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Huskies tip-off 2007-08 season in Calgary Dogs drop three games to NCAA Division I schools to begin season
Saskatoon, SK - The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men's basketball team opened the 2007-08 regular season this weekend with three games against NCAA Division I opponents in Calgary. Both Creighton University and Weber State University were in the 2007 NCAA Tournament.
"These games were a great way to tip-off another season," said head coach Greg Jockims. "Playing against top-quality competition at that level of intensity will really benefit our team as we get ready for conference play. Obviously we have some things that we need to work on, but there were alot of positives in the three games as well."
With only eight practices before this weekend, there was plenty of inconsistency as is to be expected this early in the season. "I thought we played fairly well for six of our eight quarters against Creighton," commented Jockims. "Today I thought we showed alot of toughness against Weber State in coming back from a 24-point defecit right after halftime to take the lead by the end of the third quarter. And we shot the ball really well from the three-point line (30-60) all weekend. And we got our first taste of the new FIBA rules with the 24-second shot clock."
Saskatchewan's (0-3) next game is against UNBC in Lloydminster, Alberta on September 20th. A complete recap of each game this weekend is below.
Saturday, September 1 - Creighton 87, Saskatchewan 82
The Huskies built up a 16-point lead in the second quarter, but the Bluejays battled back and cut the lead to 49-45 at the end of the half.
Creighton built up an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter, but Saskatchewan mounted a comeback of it's own to cut the lead to three with less than three minutes to play.
"The game was there for us to win, despite turnovers and lack of execution, which is to be expected this early in the season," commented Nathan Schellenberg, Huskies assistant coach. "It was only our first game of the season, but it was still disappointing not to win that game."
All-Canadian Andrew Spagrud led the Huskies with 21 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block. Kyle Grant (20 points) was one of three other Huskies in double digits, joined by Rejean Chabot (13 points) and Rob Lovelace (12 points). Grant was 5-6 from beyond the arc in the first half.
The Huskies turned the ball over 31 times, leading to 23 Bluejay points. The Bluejays also had an 18-0 advantage in second chance points. The Huskies, who were 10-16 from beyond the arc, were only 22-37 from the free throw line.
The Huskies shot 54.3 percent from the field, while Creighton hit 45.9 percent.
Sunday, September 2 - Creighton 92, Saskatchewan 66
By Ben Matchett, University of Calgary Sports Information Director
The Bluejays got it done with a balanced scoring attack from both the starting lineup and the bench, with five players ending up in double digits. Senior forward Dane Watts (Warrensburg, Mo.) led the way with 15 points, while Kenny Lawson Jr. (Fr., Oceanside, Calif.) earned a double-double with his 14-point, 10-rebound performance. Booker Woodfox (Jr., Lewisville, Tex.)
and Nick Bahe (Sr., Lincoln, Neb.) chipped in 13 points apiece, and freshman P'Allen Stinnett (Las Vegas) added a dozen.
Saskatchewan kept it close through the first quarter and was only down by four after the first ten minutes. Creighton began to pour it on in the second, scoring 26 points and frustrating the Huskie offense with high-pressure defense, limiting Saskatchewan to 12 points in the frame.
The Jays built on their 44-26 halftime lead in the third quarter to go up 67-43 and, while the Huskies found their offense in the fourth, they still could not match the speed of the defending Missouri Valley Conference champions. The Bluejays outscored the Huskies by six and two points in the third and fourth quearters respectively.
Junior guard Rejean Chabot (Saskatoon, Sask.) led the way for Saskatchewan with 19 points and 8-for-8 shooting from the charity stripe in a losing cause, while Jordan Harbidge (5th-year senior, Saskatoon) and Mark Lynch (5th-year senior, Calgary) added ten apiece.
The Huskies hit 12 three-pointers for the game.
Huskies guard Kyle Grant (5th-year senior, Moose Jaw, Sask.) sustained an apparent knee injury at the end of the opening half and sat on the bench for the remainder of the
game. Creighton forward Kenton Walker (Fr., San Diego) did not dress for the Bluejays after suffering an apparent knee injury against Lethbridge earlier in the day.
Monday, September 3 - Weber State 95, Saskatchewan 76
By Ben Matchett, University of Calgary Sports Information Director
Spagrud potted 32 points in a losing cause for Saskatchewan, with 15 of those coming in a third quarter that saw the Huskies explode offensively after looking like they were down and out at halftime. Down 44-24 after 20 minutes, and 24 after the third period began, a dormant Huskie offense found its groove in the third quarter just as the Wildcats lost theirs. Spagrud's 15 were complemented by sharp shooting from Rob Lovelace (5th year, Saskatoon) and Rejean Chabot (3rd, Saskatoon) as Saskatchewan cut the deficit and even took a lead with 16 seconds left on a trey by Spagrud before the defending Big Sky Conference champs regained their advantage. The quarter saw the Huskies outscore Weber State 36-17, a 19-point swing that brought the lead down to a single point for the American school.
That momentum swung back to the Wildcats in the fourth as Spagrud was held to only two points while Weber State exploded for 34 of its own, determined not to lose back-to-back games to Canadian schools. Tyler Billings (Jr., Logan, Utah), Kellen McCoy (Jr., East Lansing, Mich.), and Brody Van Brocklin (Jr., Kaysville, Utah) made shot after shot while the Wildcat defense held the Huskies to only 16.
Weber State shot an impressive 60 per cent from the field in the game along with 81.3 per cent from the charity stripe. Saskatchewan struggled in the first half with only 33 per cent field goal shooting, but a better second half improved their game total to 45.8 per cent.
Rejean Chabot and Rob Lovelace added 13 points each. Lovelace, Spagrud and Jordan Harbidge had six assists apiece. Harbide and Troy Gottselig led the Dogs with five rebounds each.
The Huskies played without starting guard Kyle Grant, who injured a knee at the end of the first half in last night's game against Creighton.
Saskatchewan finishes the weekend 0-3 against NCAA Division I competition.
The Huskies went 23-20 overall last year, finishing third at the Canada West Final Four for the second straight season. The Huskies finished second in the Central Division standings before winning the Central Division Championship on the road against Alberta. Saskatchewan has eleven players returning, including all five starters, in 2007-08.
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CALGARY - The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men's basketball opened the 2007-08 regular season Saturday morning with the first of three games against NCAA Division I opponents. The Creighton University Bluejays cameback from a 16-point first half deficit to edge Saskatchewan 
CALGARY - Fifth year All-Canadian forward Andrew Spagrud (Saskatoon) did everything he could to drag his Saskatchewan teammates to a win Monday morning, but a third-quarter comeback was wiped out as the Huskies fell