Next Game: at Denver
The University of North Dakota men's basketball team will travel to Denver to take on the Pioneers on Saturday. UND and DU will collide inside Hamilton Gymnasium at 3 p.m. (CT). Fans can watch the action on DenverPioneers.com or on Altitude 2 in Colorado, as well as by tuning into Paul Ralston's call on the Home of Economy Radio Network (100.3 FM/790 AM).

Series History vs. DU
This will be the ninth all-time meeting between North Dakota and Denver, with the Fighting Hawks holding a 5-3 series lead. All five of those wins have come in the last four seasons, with the Hawks sitting 5-1 against the Pioneers since joining the Summit League in 2018-19. Both contests between the two squads went into overtime in Denver last season with the Fighting Hawks picking up an 85-82 victory at Hamilton Gymnasium on Feb. 5, and the Pioneers bouncing back and ending the five-game losing streak to the Hawks with an 85-81 win of their own on the following day.

Last Time Out
In a game where Omaha shot 55.1 percent from the floor and 47.6 percent from three-point range, North Dakota fell 98-82 inside Baxter Arena on Thursday night. UND won the rebounding battle by a 40-37 margin and outscored Omaha in the paint, 42-40. Despite the advantages down low, the Mavericks only turned the ball over five times in the entire game, while forcing 11 Hawk turnovers.

Matt Norman led UND with 20 points for his second 20-point game at North Dakota. Tsotne Tsartsidze was also in double figures with 13 points and four boards. Ethan Igbanugo and Brady Danielson also netted double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Danielson pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.

Most Recently for DU
Denver erased a 19-point deficit and tied the game at 56-56 at Oral Roberts midway through the game on Thursday (Dec. 30), but gave up a 27-10 run late and fell 83-66 at the Mabee Center. Freshman Tevin Smith recorded his sixth game in double figures and led the Pioneers with 17 points. Michael Henn was next in scoring for DU with 15 points.

The Pioneers struggled from the field, hitting 39.1 percent of their shots, while allowing the Golden Eagles to shoot just under 50.0 percent (49.2). 

I-29 Bound
UND will be traveling plenty up and down Interstate 29 in the coming years as members of The Summit League and the men's basketball program will look to continue its success over the rivals located along that stretch. UND owns winning records against four of the other five The Summit League teams that are located on I-29: North Dakota State, Omaha, South Dakota and South Dakota State, but is 2-5 against Kansas City.

Since joining the league in 2018-19, however, I-29 was a tough place to find wins for UND, as the Fighting Hawks are 8-26 against Division I opponents along the stretch. On the other hand, the Hawks are 16-7 against conference foes not positioned on I-29. 

Last Win Over I-29 Schools
Kansas City - Jan. 2, 2021 (L1)
North Dakota State - Jan. 16, 2021 (L1)
Omaha - Feb. 20, 2021 (L1)
South Dakota - Feb. 14, 2021 (W4)
South Dakota State - Dec. 15, 2011 (L11)

Ballin' with Bentiu
Bentiu Panoam currently leads the team with 27 consecutive starts and has dished out a team-high 33 assists. Panoam has been filling the position of point guard most recently after Caleb Nero went down with an injury against San Jose State on Dec. 3. Panoam has a season-best 20 points vs. UT-Martin at the Paradise Classic earlier this season and corralled a career-high six boards vs. Eastern Washington.

Early last season, Panoam provided a spark off the bench for the Fighting Hawks and worked his way into a starting role, earning his place in the starting lineup for the final 13 games of the season. He decided to exercise his COVD-19 extra year of eligibility and is playing for the Fighting Hawks once again in 2021-22.

In 2020-21, the Anchorage, Alaska, native netted double-figure performances in five of his last six starts, recording back-to-back 20+ point games in that stretch. Panoam recorded a new career-high with 25 points against South Dakota and set a new career-high in made triples with five at Omaha.

Fearless Freshman
Freshman Paul Bruns has played a key role for UND this season and has eight collegiate starts this season. He currently leads all freshmen in the Summit League, averaging 13.2 points per game and 15.5 points per game as a starter. Bruns has knocked down at least one three-pointer in each of the last 10 games.

