Maverick Gameday

So the win on Wednesday night over Bethany was a blowout. I thought Bethany could post up 70+ points but apparently they couldn't get over 45. We now come to this afternoon's game against Saint Mary's University Cardinals. This is a game that will measure where the Mavericks are at compared to Winona State. Earlier this year Winona handled the Cardinals 118-53.

Is this going to be another blowout win? Probably but it's important for the Mavericks to know that this is the easiest part of the schedule before playing Winona. What the Mavericks have to do is prioritize each game. First go after the win, thats the most important part. Then go after the execution of plays. These blowout wins could be helpful for preparing us for the big matchup against Winona then North Central Conference play.

Prediction: I'm going to watch the fireworks in a 30 point blowout... 97-66

Maverick Gameday

As most of you know, finals week is upon us and I've been extremely busy with school stuff. This past weekend the Mavericks split on the road losing to Adams State and winning against Ft. Lewis. The Adams State game should have been a Maverick victory but they let the game get away from them in the final minutes.

My reaction from the games in Colorado? We can definatly tell that we are not the same team as last year. Last year's team was able to come back from being down as many as 13 points and still end up the victor. I'm not so sure this team can do that. They are capable of winning the tough games but they cannot afford to be down by more than 8 points per game.

Tonight the Mavericks will take on the other Mankato school, Bethany Lutheran. Bethany is a Division III school that started it's year 1-4. Last year the Mavericks beat the Vikings 93-77 at Bresnan. Every indication shows that this year will not be any different. The Mavericks should be capable scoring more than 90 points in a blowout win.

Prediction: Mavericks win 97-72

Be sure to check out the wrestling match today before the basketball game. MSU takes on a very good Northern State squad.

Happy Thanksgiving

So I go back to South Dakota for Thanksgiving and head to my great aunt's house for Thanksgiving, and of course I had no internet access until Saturday afternoon, just in time to listen to the Michigan Tech - MSU game, and of course I couldn't do Maverick Gameday. Get your leftovers ready, here we go.

Men's Basketball

A split on the weekend up in Duluth in the "it's got three names" Classic. On Friday the Mavericks defeated Northern Michigan in a see-saw battle 67-59. The victory was without a full team performance though. Atilia Santos did not have a very effective game against UNM scoring only 6 points but pulling down 7 rebounds. Jadee Jones scored a team high 18 points in the victory.

Jones' performance on Friday night didn't transfer to Saturday. Atilia and Jadee's performances switched when the Mavericks lost their first game of the season 76-74 to Michigan Tech. One thing that Tech found out is that in order to beat the Mavericks, shut down their star player. Jadee Jones, the D-I transfer, has formulated into LA's replacement, but without him playing a solid game, the Mavericks struggled and eventually lost the game.

The Mavericks hit the road again to Durango, CO where they take on Adams State and Ft. Lewis in important regional action. Both teams made the NCAA regional last year with the Mavericks handling the Skyhawks from Ft. Lewis rather easily. More on that coming on Friday.

Women's Basketball

How does the women's basketball team book a trip to Florida in November? That would have been the best weekend of the year and it was for the women's team. The Mavericks scored a school record 122 points in their win against Ohio Valley, 122-72. Eight players scored in double digits as Heather Johnson lead the way with 15 points and 3 assists.

Saturday night was a mirror image as Friday night as the Mavericks cruised to another big victory beating Palm Beach Atlantic 97-75. Joanne Noreen scored 20 and Liz Trauger pulled down 9 rebounds in the Maverick victory.

Next up for the Mavericks is a showdown tonight against Minnesota-Crookston at the Taylor Center, 7:00pm tip-off.

Women's Hockey

The Hockey team traveled up north to Duluth and got swept in a weekend series that featured a Saturday score of 10-4... yeah, enough said about that.

Maverick Gameday

The Mavericks said it themselves, they didn't play their best basketball this past weekend. On Friday night against Truman State it took them until the second half to get going on their way to a 66-59 victory. The matchup against Pace University really tested how the Mavericks can defend a perimeter game. It pretty much showed that they can't. The Mavericks allowed 32 shots from the arch (10 of which were made). Pace did a great job breaking down the Mavericks zone defense, so for our sake, I hope the coaches broke down the film and found out a better way to defend a perimeter team.

So, with that, guess what we have on tap tonight? Yup, another perimeter team. The Mavericks start their NCAA tournament bid tonight against Concordia-St. Paul. Last year the Mavs traveled up to St. Paul and recieved their first loss of the season. This year the tables have changed, the Golden Bears do not return a single starter from last year.

Tonight the Mavericks hope to keep these winning ways but in order to do that they will need to play a better perimeter defense. The Bears will not be afraid to shoot the three ball, much like Pace. Look for the Mavericks to change some this up offensively. They can't keep relying on Morrow and Jones to score points like they have the first two games. Whitaker and Santos should be getting more chances to shoot the ball or earn an assist on the stat sheet.

Prediction: If the Mavericks play like they did this past weekend, it could be a tough game, but if they play like they say they can, this one could be over midway through the second half. I'll take the Mavericks in a 78-68 victory.

