Final: WSU 66, UND 51. A three-game win streak into the holiday. Clemente leads WSU with 13. Chamerlain and Hawkins add 11. WSU 4 of 17 from three and 12 of 25 from the line.
3:37: WSU 60, UND 45.
7:53: WSU 47, UND 30. WSU is 10 of 16 from the field in the second half.
9:54 remaining: WSU 43, UND 30. Chamberlain has given WSU a lift with eight points. Clemente has seven rebounds. WSU’s pressure is getting to the Sioux. The Shockers have raised their shooting percentage from 40.9 at halftime to 48.6.
15:32 remaining: WSU 32, UND 26.
16:18 remaining second half: WSU 32, UND 23. After 10 misses, WSU made a three. Reggie Chamberlain busted the slump from the top of the key. WSU got a steal and basket off its press and the crowd is going a little. Can the Shockers keep it going? For their mental outlook, they need to finish this game with 16 strong minutes.
Halftime: WSU 23, UND 16. Give WSU credit for disciplined defense. They aren’t giving UND any backdoor baskets. Other than that, it’s not pretty. WSU is shooting so poorly it is letting an inferior team stick around. UND is changing defenses and playing a packed-in zone, just like any smart team would against the Shockers. Murry leads WSU with six points, although he is 2 of 6 from the field. Clemente has five points and four rebounds.
1:50 remaining: WSU 21, UND 16. WSU 8 for 20 (0-5 from three) and 5 for 12 from the line.
3:57 remaining: WSU 21, UND 16. UND is shooting 29. 4 percent from the field.
7:58 remaining: WSU 17, UND 10. WSU desperately looking for somebody who make a three. 0 for 5. Marshall wants Mantas to try. Mantas passed up an open shot, although I don’t think it was as open as it appeared from the WSU bench, and his coach yelled at him to shoot. Mantas is definitely worth a try as a three-point solution. UND is 1 for 9 from three. The Sioux don’t have a chance unless they can make threes. They won’t score much inside.
11:14 remaining: WSU 13, UND 7. Mantas in without riding his bike. He moved to the bench. David Kyles is in.
15:27 remaining: WSU 7, UND 5. WSU playing zone to take away the backdoor plays in UND’s Princeton-style offense. UND may throw everything at WSU. They started with a box-and-one on Clevin Hannah.
Ted Woodward has joined me courtside. He wants to say hi to his father, a loyal reader.
WSU starters - Stutz, Hannah, Clemente, Murry, Hawkins. UND – Harkins, Mertens, Harrison, Benter, Joseph.
P.J. Couisnard is in town for the holidays, with son Big P along, on a 10-day break from Soproni in Hungary. He says his game is good and the food is an adjustment.
I talked with North Dakota assistant Ryan Moody before the game. Ryan, like myself is a graduate of Benedictine College. Unlike myself, he could really play the game. I covered many of his games at BC in the 1990s and he was one of BC’s better outside shooters. UND is redshirting six freshman this season to give them a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament as seniors. UND is making the transition from Division II to Division I and won’t be eligible for the dance until then. Most of their height is taking the season off.
Listened to Bob and Bruce this morning, which I always do because I never know when Bob will cheapshot with a comment or two and I need to know. One call sent me through the roof. The caller threw out his belief that no Shocker other than Paul Miller had improved over the past 10 seasons.
That, of course, is ridiculous on many levels. Let’s start with the main one. To believe no Shocker other than Paul Miller improved, you must believe that Mark Turgeon-coached teams raised their records from 9-19 to 15-15 to 18-12 to 21-11 to 22-10 to 26-9 with no player getting better, except Miller.
Does that sound remotely possible?
It is not. I could throw out a lot stats, which people can find in media guides or on the Internet. Some players play better at some times. Some stats go up and down, depending on the team and how the season plays out. As a rule, however, I would say almost every player improves to some degree. Some more than others. Some may improve in ways it is difficult to see from the stands. Some may go backward at times.
In the Turgeon era, players such as Randy Burns, Rob Kampman and Jamar Howard played as freshmen, which means their improvement was not going to be as dramatic. Had Kampman averaged 2.2 points in a reserve role as a freshmen, then averaged 9.0 as a junior, he would have been hailed as an example of improvement. Instead, we saw those players get the maximum out of their talents for four seasons.
I asked Terrell Benton, one of those players from the past 10 years, about his improvement.
“I was substantially better as a senior than I was as a freshman,” he said. “My scoring went down my senior year and I was a better player. A better rebounder. A better defender.”
Benton also said fans don’t see much of the improvement that is important – in practice, in the lockerroom, in the classroom. He rattled off several Shockers – Troy Mack as the No. 1 example – that made jumps during their career.
Rant over. Ready for the game.