NDSU men dominate in the paint

By Jeff Kolpack

January 05, 2006 at 11:00 PM

This was the wrong game to unveil the bright lights and big arena feel of a new video replay scoreboard system. North Dakota State played men's basketball like it was in a dark alley behind an old saloon.

The 61-52 win over Utah Valley State College on Thursday night was accomplished with physical, hard work.

"They were a lot tougher than we were," said Utah Valley head coach Dick Hunsaker. "They manhandled us on the backboards."

The Bison took advantage of a 45-25 rebounding advantage to even their record at 8-8 before 2,152 fans at the Bison Sports Arena. Utah Valley, a Division I independent, lost for the fifth time in six games and dropped to 6-9.

The Bison came in averaging 16 3-point field goal attempts a game - something the Wolverines took away. NDSU attempted just four treys, making one, and turned into a slug-it-out, go-to-the-rack team.

It didn't make for great instant replays, although that didn't matter since the new video board system didn't have the replay component installed.

"I forgot we even had it," Bison forward Andre Smith said.

No matter.

The Bison outscored the Wolverines 13-3 in a key stretch late in the second half to head into a nine-day break on a winning note.

"I think our guys were still a little road weary," said Bison head coach Tim Miles. "Our goal was to dominate the paint and I think our guys got it done in the lane."

Helping NDSU's cause was the absence of Utah Valley starting center Ben Devoe, the team's leading scorer.

"He was not feeling real well," Hunsaker said.

NDSU took control early. It led 30-21 at halftime despite a 30-13 rebounding advantage and 28 percent shooting by Utah Valley.

The Wolverines chased guard Ben Woodside on the perimeter, leaving some room for Winkelman and Smith to operate underneath. Smith had three buckets and a free throw and the Bison led 20-7.

UVSC chipped away early in the second half. It got to within 45-43 with 10 minutes left.

"There were times in the game where we let them creep back," said NDSU guard Mike Nelson. "We buckled down on defense."

Andrew Brown's rebound basket with 4:01 left gave NDSU a 58-46 lead. Six different players scored in a 13-3 surge with only Smith getting more than one bucket.

It wasn't pretty or fluid, but it worked.

UVSC (6-9): Peterson 5-10 0-0 10, Heck 3-8 0-0 8, T. Wesley 5-12 1-2 11, Bailey 2-6 0-0 4, Thomas 0-5 1-2 1, Lang 1-2 0-0 3, Allison 2-7 4-5 9, Troyer 2-5 2-2 6, R. Wesley 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Grant 0-1 0-0 0, Devoe 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-57 8-11 52.

NDSU (8-8): Winkelman 7-15 5-5 19, Smith 5-12 5-7 15, Moormann 2-4 0-0 4, Woodside 3-9 4-6 11, Nelson 2-7 4-4 8, Riley 0-0 0-0 0, Obadina 0-0 0-0 0, Hahn 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 2-3 0-2 4. Totals: 21-51 18-24 61.

Halftime: NDSU 30, UVSC 21. Total fouls: UVSC 19, NDSU 11. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: UVSC 25 (Bailey 5); NDSU 45 (Smith 9). 3-point goals: UVSC 4-13 (Peterson 0-2, Heck 2-4, Bailey 0-1, Thomas 0-1, Lang 1-1, Allison 1-3, Troyer 0-1); NDSU 1-4 (Woodside 1-2, Winkelman 0-1, Nelson 0-1). Assists: UVSC 13 (Bailey, Thomas 4); NDSU 11 (Hahn 5). Turnovers: UVSC 6 (Peterson, Heck 2); NDSU 13 (Woodside 4). A-2,152.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack at (701) 241-5546

By Jeff Kolpack

Jeff would like to dispel the notion he was around when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, but he is on his third decade of reporting with Forum Communications. The son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, Jeff has worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he's covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995.
Jeff has covered all nine of NDSU's Division I FCS national football titles and has written three books: "Horns Up," "North Dakota Tough" and "Covid Kids." He is the radio host of "The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack" April through August.