North Dakota vs. Waldorf || 12/29 (2 p.m.)
6th meeting, UND 5-0
Grand Forks, N.D. (Betty Engelstad Sioux Center)

FULL GAME NOTES ARE HERE

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - North Dakota places a bow on top of its non-conference schedule on Sunday afternoon from inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center as the Hawks play host to Waldorf. Tip-off in UND's final contest before Summit League play opens is set for 2 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
It will be the sixth meeting all-time between the two programs and the second-straight year that the two sides meet on the hardwood. All five previous engagements have taken place inside the Betty with UND leading the all-time series 5-0. The average margin of victory for the Hawks in the series is 31.4 ppg. 

LAST TIME OUT
The sweaters were ugly, and the Fighting Hawks were hooping. North Dakota men's basketball snapped a four-game losing skid in a big way by rocking South Dakota Mines 80-48 on Friday night inside a Christmas-clad Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The victory is the fifth for the Hawks this season.
 
North Dakota started fast and used first-half runs of 6-0, 22-3 and 8-0 to build a comfortable 47-15 lead at the intermission. The Hawks controlled the paint at +22 in scoring in addition to +8 in rebounding in the opening twenty. Junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff and sophomore guard Mier Panoam each found double figures in scoring prior to the break. Eaglestaff delivered 15 and Panoam followed with 10.
 
The damage was done in the first half and the Hawks capped off the night with two dozen bench points in the final twenty minutes as each side delivered 33 points in the frame.

THE BIG O
Following his two-game week which included his historic effort against #6 Alabama and a home win over South Dakota Mines, junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff was named the Summit League Peak Performer of the Week for the second time this season and for the fifth time in his career. 

Additionally, Eaglestaff's efforts were recognized on the national stage as he was one of five players named an Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for games of the week ending Sunday, Dec. 22. Eaglestaff was joined by Donovan Dent (New Mexico), Caden Pierce (Princeton), Erik Reynolds (Saint Joseph's) and Bruce Thornton (Ohio State). He is the first Hawk to receive the honor since the award's inception began during the 2009-10 season.

COACH HERBST, THE HOFer
While UND's history with Waldorf is not a lengthy one, assistant coach Randall Herbst's connection with the Warriors runs deep. Herbst's first head coaching experience came at Waldorf Junior College from 1998-2000. While at Waldorf, Herbst's team won 19 games in 1998-99, the second most in program history. Waldorf was ranked No. 1 in the country in team defense in each of his two seasons. However, that's just the surface of Herbst's impact on the Warriors. 

In 2016, Herbst was inducted into the Waldorf University Hall of Fame for his incredible contributions as both a student-athlete on the baseball and basketball teams and later as the head men's basketball coach. Herbst was a two-time All-Region XI selection and two-time NJCAA Academic All-American in basketball and baseball, the assistant coach of NIACC's 1994-95 NJCAA national championship team and the head coach of the Waldorf men's basketball team that ranked second in school history for wins in a season and first in the nation in team defense. 

Herbst was Waldorf Junior College's Male Athlete of the Year in 1991 and earned academic All-America honors as a player. He was also a two-time team captain and two-time all-region honorable mention pick.
 
IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW, NOW YOU KNOW
After junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff's generational performance against #6 Alabama, the country is taking notice on what many in North Dakota and the surrounding region already knew, the North Dakota product 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 the 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.

Two nights later, Kraft duplicated that performance with nine points on three makes from deep with one steal against South Dakota Mines. 

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 414 points in 45 games as a Fighting Hawk. 

The scoring milestone isn't the only one in reach for Kuljuhovic as he is 124 rebounds shy of 1,000 for his career. He registered 511 at LLC and currently has 365 as a Fighting Hawk with 125 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 66 points on 13 made three pointers over the last four games. He has totaled 23 made shots and has added 18 rebounds with two assists, one block and a steal. 

His 27 made threes are the second most among Hawks. Woodson is shooting 31.4% from beyond-the-arc. His 39.7% shooting effort from the floor is the third highest among Hawks with 100+ attempts from the floor. 

ROAD HAWKS
Eight of North Dakota's 14 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.

BUSY STRETCH
The Hawks endured 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 ten of the squad's 14 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 42. Brian Mathews follows with 32, Eli King with 20 and Mier Panoam with 18. Deng Mayar has added 16 and George Natsvishvili has registered 14 with seven coming in a career effort against Weber State. Dariyus Woodson has picked up 14 and Treysen Eaglestaff bookends the effort with 12.

North Dakota ranks 8th nationally in offensive rebounds per game at 15.29; a mark that leads the Summit League. The squad's overall rebounding average of 40.07 leads the league and is in the top 45 nationally. Overall, the Hawks have outrebounded their opposition eight 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 20.1 points per game which rates inside the top 20 nationally and leads the Summit League. His 282 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 44.6%.

Eaglestaff has scored in double-figures in all 14 games this season crossing over the 20-point mark in over half of those including three times in the past five games. He finished his sophomore campaign reaching the double-figure scoring mark in the final six games for an active streak of 20 games with 10+ points. 

For his career, Eaglestaff has 50 games in double-figure scoring with 14 games at 20+ points and three games with 30+. He facilitates too leading UND with 30 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 against Alabama 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 2.93 per game are a league best and are among the top 60 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 1,019 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 added a second SL weekly honor following his two-game stretch against #6 Alabama and South Dakota Mines.

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.

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 eight of 14 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 10.9 points per game and second in steals with 13. He leads the team in blocked shots with nine and ranks third in rebounding with 64. He ranks fourth on the team in offensive rebounds (18). He has recorded 27 assists 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 14 games this season.

King has played 21+ minutes in each of the last dozen games including 30+ minutes in eight games. He recorded 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 398 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 nine games this season with 5+ rebounds. He holds a team-high mark in steals (17) and paces UND in offensive fouls drawn this season with 11.

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.
33- The number of non-Summit League wins for the Hawks under head coach Paul Sather. A win on Sunday would give UND its sixth this season and the second-most non-league wins in a campaign after the Hawks won eight last season.
8- UND's national rank in offensive rebounds/game. The squad's mark of 15.29 leads the Summit League. UND has grabbed a dozen or more offensive rebounds in 13 of 14 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 against Alabama.

A UND WIN WOULD
» Close out the Hawks' non-conference slate at 6-9 overall
» Improve UND to 34-52 against non-Summit League foes under Sather
» Keep the Hawks unbeaten in six games against Waldorf
» Be the 10th UND win in December under Sather
» Be better than a loss