GRAND FORKS, N.D. - With the non-conference schedule behind UND now, it is back to Great West play for the stretch run of the regular season. The Sioux are 3-3 at the midway point of their inaugural season and they play four of their last six league games at 'The Betty' starting with Utah Valley on Saturday. Tip off for the contest against the Wolverines is scheduled for 3 p.m.
PINK ZONE: Saturday's doubleheader between UND and Utah Valley will also serve as a cancer awareness event sponsored by the American Cancer Society Relay For Life Committee. All cancer survivors will receive free admission to both games and friends and family can purchase group tickets for only $5. Cancer awareness information will be available at the games and a number of free items will be available to help encourage early detection and prevention of cancer.
LAST TIME VS. THE WOLVERINES: The Sioux opened their Great West era on Jan. 14 at Utah Valley and came away with a 67-62 victory. Senior Travis Bledsoe went both 9-for-11 from the field and the free throw line to tally a career-high 28 points in the victory. His nine field goals were also a career-high and surprisingly only one of those was one of his trademark 3-pointers. The Wolverines hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to take a two-point lead into the lockerroom, but the Sioux used a 7-0 run midway through the final stanza to create separation and hold on for the five-point victory. Redshirt freshmen Spencer Goodman and Doug Archer came up big down the stretch as well. Goodman finished with nine points and six boards, while Archer netted a then career-high of eight points.
SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES
• The Wolverines are coached by Dick Hunsaker, who is in his seventh season at Utah Valley. Prior to his stint in Orem, Hunsaker was the interim head coach at Utah for a season (2002-03), where he led the Utes to an 18-12 record and was named the Mountain West Coach of the Year.
• Hunsaker's 2006-07 Wolverine club posted a 22-7 record, which was the best record by a DI Independent since Notre Dame's 1985-86. Hunsaker is 126-65 in seven-plus seasons.
• Utah Valley won the inaugural Great West Conference game on Jan. 9, defeating Chicago State 48-43.
• JUCO-transfer Corey Claitt, who scored 11 points in the first meeting between the two teams is no longer a member of the UVU basketball program.
• Senior guard Jordan Swarbrick is the team's leading scorer at 12.8 ppg. With Claitt's departure (he was averaging 11.9 ppg), junior Justin Baker is the only other scorer (10.3 ppg) averaging double figures for the Wolverines.
• The Wolverines dropped fell to South Dakota 59-55 on Thursday at the DakotaDome. Kevin Woods led UVU with 11 points and eight rebounds. Swarbrick came off the bench and was held to six points.
• UVU is 4-5 in Great West play, but the Wolverines dealt league-leading South Dakota its lone loss in league play on Jan. 21 (86-68 victory in Orem).
• Utah Valley made the rare jump from the junior college circuit to the Division I ranks. Hunsaker's first season with the Wolverines (2003-04) was their last as a JUCO. After seven seasons of transitioning, the NCAA granted full membership to Utah Valley in July of 2009.
• Eleven different Wolverines have started a game this season.
MEDIA INFORMATION: Saturday's contest with Utah Valley will be broadcast locally on Cat Country 100.3 FM with Paul Ralston on the call. Live stats and video streaming will also be available at www.FightingSioux.com.
BLEDSOE SURPASSES 900, CLOSING IN ON 1,000-POINT MILESTONE: Points have been coming in bunches for senior Travis Bledsoe lately and the result has been a rocket-like pace towards the 1,000-point club. With 16 more points he will become the 30th member of that elusive club at UND and his next chance to join those ranks will be at home against Utah Valley on Saturday. Bledsoe opened his senior season needing 257 points and after missing six games and scoring only 76 points in his first 10 contests he saw action in, the task of reaching that career milestone seemed daunting with less than half of the season remaining. Apparently, someone forgot to tell Bledsoe that. Needing to average almost double his output through those first 10 games, he has nearly tripled it in the last eight games, pouring in 165 points for an average of 20.6 ppg. Bledsoe has seven double-figure scoring games, five of the 20-plus point variety and he has equaled his career-high of 28 twice during that stretch. The results have not only increased his career point total, but the Sioux have tripled their win total from two to six during that run as well.
TOE-TO-TOE: Thursday's contest against SIU Edwardsville may not have ended the way the Sioux wanted with a 91-76 loss, but the fans at 'The Betty' witnessed two of the best individual performances the arena has seen. Senior guard Travis Bledsoe equaled his career-high with 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the floor, but unfortunately his efforts were trumped by SIUE sophomore Mark Yelovich, who netted a career-high 34 points in leading the Cougars to their first win over the Sioux in four tries over the past two seasons. Yelovich went 11-for-14 from the field, including a 6-for-9 effort from deep to lead the visitors to the win. Bledsoe was equally impressive from behind the arc, knocking down 5-of-6 to continue his torrid shooting pace. He is 9-for-11 in his last two games.
SNOWMAGEDDON GAMES RESCHEDULED: After 11 days of tossing around a number of different scenarios, the men's and women's doubleheader with New Jersey Institute of Technology that was postponed on Feb. 11 has been rescheduled for Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 23. The women's game will tip off at Noon and be followed by the men's game at 2 p.m. It will be the first meetings between the two teams, who will play again in New Jersey later in the week on Saturday, Feb. 27.
