Leatherneck Nation

Hoping for a repeat of that last game up in Fargo. Not the final score, but win or lose, walking away with the confidence in knowing you can compete to the very end with the best that the Summit League has to offer this year. That kind of mentality will pay off in the tournament. Now is the time of year when you want to be playing your best ball and I saw signs of it last weekend in a tough environment. Should be a physical game tonight in a much friendlier environment. A little home cooking at the FT line could be the difference.

7pm tip. ESPN3

Never underestimate an underdog with moxie.

Current Summit League Standings:
North Dakota State 11-4
South Dakota 10-4
Denver 8-7
Omaha 8-7
Fort Wayne 7-7
South Dakota State 7-8
IUPUI 6-8
Western 5-9
Oral Roberts 4-12


Tonight's game with South Dakota will be "Shoot For the Keys".

Lucky that Miklusek is playing so well. otherwise this would be ugly. Keep knocking em down Mike!

We have zero urgency on defense. They are beating us down the court. Biggest difference between our men and women is that the women LIKE to play defense and let the offense flow out of it.

sealhall74 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 23, 2017 8:30 pm We have zero urgency on defense. They are beating us down the court. Biggest difference between our men and women is that the women LIKE to play defense and let the offense flow out of it.

We cant get a stop, cant keep their guards out of the lane.. SD is playing good defense. I would have went zone. We have to have help defense, Nobody on our teem is good at stopping penetration..

Yep, we are not quick enough to play man defense on these guys. Maybe Billy keeping the zone as a trump card for tournament. Although we have not shown zone too much this year.

We both know Zone may be worse at stopping the three, but we aren't doing that either soooo. I feel with a shot blocker in the middle like Gilbeck it could work. And if he kept Ancrum in you have another shot blocker and offensive threat. It might give us some fast break opportunities also.. Who knows.. but its obvious we are not able to stop quick guards from getting deep in the lane at will.

South Dakota wins 92-81. Western is now locked into the #8 seed for the tournament. The other 7 seeds will be determined on Saturday.

Mike Miklusak led the Western scoring with 24 points. Garret Covington had 21. Brandon Gilbeck had 15.

Big free throw differential. South Dakota shot 34 (made 26). Western shot 19 (made 14).

Attendance at Western Hall = 828.

wiu712 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 23, 2017 9:53 pm
Big free throw differential. South Dakota shot 34 (made 26). Western shot 19 (made 14).

Looking at the conference stats to date, five of the other eight teams have MADE more FTs than we have ATTEMPTED. If we are going to compete in this league, we must get more physical with the ball around the rim. Shooting prowess from beyond the arc will win you two or three games a year tops. Just like most football games are decided in the trenches, so too are basketball games decided in the paint.

I agree 100% with Seal...