North Dakota at UTSA || 12/15 (2 p.m.)
2nd meeting all-time, 2nd this weekend
Grand Forks, N.D. (Betty Engelstad Sioux Center)

FULL GAME NOTES ARE HERE

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Let's do it again. North Dakota and UTSA meet for the second time in three days on Sunday inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. A rare in-season home-and-home has morphed into a weekend home-and-home. The two sides attempted to convene in the Lone Star State back on November 9, but travel issues surrounding weather in North Texas prevented the Hawks from ever getting in the air. Action between the Hawks and the Roadrunners tips off at 2 p.m. from inside the Convocation Center. 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 Midco Sports/Summit League Network. Live stats will be provided at www.FightingHawks.com.

SERIES HISTORY
Sunday afternoon's match up will be the second-ever between the two programs and the second in three days. The Roadrunners held off the Hawks 80-76 on Friday night in San Antonio. UND eyes its first win vs. an opponent from the American Athletic Conference. The Hawks first met an AAC foe on November 20, 2021 as the squad played Florida Atlantic (L, 79-98) at the Paradise Classic. 

LAST TIME OUT
Season-high scoring efforts from forwards Dariyus Woodson and Brian Mathews and 10-point, 11-rebound double-doubles from Deng Mayar and Amar Kuljuhovic were not enough for North Dakota on Friday night as Texas-San Antonio used a solid night shooting and held off the Fighting Hawks late inside the Convocation Center to win 80-76 in the first of two matchups this weekend. The victory moves the Roadrunners to 4-5 overall with UND falling to 4-7 on the season.
 
The Roadrunners led by 13 points, the host's largest lead of the game, with just over 10:30 remaining and held a 10-point advantage as the clock dipped below the seven-minute mark. The Hawks hung around late in San Antonio battling to keep the deficit under ten and pulling to within five points of the UTSA lead on three occasions including a wing triple from the stroke of Woodson with 1:48 to play. The Texan banked in his fifth make from three with under 20 seconds to go as UND moved to within four of the Roadrunner lead at 78-74. UTSA, which entered with the nation's second-highest free throw percentage, put the Hawks away at the stripe connecting on 3-of-4 attempts in the final 45 seconds and 6-of-7 over the final five minutes of play.
 
Conversely, the Hawks earned 30 attempts from the line but netted just half of those which included a 10-for-21 effort in the second half and connected on five less shots in two more total attempts than the Roadrunners.
 
Mayar and Mathews were active, especially in the early going, while Kuljuhovic delivered seven and seven in the second half. Both of the former helped contribute to a 10-0 UND run in the first 5+ minutes of the game as the Hawks grabbed a 13-10 advantage. After UTSA retook the lead at 19-17, the Hawks employed a 14-4 run over 3:30 of game play to lead 31-23 at the 7:17 mark of the opening half. That sequence saw five different Hawks score including netted triple tries from Woodson and junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff and inside baskets from Mayar, Mathews and sophomore guard Mier Panoam.
 
UTSA closed the half, scoring 20 of the final 27 points. Sixteen of UTSA's first half points came off of nine UND turnovers of which eight were steals by the Roadrunners.

AGAINST UTSA: The Hawks move to an even 11-11 against programs from the state of Texas since its first year of Division I membership in 2008-09...The Hawks matched their season high in field goal attempts with 67...UND finished +13 in second-chance points and +17 in bench points, went even in paint points at 32 and was -16 in fastbreak points...The Hawks grabbed a season-high 23 offensive rebounds, the most-ever under Sather, notched 50 total for the second time this season and finished at +16 in total rebounding...UND matched its season-high in three-point makes with nine and have hit nine in consecutive games, while also making nine at Notre Dame in mid-November...UND attempted a season-high 30 free throws...North Dakota's 15 free throws mark the seventh game this season with the Hawks reaching that mark, but its 50% rate from the stripe was a season low...The Hawks produced a season-high 15 assists led by a career-high seven from Panoam...Woodson's UND-best 21 points came behind a 5-for-12 effort from three-point range and an overall effort of 6-for-14 with four made free throws...Woodson added five rebounds and a block in 25 minutes off of the bench
Mathews delivered a season-high 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting with seven rebounds...Mathews' nine attempts are a career-high as he crossed over double-figure scoring for the sixth time in his career...Nine of Kuljuhovic's 11 rebounds were on the offensive end and Mayar grabbed seven of his 11 off of the defensive glass...It was the tenth double-double of Kuljuhovic's UND career and the first in Mayar's time as a Fighting Hawk as his 11 total boards are a UND career-high...Eaglestaff finished with 14 points for his 17th consecutive game in double-figure scoring in addition to moving 64 points away from 1,000 for his career...Eaglestaff added three rebounds and three assists

