Notes: Fighting Hawks look to get one back at EWU

CHENEY, WASH. -- North Dakota concludes a four-game road swing this week with a trip to the Pacific Northwest to take on Eastern Washington and Idaho. The Fighting Hawks are 2-5 in Big Sky play and will wrap up the first half of their league slate looking for revenge against the Eagles and Vandals.

UND will get the trip started Thursday night in Cheney, Wash., against Eastern Washington at 8 p.m. CT before traveling over to Moscow for a Saturday night tilt with Idaho at 9 p.m. CT.

UND VS. EASTERN WASHINGTON SERIES
All-time: UND leads 7-4
In Cheney: EWU leads 3-2
Last Meeting: UND 77, EWU 64 (Dec. 31, 2017; Grand Forks) UND Head Coach Brian Jones vs. EWU: 6-3
UND Head Coach Brian Jones vs. Legans: 0-1
EWU Head Coach Shantay Legans vs. UND: 1-0
EWU Head Coach Shantay Legans vs. Jones: 1-0

WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN/TRACK
Radio: 100.3 FM (GF) | 790 AM (Fargo) | Paul Ralston (pbp)
Audio:www.UNDSports.com
Live Stats:www.GoEags.com
Live Stream: Pluto.TV Ch. 234

IN THE PAINT...
• The first time UND played Eastern Washington and Idaho this season, the Fighting Hawks were mired in their longest losing streak since the 2014-15 season.
• Both the Vandals and Eagles posted double-digit victories over the Fighting Hawks, but a lot of positives have transpired for the defending Big Sky Champions since snapping what eventually turned into an eight-game skid with an 81-58 victory over Idaho State (Jan. 11).
• UND had reeled off three-consecutive wins before falling in overtime at Northern Colorado 94-91 on a half-court buzzer beater this past Saturday. That season-long winning streak included a road win over rival North Dakota State, who had also beaten the Fighting Hawks at home during that tough December stretch.
• The road win over the Bison was the first of the season for UND, who arrives at Reese Court looking even its all-time record on the Eagles' home court at 3-3.
• EWU's 77-64 victory on New Year's Eve was its first in Grand Forks in six tries and saw the Eagles force UND into a season-high 21 turnovers. The Fighting Hawks are only averaging 10.3 turnovers per game since that loss (last six).

ON THE HORIZON
UND ends the first half of Big Sky play against the team it opened league action with on Dec. 29 -- preseason favorite Idaho. The Vandals enter the week with a 5-2 league mark, including a 74-57 in Grand Forks when they held the Fighting Hawks to a season-low point total. Tip-off Saturday in Moscow is set for 9 p.m. CT.

DID YOU KNOW?
UND posted a 4-0 record in overtime contests last season en route to winning the Big Sky regular season and tournament titles. Unfortunately, the extra-session affairs have not been as kind to the squad this season as the Fighting Hawks fell to 0-3 following Saturday's 94-91 loss to Northern Colorado, which was the third-straight overtime contest in the series with the Bears.

RECORD REWIND
The North Dakota men's basketball program holds a 1569-1047 (.602) all-time record since Dr. George Sweetland led the first team onto the court in 1904-05. UND is 947-282 (.770) all-time when it comes to defending its home court.

The 2017-18 season is the 10th at the Division I level for the program (2008-09) and the Fighting Hawks are 147-159 in those contests. As a Big Sky member, the Fighting Hawks own a 54-43 record in its first five-plus seasons of league play, including its best showing of 14-4 during its title run last season.This is the sixth and final season for the Fighting Hawks, who will join the Summit League in 2018-19.

THE POWER OF EIGHTY
For just the third time in the past two seasons, UND dropped a contest when it scored at least 80 points after falling 94-91 in overtime Saturday at Northern Colorado. the Fighting Hawks own a 22-3 record in those contests and their first losses were against ranked opponents (100-82 vs. Arizona; NCAA Tournament and 89-83 OT loss at Gonzaga). So far this season, the Fighting Hawks are 6-2 when scoring 80-plus points with both of those losses coming in OT.

THIRTY GETS GENO INTO TOP THIRTY
Junior Geno Crandall scored 30 points in the overtime loss at Northern Colordao, which was his best output of the Big Sky slate so far, and that total also moved him into UND's top 30 on all-time scoring charts. He now sits in 27th place with 1,125 career points.

