SEWARD, Neb. – Fresh off a thrilling road win over 11th-ranked Jamestown, the Concordia University Men’s Basketball team will refocus for matchups this week against two foes situated just below it in the GPAC standings. The 25th-ranked Bulldogs will host Morningside on Wednesday and then hit the road on Saturday for a contest at Northwestern. Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad aspires to remain in the GPAC title race. It currently sits at 9-3 in league play (16-4 overall), a half-game behind first-place Briar Cliff.
This Week
Wednesday, Jan. 19 vs. Morningside (10-6, 7-4 GPAC), 7:45 p.m.
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Saturday, Jan. 22 at Northwestern (16-5, 8-3 GPAC), 3:45 p.m.
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By the numbers
· The win at Jamestown was further validation of Concordia’s top 25 ranking. The Bulldogs landed at No. 25 last week after having appeared at No. 23 in the official coaches’ poll released on Dec. 15. The two-spot drop was likely due to the overtime loss at Mount Marty on Jan. 5. However, the overall body of work remains strong. Concordia has twice defeated the Jimmies, who have spent most of this season as the highest rated team in the GPAC. Outside of conference play, the only loss the Bulldogs have endured came against William Jessup University (Calif.), which is now ranked fourth. Concordia competed to the wire in that contest before falling, 70-62. The Bulldogs also own a win over 2021 national tournament qualifier Benedictine College (Kan.).
· Limback’s crew had the middle of last week off before the long trek north to Jamestown. In the memorable victory, Concordia relinquished a 17-point first half lead and trailed by five in the second half before showing its championship mettle. Justin Wiersema emerged with a key steal in the closing seconds and Carter Kent put together another big performance that saw him net 26 points. AJ Watson (16) and Tristan Smith (10) also reached double figures in scoring as the Bulldogs eked it out, 82-79. In addition, Noah Schutte hauled in 12 rebounds as Concordia competed much better on the boards (37-34 disadvantage) than it did in this season’s first meeting with the Jimmies. The Bulldogs shot 48.4 percent (30-for-62) from the floor and limited Jamestown to just three 3-point field goals.
· At 16-4, Concordia owns its best 20-game record during Limback’s tenure and is out to the best 20-game mark for the program since the 2004-05 national runner up squad started out 17-3. During the GPAC era, four Bulldog teams have produced 14-6 records after 20 games: the 2008-09, 2009-10, 2017-18 and 2019-20 squads. The latter team went on to win the GPAC tournament title and earn a berth to the national tournament. Last season, Concordia equaled a program record for GPAC wins in a season with 14. The ’04-05 team continues to own the program standard for most overall victories in a season with 32.
· Kent has taken his game to a new level this winter. His 26-point outing at Jamestown marked his seventh game this season with 20 or more points. The Crete High School product put up 35 points at Mount Marty and had a 32-point game versus Northwestern. With 1,497 career points, Kent needs just three more tallies to become the ninth player in program history to reach 1,500. Kent has been incredibly efficient this season, shooting 46.5 percent from the floor, 38.5 percent from 3-point range and 88.2 percent from the foul line. Among GPAC players, Kent ranks first in free throw percentage, sixth in scoring average (17.6), seventh in assists per game (3.5), eighth in steals per game (1.3), eighth in 3-point field goals made (45) and 10th in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3).
· The program has enjoyed stability under Limback, who is in his ninth season as head coach. He recently surpassed 150 career wins (152-110) at his alma mater. The only other coach in program history to achieve that mark was 23-year Head Coach Grant Schmidt, who had an overall record of 445-276. Limback played for Schmidt and was part of three-straight national tournament teams from 1996 through 1998. Schmidt and Limback are also the only coaches to lead the program to the national tournament.
· Something’s got to give on Wednesday night. Entering the contest with Morningside, the Bulldogs own a 13-game home winning streak (25-1 in last 26 home games) but have failed to earn a win in any of the past 12 matchups with the Mustangs. The streak against Morningside was kept intact on Dec. 1 when Concordia was edged in Sioux City, Iowa, 79-77. Kent scored 20 points while Schutte added 17 in that contest. Trey Brown led the Mustangs with 20 points.
The opponents
The game on Wednesday will be critical for Morningside if it is to remain in the hunt for a conference regular season title. The Mustangs were beaten at the buzzer this past weekend in a 72-71 overtime home loss to Doane. Head Coach Trent Miller’s squad is a veteran group featuring one of the league’s top bigs in Trey Brown, who is averaging 12.9 points and 7.8 rebounds. Three teammates also average double figures in scoring: Aidan Vanderloo (12.7), Joey Skoff (11.5) and Zach Imig (10.3). Morningside was ranked 12th in the NAIA in the preseason but has since fallen off the national radar.
Northwestern is 5-0 since the calendar flipped to 2022. Trent Hilbrands filled it up last week with 35 points in the overtime win over Mount Marty and then 29 points in the victory over Midland. Hilbrands (18.7 ppg, 40.4 3-pt FG%) and Alex Van Kalsbeek (21.4 ppg, 8.8 rpg) are two of the GPAC’s biggest stars. The Red Raiders are 10-1 at home this season with the lone loss coming at the hands of Briar Cliff. Successful Head Coach Kris Korver (497-195) is beginning to close in on 500 career victories. Northwestern will be trying to snap a six-game series losing streak to the Bulldogs.
Next week
The Bulldogs will host Hastings on Jan. 26. They were originally scheduled to put on the Concordia Invitational Tournament the weekend of Jan. 28-29, but the event was canceled.