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St. Cloud State University
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Men start season with blowout
Husky defense forces University of Minnesota-Crookston into 24 turnovers, while offense shoots 52 percent from downtown in season opening romp.
By Andy Rennecke
Published:
Monday, November 25, 2002
Media Credit: Leslie Andres
SCSU’s Jason Allen goes up for a lay-up Saturday at Halenbeck Hall. Allen scored 11 points and had four steals in his Husky debut. The Huskies rolled over University of Minnesota-Crookston, 88-49.
Utter domination doesn’t even begin to describe what the SCSU men’s basketball team did to the University of Minnesota-Crookston Saturday night at Halenbeck Hall.
In the team’s first regular season game, the Huskies forced the Golden Eagles into bad decision-making with their relentless defensive pressure in an 88-49 victory. The blowout win also saw the emergence of several players who will be key for SCSU this season.
St. Cloud came out strong from the opening tip and took an early 8-0 lead on the strength of a Forrest Witt trey and Jason Kron jumper. SCSU continued their fast start by jumping out to a 16-2 advantage with 11:28 remaining after a Brent Frikken lay-in. Crookston didn’t score its second field goal until Eagle guard Bilal Hill cashed in on a 15-footer with 11:00 left to cut the score to 16-4.
The rest of the first half was a clinic for the Huskies as they continued to stay hot from outside and forced the Eagles into miscues. UMC had 18 turnovers by halftime and finished with 24 for the game. They also held Crookston to just 42 percent shooting.
According to the Huskies, this kind of defensive intensity is something that will remain constant during the season. Junior point guard Alex Carlson and Kron did a number on UMC’s big guns, senior guard Joe Hasz (the NSIC leading scorer the past two seasons) and sophomore guard Justin Kelley.
“Carlson and Kron shut down their wings,” head coach Kevin Schlagel said. “Defensively is where the game was at for us. We were able to control them a little bit so they didn’t get off and have big runs.”
“Everyone rotated very well defensively,” Kron said. “It was a good team defensive job.”
The Huskies newly-installed press also limited Crookston’s passing lanes.
“Based on a scale, I think our defense was at a 99 percent tonight,” junior guard Jason Allen said. “Everybody was extending zones and being intense. The press limited Hasz from getting the ball. With our guards pressing hard, that limited them to what they wanted to do.”
“The press is something we’ve been working on a lot,” Kron said. “Putting a press on like that helps us create our tempo. We just have to make sure we keep our rotations right, and if we do that, it’ll helps us out a lot.”
Points off of turnovers also helped the Huskies hold the Eagles at bay. SCSU held a 34-6 margin in that department. Schlagel said that a stat like this is indicative of what his team is trying to accomplish.
“If you’re going to try to run you also have to be able to extend your defense to create a tempo,” Schlagel said. “Tonight it worked and hopefully it will continue to work. We liked the tempo we were playing at.”
SCSU shot a torrid 57 percent from the field and an astronomical 69 percent from downtown during the first half. They cooled off in the second, finishing at 49 percent from the floor and 52 percent from beyond the arc.
After a 52-19 lead at the half, SCSU got everybody off the bench and into the game in the second. The starters (Witt, Kron, Carlson, Steve Trull and Cullen Powers) were replaced by the likes of Chad Virgin, Travis Adams and Pat Wiehert. The score allowed Schlagel to utilize everyone and to get them some live action.
Allen was another nice bright spot in the opener. The junior college transfer’s 11 points and four steals were key to SCSU’s press and solid play in transition. Frikken, freshman forward Matt Siegle and freshman center Scott Peters also had solid opening nights in the post for St. Cloud.
Allen admitted to being nervous before the game and said he wants to establish himself coming off the bench.
“When I first got here today I had butterflies,” Allen said.
“I still haven’t established a clear role, but I think Coach (Schlagel) is just looking for me to come off the bench and give what I can give: defense, scoring and whatever else I can do to help the team out.”
Kron feels that Allen is a huge addition to the team.
“Jason did a great job tonight,” Kron said. “He pushed the ball and made good decisions. It’s going to be a big lift if he can continue to do that.
All 13 players on the SCSU’s roster scored. Carlson had three treys at the break and finished four-of-four on the night for his 12 points. Kron led the Huskies with 14 points and 12 boards.
Hasz paced the Golden Eagles with 12 points and six rebounds. Forward Jon Smith chipped in 10 points and center Pat Posl had nine points with seven rebounds.
Around the Rim
-SCSU unveiled their new uniforms to most fans Saturday. The new threads eerily resemble those worn by Stanford University’s men’s basketball team.
-The Huskies improved to 6-0 in season openers under Schlagel.
-St. Cloud now leads the all-time series with UMC 8-0.
-Hasz is from nearby Foreston, Minn. He played high school basketball at Milaca.
-The Huskies outrebounded the Golden Eagles 40-35.
-SCSU’s bench outscored UMC’s 51-4. That’s definitely an indication that Crookston is not that deep of a team.
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