In the postgame news conference after the Winona State University men’s basketball team pummeled eighth-seeded Colorado Christian 78-45 Saturday night in the first round of the NCAA Division II North Central Region tournament, John Smith summed it up best.
“You don’t go into a game like this expecting to blow anybody out,” said Smith, a senior center for the top-seeded Warriors. “With our team, we’re capable of blowing out just about any team. When we’re playing at our (best), it’s not really a surprise. They’re the No. 8 seed. We’re the No. 1 seed for a reason.”
On Sunday, the Warriors defeated Nebraska-Omaha 80-67 to advance to Tuesday’s North Central Region championship game to face second-seeded Northern State for the fourth time this season. Results of that game were unavailable when this issue of the Winonan went to press Monday night.
On Saturday, Colorado Christian appeared overmatched from the start.
The Cougars (18-13) entered the game ranked No. 4 in the nation in 3-point shooting percentage (42.1) and second in field-goal percentage (51.8) but were stifled by WSU’s suffocating defense on the perimeter. Just getting open beyond the arc appeared to be a major struggle for Colorado Christian, which made just one 3-pointer in 16 attempts and shot 31 percent (18-for-58) from the floor.
“We played really good team defense, starting with our guys on the perimeter — they just didn’t let them get any good shots out there,” Smith said. “I don’t think they were used to our athletes.”
WSU also dominated defensively on the inside, holding Brian Stamer, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference player of the year to just 12 points on 6-of-15 shooting.
“They’re the most complete defensive team I’ve played against, both inside and out,” Stamer said.
The Warriors’ first 15 points came on 3-pointers before they eventually took a commanding 41-20 lead at halftime and cruised the rest of the way.
Smith led all scorers with 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting and added 11 rebounds and three blocks. Flowers had 14 points, four steals and two blocks.
Against UNO, it didn’t come quite as easy for the co-players of the year in the region.
Facing UNO’s very strong and even more physical Jerry Bennett in the post, Smith took a beating throughout the game and had difficulty getting shots off inside. Flowers, meanwhile, simply wasn’t hitting shots early on. As a team, the Warriors shot just 9-of-32 from the field in the first half, yet only trailed 26-25 at halftime.
On the night, UNO held Flowers and Smith to a combined 28 points on just 8-of-26 shooting, but the extra attention given to WSU’s senior stars opened things up for others.
UNO opted to sag its defenders off WSU senior forward Quincy Henderson to allow them a chance to double Smith in the post and help against Flowers, similar to Barton’s game plan in last year’s national championship game. Given a license to shoot, Henderson went 6-of-11 shooting — 5 of 9 from beyond the arc — and scored a season-high 19 points, matching his total against Barton.
“I thought a big difference in the game was Quincy Henderson,” UNO coach Derrin Hansen said. “He’s a good basketball player, but he hasn’t done a lot of that this season. We made him do it and he did.”
WSU freshman guard Ben Fischer was 5-of-7 shooting and finished with 12 points, equaling a career high, and David Johnson finished with 13.
Henderson, Fischer and Johnson, who aren’t necessarily expected to carry the offensive load, contributed to a key sequence midway through the second half that helped WSU distance itself for good.
Smith picked up his third foul and took a seat on the bench with WSU leading 46-44 with 10:55 remaining. On the ensuing WSU possession, Johnson drilled a deep, fadeaway 3-pointer from the top of the key as he fell to the court. Justin Peterson responded with a 3-pointer from the corner to cut UNO’s deficit back to two points, but Fischer came back with a drive and a tough left-handed layup. On the other end, UNO’s Andrew Bridger nailed a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key to bring the Mavericks within one.
Then Johnson decided he needed a heat-check.
The sophomore guard faked a drive to his right, stepped back behind the arc with a dribble between his legs, and hit a deep, fadeaway 3-pointer with a hand in his face.
“I got the momentum behind me and I just wanted to shoot another one to see if I was hot or not,” Johnson said. “It was good to come back after they had knocked one down and take some wind out of their sails.”
On the ensuing UNO possession, Fischer flew in from behind, rose high off the hardwood and swatted Bridger’s layup attempt out of bounds, igniting the standing-room only crowd of 3,993. Moments later, Henderson drew a charge, leading to a Johnson drive and finish on the other end assisted by Fischer that gave WSU a 56-50 lead with 8:10 remaining. The Warriors didn’t lead by fewer than four points thereafter and pushed their advantage to as many as 14.
It was WSU’s 28th consecutive win and its eighth in a row in regional tournament games.