ONE OR THE OTHER
UND's last seven contests in the series with Northern Colorado have either gone into overtime or been decided by one point in regulation. That streak appeared to be in jeopardy this past Saturday with the Bears holding a double-digit lead midway through the second half, but the Fighting Hawks rallied to force the third-straight overtime game in the series. After winning both extra-session games last season with the Bears, UNC spoiled UND's attempt at a third-straight series win when Andre Spight dranined a half-court shot at the buzzer to lift the home team to a 94-91 victory. Spight finished with a career-high 34 points and had nine of those in overtime. The Bears hold a 4-3 edge in the past seven tight-knit games.

RARE BREAK
UND's victory at NDSU on Jan. 16 marked just the second non-conference game the Fighting Hawks have played after Big Sky play started since joining the league prior to the 2012-13 season. Back in 2013, UND fell at Omaha 83-75 (Feb. 23).

EYE-POPPING
How does a team go from losing eight in a row to reeling off its first three-game winning streak of the season? For UND, the formula has been taking better care of the basketball, a vast improvement in 3-point field goal percentage and better bench production.

L-Skid W-Streak
Turnovers/g 15.1 7.7
3pt FG/g 6.9 11.0
3pt FG%/g 29.6 50.8
Bench pts/g 16.0 19.7

Senior Dale Jones went 11-for-20 from beyond the arc during the winning streak after going 12-for-42 in the eight-game skid.

HEIGHTENED PROTECTION
Through the first 15 games of the season, UND had reached double-figures in turnovers in each of those contests, but during their recent three-game winning streak, the Fighting Hawks committed single-digit turnovers, including a season-low five in the victory over NDSU (Jan. 16).

AVANTSING HIS GAME
Junior Conner Avants was a rebound shy of registering his first career double-double on four different occasions before finally notching one in Saturday's 94-91 overtime loss to Northern Colorado. Those aroung the Big Sky are probably surprised it took Avants 83 career games to record one, but he got that monkey off his back with a 20-point, 11-rebound effort against the Bears. The 11 boards are a new career-high for the Edmond, Okla., native, who also had a career-high four steals against the Bears.

In the past two games, Avants is 17-for-24 from the floor (70.8 percent) and is averaging 18.5 ppg and 7.5 rpg.

FINALLY FALLING
The Fighting Hawks buried double-digit 3-pointers in each of those victories as well. After dousing the nets with 12 treys in the season-opener vs. Troy out in Hawaii, UND made only 10 or more once over the next 14 games. UND equaled its season-high with 12 makes in the road win over in-state rival NDSU (Jan. 16).

CRANDALL MOVES INTO ANOTHER TOP 10 LIST
After already cracking UND's top 10 career list for steals earlier this season, junior Geno Crandall moved into the top 10 career list for assists after dishing out a season-high eight in the win over Weber State (Jan. 13). Those eight helpers moved him into ninth place and after a three-assist outing against Northern Colorado, he is one shy of catching Doug Moe (8th place, 1978-81; 330).

Crandall added 25 points and nine rebounds, nearly pulling off a triple-double. This was the sixth-straight game that the preseason All-Big Sky selection reached double figures against the Wildcats and is averaging 19.4 ppg against them in seven career games (5-2 record).

KIEN-BEAN GETS HOT
After scoring a career-high 11 points in the first meeting with North Dakota State (Dec. 9), sophomore Kienan Walter had managed just 11 total points in seven games since that effort. He broke out of a slump in a big way, erupting for a career-high 16 points off the bench in the win over Weber State (Jan. 13). Walter knocked down 6-of-10 field goals and went 3-for-4 from 3-point range to help UND register back-to-back wins for the first time this season.

BETTER AFTER THE BREAK
Before holding a 12-point lead at the half on Idaho State and a nine-point lead on Weber State, the Fighting Hawks' previous four league foes had outscored them 172-106 (43.0-26.5 ppg) in the first half (all losses). UND has been a much better second half team in Big Sky play and is outscoring its opponents 301-285 (43.0-40.7 ppg) after the break. The Fighting Hawks erased a nine-point halftime deficit against the Bears to force overtime on Saturday.

BILLY, BILLY
For the first time in his collegiate career, reserve guard Billy Brown buried a trio of 3-pointers in the same game, providing a season-high nine points off the bench in UND's 81-58 win over Idaho State (Jan. 11). In seven Big Sky games, Brown is now 7-for-15 (46.7 percent) after going 4-for-19 (21.1) from distance in non-conference play. Brown also added career-highs in assists (4) and steals (3) in 28 minutes of action vs. the Bengals. Brown's 22.3 mpg in league action are the most of any reserve on the roster and he's avearging 4.1 ppg.

