FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The North Dakota men's basketball team will be making just its second trip to the Sunshine State in program history this weekend. The Fighting Hawks will open a three-game slate at the Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Classic on Saturday afternoon against Bowling Green.

WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN/TRACK UND @ HILTON GARDEN INN FGCU CLASSIC
TV: ESPN3 (Sunday only vs. FGCU; 6 p.m. CT)
Live Video: http://eversport.tv/atlantic-sun (all games)
Radio: 100.3 FM (Grand Forks)
Live Audio Stream: www.UNDSports.com and UND Sports Mobile App
Live Stats: www.FGCUAthletics.com

UND VS. BOWLING GREEN SERIES | Saturday, Nov. 21 | 3 p.m. CT
All-time Series: tied 1-1
Neutral Site: First Meeting
Last Meeting: Bowling Green 79, UND 70 (Dec. 11, 2013)
UND Head Coach Brian Jones vs. Bowling Green: 1-1
Bowling Green Head Coach Michael Huger vs. UND: First Meeting

UND VS. FLORIDA GULF COAST SERIES | Sunday, Nov. 22 | 6 p.m. CT | ESPN3
All-time: UND leads 1-0 In Fort Myers First Meeting
Last Meeting: UND 74, FGCU 63 (2004 Disney Tip-off Classic; Orlando) UND Head Coach Brian Jones vs. FGCU: First Meeting
FGCU Head Coach Joe Dooley vs. UND: First Meeting

UND VS. YOUNGSTOWN STATE SERIES | Monday, Nov. 23 | 3 p.m.
All-time: First Meeting
UND Head Coach Brian Jones vs. Youngstown State: First Meeting
Youngstown State Head Coach Jerry Slocum vs. UND: First Meeting

IN THE PAINT...
• The contest with the Falcons, which is set to tip-off at 3 p.m., will be the team's first with its new moniker of the Fighting Hawks. The University announced its new nickname on Wednesday morning.
• UND's only previous trip to Florida came during the 2004-05 season when the team opened in Orlando at the Disney Tip-Off Classic.
• UND went 2-1 in those contests and opened the Classic with a 74-63 victory over Florida Gulf Coast in the only previous matchup with the high-flying Eagles from Dunk City.
• Those two teams are scheduled to play Sunday evening at 6 p.m. CT in a game that will be broadcasted on ESPN3.
• The only other Florida-based university that UND has played in its hardwood history is Florida Tech. UND beat the Panthers 89-61 at the 1999 North Dakota State Classic in Fargo.
• The Fighting Hawks will wrap up the three-game event on Monday afternoon with a tilt against Youngstown State. The Penguins are the only first-time opponent among the 22 on UND's schedule this year.
• UND arrives in Dunk City with a 1-1 record after falling 78-64 at reigning national runner-up Wisconsin on Tuesday. For the second-straight game, a freshman led UND in scoring as redshirt freshman Geno Crandall had 19 points on 6-of-6 shooting from 3-point range in his collegiate debut.
• True freshman Cortez Seales poured in 27 points in his collegiate debut, going 11-for-15 from the field. His 27 points were the most by a freshman during the opening weekend of Division I college basketball.

SCOUTING THE FIELD: Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Classic
• The 2015 Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Classic will see each of the participants play three games at Alico Arena in Fort Myers, Fla., along with a home game scheduled for later in the season. UND's fourth game of the Classic will be against Waldorf on Dec. 1 at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
• Both Florida Gulf Coast (22-11) and Bowling Green (21-12) won 20-plus games a season ago and played in the opening round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. UND had been part of that postseason field the previous four seasons.
• Youngstown State finished the 2014-15 campaign at 11-21 and 2-14 in Horizon League play. The Penguins are 0-2 to start the season.
• The Eagles were picked to finish second in the Atlantic Sun Conference preseason poll, the Falcons were picked to finish sixth in the Mid-American Conference East Division and the Penguins were picked to finish ninth in the 10-team Horizon League.

