GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The University of North Dakota men's basketball team returns to the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center on Thursday for its lone home game during the month of December. South Dakota State will be the opponent as the Jacks visit Grand Forks for the first time since Valentine's Day of 2004. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.

UND VS. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE SERIES

All-time: UND leads 105-78

In Grand Forks: UND leads 61-24

Last Meeting: SDSU won 92-54 (12/10/2011)

UND Head Coach Brian Jones vs. SDSU: 0-1

SDSU Head Coach Scott Nagy vs. UND: 17-5

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• SDSU won that contest 73-66 at the Hyslop Sports Center.

• These two squads renewed acquiantances this past Saturday for the first time since that 2003-04 season when SDSU swept three contests in what was the Jacks' final season at the Division II level.

• UND has won three of the last five in Grand Forks, but this will be the first matchup between the two teams at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. 

• With the 92-54 victory on Saturday, the Jacks have now won four straight in the series and eight of the last 10 meetings. SDSU raced out to a 15-0 lead and never trailed in the contest that saw the home team shoot 56.9 percent from the field and 60 percent from 3-point range. UND struggled from the floor, connecting on only 36.0 percent of its shots.

• Sophomore Troy Huff (Milwaukee, Wis.) led UND in scoring with 13 points, including a 6-of-7 effort from the free throw line. Classmate Brandon Brekke (East Grand Forks, Minn.) added eight points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor.

• Huff, Brekke and senior Patrick Mitchell (Des Moines, Iowa) were all saddled with foul trouble in the first half, combining to play only 21 minutes as SDSU built a 39-21 advantage at the break.

• For UND, Saturday's contest was the 184th with the Jackrabbits. Only two teams have been a more frequent opponent for UND — North Dakota State (287) and South Dakota (187). 

• UND has won its four games this season at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The team is 4-1 overall on its home court and outscoring opponents by 12 points (76.4-64.2).

• Sophomore Jamal Webb (Buffalo, N.Y.) leads a quartet of UND players averaging in double figures at home with a 13.6 ppg clip. Huff is close behind at 13.4 ppg, while Anderson (12.6 ppg) and Mitchell (11.2 ppg) round out that foursome.

• Brekke's 80 percent effort from the floor (4-for-5) qualified him for the GWC lead in field goal percentage. Brekke is 30-for-41 (73.2 percent) on the season.  

• Of Brekke's 11 misses this season, six came in his double-double outing at UMKC where he went 10-for-16 from the field with a career-high 20 points and 10 rebounds. In the team's other eight games, the sophomore is 20-for-25 (80 percent) from the floor. 

• Brekke had made 14 straight field goals over a seven-game stretch, but missed his first shot from the floor at UMKC.

• The loss to the Roos marked the first time this season that UND led at the half and did not go on to win the contest (4-1).

• Anderson ranks third among GWC players in field goal percentage and tops the 3-point percentage list.  He is shooting 53.7 percent from the floor (36-for-67) and 61.1 percent from distance (11-for-18).

• Huff is also among the league leaders in a number of categories. He is tied for third in scoring (14.6 ppg), fourth in rebounding (6.4 rpg) and first in steals (2.0 spg).

• Mitchell firmed up his perch a top the GWC blocked shots chart (17; 1.9 bpg) with a career-high equaling five at UMKC. Mitchell now has 131 for his career and needs three more to move into sole possession of second place on UND's career charts. 

• Webb is the league's top assist man through Dec. 10, averaging 3.6 apg (32 total). He trails only Huff in the steals department with 17 (1.9 spg).

• Webb had 20 assists and 23 turnovers through his first six games, but has dished out 11 helpers compared to only one turnover in the last two contests.

• Sophomore Josh Schuler (Urbana, Ohio) is averaging 7.1 ppg to lead all UND bench scorers.

• Schuler also tops UND and ranks second in the GWC in free throw percentage (86.2; 25-for-29).

• Huff has reached double figures in 26 of 31 career starts and leads the team with seven double-figure scoring games in 2011-12. He shared the team lead  a season ago with Mitchell at 25.

• Since beginning the transition to Division I, UND owns a 5-9 record against Summit League teams.

• After UND plays host to the Jacks on Thursday (Dec. 15), the Sioux will have two more games this season against Summit League competition: at Western Illinois (Dec. 22) and vs. North Dakota State (Jan. 17; Ralph Engelstad Arena).

Head coach Scott Nagy enters his 16th season at the helm of the Jackrabbits' program. He has coached the Jacks in 22 previous contests against UND, winning 17 of them.

Nagy has amassed the most wins of any basketball coach in SDSU history and has his squad off to a 9-3 start in 2011-12. The Jacks were one of only two Summit League teams to start the conference slate unbeaten at 2-0. The nine wins are the most for a SDSU team before the Christmas break since transitioning to the Division I level.

Overall, the Jacks have won five straight and eight of nine overall after knocking off Dakota State 93-60 on Monday.

Point guard Nate Wolters - a preseason first team All-Summit League selection - is the team's top scorer, averaging 20.2 ppg. Wolters scored a game-high 16 points in Saturday's win over UND, but sat out Monday's victory over Dakota State with an injury suffered against the Sioux. Chad White started for the injured Wolters and scored a season-high 22 points.

Forward Jordan Dykstra - a preseason second team All-Summit League selection - has started the last three games and scored 10 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds in the first meeting with UND.

The only other Jack averaging in double figures is Griffin Callahan. He is the team's top 3-point threat, connecting on 41.2 percent of his attempts. Callahan, a former UND player, is averaging 11.8 ppg and has started all 12 games.

Last season, UND's quintet of freshmen (Aaron Anderson, Brandon Brekke, Troy Huff, Josh Schuler and Jamal Webb) provided more scoring production for their club than any other rookie unit in Division I basketball (chart to the right). This season, that unit is providing even more of a scoring punch as those five players have scored 72.8 percent (467 of 641) of UND's points through eight games. Huff leads the charge with a 14.6 ppg average (131 points). Anderson (12.1 ppg) and Webb (10.0 ppg) are also chipping in with double-figure averages.