GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The North Dakota men's basketball team takes aim at Big Sky-leading Montana in a Saturday afternoon tilt at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. CT and will air live on Midco Sports Network.

UND VS. MONTANA SERIES
All-time: Montana leads 12-6
In Grand Forks: UND leads 5-3
Last Meeting: Montana 65, UND 61 (2/12/2015)
UND Head Coach Brian Jones vs. Montana: 2-7
Montana Head Coach Travis DeCuire vs. UND: 2-0

WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN/TRACK
TV: Midco Sports Network | Fox College Sports Pacific
Live Stream: www.WatchBigSky.com
Radio: 100.3 FM (Grand Forks)
Live Audio Stream: www.UNDSports.com and UND Sports Mobile App
Live Stats: www.UNDSports.com

IN THE PAINT
• UND moved into fourth place in the league standings and won back-to-back games for the first time this season with an 85-68 victory over Montana State on Thursday. • It was the second-straight, wire-to-wire win for the Fighting Hawks, who are now 3-2 in league play. UND's only Big Sky losses have come to two of the three teams ahead of them in the standings (Weber State; 4-0 and Idaho; 3-1).
• The Fighting Hawks remained hot from the field in the win over the Bobcats, knocking down 58.9 percent of their shots. UND used a season-best 59.7 percent in the previous game to win at Idaho State.
• It marked the first time since late January of the 2013-14 season that UND has put together back-to-back games with better than 50 percent shooting from the field.
• The Grizzlies remained unblemished at 5-0 in league play with a 73-66 victory at Northern Colorado and ran their winning streak to six games overall.
• Montana owns a 12-6 overall edge in the series and are 5-1 against UND since the Fighting Hawks joined the Big Sky (prior to the 2012-13 season).
• The last two games in the series played in Grand Forks have been split and decided by five points or less.

OPPONENT PREVIEW: MONTANA
• Head coach Travis DeCuire led the Grizzlies to a share of the Big Sky regular season title in his first season back at his alma mater with a 14-4 record in 2014-15.
• He has them headed towards a similar path in 2015-16 as Montana is off to a 10-6 start overall and own a 5-0 record in Big Sky play.
• Senior Martin Breunig is the catalyst for the Griz, scoring at a 17.6 ppg clip (fifth in the Big Sky) and rebounding at a 9.1 rpg clip (second in the Big Sky).
• In league action, Breunig is averaging a double-double through five games (17.8 ppg, 10.1 rpg) and is coming off a 22-point, eight-rebound effort in the win at Northern Colorado, which extended Montana's winning streak to six games.
• Breunig is one of four Grizzlies averaging in double figures. Newcomer Walter Wright, who is the reigning Big Sky Player of the Week, is averaging 11.6 ppg overall, but has increased that to a 16.0 ppg clip in league play. He also averages 4.3 apg (sixth in the Big Sky).
• The Griz also get double figures from guards Brandon Gfeller (10.8 ppg) and Michael Oguine (10.4 ppg). Gfeller is one of the tops marksmen in the league from 3-point range (46-for-116; 39.7) and has buried 19-of-40 in Big Sky games (47.5 percent).
• Oguine is one of three Big Sky freshmen averaging in double figures and the 6-foot-2 guard is averaging 6.0 rpg in league action. He is also scoring at a higher clip, averaging 13.2 ppg.
• The Griz are 7-0 at home and 3-6 away, but those three wins have all come in Big Sky play. Montana went 6-3 in Big Sky road games a year ago.

UP NEXT
North Dakota goes back on the road for the Northern Arizona-Southern Utah Big Sky swing. First up is a tilt against the Lumberjacks on Thursday at the Walkup Skydome. Tip-off is slated for 7:35 p.m. CT. NAU dealt UND its worst Big Sky loss of the season a year ago, defeating the Fighting Hawks 88-63 in Flagstaff (Feb. 7).

LAST TIME OUT
North Dakota 85, Montana State 68 | Jan. 14, 2016
GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Freshman Geno Crandall scored a game-high 18 points to lead North Dakota to an 85-68 victory over Montana State in Big Sky men's basketball action Thursday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.

Crandall also dished out a career-high seven assists as UND (8-8, 3-2 BSC) shot 58 percent from the floor to move back to the .500 mark for the first time since early in the season (2-2).

Defensively, the Bobcats (7-10, 2-3 BSC) managed to knock down only 39 percent of their field goals and had 19 turnovers that UND converted into 23 points.

Junior Quinton Hooker added 17 points and a season-high eight assists for the home team, who dished out a season-high 19 helpers on 33 made field goals.

MATCH MAKERS
With the 85-68 victory over Montana State, UND matched its win total of eight from the 2014-15 season just 16 games into the campaign. The Fighting Hawks have 13 regular season games remaining before the Big Sky Tournament in Reno March 7-12.

STAY HOT
North Dakota enters the Montana game shooting a league-best 50.7 percent from the field in Big Sky play. That is nearly 10 percent better than what the team shot in 11 non-conference games (41.4 percent).

During their mini two-game winning streak, the Fighting Hawks are shooting 58.7 percent from the floor (61-for-104) and 45.2 percent from 3-point range (19-for-42).

The 57.9 percent clip vs. Montana State marked the third time in the last four league games that the Fighting Hawks have shot better than 50 percent from the floor and the squad has won each of those contests.

