GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The North Dakota men's basketball program will honor its seven seniors in a special pre-game ceremony Saturday before the Green and White take on Eastern Washington in an afternoon Big Sky tilt. Tipoff against the Eagles is set for 2 p.m. at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center where those seniors have combined to go 42-12 during their collective careers.
UND VS. EASTERN WASHINGTON SERIES
All-time/In Grand Forks: UND leads 4-1/UND leads 2-0
Big Sky: UND leads 3-0
Last Meeting: UND 73, UND 61 (Jan. 30, 2014; Cheney, Wash.)
UND Head Coach Brian Jones vs. Eastern Washington: 3-0
Eastern Washington Head Coach Jim Hayford vs. UND: 0-3
WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN/TRACK
Television: Midco SN (Ch. 27/622 HD), FOX College Sports Central (DirecTV 623)
Radio: 1440 KKXL AM (Grand Forks)
Live Stats: www.UNDSports.com (free)
Audio Stream: www.UNDSports.com (free)
Live Video: www.WatchBigSky.com (free)
IN THE PAINT...
• UND improved to 9-3 at home this season thanks to an 83-73 victory over Portland State on Thursday. Senior Troy Huff had 19 of his 24 points in the second half to help the Green and White earn a season split with the Vikings.
• Huff's 24 points pushed him past the 1,000-point plateau since UND joined the Big Sky prior to last season. His 1,011 points are the most by a Big Sky player during that span.
• The win over the Vikings also put UND in a tie for second place at 10-7 in the Big Sky standings thanks to Eastern Washington's surprising 80-66 victory at Northern Colorado. The Eagles moved to 9-8 with the victory and sit one game behind.
• UND and UNC have a half-game lead over Montana, who was idle on Thursday, and a one-game lead over a quartet of teams that are 9-8 in Big Sky play.
• UND beat EWU by 12 in late January to improve to 3-0 against the Eagles in Big Sky play and 4-1 in the all-time series.
NUMBERS MICROSCOPE: SENIOR STYLE
1: At least one of the seniors in this year's class has been in the starting lineup for each of the 126 games over the past four seasons.
1-2: Point guard Jamal Webb is UND's all-time career leader in steals with 230 and ranks second in assists with 380.
3: The 2013-14 senior class has three 1,000-point scorers - only one other class in program history can claim that as well (1999-20; Chad Mustard, Marcus Travis and Hunter Reinke).
13: With 1,883 points career points, senior Troy Huff ranks 13th among active scorers in Division I basketball (4th at UND). He also is 15th among active players with 216 career steals (2nd at UND).
65: This senior class has amassed 65 wins and an overall winning record over the past four seasons.
438: UND's seven seniors have combined to start 438 career games and play in 622.
531: These seven seniors have combined to make 531 3-pointers during their UND careers - Aaron Anderson leads the pack with 146.
OPPONENT PREVIEW: EASTERN WASHINGTON
• Head coach Jim Hayford saw his team respond from a 87-76 home loss to Portland State on Monday by delivering a big road win at Northern Colorado on Thursday.
• The Bears had been unbeaten at home until the Eagles knocked them off 80-66 behind a 31-point peformance by Big Sky scoring leader Tyler Harvey. The sophomore leads the conference in scoring in both overall (22.1) and Big Sky (24.0) games.
• In the first meeting with UND, Harvey was held to a season-low seven points in a 73-61 loss to the Green and White. It was the only game the sharp-shooter has been held in single digits so far.
• Harvey made seven 3-pointers against UNC in Thursday's win to set EWU's single-season record for makes in a season with 104.
• Harvey ranks fourth nationally in 3-pointers made per game at 3.7.
• Classmate Venky Jois is averaging 13.3 ppg after earning Big Sky Freshman of the Year honors a season ago. Jois had 16 in the first matchup with UND.
• JUCO-transfer Brandon Drew rounds out a trio of double-figure scorers for Hayford and also leads the Big Sky in assists at 5.3/g. He had a double-double with 11 points and 13 assists in the first meeting.
