North Dakota at Oral Roberts || 1/11 (7 p.m.)
15th meeting, ORU leads 9-5
Tulsa, Okla. (Mabee Center)

FULL GAME NOTES ARE HERE

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - North Dakota heads to the Sooner State with some momentum as the Hawks battle Oral Roberts on Saturday night. Tip-off from inside Mabee Center is set for 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 can be seen on the Summit League Network. Live stats will be provided at www.FightingHawks.com.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's matchup will be the 15th meeting all-time between the two teams in a series that began in 2018-19 when UND joined the Summit League. ORU leads the series 9-5, but the Hawks won twice last season with the first win snapping a seven-game losing streak. The Golden Eagles are 5-2 against UND in Tulsa. 

SIX THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ORAL ROBERTS
1) The Golden Eagles are one of the top three-point shooting teams in the country holding top 30 marks nationally in three-point percentage (38.2%) and three-pointers per game (10.2).
2) Issac McBride is coming off of a 44-point performance in a home loss to North Dakota State. He ranks third in the Summit League in scoring at 17.9 points per game. 
3) No one averages more minutes per game (33:48) or shoots better from the charity stripe (90.1) in the Summit League than McBride.
4) The Golden Eagles have one Division I win this season; an 83-76 decision at home against Northern Arizona in the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge.
5) ORU ranks sixth and seventh, respectively, in the Summit League in field goal percentage (44.1%) and field goal percentage defense (48%).
6) The Golden Eagles rank seventh of nine among SL teams in all four major rebounding categories: rebound average (31.4), rebound margin (-3.6), defensive rebounds average (21.87) and offensive rebounds average (9.53).

PEAK CHASIN'
St. Thomas, Omaha, North Dakota State all joined UND in the win column in the first action of week two. Both St. Thomas and Omaha remain unbeaten at 3-0, three other teams follow with a single loss, while both UND and NDSU have two losses in league play and Denver and Oral Roberts eye their first league victories. 

In early October, North Dakota was tabbed to a sixth-place finish in the Summit League preseason poll. The Hawks were one of six teams to receive a first-place vote and totaled 283 points in a wide open Summit League rankings. North Dakota was just 22 points back of projected No. 5 Oral Roberts which received two first-place nods. St. Thomas edged the Golden Eagles for fourth, while Kansas City (17), South Dakota State (12) and North Dakota State (3) went 1-2-3. The squad's sixth-place appointment, the second highest for UND under Sather, in the preseason rankings is one spot back of last season's fifth-place selection and matches the Hawks' placement prior to the start of the 2020-21 season.

The nine-member mid major league produced a collective non-conference record of 69-64. Four Summit League teams, including North Dakota, enter league play on winning streaks with North Dakota State's eight-game streak pushing the Bison to a league-best 11-4 start. Kansas City has won four-straight, while Omaha joins UND as winners of their past two.

LAST TIME OUT
Sophomore Mier Panoam continued his 2025 scoring clinic with his third-straight 20-point game with a career-high 28 on a career-best 12 made shots, senior Amar Kuljuhovic put on a clinic inside delivering 17 points and eight rebounds and North Dakota had their way with host Denver on Thursday night inside Hamilton Gymnasium erupting offensively for their first Summit League victory with a 95-70 win over the Pioneers.  
 
The Hawks (7-11, 1-2 SL) crafted the fast start they lacked in the opening weekend of league play. UND forced four steals, two which led to transition dunks (+7 in first half /game transition points) from Treysen Eaglestaff and Panoam, and sat at +11 in points off of turnovers just prior to the under-8 media timeout of the first half.
 
The Hawks shot 51.4% from the floor in the opening twenty minutes and withstood ten-straight misses from three-point range to finish 5-of-18 from beyond-the-arc in the first half. Netted makes from deep included two each from junior Dariyus Woodson and redshirt freshman Zach Kraft with the latter's second make giving the Hawks its first 50-point first half against a Division I opponent this season.
 
North Dakota never trailed in a contest that had a tied score on just one occasion. Following the intermission, UND's lead was trimmed to nine six minutes in, but the Hawks never let off the gas as the advantage grew to as much as 27 points as a season-best shooting night was coupled with a defensive effort by the Hawks that included +13 in points off of turnovers.