1KULJUHOVIC
Senior forward Amar Kuljuhovic reached a personal milestone in Wednesday's loss at Utah Valley. The Waterloo, Iowa product crossed over 1,000 career points in his collegiate career with a 13-point night against the Wolverines. He recorded 624 points in two seasons at Lake Land College and currently has 386 points in 41 games as a Fighting Hawk. 

The scoring milestone isn't the only one in reach for Kuljuhovic as he is 156 rebounds shy of 1,000 for his career. He registered over 500 at LLC and currently has 333 as a Fighting Hawk with 108 coming on the offensive end of the floor. 

ROAD HAWKS
Friday's matchup at UTSA was the eighth outside the state of North Dakota for the Hawks in 11 games this season. UND's meeting with Eastern Washington bookended a five-game stretch away from Grand Forks with three of the five standing as true road contests. The Hawks' west coast tip-off against Loyola Marymount marked the first time in program history that UND men's basketball contested in each of the four time zones of the continental United States prior to December.

Including UND's in-state neutral site affair against Dickinson State in Bismarck, the Hawks flocked nearly 11,000 miles during the first five weeks of the season. Forecasting the remaining travel prior to the New Year has the Hawks totaling over 16,200 miles during its non-conference slate.

The Hawks will get a reprieve from the road with three-straight home games prior to the Christmas holiday.

BUSY STRETCH
The Hawks are in the midst of a busy ten-day stretch prior to the Christmas holiday. North Dakota started with UVU in Orem (L, 57-80) and caps the stretch on Friday, December 20 against South Dakota Mines in Grand Forks. In between, the Hawks traveled to Texas-San Antonio (Dec. 13; L, 76-80), will host Texas-San Antonio (Dec. 15) and battle #7/8 Alabama (Dec. 18) inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. 

NOW BOARDING
Flights haven't been the only thing the Hawks have been boarding this season. The offensive glass has been controlled by UND in eight of the squad's 11 games and the Hawks have been outrebounded on the offensive glass just once. 

UND has grabbed 12 or more offensive rebounds in every game but its season opener at Colorado State. Six Hawks have recorded 10+ offensive rebounds this season led by Amar Kuljuhovic's 34. Brian Mathews follows with 22 and Mier Panoam and Eli King have each picked up 16. George Natsvishvili has registered 14 with seven coming in a career effort against Weber State. Treysen Eaglestaff went over 10 on the offensive glass on Friday at UTSA.

North Dakota ranks 13th nationally in offensive rebounds per game at 14.91; a mark that leads the Summit League. The squad's overall rebounding average of 39.64 leads the league and is in the top 65 nationally. Overall, the Hawks have outrebounded their opposition six times this season. 

SEEING DOUBLE
A Hawk had yet to record a double-double of any kind entering the Big Sky-Summit Challenge. However, following a pair of matchups with Big Sky opposition, two different Hawks got in on the double-double production. The following week, two Hawks finished with double-doubles in the road loss at UTSA. 

Amar Kuljuhovic produced 17 points and a dozen rebounds in a road loss at Eastern Washington. He added two assists and a block in 31 minutes. It is his ninth double-double as a Hawk. 