• At 14-14, the Eagles are already four wins better than last season's total of 10 wins and the nine Big Sky wins are two more than a year ago when EWU did not qualify for the league tournament.
LOOKING BACK: UND DOMINATES LATE TO WIN AT EWU
After briefly giving up a six-point halftime lead, UND dominated the final 12 minutes of the game to defeat Eastern Washington 73-61 in Big Sky play on Jan. 30. The win pushed UND's winning streak to a season best four games. UND held Big Sky scoring leader Tyler Harvey to just seven points, but it was his 3-pointer with 12 minutes to go that capped a 9-0 run and gave the home team a brief lead at 45-44. That would be the last advantage for the home team, however, as UND would answer with an 8-0 run and never trail again, outscoring the Eagles 29-16 in that closing stretch. A quartet of seniors reached double figures for UND as Aaron Anderson led all scorers with 17 points. Troy Huff added 15, while Alonzo Traylor and Jaron Nash each added 11 off the UND bench.
CAREER LINE VS. THE EAGLES
# PLAYERS (gp; ppg, rpg, apg)
32 Josh Schuler (2; 5.5 ppg, 0.5 rpg, 1.5 apg)
Scored nine points in the home win over EWU last season
0 Aaron Anderson (3; 17.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 5.7 apg)
Three straight double-figure scoring games against Eagles
11 Jamal Webb (3; 7.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 6.3 apg, 2.7 spg)
Has 19 assists in three games against Eagles
5 Troy Huff (3; 22.3 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 0.7 apg, 2.7 spg)
Missed a double-double by one rebound in road win this season
3 Lenny Antwi (3; 1.7 ppg, 0.7 rpg)
10 Shane Benton (2; 2.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.5 apg)
21 Quinton Hooker (1; 4.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 4.0 apg)
1 Jaron Nash (1; 11.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.0 apg)
2 Cole Stefan (1; 5.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.0 apg)
41 Ryan Salmonson (1; 0.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg)
42 Alonzo Traylor (1; 11.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg)
SIGNIFICANT SEVEN
Aaron Anderson, Brandon Brekke, Troy Huff, Jaron Nash, Josh Schuler, Alonzo Traylor and Jamal Webb will all be honored in a special pre-game ceremony on Saturday afternoon. The impact these seven seniors have had during the program's infancy as a Division I member has been immense and probably will not be truly felt until years from now. However, there are some measurable things about this class that show just how successful it has been over the past four seasons. There are 65 victories, an overall winning record, three consecutive CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament appearances and two Great West Tournament titles. The unit's 12 Big Sky wins last season were the most ever by a league newcomer. The class boasts a trio of 1,000-point scorers - only one other class in UND history (1999-2000 seniors) can claim that. If not for untimely injuries, that number could easily be four or even five. The class has multiple All-Conference and All-Tournament team accolades to its credit and has started 439 games and logged well over 15,000 minutes of game time throughout their careers. As far as history goes, the class will leave several entries into UND's all-time and single-season record book for everything from points and steals to 3-pointers made and assists. There may never be another class in the history of UND basketball that has can lay claim to this level of significance. But, if another class does come along and out performs this one, that is all the better for the program as these seven student-athletes can always treasure the foundation they laid for Division I basketball at UND.
LAST TIME OUT: UND PROTECTS HOME COURT WITH WIN OVER PSU
Senior Troy Huff scored 19 of his game-high 24 points in the second half as North Dakota pulled away late to record an 83-73 victory over Portland State in Big Sky play Thursday. Classmates Aaron Anderson and Josh Schuler added 12 and 11 points, respectively, to give UND a season split with the Vikings. In the first meeting with PSU, which was a 70-68 setback earlier this month, UND committed 18 turnovers and the Vikings scored 22 points off of those miscues, but it was a different story this time around. UND only turned it over eight times and turned 16 Portland State turnovers into 19 key points.
THE MARCH IS ON
Head coach Brian Jones owns a 16-9 record in the month of March since he took over the UND program prior to the 2006-07 season. Over the last three seasons, that record is an impressive 11-4 with two Great West Tournament titles and an appearance in the Big Sky Tournament semifinals in the program's first season in its new league.
