North Dakota vs. Southeastern Louisiana || 11/27 (11:30 a.m.)
1st meeting
Riviera Maya, Mexico (Hard Rock Hotel)

FULL GAME NOTES ARE HERE

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - North Dakota faces a quickturnaround on Wednesday morning as the Hawks conclude their stay in Cancun with a matchup with Southeastern Louisiana. Tip-off is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Fans can follow the action live with UND men's basketball radio play-by-play voice Paul Ralston on KSNR 100.3 FM The Cat or on the iHeart Radio app, while the action will be streamed on FloCollege. Live stats will be provided at www.FightingHawks.com.

SERIES HISTORY
UND and SLU meet for the first time in program history. 

LAST TIME OUT
A slow start out of the intermission plagued North Dakota men's basketball on Tuesday afternoon inside the ballroom of the Hard Rock Hotel at the Riviera Maya resort in Cancun. A 46-41 Bethune-Cookman advantage at the break grew to a dozen points as the Wildcats, representing the Southwester Athletic Conference, used a 12-0 run across both halves to set in motion a final twenty minutes that was controlled by BCU in a 79-67 victory.
 
The Hawks (3-3) cooled off from the floor in the second half, connecting on only a pair of three-point attempts in 15 tries from deep. The Wildcats' lead never grew to more than 13 points in the second half, but the Hawks only managed to get as close as eight points on three occasions following BCU's aforementioned run post break.
 
Junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff, who finished with a team-high 20 points, converted an and-1 opportunity at the 10:08 mark of the second half and added a layup with 7:40 remaining. Those were the lone field goals for the Hawks in nearly a 7:30 stretch of game play as the Wildcats, who also struggled from the floor during that time, managed to grow their advantage to 73-60 with under three minutes to play.
 
Turnovers cost the Hawks in the early going as the opening 5:30 of action saw BCU turn five UND turnovers into ten points as the Wildcats led 12-7 at the under-16 media. The Hawks' last lead of the day came at the 10:28 mark with UND up 22-21. North Dakota shot 44% from the floor in the first half and connected on five of 16 shot attempts from range but was unable to slow a 50% shooting effort from the Wildcats in the period as BCU led by five at the half behind a 17-point outburst from the Wildcats' Brayon Freeman who finished with a game-high 26.

OF NOTE: BCU's 38.9% effort from three-point range is the best against the Hawks, who entered as the nation's leader in perimeter defense, this season and the highest rate an opponent has hit from deep...For the Hawks, the squad's 22.6% clip from three-point range is its lowest effort of the season...Eaglestaff has made three shots from range in each of his last four games with his career total of such games growing to 32...UND finished with seven steals for the third time this season and recorded three or more blocks for the fifth time in six games...The Hawks finished +6 in rebounding marking a positive margin in a game for the fourth time this season...Junior guard Mier Panoam followed with a career-best 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting...Senior forwards Amar Kuljuhovic and Brian Matthews both corralled a team-leading eight rebounds...BCU finished +5 in points off of turnovers and +10 in paint points

ROAD HAWKS
North Dakota opened the 2024-25 season in Colorado and following a pair of in-state games, the Hawks are in the midst of a five-game road trip that began in South Bend, Indiana, and will play four of their next five away from the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. For the first time in program history, the Hawks tipped off in each of the four time zones of the continental United States prior to December.

SCOUTING THE LIONS
SLU enters Wednesday at 2-4 overall. The Lions have wins over William Carey and Louisiana-Monroe and are looking for their first victory in the Cancun Challenge after suffering loses to Wyoming and Gardner-Webb. 

Sam Hines Jr. is one of four Lions with 50+ points this season and leads SLU with 13.8 ppg. He also leads the team in rebounding at 7.5. Jakevion Buckley paces the Lions in assists (25) and steals (11). Kam Burton is the top three-point shooter in makes with 14 at 2.3 per game.

Southeastern Louisiana averages 70.3 ppg, shoots 43.7% from the floor and over 35% from three-point range. The Lions hold a -3.3 rebounding margin. Opponents are shooting 43.2% overall and less than 28% from three-point range.

UND BY THE NUMBERS
76- The number of years since the Hawks have played in a countable international contest. UND went north of the border to play Manitoba on January 16, 1948. The Cancun Challenge is the furthest south UND has ever played. 
40- The number of rebounds the Hawks are averaging per game. The mark ranks second among all Summit League foes. Eight players have grabbed 12+ boards this season led by Panoam's 37. King and Kuljuhovic follow with 35 and 34, respectively.
19.3- Junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff's ppg through five games this season. The average leads all Summit League players and he is the lone player in the league with a 30-point game this season. He is one of five players in the SL to make 10 or more shots in a game this season.
18- The number of times senior forward Amar Kuljuhovic has led the Fighting Hawks in rebounding. Kuljuhovic grabbed a team-high eight rebounds in 23 minutes vs. Bethune-Cookman. In 37 career games for the Hawks, he has 20 games with 8+ boards.
10- The number of times junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff has scored 20 or more points in a game. He recorded his third 20+ point game of the season against BCU.

A UND WIN WOULD
» Improve the Hawks to 3-0 following a loss this season
» Improve UND's neutral site record under Sather to 10-9
» Give the Hawks their third-straight season with four DI wins in the month of November
» Be better than a loss