Men’s Basketball Picked First in IIAC Coaches Preseason Poll
Nov 15, 2013 | J.Crane
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA – The University of Dubuque Men’s Basketball team has been named the favorite by the Iowa Conference coaches in the Preseason Poll after winning the IIAC Tournament Championship in 2013. The Spartans set a school record with 22 wins last season while qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. UD received four of seven possible first place votes and 53 points.
| Rank | School (1st Place Votes) | Points | 2012-13 Record |
| 1 | Dubuque (4) | 53 | 22-7, 9-5 |
| 2 | Buena Vista (3) | 52 | 19-7, 11-3 |
| 3 | Loras (1) | 40 | 8-17, 3-11 |
| 4 | Luther | 38 | 18-8, 11-3 |
| 5 | Wartburg | 33 | 15-12, 8-6 |
| 6 | Coe | 26 | 15-11, 8-6 |
| 7 | Simpson | 23 | 7-19, 3-11 |
| 8 | Central | 15 | 10-14, 3-11 |
| Complete IIAC Preview | |||
The Spartans open the 2013-14 season on Friday, November 15th at the Northwestern/ACR Homes Tip-Off Tournament in St. Paul, Minn. Dubuque opens with North Central (Minn.) at 4:00 pm. UD returns to action on Saturday with the University of Northwestern-St. Paul at 7:00 pm.
UD returns its top three scorers from last season and 10 letterwinners. Senior Chris Frazier (Heidelberg, Germany/Heidelberg) led the Spartans in scoring at 13.8 points per game and finished with an IIAC best 75 three-pointers made. Senior Mitch Michaelis (LeClaire, Iowa/Pleasant Valley) also returns to give UD a 1-2 scoring punch at guard. Michaelis averaged 11.0 points per game last season. Sophomore Andre Norris (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) moves into the starting lineup this season after averaging 9.9 points/game as a freshman. Frazier was a First Team All-IIAC selection in 2012-13 while Michaelis and Norris were named to the Second Team.
Head Coach Robbie Sieverding said, “We are looking forward to a very balanced conference season. We lost several key players to graduation and we will need our returners to provide leadership in order to achieve our goals.”
Point Guard Lucas Ware (Platteville, Wis./Platteville) moves into the starting lineup after coming off the bench in all 29 games last season. Joining Ware as one of three new starters for the Spartans is Tyler Ware (Platteville, Wis./Platteville). Brandon Ferguson (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) will also provide UD with valuable experience as he started 11 games last season. Transfers Gage Heffernan (Dubuque, Iowa/Hempstead) and Jared Kuban (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo) will see extended playing time in the front court as well.
The Spartans had the opportunity to play UNI in an exhibition game back on November 1st at the McCleod Center with over 3,200 in attendance. Frazier and L.Ware led UD with 15 points each in the 85-66 loss to the Division I Panthers.
LIVE Video of the Spartans game vs. Northwestern is available at: UD-Northwestern Men’s Basketball
LIVE Stats available at: UD-Northwestern Stats
Follow all UD Athletics action on Twitter at: @UDubuqueSports