A MILE HIGH FOR SEASON HIGHS
Thursday's win over the Pioneers was the 21st road win for UND in Sather's tenure and the 34th against Summit League opposition. The Hawks' 95 points were the most against a Division I opponent this season, the third time UND has crossed over 90 points and the seventh time a Sather-led UND squad has dropped 90+ points in Summit League action. UND netted shots at a season-best 51.6% effort from the floor and posted season highs in free throws made (24) and free throws attempted (32), while UND's 13 steals were the second-most this season, the most against a DI foe, and just the second time the Hawks have recorded 10+ in a game this season.

HANDLE WITH CARE
The Hawks committed just seven turnovers in the win at Denver and have nine or fewer turnovers in four of their past five games.

MIER-IAD OF POINTS
Sophomore Mier Panoam can score and since the calendar has turned over to 2025, the Tulane transfer has been filling up the box score. Panoam enters Saturday's action at ORU having scored 20+ points in each of his last three games; all of which have been Summit League contests. In that stretch, Panoam is shooting 54.9% (28-of-51) from the floor and 82.4% (14-of-17) from the free throw line. He scored a then-career high 24 points at home against Omaha, followed that with his first career double double of 20 points and 12 rebounds against St. Thomas and then bested his Omaha outing with 28 points on a career-best 12 made shots in Thursday night's road win at Denver. 

Additionally, Panoam has delivered 26 rebounds, a dozen assists and four steals. He is averaging 24.0 and 8.7 90+ minutes into Summit League play.

THE BIG O
Following 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.

DROPPED 40 & PICKED UP 1K
Eaglestaff's scoring clinic against Alabama ended on a step back, near corner triple try that tickled twine to not only bring UND to within three points of the Crimson Tide 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).

TOP SCORER
Eaglestaff is one of the top scorers in the Summit League ranking second with 18.8 points per game (38th DI) and is seventh in the country in total points with 338. He ranks 15th nationally in field goals (114) and tenth in field goal attempts (262) both of which lead the Summit League.

Additionally, he ranks 20th nationally in three-point attempts (129) and 58th nationally in three-point makes (44). His 2.44 made three-pointers per game are the fifth-most in the league.

Eaglestaff scored in double-figures in his first 17 games of the season crossing over the 20-point mark in seven of those. He finished his sophomore campaign reaching the double-figure scoring mark in the final six games for a streak of 23 games with 10+ points. 

HOT PURSUIT
Eaglestaff eyes a move up the program record books as he is currently eighth in career three-pointers with 181 which makes him the program's leader in made three pointers among players that played their entire career in UND's D1 era. The Bismarck native is 19 made threes away from becoming the fourth player in program history with 200 career made three-pointers. Additionally, Eaglestaff moved into third all-time on the Hawks' D1 three-point attempt list and he is currently fifth on the all-time list. Eaglestaff continues his climb up the scoring charts and sits at #39 with 1,075 career points. He is 25 points away from entering the program's top 35. 

KRAFTHREE
Grand Forks locals and those around the Red River Valley are no stranger to the game of redshirt freshman guard Zach Kraft. Those that aren't aware, should take notice. The former Red River HS standout's emergence as a key player off the bench for North Dakota developed quickly in the month of December. 

Kraft made his collegiate debut in the season opener at Colorado State, scored his first career points against Dickinson State in Bismarck and through the first nine games that he appeared for the Fighting Hawks, he totaled just over 48 minutes played, attempted seven shots with six from deep to go along with two makes and added two rebounds and two assists. 

Enter Alabama. Kraft delivered nine clutch points from beyond-the-arc in the battle with the Crimson Tide. He entered the contest with two made three point attempts in his young career and proceeded to hammer 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.

Over the past six games, Kraft has totaled 100+ minutes (16.8 mpg) and is shooting 46.2% from the floor (18-of-39) with a 47.4% clip (18-of-38) from three-point range. He has netted no fewer than two three-point shots in each of last six games, which includes career highs in three-pointers made (4) and points (12) in the non-conference finale win over Waldorf.  

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 451 points in 49 games as a Fighting Hawk. 

The scoring milestone isn't the only one in reach for Kuljuhovic as he is 97 rebounds shy of 1,000 for his career. He registered 511 at LLC and currently has 392 as a Fighting Hawk with 135 coming on the offensive end of the floor. 

