WOLVES GIVE DI VANDERBILT ALL IT WANTS IN EXHIBITION PLAY

Nov. 11, 2001

Northern State outscored NCAA Division I Vanderbilt University on their own homecourt in the second half and outrebounded the Commodores for the game, but fell 72-59 Sunday night in an exhibition game in Nashville, Tenn.

The Wolves fell behind in the first half under a barrage of 3-pointers by the Commodores, and trailed 43-23 on the opening Vandy 3-ball of the second half. But using a punishing inside game, the Wolves came back and cut the lead to as little as six points with 12 minutes remaining. The remainder of the game was played with Vanderbilt holding a 10-13 point lead.

Despite going against two Vandy 7-footers, NSU senior 6-8 center Brad Hansen (Tea, S.D.) had his way in the paint, scoring a game-high 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go with seven rebounds. Senior forward Houston Reed (Olathe, Colo.) had 17 points to go with a game-high eight rebounds in the loss. Vanderbilt was led by Sam Howard's 14 points.

NSU outscored Vanderbilt 36-32 in the second half and outrebounded its first-ever Division I basketball opponent 43-39 for the game. The Wolves also forced 20 Vanderbilt turnovers, but committed 23 of their own and couldn't climb their way out of the first-half hole.

The game also served as a homecoming of sorts for NSU coach Don Meyer, who returned to Nashville to coach a basketball game for the first time since leaving NAIA David Lipscomb for Northern in 1999. Meyer was the fastest coach in the history of college basketball to reach 700 wins thanks to his 24 years of coaching at Lipscomb.

Post-game audio and additional game photos at Vanderbilt site