Game of the Week: Crown at Minnesota Morris - Men's Basketball
UMAC Game of the Week Archives
ST. PAUL -- The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Game of the Week is a feature that takes place each week throughout the conference portion of the season with one contest being selected and highlighted as the UMAC Game of the Week.
This week's UMAC Game of the Week will take place on Saturday, January 10 as the UMAC portion of the basketball season kicks off with Crown College traveling to the University of Minnesota Morris in a re-match of last year's UMAC Tournament semifinal contest.
About the Storm
The UMAC season kicks off with what has been a very competitive and even matchup over the past four seasons, with Crown holding a slight 5-4 advantage over Minnesota Morris in that time span. Last season, Crown swept the Cougars, including a 97-95 win in the conference tournament semifinals.
The matchup has provided some interesting storylines over the years, with each team winning at home and on the road, with games ranging from blowouts to nail-biters. Both teams will look a bit different this season as key players from previous years have moved on for both squads. For the Storm, The backcourt duo of Truman Shetler and Bryce Williams is gone, as well as the tireless Billy Berglund down low. The Cougars inside presence of Evan Reller and Brendon Foss as well as the sharpshooting Tyler Pendleton will also be missing from future matchups.
With the playing styles potentially reversing this year it will be intriguing to see which new-look lineup prevails in a matchup that is always exciting and likely to have playoff implications as the season draws to a close.
About the Cougars
Minnesota Morris begins the UMAC season at home this Saturday as they host Crown in the UMAC Game of the Week. The Cougars picked up a win on Tuesday night ending an eight game losing streak.
This season guard play has been the Cougars strength as RJ Dean and CD Douglas have been the leaders on offense.
Defensively the Cougars have given up some points this season but have been in many of their contests. Rebounding has been done by committee so far in the 2014-2015 season thanks to a commitment to go and get the ball after a missed shot.
Game Notes
- Morris and Crown played three exciting games last season and with both teams struggling in the non-conference season Saturday’s game will see both teams looking to start the UMAC season on a high note.
- The Cougars are highest scoring offense in the UMAC, averaging 71.2 ppg.
- Crown’s James Brown comes into the game as the 4th leading scorer in the UMAC at 14.3 points per game.
- Despite having the least amount of fouls called against them, the Cougar defense is third in the league in steals per game.
- Crown needs to control their turnovers as they have turned the ball over 18.2 times per game through the non-conference season. The Storm challenge other teams on the defensive end though, ranking second in steals per game (7.5).
- UMM commits the least amount of turnovers per game in the conference.
- Crown’s Austin VanDerHeyden is second on the team in points at 10.1 (11th in the UMAC) and first in rebounds with 7.1 (3rd in the UMAC). He also adds 1.8 blocks per game (2nd in UMAC).
Minnesota Morris Recap |
Crown Recap |
Final Score: UMM 83, CC 56
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