Pepsi Tip-off Day 2

Men's Basketball

After a shaky start to the season, the Mavericks have one day to get ready for the Pace University Setters. Tonight's match up should be the best of the weekend for the Mavs. Pace was granted the #7 seed in the Regional tournament last year before losing to St. Rose. Pace is a senior heavy team (4) that likes to play the perimeter. And with a team that plays the perimeter you need to defend with speed. Even though Marcus Hill and Jesse Clark didn't get much time last night, expect some time to be shared between them for defense.

I hope last night's game got all of the first game jitters because if we play like we did last night, we might not win this game. But I'm not too worried. The Mavericks were 7-1 last year in games that were played with no rest, the only loss coming to South Dakota in the NCC Championship game.

Prediction: The Mavericks should win this game as well. 88-75

Women's Basketball

The women's team is coming off a very solid victory against Wisconsin-Stout. They spread the ball around very nicely but they did have some dumb mistakes. There were a lot of traveling calls as well as throwing the ball away. To minimize these mistakes the Mavericks have to slow it down at times. Tonight they face a fairly good Northwood team that just got done roughing up St. Cloud. St. Cloud, however, lost a few key seniors.

Prediction: Keeping with their game plan from last night should pull off the Maverick victory tonight. 76-70

Maverick Double Gameday

6 games in two days. It's going to be a busy weekend. Thats not including the Maverick soccer game against UNO right now. Let's start off with Men's Basketball

Men's Basketball

Finally, the season in which I rellish. I love going to basketball games and getting into the heads of the players. The Mavericks take the court for the first time this season against Truman State. The Bulldogs are coming off of a 16-13 2006-07 season in the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Their season ended to a loss from Central Missiouri in the MIAA tournament. They return 4 juniors and 2 seniors to this years squad. Truman is expected to fininsh 8th out of the 10 schools that compete in the MIAA.

The Mavericks return to action after getting bounced by Winona (again) in the NCAA regional tournament. After losing 3 key seniors, the Mavericks fill the void with Jadee Jones, a D-I transfer, and experience from starting center Atilia Santos. The Truman game tonight will set the tone for a very challanging season that features very talented in region opponents. That's what the Pepsi Tipoff is for, schedule some cake opponents to get ready for the rest of the season. Truman State doesn't stand a chance tonight.

Prediction: 85-62 Mavericks. Watch out for Marcus Hill, this freshman is going to make some noise tonight.

Men's Hockey

After failing to get a point against the Gophers this weekend, the Mavericks take to the road, again. The Denver Pioneers have historically given the Mavericks fits, especially on the road. The Mavericks defense has been roughed up during the last series, allowing 9 goals last weekend. If the Mavericks plan on winning games, they have to get the offense started. Well, I really shouldn't say that, they've been scoring just fine the past 6 games, the defense has been the problem. The Mavericks have allowed more scoring opprotunities than they are creating them, and the offense has been clicking lately.

Prediction: If the Mavericks can get their defense in gear, they can take away 2 or 3 points on the weekend. I think they can pull of the split and come back home for Thanksgiving with 2 points.

Women's Basketball

The women's basketball team returns a young team from last year that highlighted a huge upset victory against Augie in Sioux Falls. They hope to capitalize on an impressive squad that features Heather Johnson, Tiffany Moe, and Jamie Kienitz. They take on a Wisconsin-Stout team that is returning 3 starters from last year. They make the drive to Mankato to start the season as well.

The Mavericks should be able to move the ball around and score points fairly easily tonight. We should see a very good sign of things to come this season. I've been told by another coach in the NCC that MSU should be on track to compete with St. Cloud and North Dakota.

Prediction: The Mavericks start the season off right, 69-60.

Mavericks Picked 2nd in NCC Media Poll

1. USD (18)
2. MSU (1)
3. SCSU
4. UMD
5. UND
6. Augie
7. UNO
(*) - First place votes

First off, I'm suprised. MSU is picked 2nd in the final year of the NCC, capturing one first place vote (the only first place vote coming from Dan Myers, The Reporter's Men's Basketball beat reporter, a little bias? Maybe). But what really suprised me is that UMD is picked third and no where near in points total to USD, MSU, and SCSU. I thought for sure that the Mavericks would have been picked third behind USD and SCSU. This is how I would have made my media poll:

1. USD
2. SCSU
3. MSU
4. UMD
5. Augie
6. UND
7. UNO

One thing you have to realize about these preseason media polls is that generally they are crap. It's just a fancy way of predicting the champion, before injuries and the games being played. I agree that USD is favored this year, hell, I have the Coyotes winning the National Championship this year. USD returns all five starters, a team that won the NCC Championship last year, but dropped out early from the Regional Tournament by Nebraska-Kearney.

St. Cloud returns a very talented squad this year. David Dreas has a nack of posting up 30 points per game and is my front runner for Player of the Year in the NCC.

I'm not so sure about the Minnestoa Duluth prediction, they return Jordan Nuness, an All-NCC First Team prediction of mine. Duluth is going to be a strong contender for the #8 seed in the Regional tournament.

