GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Head coach Brian Jones and the Fighting Sioux made their way through non-conference play with a 7-9 record, but the slate is wiped clean starting Saturday against rival South Dakota. The contest against the Coyotes marks the beginning of Great West play, which will be the second season in the league for the Sioux. Tip-off is scheduled start approximately 25 minutes after the conclusion of the women's game at 1 p.m.

ALL-TIME SERIES vs. South Dakota  

Overall: UND leads 96-88  

In Grand Forks: UND leads 55-30  

Jones vs. South Dakota: 2-8  

Last Meeting: USD won 82-64 (1/23/10)

Radio: 100.3 FM (Cat Country)

Live Stats: www.FightingSioux.com

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• The Sioux open Great West Conference play on Saturday against South Dakota in a doubleheader with the women's team starting at 1 p.m. 

• UND will look to post its first three-game winning streak since the 2008-09 season with a win over the Coyotes, who will be looking to snap a two-game skid of their own. 

• The Sioux are averaging 84.5 ppg in the first two games of the homestand, victories over Longwood (90-74, Jan. 9) and Minot State (79-50, Jan. 13), while the defense is allowing only 62.0 ppg.

• UND posted a 5-7 record in its inaugural run through GWC play last season, but dropped both contests to South Dakota, who won the regular season and tournament titles.

• The doubleheader with the Coyotes is part of rivalry weekend at UND as the men's hockey team will face Minnesota in a WCHA series on Friday and Saturday night. Fans showing their tickets for the hockey games will receive admission to the basketball doubleheader for only $5. 

• On top of the discounted tickets, the basketball games will also feature a “PACK THE HOUSE” challenge where the first 500 UND students each receive foam fists and one lucky student will win free tuition for a semester. 

• The Sioux are 6-1 this season on the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center floor.

• UND is averaging 74.0 ppg in those seven home contests, while yielding only 60.3 ppg. 

• In their last action, the Sioux raced out to a 47-24 lead at the break on Minot State behind the strength of 60.7 percent shooting from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. 

• True freshman Troy Huff paced the Sioux in scoring with 19 points as he increased his home average to 13.6 ppg on the season. 

• Huff connected on a season-high eight field goal attempts (10 tries) to lead UND to the 79-50 victory over the Beavers. Redshirt freshman Josh Schuler joined Huff in double figures with 11 points.

• Junior Patrick Mitchell had a nice all-around game, scoring six points, dishing out a career-high four assists and equaling his career highs in rebounds (10) and blocks (4).

• Freshman Aaron Anderson has been nearly automatic from the foul line at home, sinking 40-of-44 attempts (90.9 percent). Anderson, who went 4-for-4 in the win over Minot State, is only 9-for-15 (60.0 percent) from the foul line in games away from “The Betty.”

• UND opened its six-game homestand in emphatic fashion, drilling Longwood 90-74 on Jan. 9. The 16-point victory equaled the largest (74-58 vs. Utah Valley, 2/20/10) by the Sioux over a DI school since beginning the transition three seasons ago.

• The 90 points scored by UND were also the most by the team against a Division I opponent (90-78 victory over NJIT, 2/23/10).

• Schuler led four Sioux players in double figures with 21 points en route to earning his second Great West Player of the Week accolade this season.

Head coach Dave Boots is in his 23rd season (473-191) leading the Coyotes as they, like the Sioux, continue the transition to the Division I ranks. Boots and the Coyotes defeated the Sioux twice last season in their first contests as Division I and Great West foes. The veteran coach has a 36-15 all-time record against his Dakota neighbors to the north. USD will join the Summit League in time for the 2011-12 academic year.

Boots guided his 2009-10 squad to the inaugural Great West regular season and tournament titles a season ago thanks in large part to Great West Player of the Year Tyler Cain. The Sioux will not have to worry about the departed Cain this time around as the Coyote big man has graduated.

USD does have three guards picking up the scorling slack as all three are averaging in double figures. Junior guard Charlie Westbrook is leading that double-figure averaging trio at 15.8 ppg in his first season with the Coyotes after transferring from Iowa Western C.C. The other two members will be familiar faces for the Sioux. Junior Louie Krogman ranks second on the team at 13.5 ppg, while sophomore Jake Thomas is averaging 13.2 ppg. Krogman and Thomas have combined to hoist 225 3-point attempts already this season, knocking down 77 of those (34.2 percent).

