GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Senior Day sets up with the potential of being extra special if North Dakota can knock off Portland State Saturday afternoon at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. A victory would clinch the No. 1 seed for the Fighting Hawks at next week's Big Sky Tournament and give the program at least a share of the regular season title.
The Fighting Hawks will honor their four-member senior class of Corey Baldwin (2015-17), Thomas Blake (2013-17), Quinton Hooker (2014-17) and Devon Pekas (2016-17) prior to the 3:05 p.m. CT tip-off with the Vikings.
UND VS. PORTLAND STATE SERIES
All-time: UND leads 7-4
In Grand Forks: UND leads 4-1
Big Sky Regular Season: Series tied 4-4
Big Sky Tournament: UND leads 1-0
Last Meeting: PSU 99, UND 62 (Dec. 29, 2017)
UND Head Coach Brian Jones vs. PSU: 5-4
PSU Head Coach Tyler Gelving vs. UND: 4-5
WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN/TRACK
TV: Fox Sports North Plus | Fox College Sports Pacific
Live Video Stream: www.WatchBigSky.com
Radio: 100.3 FM (Grand Forks) | 104.7 FM (Fargo/Moorhead)
Live Audio Stream: www.UNDSports.com and UND Sports Mobile App
Live Stats: www.UNDSports.com
IN THE PAINT...
• The Big Sky regular-season finale for both teams, the game pits the two highest-scoring outfits in the league. The Vikings are averaging 86.4 ppg, while UND is scoring at 79.9 ppg clip.
• UND dropped back into a tie for first place in the Big Sky standings with Eastern Washington following the 57-53 loss to Sacramento State on Thursday.
• The Fighting Hawks own the tiebreaker between the two programs thanks to their 95-86 victory in Grand Forks on Feb. 9. The Eagles play at Northern Arizona Saturday at 5:30 p.m. CT.
• The four-point setback was the first Big Sky home loss of the season for UND, who had won its first seven and 13-straight over league opponents at The Bettydating back to last season.
• The Fighting Hawks will also be looking to extract revenge on the Vikings, who defeated UND 99-62 in the Big Sky opener for both schools in Portland on Dec. 29.
• The Vikings shot 56.5 percent from the floor and forced UND into a season-high 26 turnovers in the loss at the Stott Center.
OPPONENT PREVIEW: PORTLAND STATE
• Portland State head coach Tyler Gelving has the Vikings locked into the No. 8 seed at next week's Big Sky Tournament in Reno. Portland State owns a 14-14 overall record and is 7-10 in league action, but have been the victim of five overtime losses, including four in the Big Sky.
• The Vikings are the highest scoring Big Sky team and arrive at the Betty averaging 86.4 ppg overall and 84.2 ppg in league games.
• UND and PSU played one common opponent during non-conference play. The Fighting Hawks used a 16-0 run to close out its 57-55 victory over Cal-State Bakersfield on Nov. 27 in Dayton, Ohio. The Vikings were on the other end of a two-point outcome, falling to the Roadrunners in Bakersfield 81-79 on Dec. 10.
• Senior De'Sean Parsons is the team's leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 14.9 ppg and 6.6 rpg. He has upped those totals to 16.8 ppg and 7.7 rpg in league play.
• Parsons has a pair of 30-plus point performances in Big Sky play, but saw a streak of eight-straight, double-figure scoring games snapped Thursday in a loss at Northern Colorado when he was held to four points.
• He had 16 in the home win over North Dakota in the Big Sky opener for both teams and was one of seven Vikings to reach double figures.
• The senior backcourt of Zach Gengler and Calaen Robinson are the only Vikings to start all 28 games this season. Gengler is averaging 9.1 ppg in both overall and league games, while Robinson is third on the team in scoring at 13.0 ppg. He also leads the Big Sky in steals with 67 total.
• The Vikings are the only Big Sky team with five regulars averaging in double figures. JUCO transfer Deontae North has started seven of the last nine games after coming off the bench in his first eight Big Sky games. He did not play against the Bears, but is averaging 13.6 ppg.
• Traylin Farris (10.9 ppg) and Bryce Canda (9.6 ppg) round out the Vikings double-figure scoring quintet.
• Ten different Vikings have started at least one game this season for Gelving, whose team is shooting 48. 3 percent from the field. That figure ranks second overall among league teams and 24th nationally.
SENIOR SALUTE
The 2016-17 senior class of Corey Baldwin, Thomas Blake, Quinton Hooker and Devon Pekas have won 17 or more games in three of their four seasons and have advanced to the Big Sky Tournament title game (2014) and semifinals (2016) in their two previous appearances. Blake and Hooker have been with the program each of the last four seasons, while Baldwin joined two years ago as a JUCO transfer from Northeast Oklahoma A&M and Pekas walked prior to this year starting for his final collegiate season. He played at Liberty during the 2013-14 season before enrolling at UND the following fall.
ON THE HORIZON
UND will travel to Reno, Nev., on Monday to continue preparations for the Big Sky Tournament that starts on the men's side with four games on Tuesday. The Fighting Hawks have secured a first-round bye and will be either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed. All seedings and game times will be determined following Saturday's full-slate of Big Sky action.
