Photo by Owen Forsythe/Gustavus Adolphus Athletics
SAINT PETER, Minn. — UMHB head coach Sam Patterson calls Hudson Johnson “one of the most fearless guards” he has ever been around. On Friday night in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, Johnson showed why.
The senior guard lit up the scoreboard for 27 points, 18 of which came in the second half, knocking down big shot after big shot down the stretch as he went 10-of-23 from the field. UW-Stevens Point had no answer for the 6-foot-1 3-point sharpshooter from Salado, and the Pointers paid for it.
Johnson’s high-scoring night in the Upper Midwest lifted UMHB (21-7) past UWSP (19-8) in an 84-76 victory, sending The Cru to Saturday’s second round, where they will face Gustavus Adolphus (26-2) at 7:20 p.m. CT.
“He embraced the moment like he always does, and he fights through frustration and never lets it rattle him,” Patterson said postgame, as Johnson bounced back from an 0-for-5 3-point shooting performance a week earlier against Hardin-Simmons. “I had a feeling he would have a breakout game today, just based on the way I’ve seen Stevens Point guard guys similar to him.
“He’s done it all year for us in a variety of ways. I was happy to see that first shot go in for him. I think that’s big when you’re a rhythm player like he is, to get a pretty uncontested offensive rebound kick-out 3 early.”
That first shot went in a mere 39 seconds into the first half, countering UWSP’s game-opening 3 from Josiah Butler. It went down as the first of five 3s on the evening for Johnson, his most in a single game since hitting six on Jan. 3 against Concordia. None was bigger—or more impressive—than the deep 3 he connected on from nearly 30 feet out with 4:09 left, widening the UMHB lead to 14 as The Cru kept the pressure on.
Along with Johnson’s 27 points, UMHB got 15 points from Donta Coady and 13 more from Elijah Lawrence on a night when the offense found its gear and outpaced the Pointers. The Cru shot 54.6% in the second half and 50.0% for the game, crossing the 80-point threshold for the eighth straight game. The Crusaders are 17-3 this season when scoring at least 83 points.
Achieving that top-notch offensive production started with the scouting report, assembled quickly upon UMHB learning of its first-round draw against a talented WIAC squad that entered the tournament with the No. 20 overall seed. Right away, it was clear The Cru would have opportunities to attack the paint against UWSP’s defense, and UMHB made that a priority.
“We did not think that they would have an easy time keeping us out of the paint,” Patterson said. “So it was important for us to drive close-outs, and put the pressure on their defense to close-out and try to stay in front of the ball. We had a few matchups that we liked, and we were able to manipulate it a little bit to get those matchups early, and then put them on their heels to where they’re trying to guard highly-athletic players coming into the paint.”
It turned out to give UMHB a sizable free throw advantage in the first 20 minutes, the same stretch that saw the Crusaders take control. Throughout the regular season, Patterson talked about a consistent objective being for his team to make more free throws than the opponent attempts, and for the first half, UMHB did that. It stemmed from the aggressiveness in driving the ball inside, whether it be Coady, Lawrence, Grant Jessen, or someone else, putting UWSP in difficult spots defensively. The Cru went 9-of-12 at the foul line in the opening half, while UWSP made just two trips to the line, going 3-of-4.
“Credit to our guys for going in there strong, not relying on a call, and just going in there to finish, knowing [UWSP] didn’t have a rim protector like we’d seen in our games in conference play,” Patterson added.
Without 6-foot-8 forward Cal Krohn, who suffered a season-ending injury in early January, the Pointers certainly lacked an imposing rim protector. Not only did UWSP give up several drives to the paint—accumulating to 38 paint points for UMHB—the Pointers also struggled on the boards against the nation’s No. 2 rebounding team. UMHB finished +12 in rebounding margin (40-28), pulling down at least 10 more rebounds than its opponent for the second time in the last week.
