Men's Basketball 12/2/2009 8:01:00 PM Ryan Powell, UND Media Relations

MBB Game Notes: Sioux set to play in second annual Drake Hy-Vee Classic

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The Fighting Sioux will play in their second preseason tournament of the season this weekend at the Drake Hy-Vee Classic in Des Moines, Iowa. UND will open the classic against UT Arlington on Friday at 5 p.m. CT. The Sioux will then either player Drake or SIU-Edwardsville in the consolation or championship game on Saturday. If UND plays Drake, that contest will be at 7:30 p.m. CT, while a match-up with SIU-E would be at 5 p.m.

ALL-TIME VS. THE HY-VEE CLASSIC FIELD
VS. UT Arlington (0-0)
First Meeting

VS. Drake (UND leads 4-3)
Last Meeting - Drake 84, UND 50 (12/1/1959; Des Moines, Iowa)
• The Drake-UND series dates back to 1925 when the Bulldogs defeated the Fighting Sioux, 31-18, in Grand Forks.
• The teams played four more times in the 1920s, with the Sioux sweeping all of those contests.
• Drake has won two straight in the series including a 49-46 victory at the District 6 Olympic Tournament in Minneapolis, Minn., on March 12, 1936.
• The Bulldogs also won the last meeting in a game played nearly 50 years ago to the date on Dec. 1, 1959. Drake won that contest by the score of 84-50.

VS. SIU-Edwardsville (UND leads 2-0)
Last Meeting - UND 72, SIUE 68 (3/1/2009; Edwardsville, Ill.)
• The Sioux and Cougars met for the first time on the hardwood last season as both teams were independent squads transferring to the Division I level.
• UND won both of the contests, including a 79-68 victory at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center on Feb. 19.
• The Sioux also won on the Cougars' home court, taking a 72-68 decision in Edwardsville, Ill., on March 1.

MEDIA INFORMATION: Both of the Fighting Sioux contests at the Drake Hy-Vee Classic can be heard locally on 100.3 FM (Cat Country). Paul Ralston will be handle the play-by-play for the audio broadcasts. Live stats will be availalbe at www.GoDrakeBulldogs.com.

SCOUTING UT ARLINGTON
• The Mavs, who were selected to finish fourth in the Southland Conference's West Division in the coaches' preseason poll, are off to a 3-2 start this season under fourth-year head coach Scott Cross. The team is 2-2 at Texas Hall and 1-0 on the road after knocking off Houston Baptist - a team the Sioux will face twice in Great West play later this season - 80-75 on Monday.
• The Mavs' two losses this season have been by a combined six points. North Texas edged UTA in double-overtime, 101-99, on Nov. 18 and Eastern Washington defeated the Mavs, 82-78, on Nov. 21.
• Cross led the Mavs to a 16-14 mark in 2008-09, a season after the seventh-seeded Mavs stunned the Southland Conference by winning the league's tournament and advancing to the 'Big Dance' for the first time in program history.
• Senior guard Marquez Haynes is the team's leading scorer through five games, averaging 25.2 ppg. He was a second-team All-Southland selection a season ago after averaging 16.5 ppg (3rd among Southland players). Haynes played one season at Boston College before transfering back to his home state to finish his collegiate career. Haynes' five-game scoring output looks like this: Dallas Baptist (30), North Texas (29), Eastern Washington (32), UT Permian Basin (19) and Houston Baptist (18).
• Haynes' classmate Brandon Long is chipping in 18.2 ppg, while forward Tommy Moffit, a prep teammate of Haynes at Irving High School, and LaMarcus Reed are averaging 9.4 and 9.2 ppg, respectively. The quartet of Haynes, Long, Moffitt and Reed have accounted for 77 percent of the team's scoring this season (312 of 405 points; 81.0 ppg).

