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Nov. 8—GRAND FORKS — UND men’s basketball coach Paul Sather had one clear takeaway from the Fighting Hawks’ 82-56 season-opening loss to Colorado State in Fort Collins on Monday.
“We didn’t do a lot of things well,” he said.
The loss shined a light on areas UND needs to address — from players’ roles to communication in-game.
“I felt like frustration really kicked in early,” Sather said. “At the first media timeout, we weren’t talking about basketball stuff anymore, and it was a two-possession game. We were talking about where our mind is and being a great teammate and solving problems and communicating. Throughout the game, we literally just were trying to manage personnel.
“I would rather have this than play a non-Division I opponent the first game and have everything feel great, and then you get this later.”
The problems started with the three returning starters the Hawks have in junior guards Treysen Eaglestaff and Eli King and senior center Amar Kuljuhovic.
Eaglestaff ended with a team-high 12 points, going 5-for-9 shooting in the game. King scored five points but fouled out in 18 minutes of action.
Kuljuhovic hit one three-pointer in the loss, with six of his nine points coming at the free throw line. Despite being looked at as the team’s rebounder, Kuljuhovic grabbed four boards in 21 minutes, his lowest total since recording three rebounds in 13 minutes in last December’s loss to St. Thomas.
“I feel like we were trying to do our own things sometimes,” Eaglestaff said. “Definitely a lot to learn from and lots to gain from that game.”
Transfers Mier Panoam and Dariyus Woodson, who both started in the season opener, led UND with five rebounds each.
Woodson and Reggie Thomas, both in their first games at the Division I level, saw the most playing time for UND. Woodson scored seven points — five from the free throw line — in a team-high 29 minutes of play. Thomas played 24 minutes, as did Eaglestaff and Panoam.
Thomas struggled in his first game as a Hawk, turning the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/und-mens-basketball-taking-hard-153200032.html
Author : Grand Forks Herald
Publish date : 2024-11-08 15:32:00
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