Norris and Men's Basketball Aim for First IIAC Title Since 1990
Nov 17, 2015
UD Men’s Basketball Preview
University of Dubuque Spartans
Head Coach: Robbie Sieverding
Last Year: (23-6, 10-4, 3rd in IIAC)
2015 IIAC Tournament Champions
IIAC Coaches Preseason Poll
2015 - 1st
SEASON OPENER
UD vs UW-Platteville
Dubuque, Iowa
Stoltz Sports Center
November 16, 2015
Win 75-74
DUBUQUE, Iowa – Preseason All-American Andre Norris and the Spartans are geared up for a 2015 season after placing third in the IIAC a year ago and winning their second IIAC tournament title in the last three seasons.
UD lost a bevy of upperclassmen and All-IIAC players, but return the Iowa Conference’s MVP in senior Andre Norris (20.0 ppg, 8.8 rpg) and a two-year starter in junior shooting guard Jake Mohlis (8.0 ppg, 39.4 3p%).
“Andre will once again be a focal point of what we are doing and we are expecting big things from him this year, said Head Coach Robbie Sieverding. “ We have several other key players back including Alex Vogel, Jake Mohlis, Kain Arthofer, Mitch Morrisey and Jake Weber.”
Arthofer, Morrisey, and Weber provided consistent threats off the bench on a team that finished 10-4 in conference play, good for third place overall. Vogel, who started 24 games in 2013 and registered a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, returns after sitting out 2014 due to injury.
Watch out for a trio of freshmen guards in Austin Moutry, Deonte Newsome, and Jacob Butler to contribute early.
Offensively, the Spartans will lean on Norris and Mohlis to provide the scoring punch, but meshing defensively will be the biggest challenge.
“Our team still returns a good core that has played in a some big games the past couple seasons,” said Coach Sieverding. “Our guys understand that we need to continue to improve on the defensive end in order to reach our goals and they have been working hard to prepare for this season.”
The Spartans start off the season against border rival UW-Platteville, then play in a pair of tournaments in Nebraska and Illinois sandwiched around a showdown with Coach Sieverding’s alma mater and the lone Division I team on their schedule, the University of Northern Iowa.
A challenging IIAC season will ensue as the Spartans go after their first IIAC regular season title since 1990.
We look forward to competing for an Iowa Conference championship and hope to be playing our best basketball down the stretch once again in a very balanced conference this season,” said Coach Sieverding. “We will need our underclassmen to develop and figure out our system on both ends of the court in order for us to keep improving. We have a very tough non conference schedule that I believe will prepare us for the Iowa Conference.
Projected Starters
Position/Name Hometown Class Min GP/GS Pts Rebs Asts
G Alex Vogel Washington, Iowa Sr. Did not play 2014 due to injury
G Jacob Mohlis Hazleton, Iowa Jr. 25.8 29/25 8.0 2.6 1.1
G Kain Arthofer Bettendorf, Iowa Jr. 14.6 27/0 4.6 1.9 0.3
F Jake Weber Dubuque, Iowa Sr. 2.4 9/0 0.6 0.6 0.2
F Andre Norris Plainfield, Ill. Sr. 32.1 29/27 20.0 8.8 2.4
Key Reserves
F Mitchell Morrisey Moline, Ill. Sr. 5.1 24/0 1.3 0.8 0.2
G Austin Moutry Milwaukee, Wis. Fr. No Collegiate Stats
G Deonte Newsome Milwaukee, Wis. Fr. No Collegiate Stats
G Jacob Butler Strawberry Point, Iowa Fr. No Collegiate Stats
Top Newcomers
Name Height Year Hometown/HS - Transfer
Austin Moutry 5-8 Fr. Milwaukee, Wis./Dominican
Deonte Newsome 6-2 Fr. Milwaukee, Wis./Messmer
Jacob Butler 5-11 Fr. Strawberry Point, Iowa/Starmont
Significant Digits
2 | IIAC tournament Championships in the last three years
2nd | Team Preseason All-American recognition by D3hoops.com for Norris
5 | Margin of loss last year in OT to only preseason ranked team on 2015 schedule, #8 Elmhurst (Ill.)
8-0 | Start in each of last 2 seasons
17 | Times Norris led UD in scoring in 2014, including last 6 of last 7 games (25.8 ppg)
23 | Wins in 2015, a school record
31-4 | 2014 Record by MVC Tournament Champs, UNI, who Spartans play on Nov. 25
38 | Combined margin of victory in sweep of Loras in 2014
83 | Wins by last year’s graduating class (most in UD history)
606 | Points needed by Andre Norris to become UD’s all-time leading scorer
4700 | Square footage of brand new Jon Davison Court
Returning Statistics
Scoring – 44.3%
Rebounding – 44.0%
Assists – 33.8 %
