ST. PETER, MINN. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s basketball team will host its final non-conference game of the season on Saturday against the University of Northwestern. Tip-off will take place on Gus Young Court at 3 p.m. Gustavus will enter the contest with a record of 4-1 overall, while Northwestern comes to town at 1-6.
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SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Northwestern is coming off a UMAC championship in 2013-14 and returns three starters and numerous others who received significant playing time last season. The Eagles ran through the UMAC conference tournament, defeating the College of St. Scholastica and Crown College by margins of 23 and 20, respectively, before running into NCAA Division III Champion UW-Whitewater in the first round of the NCAA tournament and falling 79-55.
This season, the Eagles have been led by junior guard Michael Carney who is averaging a team-high 14.1 points per game on 37.8-percent shooting. Big-man Kyle Ooms, a 6’6 forward, leads the team in rebounding with 8.3 rebounds per game and Porter Morrell is second on the team in points with 10.9 per game and leads the team in assists with 2.4 per game.
THE SERIES
Saturday’s matchup marks the ninth overall meeting between Gustavus and Northwester in men’s basketball. The Gusties hold the advantage in the all-time series with a record of 7-1 to this point. The last time these two teams met was on Nov. 28, 2001, when Gustavus came away with a 75-59 victory. The Eagles’ lone victory in the series came in the 1999-2000 season when they defeated the Gusties 73-53.
LAST TIME OUT
Gustavus heads into today’s game coming off a thrilling 68-65 victory over No. 5-ranked St. Thomas on Wednesday evening in St. Peter. The Gusties were able to weather a strong St. Thomas comeback effort in the second half. After Gustavus took a six-point lead into the half, the Tommies went on a 12-2 run to begin the second half to take a 52-45 lead with 11:10 remaining. However, the Gusties continued to fight and eventually regained the lead at the 6:37 mark. The game went back and forth for the final six minutes and came down to the final possession with Gustavus leading 68-65 with 18 seconds left to play. However, St. Thomas was unable to convert on two three-point chances in the closing seconds and Gustavus came away with a victory in its MIAC-opener.
Northwestern is most recently coming off a 84-75 overtime loss to Bethel University in St. Paul. With the Eagles trailing by two with 4.9 seconds to play in regulation, Northwestern’s Cody Sprenger found Carney under the hoop for a layup as the buzzer sounded to create overtime. The Eagles won the overtime tip and scored the first two points of the extra period, but Bethel went on a 13-2 run the rest of the way to hand Northwestern its third consecutive loss.
REBOUNDING MACHINES
Through five games, Gustavus is out-rebounding its opponents by nearly nine boards per game (36.8-27.8). Wednesday’s contest with St. Thomas was no exception, as the Gusties pulled down 14 offensive boards and out-rebounded the Tommies 37-24.
BIG MEN ON CAMPUS
Gustavus’s trio of big men in Peter Kruize (So., St. Peter, Minn.), Sergio Najera (Jr., New Prague, Minn.) and Brody Ziegler (Jr., Mankato, Minn.) all average at least 18.4 minutes per game to this point and have been three of the Gusties’ top five scorers, scoring 10.4, 8.8 and 11.2 points per game, respectively. Najera is coming off his best game of the season against St. Thomas, in which he notched 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
UP NEXT
Gustavus will play its next game on Wednesday when they travel to Northfield, Minnesota to take on the Knights of Carleton. Tip-off will be at 7 p.m. at West Gym.