Monday, December 10, 2012

North Dakota Falls to Rival NDSU

This game happened last night, but wanted to talk a little about it since it is such a big rivalry game. North Dakota and North Dakota State are constantly comparing themselves to each other, and it's a great rivalry (now we just need to see it again in football)!

North Dakota went down to Fargo on Sunday night and lost 72-52 to the Bison. Things were already going to be tough without Troy Huff, who is still out with an injury. They were made even tougher by the loss of Brandon Brekke, who suffered a concussion three minutes into the game. Without him, UND's already thin frontcourt struggled on the glass, as NDSU had 18 offensive rebounds.

The biggest reason for the loss, it seems, was North Dakota's inability to hang onto the ball. They turned it over 19 times (compared to 6 for NDSU) compared to just six assists. Starting guards Aaron Anderson and Jamal Webb combined to cough it up 8 times. UND gave it away in six of their first eleven second half possessions, pushing a 30-24 deficit into double digits, a lead that stayed in double digits the rest of the way.

Jamal Webb in particular has struggled this year, with a 31.8 TO Rate, which is really, really high for anyone, let alone a PG. This is nothing new, as he posted 30.0 and 28.9 TO Rates in his first two seasons. So far this year he has a whopping 4.3 turnovers per game. That is going to be tough for any team to overcome.

The loss drops UND to 1-6 on the young season.

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