It didn’t take long for Luke Winkel to make his presence felt during his NCAA Tournament debut.
The former Ankeny Centennial star turned a steal into a layup just 30 seconds into the game, and St. Cloud State went on to defeat Missouri Western, 83-65, in the opening round of the Central Regional on Saturday night at Lee Arena in Topeka, Kan.
“It was great to get some momentum, not only for me to get some points on the board but also a nice momentum play to get the bench energized and just get ready to play a physical, tough game,” said Winkel.
Winkel went on to finish with 22 points, three rebounds, four assists and two steals. The sophomore guard went 4-of-7 from 3-point range and 8-of-9 at the free-throw line.
Winkel is now just five points away from reaching the 1,000-point career milestone. He will likely become the 47th Husky to achieve the feat on Sunday, when St. Cloud State meets Minnesota Duluth in a regional semifinal at 7:30 p.m.
“It just shows all the hard work I’ve put in since high school,” Winkel said. “I really don’t go out there trying to score, but just contribute to the team the best way I can. That’s a great milestone. I was happy to get it in high school and hopefully I can get it again (Sunday).”
The 25th-ranked Huskies (26-6) jumped out to a 10-2 lead on Saturday and extended the margin to 39-24 at halftime. They led by as many as 26 points with 13 minutes 25 seconds left.
St. Cloud State earned its first NCAA Tournament win since 2017-18 behind a season-high 15 3-pointers.
“Last year we were very competitive, and we had a lot of people coming back,” Winkel said of the Huskies’ chemistry. “We’re a team that is very connected off the court so that amplifies everything that we have going for us on the court. It’s a really easy group to build with day in and day out.”
Missouri Western got 16 points from freshman guard Bode Goodman, a former Southeast Polk and Waukee Northwest standout. The Griffons finished the season at 21-12.
The Huskies avenged last year’s 80-73 loss to Missouri Western in the D2CCA Tipoff Classic at Canyon, Texas.
“Coming into this I think (our league) went 3-15 against the MIAA in the preseason so we had a little bit of a chip on our shoulder coming in knowing that the MIAA conference outperformed us early, so it was good to get that win,” Winkel said.
Winkel, who was called for a technical foul after making a 3-pointer with 37 seconds to go in the half, was named to the all-Central Region second team on Friday. He was joined on the squad by junior Wyatt Hawks, allowing them to become the first St. Cloud State duo to earn all-region honors since Matt Schneck and Taylor Witt in 2010.
The fourth-seeded Huskies will now get a rematch against No. 8 seed Minnesota Duluth (22-11). The Bulldogs advanced with a 64-62 upset over top-seeded Washburn, the No. 3 team in the nation in Division II.
St. Cloud State dropped a 76-65 decision to Minnesota Duluth in the championship game of the NSIC Tournament on March 3 at Sioux Falls, S.D. The Huskies were outrebounded by a 40-31 margin in the loss.
“The key is going to be rebounding,” Winkel said. “The last time they outrebounded us, and it really made it a hard game to claw back from. They hit some shots last time, so we’re going to try to contain the 3-point shooters. But defense and rebounding are going to be the biggest keys for us.”
No. 2 seed Oklahoma Baptist (28-3) will face No. 3 seed Central Missouri (24-9) in the other semifinal at 5 p.m. The regional final is slated for Tuesday night.