Then we come to the Mavericks. Picked second in the conference, the Mavericks are going to have to find a way to close the gap from losing three important seniors last year. Luke Anderson, Paris Kyles, and Tony Thomason were very important assets to the Mavericks success last year. Now they have Jesse Clark to take the place of Thomason, Jadee Jones, a D-I transfer to take LA's place, and Mitch Gosson taking the other forward position on the court. Aside from Jones, whom I know nothing about, Clark and Gosson have their work cut out for them this year.

It's going to be a good year and the Mavericks should be fighting hard for a top 4 spot in the region this year. I can't wait.

Lots Going on Last Weekend

I can't appologize enough about missing the Gamedays this weekend. I'll try not to let it pass again. But enough of that, there was a lot going on this past weekend.

Football

I said enough on Saturday, check out Saturday's post for more info.

Men's Hockey

A sweep on the weekend against Alabama-Huntsville is great news. We got some momentum rolling for when the Big Bad "M" comes into town on Friday. A 7-0 blasting on Friday night was exactly what the doctor ordered for the Mavericks. Kalinski scored the games first two goals while working the power play. 3 of MSU's goals came from the man advantage. The Mavericks didn't stop on Friday night as they kept playing hard toward a 4-2 victory on Saturday night. Mick Berge scored twice as the Mavericks completed the weekend sweep. Goaltenders Mike Zacharias and Dan Tormey both split playing time this past weekend. What will be interesting is who's going to start against Minnesota on Friday?

Men's Basketball

Yes, it's in exhibition, but I can finally say this, Maverick Basketball is back! The Mavericks traveled up to the cities to take on the Golden Gophers in exhibition play. Although MSU never had the lead in the 68-94 loss, it did see some promise in a team that lost three of its best players last year. The starting five was about what I imagined it to be: Santos, Clark, Morrow (Jake), Gosson, and Jadee Jones (D-I transfer). If this team wants to be as good as they were last year, they'll need to win the rebound war, especially on the offensive side since we don't have the sharp shooters in LA, Thomason, and Kyles anymore.

Volleyball

The last home game of the year saw the Mavericks go down in 3 straight sets. It was almost expected however because Duluth is ranked in the top 5. The Mavericks will have one last game on the season before (cross your fingers) advancing to the NCAA tournament. This Maverick team is definately capable of upsetting a few teams in the regional tounament, but we'll have to see what the committee thinks.

Soccer

Stick around this weekend and check out the Mavericks host the regional tounament at the Pitch at Gage Towers. The Mavericks wont be playing until Sunday at 1pm and a win there will have us hosting another game next Friday (I believe how that works). This is a National Championship calibur team, get out there and support the Mavericks for this one.

Women's Hockey

A split on the weekend suggests that maybe we can compete in the WCHA this year. Thurday night's victory against St. Cloud required extra time, but not much extra. It took Kala Buganski only 52 seconds to score in the extra frame giving the Mavericks a 3-2 victory. Saturday afternoon didn't go the Mavericks way though. The Huskies took down the Mavericks 3-1. The Mavericks will be taking on Ohio State this weekend at home.

Women's Basketball

Not much to say here except that the Maverick hoops team hopes to build on last years NCC run. An exhibition game against the U started off the season. The Mavericks lost however 86-60. The Mavs will be looking for Heather Johnson and Tiffany Moe for the team leadership roles, and thats what they got on Thursday night.

Pepsi Tip-off is only two weeks away, this is going to be a memorable basketball season for both the men and women. See you later this week.

Weekend Wrap Up

Men's Hockey

Good job to the men's hockey team going up to Anchoarge and pulling off a tie and win on Friday and Saturday respectively. The Mavericks had to pull from behind on Friday night when AA scored two goals in the first period. Kael Mouillierat scored with 6 minutes left to go in the second period then Zach Harrison deflected a shot from the point for the second goal in the third.

Saturday night was led by goal tender Mike Zacharias stopping all 25 shots by AA. James Gaulrapp and Mick Berge scored the games two lone goals leading the Mavericks to a 2-0 victory.

3 points in the right direction before another long road trip to Alabama-Huntsville this weekend. More on that on Friday.

Women's Hockey

The Mavericks scored 4 goals on the weekend but leave with 0 points. They just can't seem to get that win against Wisconsin. Both Friday and Saturday's games were 4-2 losses. Lindsay Macy and Nina Tikkinen scored the two goals on Friday night. Lisa Edman scored the first goal on Saturday while Nina Tikkinen scored the second goal at the same exact game time as Friday night (both with 31 seconds left in the second period).

On a side note, senior Maggie Fisher tied the all time points mark (60) with the assist of Tikkinen's second goal of the weekend.

St. Cloud State is on tap for this weekend with a special Thursday night game at All Season Arena. The game features Skate for the Cure where the Mavericks will wear pink jerseys in recognition in the fight against Breast Cancer. Get out there and check it out.

