St. Cloud State
Wayne State College
Huskies face Wildcats in opening round of conference tourney
2/23/2021 1:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The St. Cloud State University men's basketball team is back where it belongs: the quarterfinal round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) / Sanford Health Tournament. After missing out in 2019-20, the Huskies make their glorious return to the quarterfinals as the No. 4 seed in the North and will face the South's No. 1 seed Wayne State College at 7 p.m. on Thursday, February 25.
This will be the second time in the last three years St. Cloud State will face Wayne State in the quarterfinal round of the NSIC / Sanford Health Tournament. In fact, the last time these two teams met, the Wildcats handed the Huskies a shocking defeat, as they dealt the preseason favorites a staggering 77-76 loss. This year, St. Cloud State is looking to (literally) flip the script, as the youthful Huskies look to hand Cinderella-esc Wayne State an early exit.
Tip off for the quarterfinal is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, February 25 at the Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. At this time, fans will not be allowed to attend the NSIC / Sanford Health Tournament due to NSIC guidelines. All games will be broadcasted on the NSICNetwork and will air on MidcoSports Network. Live stats will also be available for all games and score updates will be made to the team's official Twitter account (@scsuhuskies_mbb).
Here are the five things to know before Thursday's tipoff:
2 - There are just two Huskies on the roster from the 2018-19 team that last appeared in the NSIC / Sanford Health Tournament quarterfinal: Dan Geistler (Norwalk, Iowa / Norwalk) and Ethan Schuemer (Lombard, Ill. / Willowbrook). Schuemer played 12 minutes going 1-1 from the floor with two points, two rebounds, one assist and a steal. Geistler was a redshirt at the time and did not play in the game for St. Cloud State.
4 - The same can be said about the Wildcats roster as well. Just four student-athletes played in that quarterfinal game between Wayne State and the Huskies, though one of them was a starter. Jordan Janssen started and played 29 minutes for the Wildcats that night, wracking up 10 points on 5-8 shooting with a team-leading 11 rebounds. Nate Thayer and Nate Mohr played a combined five minutes in the game, while Ben Dentlinger saw the floor for 16 minutes.
9-1 - Other than the one playoff loss, St. Cloud State has had Wayne State's number, winning nine of the last 10 games dating back to 2014. The Huskies are particularly unbeatable at home, as they are 6-0 in Halenbeck Hall, 4-0 on the road and 8-0 in NSIC play. St. Cloud State also likes to score points against the Wildcats, scoring 958 total to average 87.09 a game.
66.1 - Wayne State didn't exactly score a ton of points in 2020-21. The Wildcats ranked tenth in the conference in scoring, averaging 74.6 points in 16 games. However, Wayne State is very good at not letting its opponents score points. The Wildcats held their foes to just 66.1 points per game, leading the NSIC in scoring defense at the end of 2020-21. Wayne State may have its hands full Thursday, as the Huskies ranked third in the conference in scoring, averaging 80.4 points in 16 games.
21.1 / 16.7 - The Wildcats will have their hands full stopping St. Cloud State in general, but they may struggle to stop the team's top offensive threats: Anthony Roberts (Chicago, Ill. / Oak Park) and Caleb Donaldson (Bloomington, Ill. / Bloomington). The two sophomores have led the Huskies in scoring all season long and ended the regular season averaging 21.1 and 16.7 points respectively. Roberts ranked third in the NSIC in scoring thanks to his impressive numbers, while Donaldson finished the regular season ranked tenth in the same category, making them one of the most dynamic one-two punches in the NSIC.
