North Dakota vs. South Dakota Mines || 12/20 (7 p.m.)
2nd meeting, UND 1-0
Grand Forks, N.D. (Betty Engelstad Sioux Center)

FULL GAME NOTES ARE HERE

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - After a memorable Wednesday evening taking #6 Alabama to the wire, North Dakota faces Division II South Dakota Mines on Friday night inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The Hawks and the Hardrockers tipoff in the former's final action before the Christmas holiday at 7 p.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 the Summit League Network. Live stats will be provided at www.FightingHawks.com.

SERIES HISTORY
The two squads meet for just the second time and for the first time since a late December matchup in 2010 that resulted in a win for the Hawks. UND won 73-64 in Grand Forks. While the Hawks don't have an extensive history with SDM, head coach Paul Sather does. It will be Sather's tenth matchup (9-3) against the Hardrockers with his first eight coming during his time as head coach at Black Hills State and the ninth occurring during his tenure at Northern State.

LAST TIME OUT
With a mid-December winter storm closing in, it sure felt like March inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center on Wednesday night and a packed house of over 3,000 will remember the evening for a lifetime. Junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff orchestrated a career-night scoring 40 points to reach 1,000 for his career and North Dakota went toe-to-toe with #6 Alabama taking the Crimson Tide to the wire in a 97-90 loss in a contest that served as a homecoming of sorts for Devils Lake native and former NDSU Bison Grant Nelson.
 
Nelson's return to the Peace Garden State ended with a double-double of 23 points and ten rebounds, but it was a fellow North Dakota Mr. Basketball in Eaglestaff who took center stage. Fourteen first-half points from the Bismarck native helped the Hawks carry a 38-35 lead into the intermission. Eaglestaff's second half, which was filled with big shot after big shot, totaled 26 points on nine made shots with six coming from beyond-the-arc.
 
The opening twenty minutes witnessed UND force 13 Alabama turnovers, while battling inside to finish a paint bucket and three boards back of being even with the lengthy Crimson Tide in those categories. The Tide shot just 28% from the floor in the first half as the Hawks sank two more shots in five more attempts from the field. Additionally, the Hawks picked up seven steals in the frame.
 
The Hawks hit six first-half threes with Eaglestaff's deep wing triple try aiding UND in an 11-8 lead at the first media stoppage. Within that opening four minutes of play, there were a pair of fastbreak buckets from junior guard Eli King and sophomore guard Mier Panoam. North Dakota hammered shots at a 50% rate through the first nine-plus minutes which included a quick-trigger trifecta from the stroke of redshirt freshman Zach Kraft that pushed the Hawks out front 19-12 as the clock dipped under 11:45.
 
UND's lead grew to 29-24 with 7:03 remaining in the first half as the Hawks sat at +7 in points off of turnovers and were led by a dozen points from Eaglestaff. Kraft hammered another triple try later in the half and North Dakota was +4 in turnover margin at the break.
 
Eaglestaff picked up where he left off in the first half knocking down three-point attempts on consecutive possessions to open up what turned out to be a wild twenty minutes of action. The Tide began to turn as a 14-2 run over a 3:20 stretch of play helped the first-time North Dakota visitors to a 56-47 lead at the 13:42 mark of the second half. That Alabama run was met by a 1-of-9 effort from the floor by the Hawks in that same stretch which led to the 9-point deficit which stood as large as 11 in the half.
 
There was plenty of fight left in the Hawks as junior forward Dariyus Woodson knocked down one of three successful attempts from range on a top-of-the-key look and Kraft strolled into a three-point make to keep the Hawks within seven at 62-55. Drives inside from Woodson and Panoam cut into the Alabama lead which stood at six points with 6:17 to play and just over a minute later, King converted a second-chance three to make it a one-possession game at 78-75. Moments later, Eaglestaff drilled a three-point attempt in the far corner off an assist from Panoam to even the affair at 78 and send the Betty into a frenzy.
 
King hit a second-chance three to tie the game at 85-85 with 2:15 remaining and following a pair of free throws by both Nelson and Labaron Philon, Eaglestaff responded in the final 30 seconds with a near corner step-back three to keep the Hawks alive at 91-88. However, the Crimson Tide managed to put away UND at the stripe going 6-of-6 in the final twenty seconds.  
 
IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW, NOW YOU KNOW
After Wednesday night's generational performance against #6 Alabama, the country is taking notice on what many in North Dakota and the surrounding region already knew, junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff is a hooper. The Bismarck native's efforts against the Crimson Tide raised the digital eyebrows from the likes of ESPN, The Athletic and CBS Sports Network to prominent hoops analysts Andy Katz, Seth Davis and Seth Greenberg to mid major hoops lovers everywhere.