Soccer

We may have the best team in the nation right now. the 1-0 victory against St. Cloud clinched the North Central Conference crown. The worst that can happen now is a tie for first. Keri Blanchette scored the game's lone goal at the 59:12 mark. A tie was saved earlier in the game when senior goal keeper Nicole Johannson punched out a ball going into the upper left corner. The Mavericks look to clinch sole possesion of first in the NCC at home against Minnesoat-Duluth on Friday at 2:00.

Volleyball

The Volleyball team split the weekend with a 5 game victory against South Dakota and a 3 game sweep by Nebraska-Omaha. Post-season play is looking gloomy right now as the North Central Region is completely stacked with talent. But with USD's defeat and Augutana's defeat this past weekend, the Mavericks should stay in the top 6. Two more weeks left for the Mavericks. This weekend they'll play host to St. Cloud on Friday night and Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday night.

Big week coming up this week for Maverick athletics. The football team is coming off of two tough losses and look to rebound and salvage a winning season against Central Washington. The soccer team looks to improve their dominance over the NCC. The volleyball team has to keep on the right track, especially against #1 ranked Minnesota-Duluth. Both hockey teams are looking for some consistancy in their play. Oh yeah, the best time of the year starts up on Thursday night at William's Arena when the men's basketball team tips-off the season with an exhibition agasint the Golden Gophers.

Wow, what a weekend...

Football

Not only did I have fun at USD this weekend, but I also got a chance to "scout" the MSU-USD matchup in two weeks, more on that later. As for the MSU-UMD game, from what I've read, it sounds like MSU won the game, as opposed to UMD losing the game (there is a difference). It's a statement game after the regional polls came out last week. The #9 Mavericks came out evenly matched in the first half but took control of the game in the second half and drove the bus to the endzone time after time. The 35-14 victory vaults the Mavericks into 5th place in the conference, and with Nebraska-Omaha and North Dakota out of the way, it's looking good for the Mavericks.

Ben King threw for 341 yards (relatively low for him this season but still very good), 4 touchdowns but threw 4 picks. King also passed John Hebgen as the all-time career passing record holder at MSU. Averaging a national high 359.4 yards in passing, King will be the first quarterback in MSU history to pass for over 10,000 career yards.

With UNO and UND defeats the past couple of weeks, the next two teams on the conference schedule to look out for is Central Washington and South Dakota. Watching the USD game this past weekend gave me some hope for when we go down to Vermillion, SD on Oct. 27th. The USD pass defense looks average, which is good news for King and company. More good news: USD likes to run the ball... what's that mean? Well, depending on which Maverick's rush defense shows up (the UNO defense or the UND defense), this will tip the hat in our favor. But we can't be looking too far into the future. The first bit of business is to get the Traveling Training Kit back from St. Cloud this weekend.

Volleyball

Oh boy, a devastating loss to Concordia-St. Paul last Tuesday and a straight set defeat to Duluth on Friday night capped a bad week for the Volleyball squad. But here's what I don't get, how do you lose two games in a week and gain a position in the national polls? The Mavericks go from #13 to #12 this week. I'm not going to complain, but with a stacked region, I doubt the regional committee will be as forgiving. We'll see on Wednesday. The Mavericks look to bounce back facing South Dakota on Tuesday at home, then travel to Sioux Falls to avenge an earlier loss to Augustana on Friday night.

Soccer

8 straight wins, that's pretty good, no matter what sport you play in. To add to that, this soccer team may be the best team in Mavericks history. A share of the #1 spot in the regional rankings shows that, and this team is climbing in the polls... fast. The Mavericks have one game this weekend and that's on Sunday at Augustana (big Mavs vs. Augie weekend).

Women's Hockey

We are still waiting for Men's hockey season to start, but in the meantime we get to follow the under-appreciated women around for a bit. The Mavericks traveled out to Connecticut only to fly back home with a couple of losses. After getting shut out in the first game on Friday 2-0, the Mavericks lost a heartbreaker when UCONN scored two goals in the final 1:35 sending the Mavericks home with a 3-2 loss. Next up is the University of Regina this Friday and Saturday in non-conference action at All Season Arena.

Men's Hockey

Speaking of Men's hockey, we are ready to go. After the intrasquad scrimmage last Thursday, the Mavericks hit the road for their first three weeks. This weekend they are hitting the road to Houghton, Mich to take on Michigan Tech. Lets hope for the best after we extended Troy Juttings contract for another year. It's going to be an interesting hockey season.

Men's and Women's Basketball

Midnight Madness was great on Sunday night. Free pizza, free shirts, and a decent look at both the teams. It didn't answer the key questions though, who's going to rise to be a key leader after losing Luke Anderson, Paris Kyles, and Tony Thomason? Is the youth on our team going to catch up with us? Can we beat Winona (twice)? On the women's side, you know that we are in for an interesting season with a legendary coach from another school drunkenly tells you that they are going to be good. The leadership of Heather Johnson and Alex Andrews will form and the sharpshooting of Tiffany Moe will keep the Mavericks in close games this year. Pepsi Tip-Off is a month away, I'm looking foreword to a very fun season.

Do the Mavericks have a chance to place the three major fall sports in the NCAA playoffs? Check back on Wednesday for a reality check.

