CHICAGO - Sophomore Troy Huff (Milwaukee, Wis.) scored a season-high 25 points and senior Patrick Mitchell
(Des Moines, Iowa) added 17 as North Dakota posted a 75-69 victory over
Chicago State on Thursday. Huff and Mitchell also combined for eight
3-pointers in the contest as UND (11-12) picked up its first road win of
the season and evened its Great West Conference record at 3-3.
"We needed this one," UND head coach Brian Jones
said. "We got some key shots to fall for us late in that last
four-minute game and made some free throws down the stretch. That is
what it takes to win on the road and we were able to do those things
tonight."
Huff and Mitchell both hit huge 3-pointers down the stretch as the
Cougars (3-21, 1-5 GWC) were twice within a possession of the Fighting
Sioux in the closing minutes. Huff drilled his season-high fifth trey of
the game with just under two minutes to play and Mitchell connected on
his third on the next possession to push the lead back to six.
The Sioux finished the game shooting 56 percent from the floor -
their best effort in league play. Huff went 9-for-13 from the floor and
added a pair of high-flying dunks to go with his sharp-shooting from
beyond the arc. Mitchell added six boards to surpass the 500-mark for
his career in that category and also added three blocks.
A 6-0 run in the final minute of the first half gave UND a 38-33
edge at the break. Mitchell hit a 3-pointer to put UND back in the lead
and Huff capped the scoring in the opening 20 minutes with an
old-fashioned 3-point play. The Sioux never trailed in the second half,
but Chicago State did pull within a point at 55-54 on a floater by
Ardarius Simmons at the midway point of the half.
Mitchell and Huff, once again, made sure the visitors would not
relinquish the lead. Mitchell got loose down low for a dunk just
minutes after leaving the game with a bloody nose, then Huff drilled a
3-pointer from the top of the key to push UND's edge to 60-54.
UND finished the game 10-for-21 from 3-point range, while the Cougars were 8-for-17.
Sophomore Aaron Anderson
(Brooklyn Park, Minn.) added 11 points and a team-high five assists in
what was the fourth-straight victory over Chicago State in the series.
Lee Fisher led Chicago State with 18 points, but only five of those came after the break.
UND remains on the road for another GWC tilt on Saturday at NJIT. Tipoff from Newark, N.J., is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.
- UND -
