MISSOULA, Mont., Feb. 14 - Jackson Stevenett scored 15
points but no other Thunderbird had more than eight as North Dakota brought
Southern Utah's men's basketball season to an end with a 69-52 defeat in the
quarterfinal round of the Big Sky tournament Thursday night.
North Dakota held Southern Utah to 28.8 percent shooting,
including 25 percent in the second half when the Thunderbirds made just three
of their first 13 shots. Meanwhile, UND - which had five players score in
double figures - shot 49 percent from the field, including 65 percent in the
second half, when it outscored SUU 41-27.
SUU Coach Nick Robinson said the Thunderbirds' shooting woes
in the first half were because of their inability to make shots, but credited
North Dakota's defense with the second-half effort.
"In the first half we struggled to finish in the paint," he
pointed out. "I think we had six or seven shots that were all within maybe six
or seven feet and we weren't able to finish versus contact, so I think that was
all about us. In the second half they made adjustments defensively and I think
a lot of the second-half shooting was attributable to their defense. "
After UND took a 28-25 lead at halftime it looked like the
game might be comparable to last week's match-up between the two, which was
close throughout before North Dakota wound up with a 68-61 home win.
North Dakota had different ideas, however. Troy Huff opened
the second half by burying a 3-pointer then getting a steal and a dunk to stake
UND to a 33-25 advantage. North Dakota built its advantage to 10 before Stevenett
hit a pair of free throws and Chris Nsenki knocked down a 3-pointer to bring
the Thunderbirds within 37-32.
The turning point in the game followed, however, Robinson
said.
SUU rebounded a miss on the UND end and had a chance to pull
within three but Jordan Johnson missed a layup for SUU and UND's Brandon Bekke
grabbed the rebound. Huff then found Josh Schuler in the corner for an open
3-pointer and a 40-32 UND lead. Cal Hanks then missed on the other end and
Aaron Anderson got the ball to Schuler, again in the corner, and Schuler again
buried a three against Southern Utah's zone defense.
The second 3-pointer staked UND to a 43-32 edge and it
continued to score and hold SUU down, pushing the advantage to 51-32 before
Damon Heuir finally hit a 3-pointer for the Thunderbirds with 9:53 to go.
"Schuler hit two big threes in the zone, they made
adjustments coming out of halftime that exploited the corner on us," Robinson
pointed out. "I probably should have called a time out after the first one to
get back into man but I didn't and he was able to hit his second one. That
started a run, we weren't able to make some easy buckets, they played pretty
good defense and that was the run that hurt us.
"Overall I was pleased with our play this evening," he noted.
"Our execution wasn't great, especially in the second half but North Dakota, a
very well-balanced team, played better than we did, especially in the second
half."
Huff scored 15 points to lead UND, while Mitch Wilmer added
11 and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Heuir and Nsenki each finished with eight points while
Jordan Johnson had a team-high eight rebounds for SUU, which finished the
season 11-20 after finishing tied for sixth place in its first year in the Big
Sky with an 8-12 conference mark.
NOTES: Stevenett finished his career ranked fifth on the SUU
career scoring list with 1,273 points and eighth on the career rebounding list
with 502 rebounds. He finished the season with 528 points, the 13th-best
season in SUU history ... Jayson Cheesman didn't block a shot so he finished the
season with 60 rejections, leaving him tied for second on SUU's single-season
list (with Sean Allen's 1994-95 effort) and all alone in fifth place on the
career list ... Cal Hanks blocked one shot, giving him 35 on the season to tie
him with Matt Hodgson (2010-11) in seventh place on the SUU single-season
blocks list.
