Game of the Week: Northwestern at St. Scholastica - Men's Basketball
UMAC Game of the Week Archives
ST. PAUL -- The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Game of the Week is a feature that takes place each week throughout the conference portion of the season with one contest being selected and highlighted as the UMAC Game of the Week.
This week's UMAC Game of the Week will take place on Friday, January 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Duluth as the University of Northwestern travels to St. Scholastica in men's basketball action. The contest will feature the two teams picked to finished first in second in the league in the UMAC Coaches' Preseason Poll. The Saints and Eagles last met in the UMAC Tournament Semifinal in 2014 and both currently own 1-0 conference records on the season.
About the Eagles
Northwestern enters this week 3-9 overall but 1-0 in league play after defeating North Central at home last Saturday, 75-67. The Eagles led by as much as 15 points in the second half, but it was Michael Carney’s three-point basket with 16 seconds remaining that solidified the victory for UNW. Carney led Northwestern with 19 points, making seven of his 15 attempts from the floor.
Carney’s 14.2 points per game leads the team, with both Will Gisler and Porter Morrell also averaging double figures. Caleb Janson has been good for a matching-seven points and seven rebounds per game this season, while Kyle Ooms is averaging 8.0 rebounds per contest. Much of the Eagles’ rough start in nonconference action can be attributed to low shooting percentages. Northwestern has made just 41.7 percent of its overall shots this season while going for a 35 percent rate from behind the three-point arc.
Head coach Tim Grosz has gone with two different starting lineups so far this year, pulling Cody Sprenger off the bench in place of Will Gisler in the starting five after the team’s first six games. Gisler returned to the lineup for the Northwestern-North Central UMAC kickoff game last week. Sprenger, a sophomore, has averaged 7.3 points per game this season and has one of the top shooting rates on the team. Only Kyle Ooms’ 56 percent clip is better than the jump shooting guard.
About the Saints
The St. Scholastica men's basketball team will enter this weekend on a two-game winning streak. Both victories have been by a total of six points against Finlandia University (Mich.) last Monday and Northland College on Saturday. Freshman Joe Stark scored a season-high 16 points and made two free throws in the final 10 seconds to give the Saints the win against the LumberJacks on Saturday. Stark has made 19 consecutive free throws and is second in the conference from the charity stripe.
The Saints also welcomed back leading scorer Jake Naslund in Saturday's win. Naslund had missed the previous three games due to injury. Naslund is averaging 10.2 points per game. The Saints have received back-to-back double-figure scoring games from their low post players. Nathan Carlson had 12 points against Finlandia and Mike Spoden had 11 points on Saturday. The Saints lead conference teams in rebounding margin (-0.8), points per game allowed (70.2) and opponents' field goal percentage (.444) so far this season.
Game Notes
- After last Saturday’s win, Northwestern won its UMAC-opening game in each of the last five years.
-The Saints have trailed by at least eight in three of its four wins this season with all three deficits coming with less than 13 minutes to go in regulation. CSS trailed by six with less than five minutes to go in Saturday's win at Northland.
-St. Scholastica freshman Marc Peterson has scored at least nine points in each of his last five games since returning from injury. 20 of his 22 made field goals this season have come from beyond the arc.
- Northwestern's Caleb Janson has pulled down 10 or more rebounds four times this season. The junior’s 17 boards against Willamette on Nov. 29 are a UMAC-best in 2014-2015.
-The Saints have not won three straight games since the start of conference play during the 2012-13 season.
- Five different Northwestern players have led the team in scoring throughout the Eagles’ 12 contests. Will Gisler, Michael Carney, and Cody Sprenger have all paced UNW in at least two games. Carney’s 30 points against Bethel on Dec. 3 was a career high for the junior, while Porter Morrell’s 22-point output against Macalester on Nov. 25 was also a career best.
-The Eagles eliminated the Saints from the UMAC Tournament with a 73-50 victory in the semifinals last season. CSS defeated Northwestern days prior 51-50 just to make the postseason tournament.
- Northwestern owns a 48-27 all-time record against St. Scholastica. The Eagles have won nine of the last 11 matchups between the two teams. UNW and CSS split their regular season bouts in 2013-2014, with Northwestern winning the rubber match in the first round of the UMAC Tournament last February.
- Northwestern has represented the UMAC in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments. The Eagles have won eight UMAC regular season championship in Coach Grosz’s tenure.
Northwestern Recap |
St. Scholastica Recap |
Final Score: UNW 83, CSS 62
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