Bruns had a highlight-reel performance at North Dakota State on Dec. 22, pouring in a season-high 27 points and pulling down 11 boards for the first double-double of his career. He has 10 double-digit scoring performances and two 20-point performances this season. The Jefferson, S.D., native has a team leading 33 made trifectas and averages 1.3 steals per game to lead the team. His 13.2 points per game is also a team high.

Stormin' Norman
Sophomore transfer Matt Norman worked his way back into the starting lineup and led the kelly green and white with 20 points at Omaha on Thursday night. He now has two 20-point performances as a Hawk, including a 23-point performance in the 110-65 victory over North Central on Dec. 14, burying seven shots from beyond the arc and dishing out a career-high six assists in the victory. Norman currently ranks second on the team in made triples with 25 makes from deep and is a 36.2 percent three-point shooter.

Sueker Sinks Them
Mitchell Sueker has continued his hot streak from the end of last year and has six double digit scoring performances this year, averaging 11.4 per game. Prior to Omaha, he had missed the last three games with an injury and scored six points in limited action on Thursday. Sueker is currently second on the team in total points this season with 137.

Sueker currently leads the team with 30 makes at the charity stripe this season and is a 78.9 percent free throw shooter. Last season, Sueker drained 56-of-67 at the charity stripe to lead the team with an 83.6 percentage at the free throw line. In his career, the Marshall, Minn., native is 202-260 at the stripe, good for a free throw percentage of 77.7 percent.

Sueker averaged 7.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game last year and has career-highs in points (32), rebounds (12) and assists (5). His best free throw performance came against Kansas City last year when he went 11-for-12 at the line in the 52-45 win.

Finding A Groove
Sophomore transfer Tsotne Tsartsidze is coming into his own at post and had a highlight reel performance against Dixie State, rejecting a career-best four shots and just missing out on a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.

On Dec. 22 against the Bison, Tsartsidze knocked down a career-best seven shots for a new career high of 18 points. Tsartsidze has six double-digit scoring performances this season, including a 13-point performance at Omaha on Thursday evening.

Defensive Danielson
Brady Danielson has played in more games than any other player on the active roster, playing in 72 games and starting seven of them. Despite being best known for his defense, Danielson threw in a season-high 10 points and corralled a career-high seven rebounds at Omaha on Thursday night.

Defensively, Danielson has already drawn nine offensive fouls this season to lead the team. He drew a season-high three charges against Dixie State on Dec. 18.

Last season, Danielson appeared in 25 games off the bench and averaged 13.0 minutes per game while putting in just under two points per game and just over one rebound per game. He dished out a career-high four assists at Minnesota last season.

In his career, Danielson erupted for 18 points at Oregon State, while making a career-best six field goals.

Let's Go Igbanugo
Ethan Igbanugo has always been known as a sharpshooter and that has continued this season, with him currently third on the team for made triples this season, knocking down 20 trifectas on 57 attempts. His shooting percentage from beyond the arc is currently 35.1 percent. He knocked down a career-high five shots from beyond the arc against Dixie State on Dec. 18.

The Lakeville North Product appeared in every game last season with 16 starts, averaging 27 minutes per game. He was a cool customer from downtown, leading the team in made triples with 40 and hitting a three in every game except one.

Igbanugo poured in a career-high 18 points against North Dakota State late last season, while averaging 8.3 points per game. The Lakeville, Minn., native also went a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe against Purdue Fort Wayne during the 2019-20 season.

Heat Check
North Dakota proved the three-point threat exists on Dec. 14 against North Central University, breaking the school record for made triples in a game with 17. The previous UND record for made shots beyond the arc in a single game was 16, which was tied three times, most recently on Dec. 17, 2019, in a 109-50 victory over Northland College inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.

The Fighting Hawks are familiar with shots from deep and that has not changed this season, with the kelly green and white firing off  395 shots from beyond the arc and knocking down 131 of them for an average of 33.2 percent made from three-point land. In the record-breaking game vs. NCU, the Hawks finished 17-of-31 from deep for an average of 54.8 percent. 

