DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – Following its thrilling victory over Crown College Monday night to open the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament, the St. Scholastica men's basketball team will see a familiar foe in Wednesday night's semifinal when they square-off with top-seeded University of Northwestern (Minn.).
Where:
Ericksen Center – St. Paul, Minn.
When:
Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Live Video & Stats: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/unw/
Social Media:
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St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 14-12, 10-6 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
What You Need to Know about the Saints:
-The Saints defeated the Storm in Monday's UMAC Tournament first round game 75-71 thanks to a
Collin Anderson (Eagan, Minn./Eagan HS) 3-pointer in the final 40 seconds of regulation.
-Monday night's victory was the team's lowest shooting percentage (.379) in a win this season.
-CSS only had five players score in the win and all five were in double-figures.
-Anderson and
Nick Carlson (Canyon, Minn./South Ridge HS) each scored 18 points, while
Jarod Wilken (Annandale, Minn./Annandale HS) added 14 points off the bench.
-
Jack Silgen (Crosby, Minn./Crosby-Ironton HS (St. Thomas)) had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds and
Quinn Fischer (Esko, Minn./Esko HS) added 12 points.
-Those same five are averaging double-figures in scoring this season; CSS has not finished a season with five players averaging in double-figures in scoring since the 1996-97 season.
-Anderson is 29 points shy of moving into the program's top-five career scoring list.
-The Saints are 12-0 this season when they record at least 40 rebounds.
-CSS averaged only 33 rebounds per game in the two meetings with Northwestern.
-The Saints lead the UMAC with 11.2 offensive rebounds per game.
What You Need to Know about Northwestern:
Record: 19-6, 15-1 UMAC
-Northwestern's last action was against the Saints to close the regular season on Saturday at The Reif.
-The Eagles won that game 81-68 to capture the UMAC regular season title outright.
-The Eagles have won 13 straight games, which is tied for the sixth-longest current win streak in NCAA Division III.
-UNW ranks in the top-20 nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.53) and turnovers per game (10.5).
-The Eagles lead the conference with an average rebound margin of +5.4.
-Guard Noah Alm finished second in the conference, averaging 17.9 points per game.
-Alm ranks third in NCAA Division III, converting 91.3 percent of his free throw attempts.
-Forward Tanner Youngberg averaged 15.8 points per game and led the UMAC with 10.7 rebounds per game.
-Youngberg ranks seventh in the nation, averaging 4.4 offensive rebounds per game.
-Youngberg led the conference with 14 double-doubles during the season.
-He grabbed 20 rebounds in the first meeting this season between the two teams.
-The Eagles have not lost a UMAC Tournament game at the Ericksen Center since the Saints accomplished the feat in the 2010 UMAC Tournament Semifinals
Series Record: UNW leads 59-29
(Last Meeting: 81-68 UNW – 2/22/2020)
Series History: The Saints and Eagles have met in the UMAC Tournament every year since 2014 with Northwestern winning each of the last six meetings … Three matchups have been in the UMAC Championship game and three have been in the UMAC Semifinals … Three of the games have went to overtime, including a four overtime classic in the 2017 Championship game …. The Eagles swept the Saints during the regular season by an average margin of 18 points.
Looking Ahead: The winner of Wednesday's semifinal will move on to face the winner of the University of Wisconsin-Superior-Bethany Lutheran College semifinal in Saturday's championship game.