The Coyotes are averaging 78.5 ppg, while surrendering 74.9 through 17 games. Freshman big man Trevor Gruis has been a capable fill-in for Cain, averaging 9.2 ppg and 7.1 rpg in his first collegiate season. Gruis leads USD in shooting percentage, sinking 58.3 percent of his shots from the floor. Sophomore Jordan Boots, the coaches' son, has been the top 3-point shooter on the Coyotes, drilling 41.6 percent of his long-range attempts (32-for-77).

The Coyotes posted a pair of double-digit victories in the 2009-10 series with the Sioux. Both games were tightly-contested at the half before USD pulled away in the second half.

In the first game on Jan. 16 in Vermillion, USD turned a two-point advantage at the break into a 74-64 victory behind a game-high 27 points from senior Roman Gentry. Louie Krogman came off the bench to add 16 points. Sophomore Patrick Mitchell scored 17 points of the Sioux bench to pace the UND offense, while redshirt freshman Nick Haugen added 10 points.

The Coyotes spoiled UND's return to the Ralph Engelstad Arene for the first since the 2004-05 season by posting an 82-64 victory in the home of UND's hockey teams. USD freshman Jake Thomas drained five 3-pointers and went 12-for-12 from the foul line to pace all scorers with 27 points. 

UND senior Travis Bledsoe was only two points shy of that mark, chipping in 25 for the Sioux as he buried seven 3-pointers and went 9-for-11 from the field. Freshman Doug Archer had his highest-scoring game of his rookie season, scoring 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Archer's big game would the final one of his season as he suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice the next week.  

BIG SKY BOUND: The Fighting Sioux will join the Big Sky Conference in the summer of 2012 in time to participate as a full member during the 2012-13 academic year. The announcement was made on Nov. 1 in the lobby of the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. UND got its first taste of conference competition this season on Nov. 19 when the Fighting Sioux knocked off Sacramento State, 64-60, at home. Three UND players each scored 11 points as the club held off a late rally by the Hornets to post its first win over a Big Sky team in program history. The Sioux had lost their first four against league opponents since moving up to Division I basketball three seasons ago. The Sioux will also travel to Northern Colorado to face the Bears on Feb. 21. UNC is no stranger to the Sioux, having been a long-time rival during UND's Division II days as a member of the North Central Conference. Besides Sacramento State and Northern Colorado, the Big Sky is also comprised of Portland State, Northern Arizona, Montana, Montana State, Idaho State, Weber State and Eastern Washington. Southern Utah will also join the league along with the Sioux in 2012-13. 

MITCHELL NAMED TO GWC PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM: Junior forward Patrick Mitchell was one of 12 players named to the Great West's preseason All-Conference men's basketball team. Mitchell earned a spot on the All-GWC second team that was voted on by the league's seven head coaches.Mitchell is the top returning scorer for head coach Brian Jones and the Fighting Sioux. He averaged 9.2 ppg overall and upped that to 11.8 ppg in league action as a sophomore in 2009-10. He ranked third in GWC contests last season in 3-point accuracy, shooting 45.6 percent from beyond the arc (31-for-68). Mitchell also tied the UND school record for 3-pointers made in a game when he connected on 10 in a victory over NJIT on Feb. 23.

SWAT MITCHELL: Mitchell broke into the UND career top 10 list in blocks earlier this season and he continues to move up the charts. Mitchell is currently tied for seventh with 73 after registering two blocks at Nebraska. Through 16 games, he has 20 blocks. For his career, Mitchell has blocked four shots in a game on six different occasions, including twice this season. The latest occurence was during the 79-50 victory over Minot State on Thursday. He has led the Sioux in blocks in each of his first two seasons of play at UND.