SCOUTING DRAKE
• The Bulldogs, who hold a 2-4 record overall, are led by second-year head coach Mark Phelps. Phelps is the 25th head coach in the history of the Drake program and has compiled a 19-20 record during his one-plus seasons in Des Moines. A long-time assistant under Herb Sendek at both North Carolina State and Arizona State, this is the first head coaching job for Phelps. The Bulldogs were picked to finish eighth in the Missouri Valley preseason coaches' poll.
• Two-time Missouri Valley All-Conference guard Josh Young leads the Bulldogs, whose 2009-10 roster is comprised of three returners and 10 newcomers. Young is seventh on the all-time scoring list at Drake with 1,375 points and ranks third in scoring this season with 9.4 ppg. He needs only 33 treys to become the school's all-time leader in that category.
• Transfer Ryan Wedel leads the team with a 15.5 ppg clip and has led the team in scoring in four of six contests this season. He was named Mr. Basketball in the state of Kansas as a senior at Minneapolis High in 2006.

SCOUTING SIU-EDWARDSVILLE
• The Cougars are winless in six contests so far this season. SIUE is coached by Lennox Forrester, who is in his third season at the school. He led his squad to a 10-20 record a season ago as the Cougars were in year one of the transition to the Division I level just like the Fighting Sioux.
• Sophomore Mark Yelovich is the team's leading returning scorer after averaging 13.7 ppg as a freshman in 2008-09. He has picked up where he left off, leading the team this season as well through six games (13.3 ppg.). He is the lone Cougar averaging in double figures for a club that is scoring at a rate of 58.3 ppg.
• After suffering double-digit defeats in its first four games of the season, SIUE has been on the brink of a victory in the last two contests. Lipscomb edged the Cougars 67-64 on Nov. 28 and in their last game, the Cougars fell to IPFW - a team UND will play on Dec. 12 - 69-64.
• If the Sioux and Cougars do happen to meet up at the Hy-Vee Classic, the teams will then play three times this season. UND travels to Edwardsville on Feb. 7 for a 1:30 p.m. tip and the Cougars play in Grand Forks on Feb. 18 at 7 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT - GREEN BAY RECAP: The Sioux fell to Green Bay, 67-41, on Sunday afternoon at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Green Bay guard Troy Cotton scored 20 of his game-high 22 points in the first half, while fellow guard Rahmon Fletcher added 19 points points to pace the Phoenix. UND junior Derek Benter (Crosby, N.D.) led the Sioux with nine points, while redshirt freshman Spencer Goodman contributed eight points and personal-highs of four rebounds and four assists. The Sioux shot just 30.4 percent for the game (14-for-46), while Cotton and the Phoenix shot 43.8 percent (21-for-48).

MITCHELL'S HOMECOMING: Sophomore wing Patrick Mitchell has been eying this weekend for more than two years. The Des Moines native returns to his hometown to play in the Drake Hy-Vee Classic this Friday at the Knapp Center on the Drake campus. Mitchell expects more than two dozen family and friends will be in attendance to add to the UND contingent. Mitchell prepped at Dowling Catholic High School in the town he was born and raised. As a senior, he was named to the Des Moines Register All-Iowa first team and also earned all-conference honors. He was named Dowling's Male Athlete of the Year in 2007.

BLEDSOE SIDELINED: Last year's leading returning scorer Travis Bledsoe (10.3 ppg in 2008) missed his sixth consecutive contest, sitting out the entire four-game homestand the Sioux wrapped up with their loss to Green Bay on Sunday. Bledsoe played sparingly in the season-opener at Montana, scoring seven points, but has not seen action since. His status is still day-to-day.

DOUBLE-THE-TROUBLE: The Fighting Sioux registered a season-high 12 steals in Friday's setback to Northern Colorado. Senior Travis Mertens led the effort with a season-high four steals (one shy of his career high). Senior Dustin Monsebroten added three, while redshirt freshman Nick Haugen and sophomore Mike Mathison each tallied the first two steals of their respective careers. It was also the second straight game the defense forced an opponent into 22 turnovers. The 44 turnovers combined in the those two tilts was one more than the Sioux caused in their first four games (43). Green Bay committed 16 on Sunday, bringing the average turnovers forced total to 60 in the last three contests. After committing 12 turnovers in the first half against the Phoenix, the Sioux had just three miscues in the second half.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: With December comes clean shaven faces for the men's basketball team. The squad grew mustaches for the entire month of 'Movember' to raise awareness for prostate cancer and other men's health diseases. All donations collected as the four men's home basketball games in November were sent to the Movember Foundation where they will be dispersed between the Prostrate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

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