DYNAMIC DISHERS
Junior Quinton Hooker distributed a season-high eight assists and redshirt freshman Geno Crandall added a career-high seven assists in UND's 85-68 victory over Montana State. The Fighting Hawks equaled their season-high with 19 total assists (season opener vs. Minnesota Morris). Crandall is seventh in the Big Sky with 4.0 apg, while Hooker is 10th at 3.7 apg.

BIG SKY FACTS
In three-plus seasons as a Big Sky member, UND owns a 31-32 record in league games. The Fighting Hawks went 12-8 in each of their first two seasons before posting a 4-14 record in conference games last season.

On the road, UND owns a 14-18 record and has won at least one game at eight of the league's 11 other venues. The only programs they have yet to pick up a road win against are Weber State (0-3), Sacramento State (0-2) and Montana (0-3).

At home, UND improved to 17-14 with a 85-68 victory over Montana State. The Bobcats had won the last two games in Grand Forks and the road had won five straight before the Fighting Hawks reversed that trend.

THREE BALL, CORNER POCKET
UND matched it season-high with 10 3-pointers in the 17-point win over the Bobcats (10-for-21 in win over Bowling Green; Nov. 21). With nine more in the win over Idaho State (Jan. 9), the Fighting Hawks' 19 makes from beyond the arc are the most in a two-game stretch this season. UND had made only 16 in the previous five games. The trio of Geno Crandall, Corey Baldwin and Adam McDermott each went 3-for-6 against the Bobcats. McDermott leads the team with a 40-percent clip from deep (22-for-55).

HOOKER AMONG LEAGUE'S SCORING LEADERS
The race for scoring title in the Big Sky is jam-packed at the top with seven different players averaging between 17.3 ppg and 19.4 ppg. Eastern Washington's Austin McBroom currently leads the pack at 19.4 ppg, while Quinton Hooker is second at 18.9 ppg. Hooker had 17 in the win over Montana State, giving him 21-straight double-figure scoring games dating back to last season. It was the first time in five Big Sky games that Hooker did not lead UND in scoring (Geno Crandall; 18).

GRAND THEFT BASKETBALL
After netting just two steals in his first four collegiate games, redshirt freshman Geno Crandall has collected 33 over the past 10 games (3.3 spg) and has 13 so far in Big Sky play (2.6 spg). Crandall's surge has him a top the Big Sky charts in steals (2.5/g) and ranks second among NCAA freshmen in that category.

Crandall is also delivering the ball to his teammates in a timely manner, netting 25 assists (5.0 apg; 5th overall) in the first five Big Sky games of his career. For the season, he is averaging 4.0 apg (seventh best in the league).

On top of the steals and assists, Crandall also put together the first back-to-back doule-figure scoring games of his career to open Big Sky play, tallying 13 against Idaho and 15 against Eastern Washington. He is averaging 12.4 ppg in Big Sky play.

ROAD WARRIOR
Junior Corey Baldwin has two 20-plus point games in this his first season at UND and both have come in the Fighting Hawks' only road wins of the season. His latest was a career-high 22-point effort in the 84-76 win at Idaho State (Jan. 9). Baldwin sparked his club to an early 10-2 run with five quick points and finished the first half with 17 as UND took a 42-31 lead into the break.

In UND's first road win of the season, Baldwin scored all 20 of his points after halftime in the Fighting Hawks' 65-59 double overtime win at Bradley (Dec. 5). The JUCO transfer is 8-for-20 from the 3-point range in those two victories.

ON THE ROAD TO SPLITSVILLE
The Big Sky schedule is set up for teams to play back-to-back games on the road or at home each week unless teams are playing their travel partners. In three-plus seasons in the Big Sky, UND has only been swept on the road twice in 13 tries and have come away with a split 10 times and swept both games once.

And, after defeating Idaho State 84-76 (Jan. 9) in Pocatello, UND picked up its first split of the 2015-16 Big Sky season. The Fighting Hawks fell to Weber State 74-62 to open that trip (Jan. 7).

SHANKS FILLS IT UP
Sophomore Carson Shanks had a career-night in the win over Idaho State (Jan. 9), scoring 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. His seven makes were a career-high, besting his previous mark of five. The 16 points were two better than a 14-point outing in an overtime win at Southern Utah last season.

BERNSTINE BOARDS
Sophomore Drick Bernstine has been the catalyst behind UND being one of the most improved rebounding teams in the Big Sky so far this season. The Fighting Hawks rank fifth in rebounds per game (37.4) and are just one of five Big Sky teams with a positive margin (+0.5) in that category.

Bernstine saw his streak of six-straight double-figure rebound games come to an end at Weber State (Jan. 7), but he was the first DI player at UND to achieve that feat. He had all three of his team-leading three double-doubles during that stretch. He ranks fourth in the Big Sky averaging 8.3 rpg.

His back-to-back double-doubles vs. Valley City State (Dec. 17) and at K-State (Dec. 22) were the first for a UND player since Troy Huff achieved that feat during his junior season (2012-13). Huff is UND's all-time leader in double-doubles at the DI level with 15.

BOARD MEETING
One area where head coach Brian Jones and his 2015-16 squad wanted to improve from last season was their work on the glass. Through 16 games, the Fighting Hawks have held the rebounding edge seven times and won six of those games. UND owns a +0.5 advantage overall (598-590). Last season, UND was outrebounded in 19 of 30 games and gave up 35.6 rpg, whlie grabbing only 32.0 rpg.

-- UND --