THE WHOLE TRUTH: The 2010-11 true freshman class of Aaron Anderson, Troy Huff and Jamal Webb have jumped right into the mix this season and their scoring output has been stellar. Huff has reached double figures nine times, including six out of the last seven games, Webb has six double-digit scoring games and Anderson has achieved 10-plus four times. Huff had his highest scoring output with 22 in the win over South Dakota School of Mines (Dec. 30). Anderson had his season-high of 18 in the loss at Northern Iowa (Nov. 27) and Webb has a pair of 15-point outings (vs. IPFW, Nov. 23; and vs. Mayville State, Dec. 14). Huff leads the team in scoring at 11.1 ppg and is averaging 15.2 ppg since being inserted into the starting lineup five games ago. Webb checks in at third in scoring at 8.6 ppg and Anderson is fifth at 7.3 ppg.

SCORING SURGE: Fourteen games into the season, the Fighting Sioux were 5-9 and averaging 59.4 ppg. Two games later, the Sioux own a two-game winning streak and have scored at an 84.5 ppg clip in those two victories. Freshmen Troy Huff and Josh Schuler are averaging 17.0 and 16.0 ppg, respectively, while shooting a combined 24-for-37 from the field (64.8 percent). In fact, all five Sioux starters are shooting better than 50 percent from the floor in those two contests. The offense cannot take all the credit for the victories because the defense has also been equal to the task, allowing only 62.0 ppg. 

RAGS TO RICHES: The Fighting Sioux followed up one of their poorest shooting performances of the season with their best on Jan. 9 as they defeated Longwood, 90-74, in the opener of a six-game homestand. UND shot a season-high 55.6 percent from the field just six days after posting a 27.6 percent clip in a loss at Nebraska. Redshirt freshman Josh Schuler led the 30-for-55 effort, making 7-of-11 from the field to tally a game-high 21 points. Junior Patrick Mitchell buried 6-of-9 shots to add 13 points. The Sioux also shot a season-high 89.3 percent from the charity stripe (25-for-28). Schuler went 7-for-7 from the stripe, while freshman Aaron Anderson went 6-for-6.

SCHULER'S TOUCH: Redshirt freshman Josh Schuler more than doubled his previous season high with 22 points in the four-point setback to Green Bay. The Urbana, Ohio native had reached his previous season high of 10 points in two previous games (at Idaho, vs. Monmouth). Schuler did most of his damage from beyond the arc where he went 5-for-6 to break out of a 9-for-34 slump to open his career. He finished the game 8-for-12 from the floor and the 22 points were the most by a Sioux player at that point of the season.

TRENDY OUTCOME: The Sioux have shot 50 percent or better and scored 70-plus points on four occasions and that combination has led to a win in each of those contests. The Sioux shot 51.2 percent from floor on Dec. 30 in a 73-64 victory over South Dakota School of Mines. True freshman Troy Huff led that charge with a 7-for-10 clip, including a 5-for-8 effort from beyond the arc.

WILMER WORKS THE BISON: Sophomore Mitch Wilmer put together the best game of his young career against in-state foe North Dakota State on Saturday. The 6-foot-11 center scored a career-high 10 points on 2-of-3 shooting from the floor and a 6-for-8 effort from the foul line. He also grabbed three rebounds and added a block and a steal. Besides the career-high effort in points, his six makes from the foul line were also a personal best and the 19 minutes he logged was the most action he has seen in a UND uniform. Unfortunately, Wilmer sustained a wrist injury in the contest and will be sidelined for an undisclosed amount of time.

CHARITY WORK: With their field goals not falling, the Fighting Sioux turned to the charity stripe to secure their lone win in the BTI Classic. UND made just three field goals in the second half of the 54-49 victory over Eastern Michigan on Dec. 4, but they made up for the lack of buckets at the free throw line. Six different UND players made at least three freebies in the second half as the team went 21-for-26 after the break. After a 2-for-6 start, the Sioux made 16 straight and finished making 19-of-20 to seal the victory. Aaron Anderson, Spencer Goodman and Josh Schuler each went 4-for-4 down the stretch. 

ANDERSON ICES SAC STATE: True freshman Aaron Anderson buried 10 consecutive free throws in the final 2:03 of the Sacramento State contest to give UND a 64-60 victory over the visiting Hornets on Nov. 19. Anderson scored all 11 of his team-high points from the charity stripe, missing only once in what was UND's first victory over a Big Sky team.

