GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Sophomore Patrick Mitchell tied a University of North Dakota men's basketball record with 10 three-pointers and finished with a career-high 33 points to carry the Fighting Sioux to a 90-78 Great West Conference victory over NJIT in front of 1,691 fans at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
The Des Moines, Iowa, native shot 10-for-13 from three-point range to tie the 16-year-old single-game record set by Travis Tuttle (1992-97) on Nov. 19, 1994 against Holy Names. Mitchell's final trey at the buzzer also helped tie the single-game team record of 16 three-pointers set by the 1995-96 squad on Feb. 9 against Augustana.
"This wasn't really a game-plan," Mitchell said. "The ball kept going in, so I just kept shooting it."
This was the first-career 30-point game for Mitchell, who shattered his previous scoring high of 17 points. He added a team-high two blocked shots.
"As players, you have nights like this," head coach Brian Jones said. "Patrick maybe took one poor shot, but outside of that he had great shots tonight. Credit to the other guys as well. They really shared the ball well tonight."
Joining Mitchell in double-figures was seniors Travis Bledsoe (G, Minneapolis, Minn.) and Travis Mertens (W, Devils Lake, N.D.). Bledsoe was 3-for-7 beyond the arc and 11-for-13 at the free throw line to finish with 20 points. It was the 10th career and third-consecutive 20-point finish for Bledsoe.
Mertens missed just one shot in the game to finish 3-for-4 from the field, 1-for-1 behind the arc, and 4-for-4 at the charity stripe for 11 points.
The Fighting Sioux out-rebounded the Highlanders 32-23 and banked 16 points off of NJIT's 12 turnovers.
"I thought both teams played extremely hard," Jones said. "Both teams are very spirited so it turned into a very hard-fought match."
NJIT was led by Chris Flores who hit six three-pointers - all in the second half - and finished with 25 points. Jheryl Wilson finished with 19 points and Sammy Schickel scored 10 points off of the bench.
The Fighting Sioux shot well over 50 percent in all areas. They finished .833 (30-for-36) from the free throw line, .640 (16-for-25) at three-point range, and .579 (22-for-38) from the field. NJIT shot under 50 percent both from the field (.474) and behind the three-point arc (.393). The Highlanders were 13-for-19 (.684) at the free throw line.
North Dakota and NJIT will meet again on Feb. 27 as the Fighting Sioux travel to New Jersey. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. Prior to Saturday's game, UND will face Chicago State in Illinois. Gametime between the Sioux and the Cougars is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
"With the road-swing coming up we have a chance to build upon what we have been doing lately," Jones said. "Its going to be a tough stretch, but it will give our guys the opportunity to grow and continue to learn."
"These next few games are huge," Mitchell said. "We have a goal to win all of our games at home and to pick up as many as we can on the road. We hope to pick up the next two this week."
NJIT led UND 8-3 after the first two and a half minutes of play, but then back-to-back three-pointers from Mitchell ignited a 26-3 run to give the Fighting Sioux a 29-11 lead with eight minutes remaining in the first half. Only eight of UND's early 29 points were scored inside the three-point arc and all but two were scored at the charity stripe.
In the first nine minutes of action, North Dakota banked seven three-pointers - including a career high-tying four from Mitchell.
"We played well and got out to an early lead, but being the team that they are, NJIT was able to come back and make some plays," Jones said.
NJIT cut the margin down to 10 points with a brief 12-4 run and with a three-pointer from Wilson at 3:57 had closed the gap to eight points. UND fired back with eight unanswered points to regain the 16-point lead. Three NJIT points in the final minute took the game into the half with the Sioux holding a 44-31 lead.
Flores opened the new half with a pair of three-pointers to cut the UND lead back down to single-digits, but the Sioux quickly pushed the margin back into double-figures to lead NJIT 51-37 with 18:21 on the clock.
Over the ensuing five minutes both teams fought for control of the game and with 14:01 remaining, the Highlanders had pulled within nine points of the Sioux for the second time in the half.
Over the next four and a half minutes UND and NJIT combined for three baskets - all from three-point range. Mitchell had two to give UND the 63-48 advantage; Schickel had one for NJIT.
With seven three's already, Mitchell hit back-to-back again from long-range to give UND the 18-point, 71-53 lead with just under seven minutes remaining.
NJIT used the next four and a half minutes to out-score the Sioux 18-9 and cut the UND lead again down to nine points. Flores was credited with half of the Highlander points as he hit a trio of baskets from beyond the arc.
With just over a minute left in the game, NJIT had pulled within seven of the Sioux - the smallest margin since 13:11 in the first half - but a pair of free throws from Bledsoe and a record three-pointer at the buzzer from Mitchell, UND held on for its second-consecutive win in front of a home crowd.
"It definitely got physical out there tonight, but we made sure that this game didn't slip away from us," Mitchell said. "It's good to walk away with the 'W'."
GAME NOTES: North Dakota now leads the series with NJIT 1-0 ... Nick Haugen set a new career-high in rebounds (seven) ... Patrick Mitchell is the 19th player in UND history to score 33 points in a single game. The last player to record 33 points was Emmanuel Little. He did so in the 100-88 win over Mayville State on Dec. 18, 2007 ... Patrick Mitchell set new career-highs in points (33), field goals made (11), field goals attempted (15), three-pointers made (10), and three-pointers attempted (13) ... Travis Bledsoe tied his career-high assists with five ... The Fighting Sioux are now 4-1 in the month of February and 3-3 when playing on a Tuesday.
- Go Sioux -
