
Pedro Rossi (6-8, Bahia Blanca, Argentina) 4.1 PPG, 2.4 RPG
Top Bench Players
R-Jr. G/F 11
Matthew Allman (6-6, London, England) 6.1 PPG, 3.1 RPG
Sr. G 20
Rambo Badyal (6-3, Kelowna, British Columbia) 8.5 PPG, 2.1 RPG
R-So. F 10
Jordan Mitchell (6-8, Columbus, Ohio) 2.7 PPG, 3.7 RPG
Minnesota Duluth (18-8, 14-6 NSIC)
Projected Starters
Jr. G 1 Joshua Brown (6-4, Minneapolis, Minn.) 11.7 PPG, 5.2 RPG
Sr. G 3 Jack Middleton (6-5, Edina, Minn.) 9.3 PPG, 3.0 RPG
R-Sr. G 22 Drew Blair (6-5, Stevens Point, Wis.) 19.8 PPG, 5.3 RPG
Jr. F 24 Charlie Katona (6-6, Shakopee, Minn.) 12.8 PPG, 5.3 RPG
Jr. F 32 Austin Andrews (6-6, Eden Prairie, Minn.) 11.5 PPG, 5.9 RPG
Top Bench Players
So. G 00 Joshua Strong (6-0, Brooklyn Park, Minn.) 6.8 PPG, 2.4 RPG
Jr. F 40 Lincoln Meister (6-9, Rochester, Minn.) 4.3 PPG, 2.5 RPG
R-Fr. 12 Mattie Thompson (6-7, Duluth, Minn.) 4.8 PPG, 2.6 RPG
St. Cloud State (9-16, 6-14)
Projected Starters
Jr. G 1 Tommy Chatman (6-4, Brooklyn Park, Minn.) 13.9 PPG, 5.2 RPG
Jr. G 4 Joe Mutimer (6-0, Melbourne, Australia) 6.0 PPG, 3.1 RPG
R-Sr. G 10 Ryan Bagley (6-3, Pocatello, Idaho) 7.8 PPG, 4.4 RPG
Jr. F 22 Matthew Willert (6-6, Buffalo, Minn.) 14.8 PPG, 4.2 RPG
Sr. F 32 Luke Taylor (6-6, Germantown, Wis.) 12.8 PPG, 4.6 RPG
Top Bench Players
Fr. G 0 Andre Renta (6-1, Hudson, Wis.) 4.6 PPG, 2.6 RPG
Jr. F 21 Kevin Cook (6-7, Milwaukee, Wis.) 6.9 PPG, 3.2 RPG
R-Fr. G 24 Tony Dahl (6-4, Buffalo, Minn.) 8.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG
KNOW THE OPPONENTS
Minnesota Duluth. UMD will look to end their regular season on a high note before the NSIC playoffs. UMD is 4-2 in their last six games, including a sweep at home last weekend against UMary and Minot State. The Bulldogs have won the last eight games against Minnesota Crookston, with five of those wins coming by double figures. The last Golden Eagle win came in Crookston back in 2019.
THE BLAIR STAR PROJECT. Redshirt senior Drew Blair is one of the best players in the NSIC. Blair leads his Bulldogs team in scoring at 19.8 per game, while also pulling down more than five boards per game. Blair has shot 193 of his 386 attempts from deep, where he shoots 35 percent. The last time these two teams met, the Wisconsin native scored 19 points on 5-10 shooting from deep. Blair is a star.
DOUBLE A. Austin Andrews is another star for the Bulldogs. The Eden Prairie, Minn., native won the NSIC North Player of the Year a season ago and won the NSIC North Player of the Week five separate times as a sophomore. Although he hasn't had that type of productive season, the junior is still averaging double-digits and has a double-double against UMary earlier this season.
BREAKOUT GAME. Mattie Thompson was outstanding the last time he saw Minnesota Crookston. Thompson has scored double-figures just twice this season, one of which was a career-high 15 at home against the Golden Eagles, including a perfect 3-3 from deep. What does the redshirt freshman have in store against the Golden Eagles in Crookston?
St. Cloud State. The Huskies still have a ton to play for this season. Much like they did last season, SCSU could very easily sneak into the playoffs and pull an upset, but it will all depend on what happens this weekend. The Huskies still need some help being one game behind both UMary and Minot State. Can the Golden Eagles play spoiler?
BIG GAMES, BIG WINS. The Huskies had a chance to be eliminated from playoff contention last weekend, but the Huskies, who lost their last seven before last weekend, pulled off a giant sweep. They were able to knock off Minot State in a thrilling overtime game and then controlled the Marauders of UMary for a ten point win. It was a weekend that kept their season alive. Do the Huskies have two more wins left in them?
WILLING HIS TEAM TO VICTORY. Matthew Willert literally willed his team to the victory last Friday night against Minot State. Willert poured in a career-high 32 points on 9-11 shooting from the field, 5-6 from deep and a perfect 9-9 at the charity stripe. Willert is automatic from the free throw line, shooting at a 90 percent clip. Earlier this year, Willert scored 23 points against the Golden Eagles.
DOMINANT AT HOME. In a giant game on Saturday, one thing the Huskies will have us they will be at home, SCSU has one of the best home field advantages in all of the NSIC and they have never lost to Minnesota Crookston at home. All four wins for the Golden Eagles in the series has been in Crookston. Does the trend stay the course this weekend inside Halenbeck Hall?
