North Dakota Advances to Big Sky Title Game

In their second year in the Big Sky, and second year of full DI eligibility, North Dakota will be playing for a spot in the Big Dance. In the first semifinal, they beat Portland State 79-63, jumping out to an early lead and never looking back.

UND jumped out of the gates by pounding the ball inside with great efficiency, and hitting the glass whenever they missed. They couldn't hit outside shots all game (1/9 from three), but they still scored 79 by getting it down low, and grabbing 18 offensive rebounds. Early, it was Jaron Nash (13 points, 6 rebounds and Alonzo Traylor (8 points - all early) that led the way, getting UND a big start.

As the game wore on, PSU had a tough time containing Aaron Anderson, who was brilliant once again. He had 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists, constantly getting to the bucket with his quick acceleration. Troy Huff struggled from the floor again (3/14 FG), but his aggressive attacking at the basket led to a 12/15 night from the charity stripe.

All night, North Dakota never let up offensively. Though their field goal percentage doesn't look great, their offensive rebounding and free throw totals tell the story. They were constantly attacking the basket and getting it inside, and PSU just couldn't find ways to slow them down with their four-guard lineups.

It's a tough end to the season for Portland State, thought there are still many reasons to be proud. When they were sitting at 6-8 in the conference with a tough schedule down the stretch, I'm not sure anyone expected that their season would end in the Big Sky semifinals. Though they need to find some frontcourt players, they will still return a lot of talent next season.

But this was North Dakota's day. They played without key reserve Josh Schuler (out after McKinney's foul last night), but it didn't matter. On Saturday night, they play for their first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Follow me on Twitter @bigskybball

A Look at North Dakota's Bench

Over the past couple of seasons, North Dakota has had an excellent starting lineup, but there has been a drop-off when they have gone to the bench. This season, that has the chance to be different. UND has their deepest team in a long time, and that depth will be a big help. So, let's take a look at the bench and see who the key contributors might be.

When assessing the bench, it's obviously important to know who the starters will be. For the purposes of this post (I don't know what the lineup will actually be), here is the starting lineup I am going with:

G Aaron Anderson
G Jamal Webb
F Troy Huff
F Jaron Nash
C Brandon Brekke

Backcourt
At the PG spot, the most likely guy to see minutes behind Webb is junior Lenny Antwi. Antwi is a good outside shooter (36% from three), but has some holes in his game. His Assist Rate was 7.0 compared to a TO Rate of 22.0, which is a really bad ratio for a ballhandler. He also shot just 50% from the stripe (7/14) and 35% on twos, so there is room for improvement all around. He could be pushed for minutes by freshman Quinton Hooker. UND is very high on Hooker, and while it might make sense to redshirt him, we still might see him out on the court. He earned a lot of high school accolades in the Twin Cities area.

At the two and three spots, the first backup would be senior Josh Schuler. He has started at many points in his career, so it wouldn't be a shock to see him in the starting lineup somehow, but it makes more sense to bring him off the bench. He shot 37% from downtown last year, and has always taken very good care of the basketball. He is a guy that can provide an offensive spark. Even if he doesn't start, he will see starter-type minutes. Another guy in the mix is sophomore Shane Benton. It took Benton a while to get comfortable last year, but he scored in double digits three times in conference games. I'm not sure how many minutes they will have for him this year, but he is clearly a big factor in UND's plans going forward.

Another guy to watch is Cole Stefan, if he gains eligibility this season. He is an excellent shooter that will be a big boost for the lineup. My current guess would be if Jaron Nash didn't get eligibility last year, Stefan may not this year... but it is something to watch.

Frontcourt
In particular, the added depth should be huge upfront for UND, which has been very thin in this area in recent years. Alonzo Traylor was ineligible for the second semester last year, but I really liked his game when he did play. He was a versatile frontcourt scorer, and scored 30 points in his last two games last season. He is an excellent rebounder, and had a 13.8 OR% and 21.6 DR% in his time. Against SUU in his final game last year, he had 13 points and 11 rebounds. As long as he is eligible, he would be a capable starter for them.

Chad Calcaterra is a transfer from Colorado State and Western Nebraska CC. He does have some NCAA tournament experience for the Rams, and averaged 3.6 PPG last year for Western Nebraska. Ryan Salmonson redshirted last year, and provides nice depth after averaging 9.5 PPG and 5.3 RPG at a junior college in his sophomore season.

Who do you guys think will be the biggest contributors?

Follow me on Twitter @bigskybball

North Dakota Signs Texas Tech Transfer Jaron Nash

This happened a few days, but I am just able to sit down and write about. Due to senior Nick Haugen reportedly not returning to the team next season, North Dakota had a third scholarship available. It was used to sign Texas Tech transfer forward Jaron Nash, a 6'8'' F who will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Nash is transferring to be closer to his father, who has multiple sclerosis, according to the Grand Forks Herald. Because of this, he is appealing to the NCAA to be eligible to play this season for North Dakota.

Nash played in 27 games for the Red Raiders last year, averaging about eight minutes per game. He averaged 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. He shot 52.8% from inside the arc, but a dreadful 12/43 (27.9% from the free throw line). He had pretty average rebounding rates, and turned the ball over a lot more times than he got assists.

All that said, it is clear that if he is able to play this year, he will compete for a starting spot right away. There are four guys likely etched into the starting lineup - Jamal Webb, Aaron Anderson, Troy Huff, and Brandon Brekke - but the other spot is clearly up for grabs. The most likely candidate to step in was probably JUCO big man Alonzo Traylor, but he would have stiff competition from Nash.

Going into the offseason, frontcourt depth was a huge issue for UND. After the spring signing period, it is clear that North Dakota has done a lot to clear up their biggest weakness.

Follow me on Twitter @bigskybball

North Dakota Signs Two JUCO Big Men

I linked to an article this morning about how North Dakota was likely to sign two players this spring, and that is exactly what happened. As I have mentioned (as how everyone following UND knows), they were in dire need of big men, and that's what makes the signings so encouraging.

They got committments from two JUCO big men, Alonzo Traylor of Iowa Western CC, and Ryan Salmonson out of Cosumnes River College in California. They couldn't ask for too much better for a spring signing period, as they needed big men who are able to play right away, and it seems that is exactly what they got.

Traylor was a good player at Minneapolis South High School , where he averaged somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 and 12 his senior year (I think, not easy to find good stats). At Iowa Western, he averaged 14 PPG and 6.7 RPG last season, shooting 65% from the field. He is a 6'7'' forward, and figures to have a great chance to immediately step into the starting lineup. He is an athletic big like UND has not really had for a while (Emmanual Little wasn't necessarily a big man, though I think he was similar in height).

Salmonson is a 6'10'' forward went to high school at Colfax High in California. He averaged 9.5 PPG and 5.3 RPG last year, shooting 55% from the field. He reportedly at one point had visits lined up to schools just as Montana State, Eastern Washington, and North Dakota State. He looks to have a great chance to get big minutes in the frontcourt, and will be a big asset for them. UND Fan on the Sioux Sports message board had a pretty interesting statistical tidbit on him.

This creates an interesting dynamic for UND... 11 of their 13 scholarships are in players that are either juniors or seniors. Two years ago they were one of the youngest teams in the country, now they are loaded with experience. One thing is for sure... they shored up the weakest part of the team with these two signings.

Follow me on Twitter @bigskybball