UMD Men’s Basketball to Face University of Nevada This Upcoming Season

It will be the first time UMD will face a Division I opponent since 2018 when the Bulldogs battled Minnesota.

DULUTH, Minn. – This upcoming season, the UMD men’s basketball team will be heading out west for a very special exhibition game.

The Bulldogs will take on the University of Nevada on December 15th. It will be the first time UMD will face a Division I opponent since 2018 when the Bulldogs battled Minnesota. So what’s the connection between the two programs?

“The head coach at Nevada, Steve Alford, is a coach that I played for when I was at Iowa. We’ve continued to stay in touch over the years. It seems like I ask him about every single year if we can play a game so it was great that it came together this year. It’s going to be a great experience for our guys,” UMD head coach Justin Wieck said.

The Wolf Pack will go into this season with hopes of another NCAA tournament appearance, which would be their fifth in the past six seasons. And for the Bulldogs, it’s not only a great experience for the players, but it will go a long way in growing the program as well.

“It puts us on the map nationally. We have a lot of alumni that have already said they’re going to come out. A lot of family have already decided they’re going to come so we’ll have a pretty good crowd out there. It will be fun to get out there during the winter time. We’re obviously going to be focused on our game, but it will be nice for our fans, for our alumni to get a chance to see the Bulldogs play on a pretty big stage,” Wieck said.

UMD will have two more exhibition games that will be announced at a later date.