Wolves End Great Season With Loss to SDSU in Regionals

March 13, 2004

DENVER, CO - Northern State was upended 99-80 by South Dakota State in the North Central Regional Tournament in Denver, Colorado.

In the first half, the Wolves were outrebounded by a 21 to 14 margin. In addition, the Wolves were out boarded on the offensive end 8-5. Northern shot only 37% (3-8) from the free-throw stripe the the Jacks missed only one of their five attempts. The Wolves were just 3-9 (33.3%) from 3-point land.

In the first half, SDSU was hotter than a red pepper as they hit 58% (7-12) of their shots from downtown. The hottest player for the Jackrabbits was Andy Moeller who scorched the Wolves for 22 first half points on 7-9 shooting.

Overall the Wolves were led by Matt Hammer who contributed 20 points towards Northern's cause. Senior Steve Smiley turned in another strong game to end his career as he shot 6-7 from the field, scored 13 points, had eight assists, and five rebounds. As a team, NSU shot 41.7 % from the field, 23.8 %from 3-point land, and 68.2% from the charity stripe.

For the game, SDSU was led by Andy Moeller who had a career high 32 points, shooting a dazzling 11-14 from the field which included 6-8 from 3-point territory.

With the win SDSU advances to meet #1 seed Metro State in the second round of regional tourney. SDSU also set a school record for wins in a season as they racked up their 27th win to go with only six losses.

The Wolves end the season with a overall record of 24-7, a 17-1 home record, a 13-3 NSIC record, the NSIC tourney crown, and their first appearance in the regional tourney since 1998-1999 season.

Game Stats