IN CONTROL OF THE MADNESS
Big Sky Conference schools are getting an early dose of March Madness and have actually been experiencing that sensation for much of the season. UND enters Saturday's game with Eastern Washington in a tie for second place with Northern Colorado at 10-7 overall. If UND were to win its three remaining games (vs. EWU, vs. UNC and at Southern Utah), the Green and White would grab hold of the No. 2 seed for the upcoming Big Sky Tournament. Weber State has secured at least a share of the regular season title and with just one more win clinches it outright. That would set up the league tournament to be held in Ogden, Utah March 13-15. The Bears are the only team remaining that could possibly host. EWU has positioned itself in a four-way tie for fifth along with Montana State, Northern Arizona and Sacramento State. MSU and SAC play each other in Bozeman on Saturday, while NAU visits Weber State. Portland State is on the outside looking in as of now at 8-9, but can get right back in the thick of things with a win at UNC. Idaho State is also still alive at 7-10, but has work to do and will need to win its final three to create a tiebreaker scenario for a playoff berth. UND won its final four games of league play last season to finish 12-8 and earn the No. 3 seed.
HUFF REACHES 1,000-POINT PLATEAU AS BIG SKY MEMBER
With 24 points in the win over Portland State, senior Troy Huff eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau over the past two seasons since UND joined the Big Sky Conference. His 1,011 points are the most by a league member during that stretch. The Milwaukee native also became became the first UND player to since Jerome Beasley had 772 points during his senior season in 2002-03 to score 500-plus points in a season. Huff's 530 points are a single-season high.
UND THIEVERY
Seniors Jamal Webb and Troy Huff rank one-two on UND's all-time charts for career steals with 230 and 216, respectively, so it should come as little surprise that duo ranks the same way in the Big Sky stats this season. UND ranks 11th nationally, averaging 8.7 spg as a team, which is tops in the Big Sky. Huff is having his best season in the theft category, getting a league-leading 2.5 spg, while Webb is not far behind at 1.7 spg. Huff has a league-leading 41 in Big Sky play, while Webb is second with 33. With 67 total steals, Huff is within reach of UND's single-season record of 75 set by Rico Burkett during the 1989-90 season. Webb fell one shy of that mark last season, but needs only three more to become the first player in UND history to register four 50-plus steal seasons.
RESERVATIONS FOR SUCCESS
UND had its streak of 13 straight games where its reserves outscored the opponents snapped on Feb. 20 at Sacramento State. The Hornets' bench accounted for 30 points, edging UND's bench in that department by four points. UND's reserves averaged 31.0 ppg during that stretch.
CHART TOPPERS
The senior trio of Aaron Anderson, Troy Huff and Jamal Webb each played well over 3,000 minutes during their UND careers that began as true freshman in 2010-11. Here is a look at where the three sit, respectively, on a number of UND's top 10 list.
Aaron Anderson (Sr., G, Brooklyn Park, Minn.)
Steals (4th; 135)
Assists (6th; 338)
Free throws made (8th; 409)
Free throws attempted (9th; 505)
3-pointers made (8th; 146)
3-point field goal percentage (5th; 42.3)
3-point field goals attempted (9th; 345)
Troy Huff (Sr., G, Milwaukee, Wis.)
Points (4th; 1,883)
Field goals made (4th; 661)
Field goals attempted (2nd; 1,513)
Free throws made (5th; 428)
Free throws attempted (2nd; 638)
3-pointers attempted (6th; 452)
3-pointers made (9th; 133)
Steals (2nd; 216)
Jamal Webb (Sr., G, Buffalo, N.Y.)
Steals (1st; 230)
Assists (2nd; 468)
HUFF MORE THAN A SCORER
Senior Troy Huff has led the team in rebounding in 21 of 26 games and ranks fifth in the Big Sky in that category (7.3 rpg). In leauge play, Huff is averaging 7.6 rpg, which is also fifth best among Big Sky players. He leads the team with five doube-doubles (tied for fourth in the Big Sky) and has 15 for his career. With a team-high six rebounds in the win over the Grizzlies on Feb. 15, he surpassed the 700-mark for his career (717) and should crack UND's top 10 all-time list in the category later in the season. Scott Guldseth, who is the program's all-time leading scorer, ranks 10th all-time in rebounds with 723. He became just the 10th player in UND history to score 1,000 points and pull down 700 rebounds in a career. He is also one of only 17 active Division I players with 1,500 points and 600 rebounds in their careers.