Weekend Reactions

Football

Homecoming this year was by far the best homecoming this school has had in a very long time. Instead of having the parade on Friday afternoon, they held the parade on Saturday morning with the game following. They created a festive atmosphere for the football game and actually got people to stay.

On to the sports side of the weekend. We had the game won, it was ours to lose and that's exactly what happened. With 6:46 left to go in the game, the Mavericks had a 10 point lead over UND, 34-24. After the Mavericks scored thier touchdown, UND fired back driving the ball to make it a 3 point game with plenty of time on the clock. The next Maverick drive was a text book example of what not to do with the lead late in the game. They started with good field position at the 49 with 5:13 left to go. Ben King scrambled out of the pocket and rushed for 3 yards, but went out of bouds. YOU HAVE TO SLIDE AND KEEP THE CLOCK RUNNING! A false start gave the Mavericks 2nd and 12. King completed his next pass in bounds and kept the clock rolling but the next play stopped the clock because of ANOTHER false start penalty. Now the Mavericks faced 3rd and 9, a must convert play. A holding penalty during the play would have negate what would be a big play, if the ball wasn't dropped. Total time eaten up: 1:33.

Now think about this: we ran the ball this game more than I have ever seen, why didn't we run the ball? I know it's a "sin" to even think about running the ball in this system, but for time management we could have at least forced UND to use one of their timeouts. Instead, bad clock management forced the Mavericks in a tight spot. UND's next possesion was all they needed. A freak short dump to Chappel ended what would have been one of MSU's biggest upsets in school history.

I will say this though, I think we got screwed on UND's previous possesion. We stopped UND's rushing attack all game, and on this particular play a loss of 2 turned into a gain of 33 yards. A simple hand off to the fullback failed and as he was going down he pitched the ball back to the quarterback and gained the 33 yards. I strongly believe that his knee was down and the play was dead, but the refs saw otherwise.

There is a silver lining though. The 38-34 loss got the NCAA selection committee turning their heads to MSU. MSU is now regionally ranked at #9 in the Northwest region. MSU needs to win out in order to secure a playoff spot. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season. Next game is at Duluth next Saturday.

Volleyball

Only one game this weekend, the Volleyball team traveled up to St. Cloud and walked away with a win, 3-0 (30-21, 30-16, 30-20). They are now ranked 13th in D-II and Amanda Beekman earned the NCC offensive player of the week award. Now the difficult part of the season is a head of us. We play #4 Concordia, St. Paul on Tuesday at home then have to travel up to Duluth to take on the #3 team in the nation. A split between these two teams will advance the Mavericks farther up the polls.

Soccer

Two very good wins this weekend on the road from the Maverick soccer team. Only 1 goal was scored on Friday against Duluth, but that's all they needed as the Mavericks came away victorious 1-0. Carly Peterson scored the lone goal unassisted at the 42nd minute mark.

Showcasing one of the strongest defenses in the conference the Mavericks have only allowed 10 goals so far this year. One of the goals given up came from St. Cloud on Sunday, but that didn't stop the Mavericks. They got out of St. Cloud with a 3-1 victory.

Next up is North Dakota on Friday (3:00 pm) and South Dakota on Sunday (Noon).

Women's Hockey

Yes, it's hockey season already. The women got started by playing WCHA conference foe Bemidji State. The Mavericks got out of Bemidji with 3 points. A 3-1 vicory on Friday night and a 2-2 tie on Saturday. In the Saturday tie Junior Maggie Fisher tied the all time goal scoring mark at 35 goals. Up next is a travel out east as the Mavericks play at the University of Connecticut this Friday and Saturday.

Men's Basketball

Midnight Madness is upon us and that means the season is upon us as well. That means questions will be answered... How can we replace two key seniors that got us to the Regional Championship game? Who's going step up this year and be the team leader and momentum builder? Will Atilia Santos be inconsistant as he was last year or will he be as dominant as he was during the Regional tournament? This is going to be a fun season.

Women's Cross Country

I don't cover cross country much but I do have to send out my condolences to the family of Caty Delwiche. The tragic accident happened about 100 yards from my house and shed new light on how I drive my car through the rain. The entire Maverick community will miss Caty and I hope the best for not only her family, but the cross country team as well.

I'm Back!

The beginning of August is here and that means that the school year is around the corner, and that means the fall sports season is almost here. With that, this is what you can expect this year. I will be following the football team closely this fall, since football is my favorite sport. Volleyball will be reported on periodically up until the end of the season. October is going to be interesting, football and volleyball are underway but the winter sports are going to start taking center stage, Hockey starts mid-October and basketball is about ready to get going.

You can expect three sports to take center stage this year, Football, Men's Hockey, and Men's Basketball. Keep coming back for more.

Just Some Quick Updates

Haven't posted in awhile, my mind must still be on spring break. Lot's happened over the break, I just don't have time right now to go into it, maybe later.

The post season awards have been handed out and so far, Luke Anderson has been name 3rd team All-American from both Daktronics and by the college sports information directors. How many All-American lists do we need? Congrats to Luke and good luck to him this weekend when he will be playing in the NBAC/NCAA Division II All Star game in Springfield, Mass.

