North Dakota will close out the week taking on league leading Oral Roberts in Summit League action on Saturday afternoon. Fans can follow all the action on Midco Sports, as well as by tuning into Paul Ralston’s call on the Home of Economy Radio Network.
Series History vs. the Golden Eagles
Saturday will be the 10th all-time meeting between North Dakota and Oral Roberts. ORU holds a 6-3 edge over the Hawks in the series, with the first meeting coming in 2019 when UND joined the Summit League. The Hawks won three of the first five meetings between the two, but ORU has won the last four in the series.
Last season, UND fell 80-76 in Tulsa and 87-73 in Grand Forks.
Last Time Out
North Dakota snapped a six-game skid Thursday as they downed Kansas City, 77-60. UND made a program record 18 threes, and their first 11 baskets of the game were all from three-point range. Four Hawks reached double figures as Treysen Eaglestaff led the way with 19 points, Matt Norman added 17 and both B.J. Omot and Tsonte Tsartsidze tied with 16.
The Hawks never trailed in the game and repelled any run from the Roos to maintain a lead wire to wire. Moreover, the Hawks shot 42.9 percent from both the floor and from three-point range.
Both Norman and Eaglestaff made five three pointers, while Tsartsidze made four and Omot knocked down three. Brady Danielson also made a triple in the first half.
The team grabbed 36 rebounds in the game, with four players (Tsartsidze, Omot, Eaglestaff and Jalun Trent) all tying with six to lead the way. Brian Mathews grabbed four rebounds.
In the first half, the Hawks shot over 50 percent from the field and from three but did not have a single free throw attempt. In the second half the Hawks went 11-for-16 from the line, helping them exceed their first half scoring total with 40 second half points to 37 first half points.
Bench Boost
North Dakota enters the matchup with the most bench scoring in the Summit League and is No. 27 team nationally in that category. The Fighting Hawks are averaging 27.85 points per game from the reserves this season. The next closest bench in the league is Omaha with 23.2.
Heat Check
Thursday night the Hawks broke the team record and Betty Engelstad Sioux Center record for three pointers made in a single game with 18. They broke the previous record of 17 made triples, set on Dec. 14, 2021 against North Central University. Before the NCU win, the previous UND record for made shots beyond the arc in a single game was 16, which was tied three times, most recently on Dec. 17, 2019, in a 109-50 victory over Northland College inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
North Dakota has hit at least one triple in every game dating back to Mar. 1, 2018. The last time the Hawks did not make a three came on Feb. 24, 2018, when UND went 0-for-8 from downtown at Northern Colorado in a 79-66 loss. North Dakota has hit at least one three in each of the last 144 games played.
Solidify the Five
North Dakota has used eight different starting combinations this season, but the same five have started the last four games (Jalun Trent, Treysen Eaglestaff, Brady Danielson, B.J. Omot and Tsotne Tsartsidze). There were nine variations of the starting lineup last season. On the team, Tsartsidze has the most active consecutive starts currently with 40, followed by Omot with 20. Danielson and Eaglestaff have also worked their ways into starting roles and have started the last seven games. Trent made his fifth consecutive start on Thursday.
