Dakota State spoils Marty Levinson’s return to UNK Health and Sports Center

“They came out and they found the right guys. They hit those, it seemed, like every time we lost them,” Levinson said. “They just shot the ball really well.

“They were pretty uncontested, so we had some breakdowns defensively.”

Dakota State (4-3) guard Lane Tietz, a 5-11 freshman, hit 3 of 4 treys on his way to 13 points after going scoreless in the first half. Sophomore Brayden Pankonen scored 10 points, making two 3s.

Meanwhile, the Lopers (0-3) couldn’t find the range from beyond the arc. UNK shot 24 percent (7 of 29) from 3-point range and would have been much worse if Allen Taylor hadn’t connected for three straight 3s with UNK trailing 69-63 with five minutes left.

Taylor, who was 5 of 12 from beyond the arc, led the Lopers with 21 points.

Six-five forward Kendrick Gilbert added 16 points and a team-leading seven rebounds, and 6-6 forward Chase Thompson netted 15 points.

Nine Lopers put their name in the scorebook but they couldn’t match Dakota State’s second-half offensive output.

“We’re still a little bit new and that was the first time we’ve seen a match-up zone like that,” Levinson said.

While the 3-pointers sparked the Trojans’ offense, Dakota States’ big men carried much of the load.

Six-6 forward Colby Dillenbeck scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds, and 6-5 freshman Tyler Beckwith chipped in 12 points and seven rebounds.

After trailing by six, UNK fought back to take tie the game at 74 and 76. A Dillenbeck layup with 14 seconds left gave the Trojans the lead, which held up as Taylor missed a 3 and Elijah Knudsen’s follow shot was blocked by Beckwith.

“I felt like we didn’t defend very well. We didn’t rebound very well. And our player and ball movement was very good. And that’s a recipe for disaster,” Levinson said.

Levinson, a letterman for the Lopers in the early 2000s, was welcomed home by a number of former UNK players who attended his hope debut.

Levinson admitted that a win in the home opener would have meant “everything,” and coming away with a loss was very disappointing.

“I want to win every game. I wanted to win up in Minnesota,” he said.

In the 0-3 start, the opponents have outscored the Lopers by a total of eight points.

“We’re struggling winning close games and at the point, you have to rely on your habits. You gotta rely on your work ethic, and you’ve gotta rev in up another notch and you’ve gotta get more hungry,” Levinson said.

UNK is back in action Wednesday, playing at Wayne State. The next home game is Nov. 26 against York.