Tetons vs UTTC Men’s Pregame Primer
Looking to avenge a two point loss to the Thunderbirds at home in Williston earlier this month, Williston State is traveling to Bismarck for another chance to topple United Tribes.
The second game of the Teton-Thunderbirds double header will tip off at 7:30 pm CST.
The men's teams for the Tetons and Tribes have already met this this season in Williston. That two teams were separated by one point with just seconds left in the game when a potential game winner rolled off the win to seal the Teton loss
UTTC comes into the season with a 19-7 overall record and 13-5 in the Mon-Dak, and is currently on a four game win streak.
The Thunderbirds are scoring 101.3 points per game on the season, while shooting 49.1% from the field and 35.2% from deep.
Famous Lefthand, who leads the team in scoring with 23.9 points per game, may still be out of action still action while dealing with a broken wrist on his shooting hand. DK Middleton (15.3 ppg), Jesse White (12.7 ppg), Sylvester Union (12 ppg), Cayden Redfield (11.3 ppg), and Tristin Davis (11.2 ppg), are also averaging double digits.
Williston State comes into the season with a 5-21 record overall in the season an 3-16 in the Mon-Dak Conference. The Tetons are averaging 63.4 points per game this season while shooting 38.7% from the field and 28.3% from the perimeter.
The Tetons are led in scoring by Shaheed Muhammad with 17.7 points per game, with Abiodun Adedo (14.9 ppg) also scoring in double figures.
Three Things to Watch for:
1. Ball Movement: Williston State has started to have success more through out the season as the ball has been moving more around the front court. The found a significant amount of success against Tribes last time they played and nearly came away with the win in a very tight game. With the ball getting stuck in Iso ball makes the job of the defense for Tribes significantly easier.
2. Handling Press: Wilson Rankin and Muhammad have done a bulk of the work as press breakers for the Tetons, but as seen on Monday against Science, the Tetons fell in love with floating passes which at time were dangerously close to being picked off to go the other direction for an easy lay up.
3. Fundamentals: The Teton's 2-3 matchup zone was suffocating in the first half against at times. If the Williston State falls behind there is a propensity to focus more on getting buckets instead of stops which can lead to lapses on defense. Against a Tribes team that scores in triple digits on the year, there are not possessions on either end that they can take off.
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