WHEREVER YOU NEED ME
Senior Jamal Webb has been back in the starting lineup for the last four games after coming off the bench for eight straight. Webb played well in that role, averaging 7.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4.3 apg and 1.9 spg during that stretch. In the four games back in his customary starting role, Webb is averaging 13.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg and 3.5 apg. He equaled his career-high with 23 points at Sacramento State on Feb. 20, then had a season-high nine rebounds at Northern Arizona (Feb. 22). Webb, who went 7-for-7 from the foul line against SAC, is 13-for-16 (81.3 percent) from the charity stripe in those four games and has got hot from beyond the arc, nailing 6-of-10 from deep.
HUFF TAKES FOURTH ON ALL-TIME SCORING LIST
Senior Troy Huff was held to single digits for just the second time in Big Sky play this season at Sacramento State on Feb. 20, but his eight points moved him into fourth place on UND's all-time scoring list. Fourth place had been occupied by Chris Gardner, who scored 1,829 points during his career (1989-94). Huff is averaging 16.0 ppg for his career, which is the ninth best average in UND history. He enters the Eastern Washington game with 1,883 career points.
ON THE BOARDS...FINALLY
It took 15 games, but UND finally held an advantage in rebounding over a Division I opponent when the Green and White outrebounded Montana State 33-26 on Jan. 18. UND is now 5-3 overall when outrebounding opponents this season (Minnesota-Morris, Win; Presentation, Win; Montana State (away), Win; Sacramento State (home), Win; Portland State (away), Loss; Weber State (home), Loss; Sacramento State (road), Loss; Northern Arizona (road), Win).
AMONG THE BEST IN THE NATION
In the latest NCAA rankings, UND enters the Northern Arizona game 11th in the country in steals per game (8.7) and 14th in turnover margin (+3.6). UND tops the Big Sky in both of those categories. The defense is also forcing teams into just over 15 turnovers a game, which is tops in the league.
MORE ROUND NUMBERS FOR MALLIE
The 1,000-point club is not the first milestone senior Jamal Webb reached during his UND tenure. He already became the first player in UND history to reach 200 steals in a career and just the fourth to dish out 400 assists. He has also been one of the top rebounding guards in program history and corralled rebound No. 500 in a win over Idaho State on Jan. 9. By reaching 1,000 points, Webb became the first player in school history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 400 assists and 200 steals in a career.
NASH MAKING IMPACT
In 27 career games at Texas Tech, senior Jaron Nash scored in double figures just once - a 15-point outing against Wake Forest early in the 2011-12 season at the Old Spice Classic. In 26 games in a UND uniform, Nash has reached double figures 14 times and scored a career-high 27 points at Weber State on Feb. 6. Nash is averaging 10.3 ppg for UND after only scoring 2.6 ppg in 27 contests with the Red Raiders during the 2011-12 season. Nash has led UND in scoring four times this season.
SAMARITAN'S FEET: COACH JONES BAREFOOT COACHING
For the second consecutive year, head coach Brian Jones joined the ranks of coaches around the country who are supporting Samaritan's Feet by coaching a game barefoot. Jones and Montana State head coach Brad Huse both went shoeless in a Feb. 13 matchup at The Betty. Samaritan's Feet is an organization that puts shoes on people around the world with one of their primary fundraising platforms being “Barefoot Coaching.” The funds raised from that evening and the on-line drive will go towards “Back To School ND 2014” to help Samaritan's Feet reach its goal of serving at least 2,014 chidren in North Dakota this summer through shoe distributions at four locations across the state. The need for shoes is not just in other countries, it is right here at home as well. Show your support for Coach Jones as donations are still be accepted onlineat: http://bit.ly/BarefootJones
-- UND --