While UWSP stayed in it and held the lead midway through the first half, UMHB’s relentless approach on both ends of the floor eventually paid off. With 9:15 left until halftime, Coady drove hard from the left wing, slamming down a one-handed dunk to cut UWSP’s lead to 18-15. It was the momentum UMHB needed after a tough early stretch offensively that included making just two of its first seven shots from the field.
With Coady’s dunk came a major run for the Crusaders, who mounted a 20-6 run that visibly took the wind out of the Pointers’ sails. Lawrence pulled UMHB back within three on a layup, then Cam Stinson tied the game on a corner 3 just one possession later. The free throw shooting played into it as well, as Zachary Engels went 1-of-2 on an ensuing trip to the foul line, pushing UMHB in front for the first time since the 16:25 mark of first half.
And UMHB didn’t stop there. Coady drilled an in-rhythm 3 from the right wing, Johnson hit two free throws of his own, Grant Jessen sank a step-back jumper, and Johnson scored on a drive inside, all before Coady pushed the lead out to nine on a successful 2-for-2 trip to the charity stripe with 3:18 left. In that stretch, the visitors from Belton shot 6-of-7 from the field, paced by seven points from Coady, while holding the Pointer offense to a 3-of-10 shooting mark during the run.
When asked about it postgame, Patterson attributed the game-shifting run to his team’s ability to go up-tempo, pushing the pace with the ball while applying more full-court pressure on UWSP’s ballhandlers.
“I think what clicked in our minds was when we started to pick up full court defensively,” Patterson said. “It wasn’t pressing; I wouldn’t say we were trying to do anything besides trying to pick it up and make sure they felt us all 94 feet. I think that little switch triggered something for our aggressiveness and ability to get out and run in transition, and exploit our athleticism and the strength of our team, which is being able to get out and run and play off of ball screens.”
For the majority of that run, UMHB utilized a smaller lineup, allowing that speed to come more easily. Engels, a 6-foot-4 wing, moved to the 5 (a spot typically reserved for a team’s biggest player), Jonathan Leggett ran the point, and Stinson, a fleet-footed 5-foot-10 guard, also went into the game. It made all the difference for The Cru, who scored eight of their last 17 points of the half on fast breaks.
“When we went small, with Zach Engels at the 5 and John, Cam, and Hudson in together, that lineup helped,” Patterson noted. “And to be honest, Butler getting in foul trouble definitely hurt their rhythm, so we felt like that was a time for us to try to expand the lead. So credit to our guys for being able to take advantage of that foul trouble and take it from a pretty close game to a three or four-possession game there at the end of that first half.”
UWSP pulled within six on a Logan Baumgartner right wing 3 that snapped a three-minute scoring drought for the Pointers, but Jessen and Johnson immediately answered for The Cru, building out a 10-point lead that went down as UMHB’s largest of the first half. UMHB led 37-29 at the intermission.
The second half turned out to be a continuation of the closing minutes of the first, as UWSP hung around but never truly threatened UMHB’s lead. The Cru opened with consecutive short-range scores from Coady and Johnson, and widened the lead to 10 three different times in the first five minutes.
Then came Johnson’s second-half heroics. After Seth Miron pulled the Pointers within eight, Johnson went down the floor and buried a 3, putting UMHB back up 54-43. Less than 50 seconds later, he caught a pass in the right corner from Lawrence, drove around a well-set screen from Josiah Wray, and finished with a left-hand layup. The very next trip to the offensive end for The Cru ended with Johnson connecting on yet another 3, this one widening the lead to 14.
UMHB’s advantage never dipped below nine points for the game’s next 11 minutes, as The Cru closed in on a trip to the second round. For as stellar as the offense was, UMHB had its share of key defensive moments too, maintaining separation from UWSP, who entered Friday as the nation’s 19th-ranked team in offensive efficiency. That included moments like Coady’s deflection and steal with 1:39 left, when he got in the way of Max Raimer’s post-to-post pass to Miron, tipping the loose ball to himself near the 3-point arc before dishing to Johnson, who pushed the ball upcourt before finding Lawrence streaking to the rim for an open layup.