LAST TIME OUT: Sacramento State 57, North Dakota 53 (Mar. 2)
GRAND FORKS – Sacramento State held on to beat North Dakota 57-53 in a low scoring Big Sky men's basketball affair Thursday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. UND (18-9, 13-4 BSC) saw its six-game winning streak come to a close and the Hornets (12-16, 9-8 BSC) also dealt the the Fighting Hawks their first league loss at home.
Junior Drick Bernstine led UND with 15 points, while seniors Quinton Hooker and Corey Baldwin scored 12 and 10 points, respectively to give the Fighting Hawks a trio of double-figure scorers. The Hornets got 15 points each from Nick Hornsby and Justin Strings and hit some key second-half 3-pointers and went 15-for-20 from the foul stripe to help get ahead of the Fighting Hawks late in the contest.
HOME COOKIN'
UND owns a 10-2 record at The Betty this season and has won 12 of its last 13 at home against Big Sky foes dating back to last season. The Fighting Hawks are averaging 85.1 ppg and shooting 50.1 percent from the field in home games this season, while opponents are only averaging 68.2 ppg and shooting just 41.4 percent from the field. Senior Quinton Hooker is averaging 20.6 ppg in 12 home games this season.
MAGIC FORMULA
UND has a winning formula working this season. All the Fighting Hawks have to do is score 80 or more points. UND holds a 13-0 record when doing so and have reached that figure in nine of its last 14 games. However, the Fighting Hawks are only 5-9 this season when being held below 80 points and dipped below 60 for just the second time this season in the 57-53 loss to Sacramento State. UND was held to season lows for first-half points (23) and total points (57) by the Hornets.
FIFTY-FIFTY
UND owns a 12-0 record this season when shooting 50 percent or better from the field this season. The Fighting Hawks shot a sizzling 65.5 percent from the field in the second half of their win at Weber State (Feb. 18) to finish with a 51.6 percent clip against the Wildcats. Their best effort from the field this season came in the home win over Weber State when they shot 56.6 percent from the field.
HOOKER MOVES INTO SEVENTH PLACE ON SCORING CHART, INTO TOP FIVE ON ASSISTS CHART
With 12 points in the loss to Sacramento State (Mar. 2), senior Quinton Hooker moved into seventh place on UND's all-time scoring charts. Hooker now has 1,675 career points and needs 34 to eclipse the legendary Phil Jackson (1964-67; 1,708 points) for sixth place on the list. He also added two assists against the Hornets to move into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time assists chart at UND with 394 for his career.
SIGNED, SEALES AND DELIVERED
Sophomore Cortez Seales sat out the Sacramento State contest after dealing with a family matter early in the week, but over the last nine games has emerged as one of the top reserves in the Big Sky. He is averaging 13.3 ppg and has reached double figures six times during that stretch. Seales scored a season-high 23 points off the bench in the overtime win at Northern Colorado (Feb. 25). It was the third 20-point plus game of his career and first time he led UND in scoring since dropping 27 in his collegiate debut vs. Minnesota-Morris last season. In UND's three road wins over the last two weeks, he averaged 16.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg and shot 50 percent from the field (20-for-40).
OVERTIME MOJO
UND improved to 3-0 this season in overtime contests with the three-point win over Northern Colorado (Feb. 25). Since moving to the Division I level (2008-09), the Fighting Hawks are 11-5 in overtime games. Cortez Seales scored seven of UND's 12 points in the extra session and he has 19 of the team's 45 overtime points this season (42 percent). The Fighting Hawks ended last season with back-to-back overtime setbacks.
FEBRUARY PERFECTION
With the 84-81 overtime win at Northern Colorado (Feb. 25), UND capped its first perfect February since the 1994-95 season by going 6-0. Those six victories included three wins on the road and three at home. The Fighting Hawks also started and ended the month with overtime wins against the Bears and won the only matchup with Eastern Washington this season, 95-86 at The Betty. The Eagles are currently a game behind UND in the Big Sky standings with road games at Southern Utah and Northern Arizona this week.
The month also included the program's first victory over Weber State in Ogden -- a 77-68 victory on the 18th. That triumph vaulted UND into first place in the league standings. The Fighting Hawks now control their own destiny and will look for the program's first conference title since that same 1994-95 team that went unbeaten in February shared the North Central Conference title.
BETTY BARAGE
Over the past two seasons, Quinton Hooker has turned in three of the top four single-game scoring performances at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center since it opened for action before the 2004-05 season. Hooker had the single-game record last season against Portland State (Feb. 25, 2016) with 38. The single-game scoring mark set by an opponent of 34 has been set twice (Taylor Braun, NDSU; Nov. 24, 2013 and Mark Yelovich, SIU-Edwardsville; Feb. 18, 2010). Here's a look at UND's top individual scoring performances in the building:
THE ONE AND ONLY
Senior Quinton Hooker is the only player in program history to score 1,500 points (1,675), grab 400 rebounds (483), dish out 300 assists (394) and net 150 steals (185) in a career. He is second among active Big Sky scorer's trailing only Weber State's Jeremy Senglin (1,922). Hooker's 394 assists, 185 steals are tops among active league players.
G-KNOWS SCORING
Sophomore Geno Crandall has been on a scoring surge of late with six 20-plus point scoring games in UND's last 13 contests. The Minneapolis native had only three in his first 43 career games for the Fighting Hawks. He is averaging 18.6 ppg over that span of contests, which includes being held to just two points in the 25-point win over Idaho State (Jan. 21). He also has a pair of 31-point performances during that stretch.
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