OPPONENTS TO WATCH
• Bowling Green's Zack Denny is the team's top returning scorer (9.2 ppg in 2014-15) and is averaging a team-high 12.0 ppg in the Falcons first two games of the season.
• FGCU senior Julian DeBose is the only returning starter back for the Eagles. He averaged 11.6 ppg a season ago and played gold-medal winning Team USA at the World University Games in South Korea this past summer in South Korea.
• Youngstown State center Bobby Hain is the Penguins' top-returning scorer and was a second-team All-Horizon League preseason pick. He averaged 14.6 ppg and team-leading 7.4 rpg last season. The Jupiter native returns to his native Sunshine State for the tournament.

UP NEXT
North Dakota will return home from Florida to take on Northern Iowa on Saturday, Nov. 28. Tip-off against the Ben Jacobson-led Panthers is set for 2 p.m. CT. Jacobson played at UND (1989-93) and was a sophomore on the 1990-91 team that was inducted into the UND Athletics Hall of Fame earlier this year.

LAST TIME OUT | Wisconsin 78, UND 64 (Nov. 17, 2015)
MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin placed all five starters in double figures en route to a 78-64 victory over North Dakota at the Kohl Center. Redshirt freshman Ethan Happ and junior Bronson Koenig each scored 17 points for Wisconsin, while UND redshirt freshman Geno Crandall led all scorers with 19 points off the bench in his collegiate debut.

Crandall did most of his scoring damage late in the second half when he buried five 3-pointers in the closing five minutes to trim what was a 26-point deficit back down to 14 before the final horn sounded. Sophomore Drick Bernstine led all players with nine rebounds and had a season-high 15 points for UND (1-1). Junior Quinton Hooker rounded out a trio of double-figure scorers for UND with 12 points.

The late flurry didn't cost the Badgers, however, as the home team took control of this contest in the first half thanks to their work on the offensive glass and turning UND's 11 first-half turnovers into 10 points.

DOUBLE-FIGURE DRICK
Sophomore Drick Bernstine has reached double figures in UND's first two games and is averaging 12.5 ppg and a team-high 8.0 rpg. Bernstine played his first collegiate season at Denver (2013-14) where he appeared in 13 games and started five, but never scored more than eight points in a game.

G-KNOWS LONG DISTANCE
Redshirt freshman Geno Crandall led all scorers with 19 points in his collegiate debut at Wisconsin. He scored all but one of those points from beyond the arc where he went 6-for-6. Crandall hit five of those treys in the closing five minutes.

NEWCOMERS MAKE THEIR PRESENCE FELT
UND's 15-man roster is made up of seven newcomers and the five that played in the season-opening drubbing of Minnesota-Morris made an immediate impact. Four reached double figures and the quintet accounted for 73 points and shot 60.4 percent (29-for-48) from the floor in the 30-point win over the Cougars.

COUGAR CONQUERORS
For the second time in three seasons, UND opened its season with a win over Minnesota-Morris. Six players reached double figures in the 99-69 victory over the Cougars. UND has now won six-straight home openers and is 6-4 in season openers under head coach Brian Jones.

ROAD TO RENO STARTS NOW
After not advancing to the Big Sky Tournament for the first time as a conference member last season, UND knows going into this season that a similar fate is no longer a possibility. All 12 league teams will travel to Reno, Nev., and participate in the 2016 tournament to be held March 8-12. This is a change from previous seasons when the regular-season champion would earn the right to host the conference tournament. Only eight teams made the field in 2015. UND advanced to the semifinals of the 2013 Big Sky Tournament and appeared in the title game at the 2014 event.

