Grand Forks, N.D. -- The North Dakota men's basketball team wraps up its first three-game, season-opening homestand since the 2005-06 season Sunday against Presentation College. Tip-off against the Saints is set for 4 p.m. CT.
UND VS. PRESENTATION COLLEGE SERIES
All-time: UND leads 2-0
In Grand Forks: UND leads 2-0
Division I: UND leads 2-0
Last Meeting: UND 78, Presentation College 32 (Dec. 15, 2013)
UND Head Coach Brian Jones vs. Presentation College: 2-0
Presentation College Head Coach Jeremy Reigle vs. UND: 0-2
WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN/TRACK
Live Video: www.WatchBigSky.com
Radio: 100.3 FM (Grand Forks) | 740 AM (Fargo/Moorhead)
Live Audio Stream: www.UNDSports.com and UND Sports Mobile App
Live Stats: www.UNDSports.com
IN THE PAINT...
• The contest will be UND's first of the Men Against Breast Cancer Classic, which is a multi-team event that will see the Fighting Hawks join North Florida and Cal State Bakersfield in Dayton, Ohio over Thanksgiving Weekend for the remainder of the tournament hosted by Wrigth State.
• The Fighting Hawks have won their first two games this season in convincing fashion, averaging 96.0 ppg in blowout victories over Crown College and Mayville State. UND will look to start a season 3-0 for the first time since the 2002-03 team reeled off four-straight wins under head coach Rich Glas.
• UND owns a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series with PC and held the Saints to 32 points in both of the victories. The Fighting Hawks won matchups in both 2012-13 (74-32) and 2013-14 (78-32).
• Following the three-game homestand to open the season, the Fighting Hawks will face a nine-game stretch where the only home game is a Dec. 16 matchup with rival North Dakota State (8 p.m.). UND plays the front end of a home-and-home with the Bison in Fargo on Wednesday, Dec. 7 (7 p.m.).
• UND has placed four players in double figures in each of their first two victories this season. Junior Carson Shanks and sophomore Geno Crandall got into the act with 11 points a piece in their season debuts vs. Mayville State. Shanks also equaled his career-high with four blocked shots.
OPPONENT PREVIEW: PRESENTATION COLLEGE
• The Saints are led by head coach Jeremy Reigle, who is in his seventh season at Presentation College. His squad posted a 12-15 overall mark a year ago and went 4-11 in North Star Athletic Conference action.
• Reigle has one starter back from that squad, but he's a good one to have as Donnell Minton led the Saints in scoring at a 24.3 ppg clip and through the first four games this season is averaging 24.5 ppg.
• Minton had 21 20-plus point scoring games a season ago, including a 43-point barrage against Minnesota-Morris that saw him go 6-for-10 from beyond the arc. He reached 20-plus points in the Saints' first four games this season and had 28 in a thrilling 98-97 victory over Moody Bible on Nov. 12. Minton equaled his career-high with seven makes from 3-point range in that contest.
• The Saints, who have home games on Friday (Johnson & Wales) and Saturday (Oak Hills Christian) before driving up from Abderdeen for Sunday's game against UND, averaged 83.8 ppg in their first four contests, but teams were scoring at a 98.0 ppg clip.
• Brad Branch (15.8 ppg), Elijah Valdez (13.8 ppg) and Quentin Canty (11.3 ppg) were also averaging in double-figures going into weekend play. Branch, a 6-foot-4 forward, is the team's top rebounder at 6.0 rpg.
• The Saints were hoisting 25 3-point field goal attempts a game through their first four contest with Minton (11-for-23; 47.8 percent) and Valdez (10-for-23; 43.5 percent) leading those efforts.
LAST TIME OUT: UND 94, MAYVILLE STATE 66
Senior Quinton Hooker put together the fifth 30-point game of his career in leading North Dakota to a 94-66 victory over Mayville State Tuesday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Hooker ended up right on the 30-point mark on the strength of 11-of-14 shooting from the floor. He went 5-for-7 from the beyond the arc and led a quartet of double-figure scorers for the Fighting Hawks.
Sophomore Conner Avants gave the Fighting Hawks their first double-digit lead of the game with the opening basket of the second half and the Comets would never get back within single digits after that. Avants finished with nine points, while Geno Crandall and Carson Shanks added 11. Junior Drick Bernstine chipped in with 10 points and helped UND shoot 53.8 percent (35-of-65) from the floor.
ON THE HORIZON
The Fighting Hawks take to the road for the first time this season when they travel to Dayton, Ohio to play the final three games of the MABC Classic hosted by Wright State. UND opens play in the Buckeye State on Friday at 3:30 p.m. against North Florida (NIT team). The Fighting Hawks then play host Wright State on Saturday at 6 p.m. before wrapping up action vs. CSU Bakersfield (NCAA Tournament team) on Sunday at 1 p.m. All three of UND's games in Dayton will be available on ESPN3.com and carried on the Home of Economy Radio Network.
MORE ABOUT THE MEN AGAINST BREAST CANCER CLASSIC FIELD
Three of the four teams participating in Dayton over Thanksgiving Weekend are coming off posteason appearances a season ago:
North Florida (Friday, Nov. 25; 3:30 p.m. | ESPN3)
• The Ospreys set a program-record for wins with 22 and won its second-straight Atlantic Sun regular-season title (10-4).
• Played in the NIT a season ago after appearing in the program's first NCAA Tournament in 2014-15.
Wright State (Saturday, Nov. 26; 6 p.m. | ESPN3)
• The Raiders are under the direction of former South Dakota State head coach Scott Nagy, who coached the Jackrabbits for the previous 21 seasons.
• Posted a 22-13 record and went 13-5 to finish in a second-place tie in the Horizon League standings (declined postseason play)
CSU Bakersfield (Sunday, Nov. 27; 1 p.m. | ESPN3)
• The Roadrunners earned the program's first trip to the NCAA Tournament thanks to its WAC Tournament title after tying for second in the regular season (11-3).
• Set a Division I program record with 24 wins (only nine losses)
SCORING SURGE
UND has scored 90 points in back-to-back games for the first time since the 2010-11 season when the team dropped a 107-96 quadruple-overtime affair to Utah Valley before bouncing back with a 91-82 win over Texas-Pan American. The last time UND won back-to-back games by scoring 90-plus points was in head coach Brian Jones' first season in 2006-07 (94-49; Bemidji State and 90-75; Dickinson State). The last UND team to reach the 90-plus point plateau in three straight was Rich Glas' 1993-94 squad that cracked the century mark in wins over Dakota State (100-76), Nebraska-Kearney (103-96, ot) and Valley City State (102-63).
HOOKER NAMED BIG SKY PRESEASON MVP
North Dakota senior Quinton Hooker was named the Big Sky Preseason MVP on Oct. 26 in an announcement made by league officials. Hooker was one of six guards voted to the Big Sky Preseason All-Conference Team by media members after averaging 20.1 ppg and leading the Fighting Hawks to a nine-win improvement as a junior. The Lou Henson Mid-Major All-American increased his scoring average to 20.6 ppg in Big Sky play and scored 20-plus points in 15 games overall and 30-plus points on four different occasions last season. The first team All-Big Sky performer was also the first Fighting Hawk to average 20-plus points since the program moved to the Division I level (2008-09) and his pair of 38-point performances are also single-game highs at the DI level.
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