Minnesota Big Men Battle Before Big 10 Coaches

Trevor Mbakwe, a 6-foot-8 sophomore from Mendota Heights (MN) Henry Sibley and Bryce Webster, a 6-foot-9 junior center from Mendota Heights (MN) St. Thomas Academy battled in a Classic Suburban matchup that attracted Illinois assistant Tracy Webster, Chuck Swenson, an assistant at Michigan and Minnesota head coach Dan Monson and director of basketball operations James Ware. Despite foul troubles to both big men, neither disappointed a standing-room only crowd as Sibley edged the Cadets 58-55.

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This story originally appeared on College Basketball News

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Trevor Mbakwe had 13 points in the first half, but picked up his third foul with under three minutes left.

Bryce Webster had eight points at the break; he also finished the first 16 minutes with three fouls. This caused both big men to not be as aggressive as normal, even though neither big man picked up another foul the rest of the game.

St. Thomas led 29-21 at hafltime and were up 45-40 going into the final period after leading by as many as eleven points.

Josh Dorn stole the ball and made both free throws to put the Warriors 56-55 with 1:17 left to play. Sophomore Phil Haig made another steal and Mbakwe made the first free throw, banking it off the glass. Dan Leslie made another steal for the Warriors and sealed the win by following his missed free throw by grabbing the rebound.

Mbakwe finished with 28 points and 16 rebounds. Minnesota, Marquette and Iowa have already offered him a scholarship. He attended the Illinois-Wake Forest game recently.

Webster finished with 25 points in the loss. David Hicks, a 6-foot-1 junior added 19 for the Cadets.