GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The University of North Dakota men's basketball team overcame a big first-half deficit, then fended off a fierce rally by Louisiana Tech to register a 76-73 victory over the Bulldogs in non-conference action on Wednesday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
Freshman
Jamal Webb (Buffalo, N.Y.) led the Sioux with 14 points and also had team-highs with nine rebounds and six assists to lead UND (13-11) to its eighth win in the last 10 games. Classmates
Troy Huff (Milwaukee, Wis.) and
Aaron Anderson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) each added 13 and junior
Patrick Mitchell (Des Moines, Iowa) added 11 to give the Sioux four scorers in double figures.
The Sioux overcame the hot-shooting of LA Tech guard Kenyon McNeaill, who buried seven 3-pointers, and a 13-point first half deficit to pick up the program's first win over a Western Athletic Conference team since beginning its Division I transition. McNeaill finished with a game-high 27 points and nearly led the Bulldogs' back from a giant deficit of their own in the second half.
“I thought our guys showed an awful lot of poise tonight,” UND head coach
Brian Jones said. “We learned a lot from a similar situation against Utah Valley and this was a big step forward for our program.
“We were down early, but our guys never gave in and they found a way to get back in it by halftime. After that, we regrouped and really came out playing 'team together', which is our brand of basketball.”
UND sealed the win at the foul line where the Sioux made 39 trips to in the second half. Anderson scored all of his points in the second half with 11 of those coming at the charity stripe, including four in the final 69 seconds.
The Sioux made 29 of those second-half attempts, finishing the game 36-for-46 (78.3 percent). Huff also had a nice game from the foul line, sinking 9-of-11 attempts.
LA Tech was able to build a 17-4 advantage early in the contest thanks to a poor-shooting start by the home team. The Sioux made just two of their first 14 field goals as the Bulldogs raced out to an early advantage.
UND would not wilt though and Webb assisted on the five of the team's first six field goals, including dunks by Huff and Mitchell that got the crowd back in it.
The Sioux would go on to close the half on a 13-1 run to pull even at 26-26 thanks to a deep 3-pointer by Webb in the closing seconds.
Jordan Allard (Fargo, N.D.) had a pair of timely buckets during that stretch as well as LA Tech made only one field goal in the final five minutes of the stanza. Both teams shot an identical 9-for-26 from the floor in the first half.
UND kept that momentum through the 15-minute break as Mitchell knocked down a trey on the opening possession to spark a 10-2 run. The lead would swell to as many as 15 points midway through the half, but the McNeaill and company forged a comeback of their own.
LA Tech's freshman guard drilled five 3-pointers after the break and his final one made it a 73-72 contest with just eight seconds to play, but UND rookie
Josh Schuler (Urbana, Ohio) sank both free throws as the Sioux held on for the win.
Schuler finished with nine points on a 7-of-8 effort from the stripe. Allard was productive off the Sioux bench for the second straight game, scoring seven points, grabbing three rebounds and blocking three LA Tech shots.
Anderson made 10-plus free throws in a contest for the fourth time this season.
The Sioux will return to Great West play on Saturday as they play at Utah Valley. Tip-off is schedule for 7 p.m. CT.
– Go Sioux –