Three nights later, Natsvishvili played two dozen minutes and erupted for a dozen points and ten rebounds in a career night for the sophomore and first-year Hawk. He the contest having scored just seven points with 11 rebounds across seven games totaling 60 minutes.  

Against the Roadrunners, Kuljuhovic produced his tenth double-double as a Hawk with ten points and 11 rebounds with nine on the offensive glass. Deng Mayar matched the effort with ten points and 11 boards of which seven were on the defensive end of the floor. 

TIP TOP TREY
Bismarck native Treysen Eaglestaff is among the top scorers in the Summit League as the calendar moves into December. He is averaging 18.1 points per game which rates inside the top 70 nationally and leads the Summit League. His 199 total points are the second most in the league and his scoring effort comes behind a top six field goal percentage among Summit shooters at 42.4%.

Eaglestaff has scored in double-figures in all 11 games this season crossing over the 20-point mark in half of those including in Wednesday's loss at Utah Valley. He finished his sophomore campaign reaching the double-figure scoring mark in the final six games for an active streak of 17 games with 10+ points. 

For his career, Eaglestaff has 47 games in double-figure scoring with 12 games at 20+ points. He facilitates too leading UND with 23 assists. Thirty-five times in his UND career, Eaglestaff has made no fewer than three three-point shots. He's bottomed three shots from range seven times this season and in Wednesday's action he netted five for the eighth time in his career. His 28 total three-point makes rank fourth in the Summit League and his 2.55 per game rate fourth.

The Bismarck native is eyeing a move up the program record books as he is currently eighth in career three-pointers with 165; 16 back of becoming the program's D1 leader in made three pointers among players that played their entire career in UND's D1 era. Additionally, Eaglestaff moved into third all-time on the Hawks' D1 three-point attempt list. Eaglestaff continues his climb up the scoring charts aiming to move into the top 40 as he sits 64 points away from 1,000 for his career which would make him the 39th player in program history to reach the mark. 

In two games in Cancun, Eaglestaff led UND with 16.5 ppg on 35.7% shooting. He added seven rebounds, two assists and a steal to earn selection to the Cancun Challenge All-Tournament team. 

Eaglestaff's effort in wins against Dickinson State and Utah Valley (24.0 ppg, 51.9% FG, 16-of-17 FT, 7 asst., 5 rebs., 1 stl.) earned him the fourth Summit League Peak Performer of the Week award of his career. His 31 points in the win against UVU are the most for Eaglestaff inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center and are the most by a Hawk at home since Marlon Stewart went for 35 against North Dakota State (2/22/2020). 

He was the first Summit League player to reach 30 points in a game this season and his season-high 31 are the second-most in the league this season.

PANOAM, GET TO KNOW HIM
Sophomore transfer guard Mier Panoam is enjoying a solid start to his first season in Grand Forks. The Alaska native has scored in double figures in seven of ten games with at least 19 points in three of his last six games including a career-high 22 points in the home win over Weber State.

His performance against the Wildcats saw the first-year Hawk match a season-high in shots made (7) and set a new career-high in free throws made (8). He recorded six rebounds in the win and eight times this season he has crossed over five boards in a game.

Panoam is second in scoring with 11.6 points per game and in steals with nine. He leads the team in blocked shots with seven and ranks third in rebounding with 55. He ranks third on the team in offensive rebounds (16). He has recorded 20 assists with a career high seven coming at UTSA and is one of four Hawks averaging 26 or more minutes per game.

ELI'S EVERYWHERE
There's plenty to read when it comes to an Eli King stat line. The junior guard has been everywhere and done a little bit of everything for North Dakota in 11 games this season.

At UTSA, King played 30 minutes for the third-straight game and recorded five rebounds, two points, one assist and a steal. In the loss to UVU, King scored eight points with four rebounds, three steals and two assists.

In the win over Weber State, the Caledonia, Minnesota native played a career-high 37 minutes and scored in double figures for the second time this campaign with a season-high 13 points to go along with two rebounds, two steals and an assist. The double-figure scoring effort was the 11th of his UND career.

