DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – Here we go again, the St. Scholastica men's basketball team will face the University of Northwestern (Minn.) for the third time in the last four years for the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament championship on Saturday in St. Paul.
Where:
Ericksen Center – St. Paul, Minn.
When:
Saturday at 7 p.m.
Live Video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/unw/
Live Stats: https://unweagles.com/sports/2012/11/7/gen_1107121456.aspx
Social Media:
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/Csssaintsbball
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St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 16-10, 11-5 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
What You Need to Know about the Saints:
-For the second time in the last three seasons, the Saints traveled to Bethany Lutheran College and upended the Vikings in the UMAC Tournament semifinals on Thursday.
-
Brandon Newman (Barnum, Minn./Barnum HS) scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half as the Saints erased a five-point halftime deficit.
-Newman now ranks second in program history in career points (1,525).
-The Saints scored 60 points in the second half of the victory; The last time CSS scored 60 points in a half was November of 2004 at North Central University (63).
-CSS also matched a program record with nine blocked shots on Thursday.
-The Saints now have new a single-season record for blocks at 107.
-The last time the Saints played the Eagles sophomore
Jarod Wilken (Annandale, Minn./Annandale HS) scored a career-high 23 points.
-Wilken has scored in double-figures in six straight games.
-Newman missed the whole second half in the home loss to Northwestern a couple of weeks ago.
-CSS is 14-3 this season when they hold opponents under 80 points. (2-7 when teams score over 80 points)
-The Saints continue to improve on their single-season record for 3-pointers made (265), a record that has been broken each of the last three seasons.
-Junior
Collin Anderson (Eagan, Minn./Eagan HS) has made 85, 3-pointers on the year and leads the team in scoring at 16.0 points per game.
-The Saints will be in search of their first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament appearance with a win on Saturday.
What You Need to Know about Northwestern:
Record: 20-6, 15-1 UMAC
-The Eagles enter Saturday's championship game on a 14-game winning streak.
-Northwestern cruised to a 106-85 victory over Crown College on Thursday in the semifinals.
-The Eagles made 13, 3-pointers in the win, including 10 in the first half.
-UNW has reached 100 points in each of its last two wins.
-For the second straight Saturday a CSS game will feature the conference's highest scoring team (UNW-88.8/game) against the conference's best defense (CSS-72.9/game).
-Northwestern is 12-2 at the Ericksen Center this season with the last loss coming on December 15.
-Tanner Youngberg and Anderson Bazille Jr. each average over 13 points per game.
-Youngberg nearly averages a double-double with a conference-best 9.9 rebounds per game.
-Youngberg makes 53 percent of his field goal attempts, second-highest in the league.
-The Eagles are the top rebounding team in the conference with an average margin of +5.2.
-Northwestern has won the UMAC Tournament seven of the last eight seasons.
Series Record: UNW leads 56-29
(Last Meeting: 71-68 UNW – 2/9/2019)
Series History: The Eagles swept the regular season series by combined margin of nine points … The Saints led by 15 points at halftime down at Northwestern, but lost by six points … In the contest in Duluth, the game was tied with 1:30 remaining, but the Eagles would prevail by three points … This is the sixth straight season the teams will meet in the UMAC Tournament … The Eagles have won all six of those meetings … The last two postseason games to take place at Northwestern have gone to overtime, including the instant classic four-overtime championship game in 2017 … Five of the last seven meetings have been decided by four points or less.
Looking Ahead: The winner of Saturday's championship will receive the automatic qualifier into next week's NCAA Division III Tournament. The NCAA Tournament bracket will be announced on Monday.