It widened the UMHB lead to 78-65. While UWSP pulled all the way back within five on Carter Combs’ layup through contact with 30 seconds to go, it was too little, too late for the Pointers. The Crusaders held on, going 3-of-4 at the free throw line in the last 27 seconds, notching the program’s 13th NCAA Tournament win.
Patterson, who was coaching in his 22nd career NCAA Tournament game, but his first as a head coach, praised his team postgame for its approach to building off last Saturday’s ASC championship game win over Hardin-Simmons and buying into the game plan for a brand-new opponent with just four days of prep.
“The emphasis leading up to this one was, ‘Let’s get off to a good start,’” Patterson said. “We showed a ton of film of that Hardin-Simmons championship game, the first four minutes of the first half versus the first four minutes of the second half, and just areas that we can learn from.
“I thought we had a great week of practice leading up to this. I told them, ‘This is the time of year that you want great weeks of practice, you want great focus in film sessions, and you want to be locked into scouting reports.’ I thought they really executed the scouting report for an opponent that we didn’t know anything about three or four days ago. Then to be able to not just take in the information, but go out and execute it is a testament to their maturity and the care factor that they have.”
For the second Saturday in a row, UMHB will be playing back-to-back in a survive-and-advance situation. Just as it was last weekend at the ASC Tournament, a win would guarantee The Cru at least one more game in this 2025-26 season. In that scenario last Saturday in Abilene, UMHB handled the moment with poise. Patterson knows his squad is ready to do it again, this time in the national tournament.
“I fully believe in a routine,” Patterson noted, when asked about handling the quick turnaround between games. “I think as coaches, if we can stick to a routine as often as we can, it helps with everything that goes into trying to win a game.
“We’ve had this routine several times this year, whether it’s in the conference tournament playing back-to-back or in the non-conference playing back-to-back after a plane trip. Being able to have our guys realize this is something we’ve done before, this is a routine we’re used to, and we’ve had success with it — that is big for us. I credit our staff for putting together the schedule we have that sets us up well to prepare our guys for this kind of tournament.”
UMHB Stat Leaders
Points: Hudson Johnson (27), Donta Coady (15), Elijah Lawrence (13)
Rebounds: Zachary Engels (11), Hudson Johnson (6), Donta Coady (5)
Assists: Hudson Johnson (4), Donta Coady (3), Jonathan Leggett (3)
Steals: Elijah Lawrence (3), Donta Coady (2)
About Saturday’s Opponent: Gustavus Adolphus
- The Gusties are 26-2 overall and won the MIAC Playoff Championship for the second time in the last three seasons with a 75-66 win over Saint John’s. Gustavus is ranked No. 7 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll.
- Gustavus advanced to the second round with Friday’s 86-70 win over UMAC champ Bethany Lutheran College. The Gusties outscored BLC, 46-31, in the opening half, and shot 15-of-37 from 3-point range in the win. 28 points off turnovers also aided the winning effort, which featured five players scoring in double figures.
- Gustavus boasts the No. 2 assist-to-turnover margin in the country, at 1.78 (pre-NCAA Tournament stats). A disciplined squad, they average the fewest turnovers per game in D3 (7.8).
- The Gusties entered the tournament with the fourth-best 3-point shooting percentage in D3, connecting on 38.5% of their shots from long-range.
- Names to know: JR G Myles Barnette, #13 (18.7 PPG, 4.2 APG), JR G Jake Schmitt, #10 (15.4 PPG, 3.7 RPG), SR W Carson Koch, #11 (6.0 PPG, 6.4 RPG), SO F Andrew Quam, #35 (11.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG)
Watch Saturday’s game at 7:20 p.m. CT on NCAA.com. To view the full D3 bracket, click here.
