DULUTH — Some youngsters were posting white cards with the number “3” against one of the brick walls at Romano Gymnasium Saturday for every time the Minnesota Duluth men’s basketball team made a 3-pointer.
It was the son of UMD coach Justin Wieck, Jordy, age 10, and his buddies, but they weren’t very busy.
Senior guard Drew Blair had 22 points, five rebounds and four steals as No. 14 Minnesota Duluth downed Michigan Tech 99-65 in a nonconference game before 425 at Romano for its 18th straight home win. The Bulldogs mostly did it the good ol’ fashioned way, with strong inside play, drives to the hoop, pullups in the lane and free throws, lots of them.
UMD, which had five players reach double figures in scoring, made only six 3-pointers for the game, and that left Jordy feeling a little left out.
Clint Austin / Duluth News Tribune
“The first thing he told me after the game was, “We need to shoot more 3s,” Justin Wieck said, drawing a laugh.
Give Jordy credit. The St. John’s fifth-grader knows his math.
A 3-pointer is worth 50% more than a 2-pointer, and its increased use has been part of the analytics craze of the last couple decades, but perhaps not factored in is how inside play can better lead to the free-throw line while putting the other team in foul trouble.
UMD (5-1) had a 50-36 advantage over Tech (2-4) in points in the paint and a 25-4 advantage in made free throws.
“Tech was pushing up on us, and that forced us to get downhill,” Blair said. “I think we did a good job attacking the rim. I think we were a little more athletic and bigger than them inside. We’re a balanced team. We know we’ve got five guys out there who are going to contribute, and it’s harder stopping us that way.”
The box score confirms it.
Clint Austin / Duluth News Tribune
Jack Middleton added 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting, Charlie Katona and Austin Andrews were tough inside, with 15 and 14 points, respectively, and nine rebounds apiece, and Joshua Brown added 10 points and four assists.
“We never know what night is going to be for what guy, so we’re all about sharing it,” Blair said.
It was Blair’s night Tuesday as he scored a career-high 38 points in UMD’s 94-89 overtime victory at St. Cloud State in their NSIC opener.
“I struggled the first couple games of the year from the field, but then finally on Tuesday, I got it going a little bit,” Blair said.
Blair sure did, connecting on 6 of 13 shots from beyond the arc against St. Cloud State, making as many 3-pointers in that game as his entire team did Saturday.
Michigan Tech, however, resisted the temptation to double Andrews inside and played tight along the perimeter.
“I know Duluth can shoot the 3s, and I wanted to make them beat us inside, and obviously, they did that,” Huskies coach Josh Buettner said. “That part’s on me, but if you don’t win the one-on-one matchups, I don’t think it matters what you do system-wise. You’re not going to win.”
Buettner, a longtime Tech assistant, took over as head coach last season and the Huskies went 21-7, but it’s been more of a struggle this season after losing three all-conference players.
“It takes time for freshmen and sophomores to learn how to defend, and we don’t know how to do it yet,” Buettner said. “And when you play a team as good as we just played, it’s going to get exposed. That’s a really good team. Even last year they beat us by 32, so we haven’t figured them out yet.”
Clint Austin / Duluth News Tribune
That’s part of what makes UMD so tough to stop. The Bulldogs can score inside and out, with matchup nightmares, and high basketball IQs, spread around the court.
UMD finished shooting 57.6% (34 of 59) from the floor compared to 39.1% (27 of 69) for Tech. And while the Bulldogs only made six 3-pointers, they only attempted 11 shots from beyond the arc.
Blair had 14 points as UMD led 48-32 at the half. The lead gradually increased as the Bulldogs were able to give bench players increased minutes.
Lincoln Meister, a 6-foot-9 junior forward, had one of the late highlights, slamming home an alley-oop pass from senior guard Isaiah Watts.
“We’ve got some versatile guys, so a lot of what we do is based on how the opponent is guarding us, and Tech was really staying out on the shooters,” coach Wieck said. “For us, it’s about making the right play.”
Clint Austin / Duluth News Tribune
And nobody is craftier than Blair, whose previous career-high was 33, which he did twice.
Blair showed off a plethora of moves Saturday, including an NBA-distance 3-pointer, drop-step shots, floaters in the lane, hesitation dribbles and an ankle-busting spinning layup where the 6-foot-5 lefthander finished with his right hand.
Blair almost looks ambidextrous out on the court.
“Everyone is used to guarding right-hand guys their whole life growing up, so it’s probably a little weird getting used to. I’ll take it, I’ll take any advantage I can get,” Blair said. “I try to mix in the right hand here and there. I think I’m pretty good with it. Who knows? I broke my left hand when I was little (hanging on a soccer goal post, which then collapsed), so I got some practice with my right. Maybe that’s it.”
Michigan Tech — Eric Carl 11, Tyler Robarge 8, Marcus Tomashek 7, Josh Terrian 4, Adam Hobson 2, Brad Simonsen 9, Pete Calcaterra 7, Dan Gherezgher 5, Dawson Nordgaard 4, Nate Abel 3, Jason Waterman 3, Logan Geissler 2. Totals 27 4-6 65.
3-pointers — Carl 3, Simonson, Gherezgher, Abel, Waterman.
Minnesota Duluth — Drew Blair 22, Jack Middleton 15, Charlie Katona 15, Austin Andrews 14, Joshua Brown 10, Joshua Strong 6, Mattie Thompson 5, Isaiah Watts 5, Lincoln Meister 4, Zach Lea 3. Totals 34 25-30 99.
3-pointers — Blair, Middleton, Brown, Strong 2, Watts.
Clint Austin / Duluth News Tribune