FOUR DI TRANSFERS LINE ROSTER
The 2015-16 roster has four players on it that have been part of a different Division I men's basketball program. Drick Bernstine played his first collegiate season at Denver in 2013-14 and sat out last season while attending a junior college in Texas. Dustin Hobaugh, one of two seniors on the roster, spent his first collegiate season (2011-12) at Houston Baptist, which was a Great West foe of UND's at the time.Carson Shanks spent his first collegiate semester at Utah State before transferring to UND in January of 2014. UAlbany transfer Wheeler Baker is the only one among the quartet that has to sit out this season due to NCAA transfer rules. He was part of a Great Danes' team that advanced to the 2015 NCAA Tournament.

WHAT'S BACK?
Junior Quinton Hooker returns to the backcourt after leading the team in scoring in both overall games (12.8 ppg) and Big Sky games (14.4 ppg). He finished with 19 double-figure scoring games, including five straight 20-plus point scoring games to close out the season. Hooker capped that run with a career-high 28 points at Northern Colorado. Hooker's not only adept at scoring as he also led UND in assists (127/4.2 apg) and steals (40/1.5 spg), while finishing second in rebounding (128/4.3 rpg).

Sophomore Carson Shanks is back for his first full season with UND after becoming eligible at the semester break in 2014-15. He appeared in 19 games and earned 13 starts, which is a figure that led all centers on the squad. Shanks averaged 6.8 ppg and 3.8 rpg and led the team with 27 blocked shots.

Senior Dustin Hobaugh was the only other player besides Hooker to appear in all 30 games. He averaged close to 15.0 mpg in a reserve role and earned a pair of starts during the campaign. Hobaugh averaged 2.9 ppg and 2.4 rpg.

Hobaugh and guard Shane Benton are the only two seniors on the roster. Benton is the longest-tenured player on the team, arriving at UND prior to the 2011-12 season. He has appeared in 60 games during his UND career and started nine. Sophomore Bryce Cashman and junior Thomas Blake also return to provide depth for Jones. Cashman played in 23 games and made four starts (2.6 ppg/2.8 rpg).

Redshirt freshmen Geno Crandall and James Richman round out the team's eight returners. Crandall started all four games on the team's European Tour, averaging 11.3 ppg, 7.8 apg and 6.2 rpg. He scored in double figures in each of the last three games. Richman sat out last season due to injury.

HUFF TAKEN IN SECOND ROUND OF NBDL DRAFT
After a successful first professional season overseas, former North Dakota guard Troy Huff will continue his career back in the United State. Huff was taken 27th overall and was a second-round pick of the Erie BayHawks during the 2015 National Basketball Development League Draft.

Huff played his first season for Mobyt Ferrara in the Italian League and finished his UND career as the program's third all-time leading scorer with 2,005 points.

The BayHawks are an affiliate of the National Basketball Association's Orlando Magic. The draft featured eight rounds and Huff was the first player taken from the Big Sky Conference. He was a two-time All-Big Sky performer during his two seasons in the league.

NEWCOMERS SHOW PROMISE IN EUROPE
Six of the team's seven newcomers will get a chance to contribute right away in 2015-16. The only one who will not is Albany transfer Wheeler Baker, who has to sit out the season due to NCAA transfer rules. Baker played in 30 games a year ago for a Great Danes' team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament. He averaged 5.6 ppg and 1.4 ppg in nearly 14 mpg.

Those six newcomers all participated in the four-game European Tour that saw UND win all four contests by double figures. Denver transfer Drick Bernstine started all four games at power forward and averaged 12.5 ppg (second on team) and 7.3 rpg (tops on team) overseas, while JUCO-transfer Corey Baldwin also started all four games at wing and averaged 9.5 ppg and a team-high 5.5 spg. He also shot a team-best 40 percent from 3-point range (6-for-15).

FRESH FACES GET FIRST TASTE OF COLLEGE OVERSEAS
True freshmen Conner Avants, Josh Collins, Adam McDermott and Cortez Seales each played in reserve roles in Europe and gained valuable experience. Seales averaged 5.8 ppg and shot 62.5 percent from the field, while Avants averaged 4.5 ppg and 3.2 rpg. McDermott scored 11 points in his first collegiate action in the win over Haukar. Collins averaged 1.0 ppg and 1.0 rpg in his reserve role.