Lots of news in hockey. Apparently the contract extention of coach Troy Jutting has ticked off some Maverick fans on the United States College Hockey Online fan fourms. Jutting signed on for two more years after his current contract expires on June 30.

Also in hockey, defensemen Steve Wagner will be joining David Backes on the St. Louis Blues squad after signing for the '07-'08 season. Great news for him, bad news for us, we could have used him next year as many are predicting that the WCHA is going to be down next year.

I believe that starting on April 2 the football team will be starting up their spring practices. I think that's the right date, but correct me if I'm wrong. I'm excited for next year, football is what I've grown to love.

I've been working hard on the season reviews so stay with me, I should get one released by Monday or so.

Can't Think of a Title

So here I am, no basketball to get ready for thinking what my next move should be for this blog. It's getting into the slow season but I'll keep updating as much as possible. My next big project is going to be reviewing the Wrestling season, a little bit of Indoor Track and Field season, Men's and Women's Hockey seasons and the Men's and Women's Basketball season. These reviews are going to take awhile, so be patient.

So, with that, have a good weekend.

Regional Championship Review

I wanted to wait awhile before I posted this for two reasons; I wanted a sound mind, and it's been a long, sleepless weekend, I needed the rest when I got back from Winona.

Last night's game was all it was cracked up to be. It was a showdown between the two best teams in the region and they played like it. MSU got out to a quick lead, and much like last year, it was the Paris Kyles show for MSU. After the Mavericks gave up an 11 point lead at one point in the first half, but closed the half out by keeping a 2 point lead.

All throughout the regional tournament, Winona stepped it up in the second half. Against St. Cloud the Huskies kept the game close until the second half, after that they didn't stand a chance. Against Nebraska-Kearney the Warriors came back from a 13 point deficit in the second half. Against the Mavericks, WSU got out to an 11 point lead at one point and didn't look back.

The Mavericks' second half was plagued by poor shooting. We had open looks, took great shots, but couldn't get them to fall. There was a point where Luke and Tony both took an open three that could have potentially changed the pace of the game, a three that couldn't fall. That was the tale of the second half.

The stat sheet told two different stories. Paris was unstoppable in the first half. He went to the locker room with 14 points, but came out and posted only 8 points on 6 shot attempts. Tony played most of the second half after getting two quck fouls in the first half. Winona's Zach Malvik had a good first half with 11 points, then exploded for 21 in the second half.

I don't think we got out coached, I don't think we got screwed by the refs (not like last year anyway), but what I do think is that we just got out played. Winona played better than us. Give us another chance with the same teams, no matter the court, we will win 5 out of 10 times. These teams are just that good.

Congrats to four of our starting five. Luke and Tony earned NCC honors this year. Paris (for the second year in a row) and Atilia earned All-Regional Tournament Team, and they deserved it. Atilia played the best basketball of his career these past two games. I've dogged him earlier this year criticizing his post play, his ball handling, his rebounding abilities and after the Metro State and Winona games he's proved me wrong (it HAS to be the 'fro).

We're going to miss Luke, Tony, Paris, and Terrance. Good luck to you guys on your life's journeys.

North Central Regional Final

Here we go again. It's the rematch the entire world of Division II basketball has been waiting for. After last year's dramatic finish in the regional semi-final, we find ourselves in the same situation.

The Mavericks face off against the best team in the nation, but these guys have weaknesses, not many, but they do have weaknesses. The biggest topic of discussion on the D2Basketball.com message boards is the match up between Santos and Smith down low. Basically it goes like this: if Santos has a game like he did against Metro State, we'll have a classic match up at center, if Santos has a game like he did against South Dakota, Smith will dominate the boards, the post, and the game.

It's funny, these two teams are almost evenly balanced, one of the only differences I see goes to the bench. MSU plays deep into their bench. That can be a good thing, if things go our way like Jesse and Terrance getting assists, Goose and Greeley matching up effectively on defense.

If there's a time to slack off, or have any bad shots, bad ball handling, etc. it's during pre-game warm ups. We need to be on top of our game, have a good game from everyone on the team. Payback is on the line, pride is on the line, but more importantly, a trip to Massachusetts is on the line.

I'm not going to make a prediction on this game, it will only set me up for failure 3 out of 4 times. I want to cheer on the Mavericks without any doubts. I really think we can win this game, I also realize that Winona is THAT DAMN GOOD.

Get there early to get a good seat, remember, if you're going, DON'T LOSE YOUR TICKET, this game is sold out. The gym will be 1,000+ max capacity and loud, but it's going to be a fun game. Get out and cheer loud for the Mavericks, and hopefully after tonight, reserve a hotel for a week in Springfield, MA.

GO MAVERICKS!

Championship Information

UPDATE: A fan bus has been announced for Tuesday's final. The cost is $15 and DOES NOT include a game ticket. Tickets can be purchased from the MSU athletic office. The bus will leave at 2:30 from Buffalo Wild Wings Hilltop (by highway 14).