LAUNDRY LIST
Where to start. Eaglestaff's list of firsts, records or notable numbers from Wednesday's matchup with Alabama is a lengthy one:
**Eaglestaff's 40 points marks a new career-high scoring effort and is his third career game with 30 or more points and second this season
**His 40 points are the most ever inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center topping Quinton Hooker's 38 against Portland State (2/25/16)
**He is the first Hawk since Geno Crandall (vs. Troy, 11-10-17) in 2017 to score 40 points in a game and is the fifth DI player to score 40 or more points in a game this season
**Eaglestaff becomes the first mid-major player since 2012 to score 40 points against an AP-Top 10 opponent
**Eaglestaff's 40 is the most in loss by a Fighting Hawk since Travis Tuttle's 40 vs. South Dakota State (1/17/97)
**Eaglestaff's step-back, corner three that pushed him to 40 also made him the 39th player in program history and the 12th in UND's DI era to reach 1,000 career points
**He set career-high marks in field goals made (15), field goals attempted (30), three-point field goals made (8) and three-point field goal attempts (18)
**His eight makes from deep are the most for a Fighting Hawk since Patrick Mitchell drained 10 vs. NJIT (2/23/2010)
**Eaglestaff's 18 three-point field goal attempts are a single-game program record
**Eaglestaff's 15 made field goals match Hooker's Portland State effort for the most in a game inside the Betty, while his 30 attempts overall (Prev: 25, Marlon Stewart vs. NDSU – 2/22/20) and 18 from deep (Prev: 16, Aanen Moody vs. Purdue Fort Wayne – 12/29/18) are both Betty bests
**North Dakota's 90 points match the most scored against the Crimson Tide this season (Rutgers), while Eaglestaff's 40 is the most scored against Alabama this season
**His 40 points against the Crimson Tide are the most by an opposing player since South Carolina's Sindarius Thornwell scored 44 points in February 2017 (Per X @Stathead) 

DROPPED 40 & PICKED UP 1K
Eaglestaff's scoring clinic ended on a step back, near corner triple try that tickled twine to not only bring UND to within three points of the Alabama lead late, but gave him a Betty Engelstad Sioux Center scoring record and a career best single-game effort in addition to pushing him to 1,000 career points. He is the 39th player in program history to reach the mark and the 12th to do it in UND's Division I era (2008-09).

KRAFTY KONNECTIONS
Certainly not to be lost in the return of Devils Lake native Grant Nelson to the Peace Garden State or the legendary staying power of Bismarck native Treysen Eaglestaff is the performance from redshirt freshman guard Zach Kraft, a Grand Forks native, who delivered nine clutch points from beyond-the-arc in the battle with Alabama. 

Kraft entered the contest with two made three point attempts in his young career in addition to having played just over 21 minutes in his previous six contests. He hammered a trio of triple tries and added a steal in a career-high 18 minutes of action. His first make put the Hawks up 19-12 at the 11:27 mark of the opening half, his second three increased UND's lead to four at 32-28 with 4:44 remaining before the half and his final trifecta cut the Hawks' second-half deficit to five and was a key make in UND's answer to a 14-2 Alabama run.

1KULJUHOVIC
Senior forward Amar Kuljuhovic reached a personal milestone 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 131 rebounds shy of 1,000 for his career. He registered over 500 at LLC and currently has 358 as a Fighting Hawk with 124 coming on the offensive end of the floor. 

DAWN OF DARIYUS
The emergence of TJC transfer Dariyus Woodson has been critical for UND as conference play looms in the New Year. Woodson has combined for 59 points on a dozen made three pointers over the last three games. He has totaled 20 made shots and has added 13 rebounds with two assists and a block. 

That effort over the weekend has helped the Baytown, Texas native develop into a threat from range as his 26 made threes are the second most among Hawks. Woodson is shooting 32.1% from beyond-the-arc. His 39.8% shooting effort from the floor is the second highest among Hawks with 100+ attempts from the floor. 

ROAD HAWKS
Eight of North Dakota's 13 games have been outside the state. 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. The Hawks' first-semester travel totaled over 16,200 miles during its non-conference slate.

The Hawks are in the midst of a reprieve from the road with three-straight home games prior to the Christmas holiday. UND returns to action with three home games following Santa's run. 

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), hosted Texas-San Antonio (Dec. 15; L, 85-95) and battled #6/7 Alabama to the very end (Dec. 18; L, 90-97) 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 nine of the squad's 12 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. Eight Hawks have recorded 10+ offensive rebounds this season led by Amar Kuljuhovic's 41. Brian Mathews follows with 29, Eli King with 20 and Mier Panoam with 18. George Natsvishvili has registered 14 with seven coming in a career effort against Weber State. Deng Mayar has added 13 as has Dariyus Woodson and Treysen Eaglestaff bookends the effort with 10.

North Dakota ranks 10th nationally in offensive rebounds per game at 15.15; a mark that leads the Summit League. The squad's overall rebounding average of 39.38 leads the league and is in the top 65 nationally. Overall, the Hawks have outrebounded their opposition seven times this season. 

SEEING DOUBLE
A Hawk had yet to record a double-double of any kind entering the Big Sky-Summit Challenge on December 4. 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 and two days later Deng Mayar joined Amar Kuljuhovic as Hawks with two such efforts so far this season. 

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 was 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 and two nights later Mayar recorded a second double double with 14 points and ten rebounds.