All four true freshmen played for prep programs that made deep runs in their respective state tournaments as senior. Avants averaged a double-double (19.9 ppg/10.4 rpg) as a senior helping lead Deer Creek to the Oklahoma Class 5A State Semifinals. Collins was part of three-consecutive state title at DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis, averaging 10.5 ppg as a senior and earning all-tournament honors. McDermott averaged 18.0 ppg and led Cedar Rapids Xavier to a third-place finish - its best in school history - at the Iowa Class 3A State Tournament. Seales finished his prep career as North Scott's all-time leading scorer with 1,392 points after leading team to its first Iowa Class 4A state title.

UND ADDS TWO DURING EARLY SIGNING PERIOD
Head coach Brian Jones announced the addition of a pair of prep standouts to his men's basketball program on Nov. 12 after Billy Brown, a 6-foot-3 point guard from Spirit Lake, Iowa, and Kienan Walter, a 6-foot-8 forward from Vancouver, Wash., both signed National Letters of Intent during the early signing period.

Brown averaged 13.8 ppg, 4.8 apg and 4.5 rpg for a Spirit Lake team that set a school-record with 21 wins during his junior season. Brown set a school record for assists last season and earned First Team All-Lakes Conference honors for his efforts as a junior. As a sophomore, he was an honorable mention All-Lakes Conference performer after averaging 13.4 ppg and shooting 36.2 percent from 3-point range.

Brown played his AAU Basketball for Martin Brothers, who won the 2015 AAU National Championship and Iowa State Championship. Brown was named the MVP at the 2015 King of the Courts Tournament. Brown also plays defensive back and wide receiver for the Spirit Lake football team that is ranked No. 2 in the state and will be playing in the Class 3A semifinals on Friday. As a junior, he earned Class 3A First Team All-State honors by both the Des Moines Register and Iowa Football Coaches Association.

Walter collected Associated Press All-State honors after a junior season that also saw him earn First Team All-Conference, First Team All-County, First Team All-Region and League MVP honors. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged a Trico League best 23.6 ppg, which was tops among Class 1A scorers in the state of Washington and led Kings Way Christian to the its first state tournament berth in school history at that level.

As a sophomore, Walter racked up First Team All-Conference and Second Team All-Region accolades and was voted Team MVP. Walter plays his AAU basktball for the Oregon Stars.

CAPTAINS ANNOUNCED
Senior Dustin Hobaugh and junior Quinton Hooker were both named captains for the 2015-16 during the preseason. Hobaugh and Hooker are the only two players on the roster that appeared in all 30 games last season.

Hobaugh averaged 2.9 ppg and 2.4 rpg in mostly a reserve forward role. He did start two games and had a season-high nine points twice, including in the win at Montana State on New Year's Day.

Hooker started all 30 games at point guard and was the team's leading scorer at 12.8 ppg. He closed the season with five-straight, 20-plus point scoring games, including 28 in the regular-season finale at Northern Colorado.

#ICYMI
• Redshirt freshman Geno Crandall went 6-for-6 from beyond the arc in the road loss at Wisconsin. The rest of the team is 5-for-24 (20.8 percent) through two games of the season.
• UND outshot the Badgers on Tuesday and are shooting 52.1 percent as a team on the season. Inside the arc, the Fighting Hawks are shooting 57.1 percent from the floor.
• With two double-figure scoring games to open the season, junior Quinton Hooker has a streak of eight-straight games with 10 or more points. Hooker also owns an impressive 5.5:1 assist-to-turnover ratio in the first two games and leads the team with 11 helpers.
• All 14 active players appeared in the season-opening win over Minnesota-Morris. Six of them made their UND debuts, whlie Geno Crandall and Adam McDermott made their team debuts on Tuesday at Wisconsin.

-- UND --