UPDATE: ALL TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT

The two games yesterday were both pretty good. MSU got up early and only relinquished the lead once, but the margin of victory was 2. Getting the 70-68 victory over Metro was more than impressive. That was by far the best game I've seen the Mavericks play this year. Atilia Santos (love the new 'fro by the way) had a double double by halftime and ended with 17 points and 13 rebounds. The only downside of yesterday's game was Luke Anderson's proformance. It had to be the worst game in Luke's season. I don't think yesterday will affect him too much, it's the senior experience and the All-American inside him that will get him out of the rut.

Tomorrow night's game at McCown Gym starts at 7PM. There was a line of over 100 people waiting to get into the METRO VS MSU GAME! These were mainly all Winona fans. Please, I beg of everyone who is reading this, if you want to get a good seat for tomorrow's championship game, GET THERE 2 HOURS EARLY! Also, if you don't have tickets, get them NOW. They will not be sold at the ticket window, call the Minnesota State Athletic Office at 507-389-6111 to get your tickets or just stop by at the office sometime today.

Again, get your tickets today and get in line to McCown Gym EARLY. For those of you who are in Mankato planning on driving, it takes two and a half hours to get there. See you there, go Mavericks!

North Central Regional Semi-Finals

A couple of things first off. Everything went as expected, Fort Lewis and Adams State both proved why they shouldn’t be there. Well, maybe Adams State deserved it, but Fort Lewis stole their spot from Southwest Minnesota State. The Mavericks handled Fort Lewis very well. After struggling to get into their grove for the first 5 minutes of the game, the Mavericks went on cruise control. They struggled the last 5 minutes of the game to maintain their near 20 point lead, but the fact remains the same, another win closer to the Regional Championship.

Metro State handled Adams State like they did a week ago in the RMAC Shootout. They just used raw power to get past Adams State. It’s a power that I’ve seen in past Metro teams, and past teams to go on and win the Region.

Winona State took St. Cloud to the cleaners in the second half of last night’s match up. The Huskies from St. Cloud hung tough with the Warriors the first half, but it looked like Winona found an answer for David Dreas and ran away with the game.

The biggest game of the night was right after Winona State’s throttling of St. Cloud. The controversy over the numbers 2, 3, and 4 seeds came to an end last night. The South Dakota Coyotes faced off against Nebraska-Kearney’s Loppers. After being up by 14, the Coyotes laid an egg. They couldn’t get the quickness they usually have, they couldn’t rebound the ball, and they couldn’t make the big shots when they needed to. The team that stands the best chance at beating Winona was sent home early.

So with yesterday’s events, that pits us against Metro State and Winona against Nebraska-Kearney.

Metro State has one of the best three point shooters in the nation. This team reminds me much like Duluth. They can live and die by the three ball. If the Mavericks can shut down any looks for the three point shot, they stand a chance in this game. The biggest defensive and offensive question will be Atilia Santos. I don’t know if anyone gave the guy a hand transplant before the game, but the guy had bricks for hands. He couldn’t handle any ball that was passed to him down low. On top of that, he really wasn’t defending too well in the post, a problem that has been seen constantly this season.

If our guards get shooting right away and we keep getting lucky rolls, the Mavericks have a chance in this game. But the problem is that I haven’t seen the Mavericks play like a championship team in a while. During the NCC Tournament they beat Augie easily, but barely pulled out the win against St. Cloud, and they couldn’t get on tempo with South Dakota during the championship game.

This is the first time I’m going to do this since I’ve started this blog, but I’m going to predict a Maverick loss. I think Metro is too tough and has the talent to move on in the tournament. Don’t get on my ass on this, I’m just speaking rationally, but I’ll continue to root for the Mavericks until the end.

North Central Regional First Round

Here it is, and all it takes is 6 wins. 6 consecutive wins and one team in Division II basketball can call themselves champions. 64 teams are chosen, 8 teams from 8 regions, and only 1 can call themselves champs.

The Mavericks have made a name for themselves last year as they went as far as the Regional Semi-final against the would be champion Winona State. The Mavs ended up being the only team to actually give Winona a scare. Some say we got screwed last year(even Winona fans say we got screwed). How so? In the final seconds of last years game in Winona, the Mavericks were down by two, went down the court to tie and missed the jumper. On the rebound a Maverick tipped in the ball for the tie. Or did he? One referee didn't think so and called off the basket calling goaltending. That was it, game over, Mavericks go home after playing the best team in the nation to the buzzer on a screw job.

This year the Mavericks are looking for a repeat proformance from last year. The bracket ended up going the Mavericks way. Winona have possibly the worst side of the bracket. They have to face St. Cloud first, a team that took the Mavericks to the buzzer twice this year. Next would be the winner between South Dakota and Nebraska-Kearney, both teams playing very well coming into this weekend.

The Mavericks have Fort Lewis first and, if we win, will take on the winner between Metro State and Adams State. Metro has been playing like they usually do. A very rich basketball tradition won't die in Denver and Metro will look to get out of the Region alive.