North Dakota has hit at least one triple in every game dating back to March 1, 2018. The last time the Hawks did not make a three came on Feb. 24, 2018, when UND went 0-for-8 from downtown at Northern Colorado in a 79-66 loss. North Dakota has hit at least one three in each of the last 108 games played.

Keeping Things Even
North Dakota had five returners in 2021-22 and eight newcomers and so far, they are keeping things close as a team. The Fighting Hawks have scored 1,053 points this season with the newbies pouring in 598 of them and the returners amassing 455 points. In total, the newcomers have scored 56.79 percent of UND's total points this season, while the returners have accounted for 43.21 percent of North Dakota's made shots.

Shaking Things Up
North Dakota has utilized seven different variations of its starting lineup so far this season and may try its eighth different starting lineup on Saturday. On the team, Bentiu Panoam has the most active consecutive starts currently with 27, followed by Paul Bruns with eight. The next most common starter is Tsotne Tsartsidze with four, trailed by Mitchell Sueker and Matt Norman with one each.

Nero the Hero
North Dakota has been without its starting point guard the last six games after going down with an injury on Dec. 3, against San Jose State. Despite not playing the last three games, Nero is second on the team in points per game (12.1) and leads the team in both assists per game (2.8) and with a free throw percentage of 85.2.

Nero appeared in all 26 games last season and started 13 of them. The Tulsa, Okla., native proved to be a leader off the bench last season, leading all players off the bench with 8.7 points per game and 22.9 minutes per contest. He also led all guards on the team with a shooting percentage of 41.8 percent from the field and was second on the team in crunch time with an 83.3 percentage from the charity stripe.

In his career, Nero has piled up 25 games where he has netted double digits in points and has 17 games where has dished out three assists or more. In the season finale last season, Nero poured in 11 points in 21 minutes while grabbing three rebounds against Oral Roberts in the Summit League Quarterfinals.

Record Rewind
The North Dakota men's basketball program holds a 1,614-1,119 all-time record since Dr. George Sweetland led the first team onto the court in 1904-05. UND is 971-301 all-time when it comes to defending its home court. The 2021-22 season is the 14th at the Division I level for the program (2008-09) and the Fighting Hawks are 194-231 in those contests. 

UND is 0-11 since 2000 against ranked Division I opponents, with the 2019 matchup at No. 8/7 Gonzaga being the highest-ranked regular season 
opponent since the No. 3 ranking held by Kansas when the Jayhawks visited Grand Forks in 2001.

Hawks Reschedule Previous COVID-19 Canceled Games
The University of North Dakota men's basketball home games originally scheduled against South Dakota (Dec. 30) and South Dakota State (Jan. 1) have been rescheduled, with the Fighting Hawks taking on the Coyotes (Jan. 10) and the Jackrabbits (Jan. 31), The Summit League announced Tuesday afternoon. Opening tip of the rescheduled games will be 7 p.m. and both games will be carried on Midco Sports. 

The Summit League's Joint Council voted unanimously on Tuesday morning to alter its rescheduling policy based on COVID-19 protocols for the remainder of the basketball seasons.

The League office, in conjunction with its member institutions, will attempt to reschedule all games that have been previously canceled and any future postponements due to COVID-19 protocols.

Rescheduling will be done based upon an agreed set of guidelines, including prioritizing the rescheduled games in the order they were lost. The rescheduled games will likely occur on Mondays or Tuesdays and the conference will also take into consideration travel complexities along with trying to avoid having teams play more than six games during a 12-day stretch among other principles during the process.

The first wave of rescheduled games is set to take place on Monday, Jan. 10, and will include North Dakota vs. South Dakota at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Along with the Jan. 10 game, North Dakota will also take on South Dakota State at home on Jan. 31. Subsequent scheduling adjustments will be announced weekly moving forward.

If games are still unable to be made up due to COVID-19 protocols, those will be considered a "no contest".

For seeding purposes regarding The Summit League Basketball Championships, if teams have played a different number of League games due to no contests, winning percentage will be used as the first criteria to determine seeds. St. Thomas is not eligible for the Summit League Tournament this season, so the top eight teams in the conference will earn bids to the Summit League Basketball Championships at the conclusion of the regular season.

COMPLETE GAME NOTES CAN BE FOUND HERE.