GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Senior Patrick Mitchell (Des Moines, Iowa) registered his first double-double of the season and reached a career milestone as UND thumped NJIT 80-63 in Great West Conference action on Thursday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Mitchell buried two free throws in the final minute to reach 1,000 points for his career, helping UND (9-10, 1-1 GWC) snap a four-game skid in the series with NJIT (9-10, 2-1 GWC).

Mitchell finished with 13 points and a season-high 10 rebounds as all five UND starters reached double figures in the same game for the first time this season. 

“This was a great team win and a great night for Patrick,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “Getting to 1,000 points is a special feat and it shows the type of career he has had for us. And, for him to get it tonight and help us beat a team that he we have struggled against will do a lot for his confidence.”

Sophomore Jamal Webb (Buffalo, N.Y.) led the starting quintet with 16 points. Ten of those came in the second half when UND shot 71.4 percent from the floor (15-for-21). Classmate Troy Huff (Milwaukee, Wis.) added 15 points and eight rebounds for UND, while fellow sophomores Aaron Anderson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) and Brandon Brekke (East Grand Forks, Minn.) also reached double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. 

Anderson also dished out a career-high eight assists in the triumph, while Huff added four as UND finished with 16 helpers and a season-low eight turnovers.  

Senior Isaiah Wilkerson paced NJIT with 20 points and 10 rebounds, but after a fast start, the Highlanders cooled down and could never regroup.

Wilkerson had 11 points in the opening seven minutes as he staked the visitors to a 16-8 lead, but after starting the game 5-for-10 from the field, NJIT would connect on just three field goals (17 attempts) over the final 13 minutes of the half.

That slump allowed the home team to erase the eight-point deficit and build an eight point lead of its own at the break. 

Mitchell provided the Green and White with its first lead of the game since the early going, capping a 14-2 run with a 3-pointer to make it a 21-18 contest with just over six minutes to play.  Two possessions before that sophomore Josh Schuler (Urbana, Ohio) had tied the score at 18-18 by converting the rare four-point play.

NJIT made just one of 14 attempts from the field during that stretch before making two of its final three shots to not fall further behind. 

Those were the first two 3-pointers of the game for UND, who missed its first six shots from beyond the arc. The home team's final 3-pointer of the half came from Webb, who sent his squad into the lockerroom with a 33-25 advantage thanks to a buzzer-beating trey from the corner.

“(Defense) is what won us this game,” Jones added. “Besides that first four-minute stretch, we guarded like we are capable of guarding for the rest of the game and that led to some easy baskets.”

UND's scorching second-half shooting started early as the club opened the stanza making 8 of its first 11 shots to extend its lead to 15 after Webb knocked down his second trifecta of the game. The Highlanders would cut their deficit to single digits with a quick 10-3 spurt, but they could never get closer than eight down the stretch.

Mitchell gave the home crowd a jolt finishing off an alley-oop from sophomore Aaron Anderson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) to give UND a 19-point edge with under three minutes to play. That gave the team captain his double-double and put him within two points of the milestone.

Sensing the moment, Anderson found a cutting Mitchell with under a minute to play, but he was fouled by Daquan Holiday preventing the easy layup.  The senior calmly sank his two free throws to become the 31st player in the UND history to achieve the feat. He left to a standing ovation from an appreciative home crowd.

UND finished with a 50 percent shooting clip from the floor (27-for-54), while holding NJIT to just a 36.1 percent effort (22-for-61). 

Juniors Chris Flores and Ryan Woods added 12 points apiece for NJIT. Woods scored all of his points in the second half. 

UND returns to The Betty for a Saturday afternoon GWC tilt against Chicago State.  Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.

– UND –