North Dakota at Denver || 1/9 (8 p.m.)
16th meeting, UND leads 9-6
Denver, Colo. (Hamilton Gymnasium)

FULL GAME NOTES ARE HERE

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - North Dakota prepares for its first Summit League action away from Grand Forks as the annual Denver-Tulsa swing begins Thursday night in the Mile High City. Like the Hawks, the Pioneers aim for their first win in Summit League play. Tip-off from inside Hamilton Gymnasium is set for 8 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
The Hawks take on the Pioneers in the 16th meeting between the two programs. UND swept DU last season and holds a 4-3 mark on the road in addition to the overall series lead at 9-6. The two sides first met on the hardwood in March of 1992. In Summit League action, the Hawks are up 7-4 in the series.  

SIX THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT DENVER
1) Denver owns the third-highest three-point percentage in the Summit League at 36.5% which rates in the top 65 nationally, while also defending the perimeter with a top three SL mark at 31.8%.
2) Nicholas Shogbonyo leads the Summit League with a top 20 mark nationally in made free throws with 81 and he rates in the top three in both FT attempts (94) and FT% (86.2%).
3) Josh Lee's 1.75 steals per game is a league-best and his 28 total steals are the second-most
4) Three Pioneers rank inside the league's top 15 in points per game paced by Shogbonyo's 15.1, while DeAndre Craig (13.0) and Sebastian Akins (12.6) follow.
5) DU is shooting 44.2% from the floor and is averaging just under 76 ppg. 
6) The Pioneers rank eighth of ninth in all major rebounding categories in the Summit League: rebound margin (-6.4), defensive rebounds per game (21.53), offensive rebounds per game (8.88) and rebounding average (30.41).

LAST TIME OUT
Sophomore guard Mier Panoam produced his second-straight 20-point game and added a career-high dozen rebounds for the first double-double of his career and three more North Dakota players followed with 14 points, but an early deficit proved too much for the Fighting Hawks on Saturday afternoon inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center as visiting St. Thomas claimed an 88-80 decision in Summit League action.
 
North Dakota (6-11, 0-2 SL) found an early hole as St. Thomas (12-5, 2-0 SL) opened on an 11-0 run on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc through the under-16 media timeout. The Tommies would enter a brief scoring drought, while the Hawks turned to the trigger of redshirt freshman Zach Kraft who hit his first two trifectas as part of an 8-0 UND run that aided the Hawks in cutting the deficit to 17-10 just under the 12-minute mark.
 
A steal by junior forward Dariyus Woodson and the ensuing cross-court drive to the basket preceded a successful triple try by the Texan moments before junior combo Eli King hammered an attempt from the wing. That 7-2 run pulled UND to within a possession of the UST lead at 21-19 as the clock neared nine minutes before the intermission.
 
The Tommies responded with a 15-2 run that was capped off just below the final media stoppage to lead 36-21. UND committed just seven turnovers on the afternoon, but four came during UST's second big run of the opening half as the Tommies led by a dozen at the intermission.
 
UND outscored UST 51-47 in the second half of play on 44% shooting, but the visitors still managed to connect at a high clip of 56.7% from the floor, while notching seven made threes. The Hawks cut into the UST lead early in the second half to trail by just two possessions and drained a 19-point UST lead down to just seven in the final half minute of play.

PEAK CHASIN'
St. Thomas, Kansas City and Omaha all went unbeaten in Thursday-Saturday affairs to open Summit League play, while South Dakota State won its lone contest of the weekend. South Dakota is the lone squad to split its conference action, while North Dakota State, Denver, North Dakota and Oral Roberts eye their first league victories as the second weekend of play looms.

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.

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 the top scorer in the Summit League leading with 19.4 points per game (24th DI) and is eighth in the country in total points with 330. He ranks 12th nationally in field goals (112) and tenth in field goal attempts (252) both of which lead the Summit League.

Additionally, he ranks 18th nationally in three-point attempts (123) and 38th nationally in three-point makes (44). His 2.59 made three-pointers per game are the second-most in the league.

Eaglestaff has scored in double-figures in all 17 games this 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 an active 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 sixth on the all-time list. Eaglestaff continues his climb up the scoring charts and sits at #39 with 1,067 career points. He is 33 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 five games, Kraft has totaled 82+ minutes (16.5 mpg) and is shooting 42.9% from the floor (15-of-35) with a 44.1% clip (15-of-34) from three-point range. He has netted no fewer than two three-point shots in each of last five 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 434 points in 48 games as a Fighting Hawk. 

The scoring milestone isn't the only one in reach for Kuljuhovic as he is 105 rebounds shy of 1,000 for his career. He registered 511 at LLC and currently has 384 as a Fighting Hawk with 135 coming on the offensive end of the floor. 

Kuljuhovic's rebounding efforts through 17 games has him rated third among Summit League players in total rebounds with 117. He also ranks third in offensive rebounds per game (3.06) and fourth in rebounding average (6.9). Additionally, Kuljuhovic ranks fifth in free throw attempts with a team-leading 77 and 10th in made free throws with 50. 

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 104 and eighth in makes with 32. His 2.00 makes per game ranks 12th in the SL, while his overall scoring average of 11.5 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 13 of the squad's 17 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 52. Brian Mathews follows with 37 and Mier Panoam rounds out the top three with 27.

North Dakota ranks 9th nationally in offensive rebounds per game at 15.00; a mark that leads the Summit League. The squad's overall rebounding average of 40.29 leads the league and is in the top 35 nationally. Overall, the Hawks have out-rebounded their opposition eleven 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 his first two Summit League games, Panoam dropped a career-high 24 points on a career-best eight made shots and two nights later he delivered his first career double double with a second-straight twenty-point performance. Panoam ranks second on the team with a top 15 scoring mark in the Summit League at 12.4 ppg. He holds top 10 league rankings in field goal attempts (171, 9th), rebounds (89, 6th), free throw attempts (74, 7th) and free throw makes (52, 7th) and is responsible for seven of UND's 18 three-point plays. His 74 made field goals are a top 15 mark 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 17 games this season.

King has played 30+ minutes in ten games this season. 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 489 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 87 total rebounds ranks ninth in the SL. He has 11 games this season with 5+ rebounds and three games with 3+ steals including five vs. Waldorf. He holds a team-high mark in steals (24) and paces UND in offensive fouls drawn this season with a dozen. His total steal count ranks third in the Summit League and his steals average of 1.41 ranks fifth. 

UND BY THE NUMBERS
33- 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.
9- UND's national rank in offensive rebounds/game. The squad's mark of 15.00 leads the Summit League. UND has grabbed a dozen or more offensive rebounds in 16 of 17 games this season. The most games with 12+ OREB under Sather is 17 last season.
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.
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
» Be the 10th all-time against Denver and 10th as Summit league foes
» Improve UND to 34-53 against Summit League foes under Sather
» Be the 21st road win for the Hawks under Sather
» Be better than a loss