SATURDAY SLUMP ENDS: Before the 74-60 victory over Chicago State on Feb. 13, the Sioux were winless on Saturdays this season. The team had dropped nine straight on the opening day of the weekend.
LAND OF THE THREE: A season high 14 treys lifted UND to a 74-60 victory over Chicago State on Feb. 13 at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The comfy confines of home led to a 46.7 percent shooting effort from behind the arc (14-for-30) and 50 percent clip from the floor (23-for-46) for UND. Sophomore Patrick Mitchell equaled his career-high with 17 points and senior Travis Bledsoe added 16 points to pace the Sioux. Both players knocked down four treys in the game as UND fell just two shy of the single-game record of 16 set vs. Augustana (Feb. 2, 1996).
GREAT WEST PLAY IGNITES BLEDSOE: Senior guard Travis Bledsoe is rounding back into shape and his play on the floor is providing the proof. Bledsoe, who missed six games earlier this season with a bruised pelvic bone, has stepped up his game since the beginning of league play on Jan. 14 at Utah Valley. He scored a career-high 28 points in the 67-62 win over the Wolverines on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor to set a new career-high for field goals made. He equaled that mark with nine makes in a 82-64 loss to South Dakota (Jan. 23). Bledsoe made a career-high seven 3-pointers in that contest to account for a team-high 25 points. In the thrilling double-overtime win at Texas-Pan American, Bledsoe scored 24 points, including a 12-for-14 effort from the foul line. The Minneapolis native continued his run of 20-plus scoring games with a 25-point effort in a loss at Houston Baptist. He tallied 16 points in the 14-point victory over Chicago State on Saturday ranks second with a 21 ppg average in Great West contests.
MORE ON BLEDSOE: Not only has senior Travis Bledsoe increased his scoring in Great West play, but his shooting has been remarkably better as well. Entering league play, Bledsoe was 7-for-14 (50 percent) from the charity stripe in 10 games. In six GWC games, Bledsoe is 31-for-42 (73.8 percent). From 3-point range, where he set the school's single season record a season ago at 44.7 percent, Bledsoe had made only 11-of-38 attempts (28.9 percent) prior to league play. In conference games, Bledsoe has knocked down 17-of-33 attempts (51.5 percent). From the floor in the GWC games, he is 39-for-78 (50.0 percent).
ON THE MARK: In their last seven games, the Sioux have shot better than 40 percent from 3-point range in six of those contests. To put that in perspective, UND only shot that well in six of their first 17 contests of the season. Senior Travis Bledsoe and sophomore Patrick Mitchell are the primary reason for the latest surge. Bledsoe is 21-for-37 (56.7 percent) and Mitchell is 14-for-33 (42.4 percent).
REDSHIRTS CLEAN THE GLASS: Redshirt freshmen Spencer Goodman and Jordan Allard combined for 10 of 14 offensive boards and 16 overall in Thursday's setback to SIUE. It is an encouraging sign for the Sioux, who won the rebounding tally 32-27. Goodman finished with a career-high 10 boards and Allard corralled six off the bench for the second straight game. UND has outrebounded its opponents in six of the last nine games.
CAPTAINS LEAD COMEBACK: The trio of Sioux seniors, who also serve as team captains, all played pivotal roles in the comeback victory at UTPA on Jan. 28. Senior guard Travis Bledsoe scored a game-high 24 points, wing Travis Mertens added his fourth double-double of the season (17 pts, career-high 11 rebs) and guard Dustin Monsebroten made two free throws in the final 10 seconds of the second overtime to seal the win. Monsebroten finished with five points.
ARCHER OUT: Redshirt freshman Doug Archer will miss the remainder of the season after tearing the ACL in his right knee during practice prior to the team's departure for its Great West swing through Texas. The injury came following Archer's most productive game of the season when he tallied a career-high 12 points and grabbed a career-high five rebounds in a loss to South Dakota at the REA on Jan. 24. Archer was averaging 7.7 ppg in three Great West contests.
MR. EVERYTHING: Senior wing Travis Mertens, who is the lone returning starter for UND, has provided a veteran presence for the Sioux in the opening 24 contests. He is second on the club in scoring (9.9 ppg), first in rebounding (6.5 rpg), first in assists (1.9 apg) and first in steals (1.0 spg) this season. Mertens has reached double figures a team-high 13 times, including a career-high 19 points at IPFW. He has also led the Fighting Sioux in rebounding in 19 of 24 contests. The 6-foot-5, Devils Lake native grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds in the double-overtime victory at UTPA and has four double-doubles on the season. He has corralled a total of 160 boards on the season, nearly doubling his next closest teammate (Spencer Goodman, 81) and also has a team-high 49 offensive rebounds.
SECRETS TO SUCCESS: The Sioux have two things in common when they have won this season. First, they hold their opponents to less than 50 shooting percent from the floor and, second, they outrebound them. UND has achieved both of those feats in all six victories.