The Mavericks have the early game today at Noon. Fort Lewis College is located in Durango, CO, right next to the New Mexico boarder. They comptete in the RMAC with Adams State, Metro State, and Nebraska-Kearney. The team has been bobbing up and down in the regional rankings all year. Some key wins come from Adams State at home and three wins against Mesa State, home, away, and neutral. They've lost to Nebraska-Kearney away and twice to Metro State at home and on a neutral court. Overall, their resume doesn't look like a team that deserves to be in the tournament.

Don't discount them though. Every game is thrown out the window, the only one's that count are the games that take place from Saturday on.

The Mavericks seniors will have a huge impact on this one game against Fort Lewis. A good win against Fort Lewis will set the tempo for the rest of the Regional Tournament, a bad win then we should see some struggling from the team from then on. This is a team that thrives on momentum. Start the game off strong and keep going. Keep going until they tap out, there shouldn't be an excuse for letting up. It's a statement game, let the region know we are the best. This team has the potential to go on and win it all in Springfield. All it takes is 6 wins.

The Mavericks should take out Fort Lewis, but this team isn't going to go out without a fight. Expect a 10 point victory against the Skyhawks, but it won't be easy.

Mascots vs Mascots

Ok, this is what we got: two birds, a bear, a deer, two dogs, a human, and a cow. Wow, what looks more intimidating? If the region was to be decided by mascots and mascots alone, this is what we would come up with:

Warriors:

Warriors can be described by more than one thing. In this case, Winona's mascot looks like a Spartan soldier. While the Spartans were fierce warriors, they couldn't match up with the Trojan Warriors (according to Greek Mythology). Other Warriors include (but not limited to) a Native American, strong African tribe, Napoleon (the French conqueror, not Dynamite), and many others. Plus, being the only human based mascot amongst the region, I have to give the nod to the field. A tiger can hunt down the pathetic human, a maverick bull can gore the human to death, and even a hungry coyote can hunt down the human for food.

Grizzlies:

Adams State has by far the most intimidating mascot of all the regional teams. A huge bear that threatens the life of not only humans that cross it's hungry path, but the lives of many, many salmon looking to spawn upstream.

Coyotes:

Ok, by now, most of my readers know, I have nothing but respect for USD and it's rich basketball history. Seriously now, a coyote? How do you pronounce it? kahy-OH-tee or KAHY-oht? Well, if you live in Phoenix, it's pronounced kahy-OH-tee, but if you live in South Dakota, it's KAHY-oht. What good is this animal anyway? It's claws? It's teeth? It's just another wild animal looking to survive in the wild. A "warrior" can hunt it and a grizzly bear can definitely beat it in a fight and survive the winter.

Mavericks:

This has got to be by far the most confusing mascot name in the business. The confusion is all thanks to Mark Cubin, owner of the Dallas Mavericks. Why the confusion? The Dallas Mavericks features a HORSE and not the usual pissed off cow, much like the rest of the collegiate mascots. We all know that Minnesota State, Nebraska-Omaha, and Mesa State College have a bull as their Maverick. Even with that said, a coyote can hunt down the bull that is grazing the pastures. Although, you must remember, "You Mess With The Bull, You're Gonna Get The Horns".

Huskies:

I must admit, this nickname fits St. Cloud just fine. Huskie dogs are naturally from the north, their thick fur keeps them warm from the sub-zero temperatures. Their survival depends on their hunting ability, although their size is certainly a disadvantage. The average Maverick can easily handle a dog.

Now we head into the rather hysterical mascot names that are in the North Central Regional:

Seahawks:

What's so funny about this nickname from Fort Lewis is that a Seahawk isn't even a real animal. It's just the name of a hawk that just so happens to be a bird that lives near the ocean. Talk about an intimidating animal. YOU'RE NOT EVEN REAL!

Roadrunners:

The administrators from Metro State must have been high and watching Warner Brothers cartoons when trying to create a nickname for its college. Although Metro State has had USD's number in regional competition in the past ten years, the actual mascot has been nothing but a laughing stock. I don't get it, what does a roadrunner give a team? The ability to run fast like cowards?

Antelopes:

Last, and certainly least is Nebraska-Kearney. What kind of school lets its nickname be the Antelopes, or "Lopers"? I can understand a more manly nickname. Look at Yankton, SD's high school. It's male nickname is the Bucks but the female nickname is the gazelles. Common guys, "Lopers?" What exactly does an Antelope do anyway? It grazes, runs fast, and can use its horns if it feels threatened. Oh no, please protect me from the evil antelope.

If I were able to predict the outcome of the North Central Regional by the mascots and mascots alone, I would choose the Adams State Grizzlies, by far the pissed off animal of the group, it can maul anything to disfiguation and death.


Don't worry guys, the weekend review will come on Thursday, it will feature teams that competed over this past weekend (excluding the men's basketball team since I already covered that) up until Wednesday, March 7.


I'm also sorry for not posting on Tuesday, I've been busy trying to find out where I'm staying during the regional (looks like I'm driving between Mankato and Winona each night) and where I could potentially stay during the Elite Eight (if we get that far) in Springfield, MA.