North Dakota vs. Denver || 2/13 (7 p.m.)
17th meeting, UND leads 10-6
Grand Forks, N.D. (Betty Engelstad Sioux Center)

FULL GAME NOTES ARE HERE

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - North Dakota men's basketball welcomes in Denver and both squads are looking to gain ground in the Summit League standings with three weeks remaining in the regular season. The Hawks and Pioneers meet on Thursday inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

TIPPING OFF
The Hawks enter as a top 15 team nationally in offensive rebounding ranking 14th in DI with a 13.92 o-board average, while the Pioneers are seventh in the SL at 8.96 per game.

The Pioneers boast the second best bench scoring average in the Summit League at 26.23 per game. It is a top 60 mark nationally. 

North Dakota is one of six league teams averaging over 80.0 ppg in league action, while Denver sits last in scoring at 69.2 ppg. The Hawks are shooting 45.4% from the floor in SL play, while Denver is shooting 44.9%. Both teams are allowing league opponents to connect on over 50% of their attempts from the floor. 

Denver's Abdulai Fanta Kabba ranks second in SL play with 13 total blocks and 1.2 per game. 

FOLLOW LIVE 
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 Midco Sports and the Summit League Network. Live stats will be provided at www.FightingHawks.com.

SERIES HISTORY
The Hawks take on the Pioneers in the 17th meeting between the two programs. UND swept DU last season and cruised to a 25-point win over the Pioneers in January. The Hawks are 4-2 against Denver in Grand Forks. The two sides first met on the hardwood in March of 1992. In Summit League action, the Hawks are up 8-4 in the series and North Dakota enters Thursday matchup having won six straight against Denver. 

MOST RECENTLY VS. DENVER
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.

PEAK CHASIN'
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. 

LAST TIME OUT
at Kansas City; L, 69-80
Kansas City led 41-27 at the intermission as the Hawks suffered more than a three-minute scoreless stretch prior to the break. UND pulled to as close as a bucket of the Roos' advantage in the first half as Dariyus Woodson hit one of just four three-point makes by the Hawks on the afternoon to bring the visitors to 20-18 of the KC lead.
 
Out of the intermission, the Hawks climbed back to within six points of the deficit as a 10-2 run over nearly a 4:30 stretch brought the KC lead down to 51-45 at the under-12 media stoppage. KC responded and held control as the Roos led by nine points at the under-8 and then built its lead to as much as 15 points down the stretch.

STOPS AT TWO
The Hawks have suffered three two-game losing streaks in SL play, but never has the skid moved to three games. UND holds a +11.3 scoring margin in games following a two-game losing streak in conference play. In those games, the Hawks are shooting 51.1% from the floor and are holding opponents to a 43.3% success rate from the field. UND's turnover margin in those games is +6.0.

North Dakota has four players averaging double figures in the games following two league losses. Mier Panoam is averaging 20.3 points, Eli King follows with 15.0, Treysen Eaglestaff adds 14.0 and Amar Kuljuhovic adds 12.7 with an average of 7.0 rebounds in those games.

SHARP SHOOTERS
North Dakota's efforts against South Dakota State and Omaha resulted in the squad's top two shooting efforts this season. UND shot 55.2% in a home win against SDSU and most recently fired a clip of 54.2% in a buzzer-beating loss on the road at Omaha. Additionally, the Hawks two best three-point percentage efforts have come in the previous two games. UND hit threes at a 56.3% clip against Omaha and drained 52.6% of their attempts against SDSU.

LONG TIME COMING
North Dakota's five-point win over the Jackrabbits snapped an 18-game losing streak to SDSU. It was the first win against South Dakota State since an 89-70 decision on December 15, 2011 in Grand Forks. It marked the first Summit League win for UND against the Jackrabbits and just the second in its Division I Era (2008-09).

CROWN HIM
Known for his all around ability to fill up any stat column in a box score, junior guard Eli King's scoring prowess was on full display on Saturday against SDSU. His career-best 24 points, the fourteenth time he has crossed over double-figures in his UND career, came behind career highs in shot attempts (16) and shots made (10). With that effort, King has now led UND at least once in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks in a single game this season.

MIER-IAD OF POINTS
Sophomore Mier Panoam's first season in Grand Forks can be labeled with multiple descriptors. One of which is impactful. The Tulane transfer enters the final stretch of Summit League play with the tenth best scoring average overall (13.7) and the sixth highest scoring average (17.4) against league opponents. Panoam has scored in double figures 20 times this season with six twenty-point games and a career-high 28 in UND's road win at Denver. 