In 320 minutes, the second-most among Hawks, King is third on the team in offensive rebounds with 16, which included six against Notre Dame, and owns the second-highest rebounding average at 5.1. He has seven games this season with 5+ rebounds. He holds a team-high mark in steals (14) and paces UND in offensive fouls drawn this season with nine.

SCOUTING THE ROADRUNNERS
UTSA enters Sunday's action at 4-5 overall. Prior to UTSA's win over UND on Friday, the Roadrunners were coming off losses at (RV) Saint Mary's (82-74) and (RV) Arkansas (75-60). In addition to the team's win over the Hawks, UTSA has victories against Trinity Christian, Merrimack and Houston Christian. 

The Roadrunners are led by first-year UTSA head coach Austin Clauch who came to San Antonio after five seasons at the front of the bench for Nicholls State. A native of Texas, Claunch won 90 games in five seasons directing the Colonels.  

The Roadrunners were picked tied for 11th in the preseason American Athletic Conference poll after receiving 35 points to match Tulane in the 13-team league. 

UTSA's 16-player roster includes 14 transfers of which 11 are from previous Division I programs. 

The Roadrunners are highly active defensively and excel in transition. UTSA ranks 11th in the country in steals per game (10.2) and 34th in turnovers forced per game (15.67), both of which have played a large part in the squad holding the sixth-highest fastbreak points per game at 18.56. Texas-San Antonio shoots 40.8% from the floor and 31.2% from beyond-the-arc and has proven in the early going to be solid from the stripe holding the nation's third-highest free throw clip at 82.2%. 

Like the Hawks, the Roadrunners can clean the offensive glass effectively. UTSA ranks 66th in DI in offensive rebounds per game at 12.89. Additionally, the Roadrunners shoot the three over 27 times per game which rates inside the top 65 nationally. 

The Roadrunners are led by one of the nation's premier scorers in Primo Spears who's 23.7 points per game leads the American Athletic and ranks third in Division I. His production comes at a top five minutes per game mark in the country at 36:35 which leads the AAC. Spears' 168 field goal attempts is a top 15 mark in the country.

Damari Monsanto leads the the AAC in three-pointers per game at 3.00 which comes at a clip of 35.8%. Spears and Marcus Millender each average two three-point makes per game. 

Jonnivius Smith leads the board-grabbing effort for the Roadrunners as he holds a top 35 DI mark in rebounding average at 9.1. His average in defensive rebounds (6.88) ranks inside the top 25 nationally.Raekwon Horton's offensive rebounds average (3.00) ranks 60th. Additionally, Smith holds a top 30 mark in blocks per game at 2.00. 

Four players are averaging 1.5 or more steals per game led by Spears' 1.78. His total of 16 leads the team. 

UND BY THE NUMBERS
64- The number of points needed by junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff to reach 1,000 for his career. The Bismarck native would be the 39th player in program history to reach the mark and the 12th player in the program's DI era to accomplish the scoring feat.
13- UND's national rank in offensive rebounds/game. The squad's mark of 14.91 leads the Summit League. UND has grabbed a dozen or more offensive rebounds in 10 of 11 games this season. The most games with 12+ OREB under Sather is 17 last season.
8- The current career rank of junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff's 165 made trifectas. He is second in made three-point attempts among Hawks who played their entire career at the DI level. He is 20 away from fifth all-time.
6- The number of different Texas programs faced by the Fighting Hawks, including Friday's first-ever meeting with UTSA, since first competing as a Division I Independent in 2008-09.
4- The number of double-doubles produced this month. Amar Kuljuhovic recorded his ninth and tenth such efforts against EWU and UTSA. George Natsvishvili earned his first against Weber State and Deng Mayar's first came at UTSA.

A UND WIN WOULD
» Improve UND to 2-1 against teams from the state of Texas under Sather
» Improve UND to 12-11 against Texas teams since 2008-09
» Be the 37th home win for the Hawks under Sather
» Be the fourth-straight home win dating back to last season
» Be better than a loss