LATE SPURT LIFTS NORTHERN IOWA PAST UND: True freshman Jamal Webb put UND within a point of Northern Iowa at 43-42 with 12:08 to play, but the Panthers responded with an 18-2 run to put the game out of reach. The game was a stark contrast to a year ago when the Sweet 16 participant from last year's NCAA Tournament defeated the Sioux, 64-41 and led by 14 at the half. This time around, the Panthers' lead at the break was just five, but sophomore Jake Koch got hot for the home team and scored 19 of his game-high 20 points in the second half to help UND alum Ben Jacobson pick up his third straight win over his alma mater. Webb's classmate Aaron Anderson led the Sioux in scoring with a season-high 18 points as he connected on 7-of-9 shots from the floor and made all four his attempts from beyond the arc. 

HUFF'S BIG HOMECOMING ON ESPN3.COM: The Fighting Sioux appeared on an ESPN network for the first time since moving to the Division I level on Nov. 15 in Madison. True freshman Troy Huff scored a team-high 21 points as the game between UND and 25th-ranked Wisconsin was broadcasted live on ESPN3.com. Huff returned to his home state and went 6-for-15 from the field and 9-for-13 from the free throw line. 

FRESHMEN DANDY IN DEBUT: If the five newcomers to the Fighting Sioux roster were nervous in the season-opener vs. Waldorf on Nov. 12, their production sure did not show it. The freshmen quintet accounted for more than 50 percent of UND's points (39 of 77) and the group also combined for 14 of the team's 37 rebounds and 11 of the 13 assists. True freshman Troy Huff led the scoring (18) and rebounding (six) effort, while classmates Jamal Webb and Aaron Anderson each dished out four assists. Webb also added six rebounds to share team-high honors with Huff. Anderson had 10 points to go with his four assists, while redshirt freshman Josh Schuler (seven points, two assists) and Brandon Brekke (two points) also contributed to the victory in their debuts. Schuler logged a team-high 28 minutes as both he and Webb started the contest. 

KEEPING TABS ON THE SIOUX: All North Dakota home men's basketball games  can be heard via free audio webcast at FightingSioux.com. Pre-game shows will start 25 minutes prior to tip this season. UND athletics will also provide a video webcast and free live stats for all home men's basketball games this season. Fans can also listen to all home games on Cat Country 100.3 FM this season. Paul Ralston will handle most of the play-by-play duties during the year. 

UND ON THE INTERNET: FightingSioux.com is the official online home of University of North Dakota athletics. FightingSioux.com is a veritable one-stop shop for the most hardcore Sioux fans, featuring breaking news, player profiles, game notes, live and archived video webcasts, game audio, live stats, podcasts, blogs, player profiles, merchandise, photo galleries, news feeds and camp registrations.

UND GONE MOBILE: The University of North Dakota athletics department and leading technology service provider NeuLion, Inc. (TSX: NLN) announced the launch of UND's official athletics mobile website, www.FightingSioux. com. The new UND athletics destination offers a mobile device-enabled version of the site, amplifying the user experience on the go. The mobile website will deliver a condensed version of the official athletics site to provide latest news and quick updates to handheld devices. North Dakota's official athletics website is available on all web-enabled devices by opening a browser and entering the www. fightingsioux.com URL. Users can get the latest news, scores, upcoming schedule, photo galleries and more.

SIOUX SPORTS EXTRA: Back to chronicle another great season of University of North Dakota athletics, the Sioux Sports Extra television made its debut this season on Sunday, Aug. 29. The weekly show, which features highlights, interviews and features on Fighting Sioux teams and student-athletes, is produced by Forum Communications. It airs every Sunday night at 10:30 p.m. on WDAZ in Grand Forks and WDAY in Fargo, and at 11:30 p.m. on KBMY in Bismarck and KMCY in Minot. Sioux Sports Extra will also be seen during the week nationally on Fox College Sports, and regionally on MidcoSportsNet. The show will air on FCS on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. and on Fridays at 3:30 p.m. It will air throughout the week on MidcoSportsNet, including one hour prior to live Friday and Saturday hockey games. Each episode is also available for on-demand viewing at the official UND athletics website, www. FightingSioux.com.