SCORING NUGGETS
While effort on the defensive end of floor has been the focus of late for the Hawks, scoring has not been an issue. Some scoring nuggets to consider as the Hawks roll down the stretch of Summit League play:
*Treysen Eaglestaff is one of just two SL players to score 40 points in a game this season with his career-high 40 coming against Alabama and he is one of just two players with multiple games of 30 or more points (NDSU's J. White).
*Four SL players have made 12 or more shots in a game this season. Two of them reside on UND's roster in Eaglestaff (league-best 15 vs. Alabama) and Mier Panoam (12 vs. Denver).
*Four different Hawks have recorded 20-point games this season (Eaglestaff, Panoam, Woodson, King)

HANDLE WITH CARE
The Hawks have done a good job of protecting the basketball in Summit League play. North Dakota committed just six turnovers in the win against SDSU, none of which occurred in the first half. The Hawks are +1.45 in turnover margin in Summit League play which is currently the third-best such mark in the conference and only the fourth above even. UND has turned the basketball over less than nine times in six of its 11 league contests and has committed nine or fewer turnovers in eight of their past 13 games. UND's 1.33 assist-to-turnover ratio in ten SL contests is the fourth-best clip in the league.

NOW BOARDING
The offensive glass has been controlled by UND in 19 of the squad's 26 games and the Hawks have been out-rebounded on the offensive glass four times. 

UND has grabbed 12+ offensive rebounds in 22 of 26 games. Nine Hawks have recorded 10+ offensive boards this season led by Amar Kuljuhovic's 78. Mier Panoam follows with 54 and Brian Mathews has added 42.

North Dakota ranks 14th nationally in offensive rebounds per game at 13.92; a mark that leads the Summit League. The squad's overall rebounding average of 38.00 ranks second in the league and is in the top 65 nationally. Overall, the Hawks have out-rebounded their opposition 16 times this season. 

THE BIG O
Following his historic effort against #6 Alabama and a home win over South Dakota Mines, junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff was 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.

PO1NTS, PO1NTS, PO1NTS
Eaglestaff's 40 points against Alabama, the 20th such game by a Fighting Hawk all-time, vaulted the junior guard into the 1,000-point club at UND. He became the 39th player in program history to reach the mark and the 12th to do it in UND's Division I era (2008-09). Currently, Eaglestaff is tied at No. 21 on the scoring list with 1,213 points. He is 87 points shy of becoming the 18th player in program history to reach 1,300 and he is just 17 points shy of moving into the program's top 20.

A SCORING STORY
Eaglestaff has developed into one of the league's top scorers as he ranks third among Summit League players with 18.3 points per game, while his 476 total points are a top 20 total nationally and the league lead. He ranks second in the Summit League in field goals (159) and first in field goal attempts (391), which ranks 10th nationally.

TR3Y-POINT LAND
Eaglestaff eyes a move up the program record books as he is currently fourth in career three-pointers with 200 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 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 fourth on the all-time list. 

This season, he ranks third in the Summit League in made three-pointers (63) and fourth in three-pointers per game (2.42). He leads the league in attempts from range (185). 

KRAFTHREE
Redshirt freshman Zach Kraft has placed himself firmly in UND's rotation after totaling just 48 minutes with two three-point makes in six attempts through the season's first nine games. Since jumping onto the scene with a memorable performance against Alabama (9 pts), Kraft has seen action in each of UND's 14 games and during that time he is shooting 43.1% from deep (22-of-51) and 47.4% overall from the floor, while averaging 130 minutes per. 

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 549 points in 57 games as a Fighting Hawk. 

The scoring milestone isn't the only one in reach for Kuljuhovic as he is 43 rebounds shy of 1,000 for his career. He registered 511 at LLC and currently has 446 as a Fighting Hawk with 161 coming on the offensive end of the floor. 

3DARIYUS
First-year Fighting Hawk, Dariyus Woodson, a TJC transfer and Baytown, Texas native, ranks seventh with 135 attempts from three-point range and 14th with 44 makes from three.  

HELPING HANDS
Three Hawks have recorded 55+ assists this season. Mier Panoam leads UND with 60 assists, while Eli King follows with 57 and Treysen Eaglestaff with 56. 

MORE MAYAR
Mayar posted his fourth double-figure scoring effort of the season with 13 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting from the floor at Omaha. He's been a valuable rotation piece for the Hawks having played 20 or minutes in nine of 11 SL games.

He 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. 

UND BY THE NUMBERS
36- 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.
17.4- The average number of points per game scored by Mier Panoam 11 games into Summit League action. He delivered three-straight games of 20+ points to start conference play, five total since January 1 and has three double doubles.
14- UND's national rank in offensive rebounds/game. The squad's mark of 13.92 leads the Summit League. UND has grabbed a dozen or more offensive rebounds in 22 of 26 games this season which is the most by a Sather-led UND team.
4- The number of Hawks that have recorded 200 made three-point shots in a single career after junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff surpassed the mark at Kansas City. He is UND's first exclusively Division I player in program history to do so.
3- The number of double doubles by Mier Panoam in Summit League play this season. Panoam recorded double doubles in both games against Kansas City and against St. Thomas. 

A UND WIN WOULD
» Be the sixth straight for the Hawks against Denver
» Be Sather's ninth overall against Denver
» Be the seventh at home inside the Betty this season
» Push the Hawks two games up on DU in the Summit League standings
» Be better than a loss