TIP TOP TREY
Bismarck native Treysen Eaglestaff is the top scorer in the Summit League as the calendar nears the New Year. He is averaging 20.2 points per game which rates inside the top 20 nationally and leads the Summit League. His 263 total points are the most in the league, a top 5 scoring mark in the country and his scoring effort comes behind a top seven field goal percentage among Summit shooters at 43.5%.

Eaglestaff has scored in double-figures in all 13 games this season crossing over the 20-point mark in over half of those including three times in the past four games. He finished his sophomore campaign reaching the double-figure scoring mark in the final six games for an active streak of 19 games with 10+ points. 

For his career, Eaglestaff has 49 games in double-figure scoring with 14 games at 20+ points and three games with 30+. He facilitates too leading UND with 28 assists. Thirty-seven times in his UND career, Eaglestaff has made no fewer than three three-point shots. He's bottomed three shots from range nine times this season and in Wednesday's action he netted 5+ for the tenth time in his career and for the third time this season. His 41 total three-point makes rank second in the Summit League and his 3.15 per game are a league best and are among the top 40 three-point shooters in the country.

The Bismarck native is eyeing a move up the program record books as he is currently eighth in career three-pointers with 178; three 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 and sits at #39 with 1,000 career points. 
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 career-high 40 points are the second-most in the league this season.

MORE MAYAR
Deng Mayar registered back-to-back double double efforts in a weekend home-and-home with UTSA. In two games against the Roadrunners, Mayar averaged 27.1 minutes and shot 53.3% (8-of-15) from the floor with a 50% (3-of-6) rate from three-point range. He went 5-of-7 from the line to average 12.0 points over the pair of contests. Mayar led UND in rebounding with 10.5 boards per game, including the second-most offensive rebounds at eight. 

PANOAM, GET TO KNOW HIM
Sophomore transfer guard Mier Panoam has provided a big spark for the Hawks in year one in Grand Forks. The Alaska native has scored in double figures in seven of 13 games. Panoam has netted 15 or more in four games including three games with 19 or more points with a career-high 22 points in the home win over Weber State. At UTSA, he recorded a season-high seven assists. 

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, his fourth such game this season, and eight times this season he has crossed over five boards in a game.

Panoam is third in scoring with 11.9 points per game and second in steals with 12. He leads the team in blocked shots with nine and ranks third in rebounding with 61. He ranks fourth on the team in offensive rebounds (18). He has recorded 28 assists and is one of four Hawks averaging 27 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 13 games this season.

King has played 30 minutes in four of the past five games which started with a career-high 37 minutes in the home win over Weber State. In that victory, the Caledonia, Minnesota native 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 377 minutes, the second-most among Hawks, King is third on the team in offensive rebounds with 20, which included six against Notre Dame, and owns the second-highest rebounding average at 4.9. He has eight games this season with 5+ rebounds. He holds a team-high mark in steals (16) and paces UND in offensive fouls drawn this season with 11.

SCOUTING THE HARDROCKERS
South Dakota Mines enters Friday's game at 1-11 overall. The Hardrockers are led by Eric Glenn who is in his sixth season at SDM and tenth overall as a head coach. SDM's lone victory this season came against Black Hills State in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play. The Hardrockers are winless on the road and enter having lost their past three games. 

SDM averages 53.7 points per game and sits at -12.6 in scoring margin. The Hardrockers shoot 39.6% from the floor and 31.1% from three-point range. SDM's rebound margin is -2.7 and the Hardrockers are averaging 28.1 boards per game. 

Keagen Smith leads SDM in scoring with 10.9 ppg and holds team highs in shots made (44), attempts (101), three-point makes (23), three-point attempts (59), free throw makes (20), free throw attempts (29), rebounds (57), rebounding average (4.8), steals (16), steals per game (1.3) and minutes (36.3).

UND BY THE NUMBERS
40- The number of points scored by junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff against #6 Alabama to become the 39th Fighting Hawk to reach 1,000 points for his career. The Bismarck native is the 12th player in the program's DI era to accomplish the scoring feat.
17- The number of made three-point makes by the Hawks against Alabama. Eaglestaff delivered eight and the nine other makes were spread over four players. The 17 makes are the second-most in a game and one back of the single-game record. 
10- UND's national rank in offensive rebounds/game. The squad's mark of 15.15 leads the Summit League. UND has grabbed a dozen or more offensive rebounds in 12 of 13 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 178 made trifectas. He is second in made three-point attempts among Hawks who played their entire career at the DI level. He is 7 away from fifth all-time.
2- The number of rostered Hawks that have scored 1,000 collegiate points. Amar Kuljuhovic, across action at Lake Land College during his first two collegiate seasons, reached the mark at Utah Valley, while Eaglestaff joined him on Wednesday night. 

A UND WIN WOULD
» Snap a four-game losing streak
» Improve UND to 2-0 against South Dakota Mines
» Improve Sather to 10-3 all-time against the Hardrockers
» Give Sather his ninth December win at North Dakota
» Improve the Hawks to 6-4 at home in their last 10
» Be better than a loss