Kuljuhovic's rebounding efforts through 18 games has him rated third among Summit League players in total rebounds with 125. He also ranks third in offensive rebounds per game (3.22) and fourth in rebounding average (6.9). Additionally, Kuljuhovic ranks fifth in free throw attempts with a team-leading 88 and ninth in made free throws with 57. 

DARIYUS FROM DEEP
First-year Fighting Hawk, Dariyus Woodson, a TJC transfer and Baytown, Texas native, holds a pair of top 10 rankings among Summit League three-point shooters as league play commences. Woodson ranks third in the SL in three-point attempts with 108 and eighth in makes with 34. His 2.00 makes per game ranks 9th in the SL, while his overall scoring average of 11.4 ppg is a top 20 mark among all league scorers. 

ROAD HAWKS
Eight of North Dakota's 15 non-conference games were 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 capped the stretch on Friday, December 20 against South Dakota Mines (W, 80-48) 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
The offensive glass has been controlled by UND in 14 of the squad's 18 games and the Hawks have been out-rebounded on the offensive glass just once. 

UND has grabbed 12+ offensive rebounds in every game but its season opener at Colorado State. Eight Hawks have recorded 10+ offensive boards this season led by Amar Kuljuhovic's 58. Brian Mathews follows with 37 and Mier Panoam rounds out the top three with 32.

North Dakota ranks 10th nationally in offensive rebounds per game at 14.89; a mark that leads the Summit League. The squad's overall rebounding average of 39.94 ranks second in the league and is in the top 35 nationally. Overall, the Hawks have out-rebounded their opposition a dozen 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.

Most recently, sophomore transfer guard Mier Panoam became the fourth Hawk this season with a double double as his first such performance ended with 20 points and 12 rebounds as he flirted with a triple double by adding six assists. 

FEAR MIER
Panoam has provided a big spark for the Hawks in year one in Grand Forks specifically with his ability to get to the basket. In addition to his torrid start to Summit League play, Panoam ranks second on the team with a top 15 scoring mark in the Summit League at 13.2 ppg. He holds top 10 league rankings in field goal attempts (187, 7th), rebounds (96, 6th), free throw attempts (79, 8th) and free throw makes (56, 10th) and is responsible for seven of UND's 20 three-point plays. His 86 made field goals are the seventh in the Summit League. 

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. 

THE BOOK OF ELI
Junior Eli King knows his way around a box score. The Caledonia, Minnesota native has been active on both ends of the floor and done a little bit of everything for North Dakota in 18 games this season.

King has played 30+ minutes in 11 games this season and in each SL game to start the new year. He recorded a career-high 37 minutes in the home win over Weber State. In that victory, he 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 521 minutes, the second-most among Hawks, King is fourth on the team in offensive rebounds with 24, which included six against Notre Dame, and owns the third-highest rebounding average at 5.1. King's 91 total rebounds ranks seventh in the SL. He has 11 games this season with 5+ rebounds and four games with 3+ steals including five vs. Waldorf. He holds a team-high mark in steals (28) and paces UND in offensive fouls drawn this season with 13. His total steal count ranks third in the Summit League and his steals average of 1.56 ranks fifth. 

UND BY THE NUMBERS
34- The number of Summit League wins for the Hawks under head coach Paul Sather. The Hawks won a program-best 10 Summit League games a season ago and have won seven or more league games in a season three times under Sather.
10- UND's national rank in offensive rebounds/game. The squad's mark of 14.89 leads the Summit League. UND has grabbed a dozen or more offensive rebounds in 17 of 18 games this season which matches last season's output.
5- The number of three-point makes needed by junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff to move into fifth-place outright on the program's career list. His 181 makes from range are the most among Hawks who played their entire career at the DI level.
4- The number of Hawks that have recorded double doubles this season. Mier Panoam is the latest with 20 points and 12 rebounds against St. Thomas as he joined Amar Kuljuhovic (2), Deng Mayar (2) and George Natsvishvili.
3- The number of consecutive games in which sophomore Mier Panoam has scored 20+ points. Panoam produced 24 vs. Omaha, delivered his first career double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds vs. St. Thomas and dropped a career-high 28 points at Denver. 

A UND WIN WOULD
» Be the 6th all-time against ORU and third straight
» Even UND's league record at 2-2
» Improve UND to 35-53 against Summit League foes under Sather
» Be the 22nd road win for the Hawks under Sather
» Be better than a loss