TRAY BALL, CORNER POCKET
True freshman Tray Buchanan has emerged aa deep-ball threat off the bench since Big Sky commenced. Buchanan is 13-for-36 in league action (36.1 percent) and has accounted for nearly a quarter of UND's trifectas in six Big Sky games (13 of 54). His success from beyond the arc has also made him one of the top scoring reserves in Big Sky play, averaging 8.9 ppg. In 12 non-conference games, Buchanan went just 8-for-28 from deep (28.6 percent) and averaged 4.8 ppg.

Buchanan led UND in scoring in both contests during the Treasure State-swing, scoring a career-high 16 against Montana (Jan. 4), then surpassing that mark with 19 against Montana State (Jan. 6) in his first career start.

JONESING FOR SUCCESS
Iowa grad transfer Dale Jones missed the Idaho contest (Dec. 29) after starting all 11 non-conference games, but returned to the starting lineup in an emphatic way in his Big Sky debut vs. Eastern Washington (Dec. 31). Jones scored a career-high 20 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to register the first double-double of his career. The 6-foot-8 forward has proven his worth early on this season by averaging 10.2 ppg and 6.6 rpg (seventh in the Big Sky). After three seasons at the junior-college level, injuries limited him to just 11 games for the Hawkeyes from 2015-17. By missing a majority of those two seasons, he was granted a sixth year of elibility by the NCAA.

STEWART GETTING COMFORTABLE
Sophomore Marlon Stewart scored just 26 points (8.7 ppg) in his first three career games for UND, but is averaging a team-best 14.9 ppg in the 16 games since then. That stretch includes four 20-point plus scoring games, including a career-high 24 points against Utah Valley (Nov. 25). He has twice gone for 20 or more against in-state rival NDSU, scoring a team-high 23 in the home loss and 20 in the road win. Stewart leads the team with 14 double-figure games and is averaging 13.1 ppg in league action.

WHAT A WAY TO REACH 1K
Geno Crandall became the 36th player in UND men's basketball history to reach the 1,000-point plateau and the junior arrived at the figure in one of the most dramatic ways possible. The milestone came on his 3-pointer that sent the UND-Gonzaga game into overtime, tying the game at 69-69 with 1.8 seconds to play. Crandall's milestone came in his 73rd career game, which made him the quickest among the six Fighting Hawks to reach that plateau during the program's Division I era. Troy Huff (2010-14) had been the quickest among the first quintet after taking 74 career games. Huff ended his career as the program's third all-time leading scorer with 2,005 points.

SIGNED, SEALES, ALMOST DELIVERED
Junior Cortez Seales did his part in trying to deliver UND's first win over a ranked opponent, scoring a season-high 23 points in the OT loss at No. 12/13 Gonzaga (Dec. 16). Seales went 11-for-15 from the field, including a stretch in the first half where he made seven-consecutive shots in helping give UND a 34-30 lead on the Bulldogs at halftime. It marked the first time UND had led a ranked opponent at the break in program history. His 11 field goals made against the Zags equaled his career-best from his collegiate debut (UM-Morris; Nov. 13, 2015).

After averaging just 3.0 ppg in UND's first three Big Sky contests, Seales has reached double figures in the last four and is averaging 15.8 ppg during that stretch.

CRANDALLIZED
Junior Geno Crandall has equaled his career-high of five steals three different times already this season and now has 155 for his career. With his latest five-steal performance against NDSU (Dec. 9), Crandall moved into fifth place on UND's all-time charts knocking his mentor Aaron Anderson from that perch. He needs 17 more to reach fourth place.

1. Jamal Webb (240; 2010-14)
2. Troy Huff (228; 2010-14)
3. Quinton Hooker (195; 2013-17)
4. Scott Guldseth (178; 1990-93)
5. Geno Crandall (161; 2015-present)

OPPONENT PREVIEW: EASTERN WASHINGTON
• Head coach Shantay Legans is in his first season leading the Eastern Washington program. He is the only rookie coach in the Big Sky this season and has the Eagles off to a 9-11 start and 4-3 tally in Big Sky play. He was on the Eagles' staff as an assistant coach under Jim Hayford for the past eight seasons.
• Preseason All-Big Sky pick Bogdan Bliznyuk is EWU's top player and is the only Eagle averaging double figures through 20 games (18.7 ppg).
• Bliznyuk is also the only Eagle that has started all 20 games, while nine of his teammates have at least five starts to their credit for Legans.
• Jesse Hunt scored 16 points during the Eagles' win in Grand Forks, but has missed the last four Big Sky games. He was averaging 9.1 ppg overall and 14.3 ppg in league action.
• Bliznyuk needs just one basket against the Fighting Hawks to become Eastern Washington's all-time leading scorer. He currently has 1,802 points with 84 of those coming against UND (16.8 ppg). Bliznyuk had a game-high 29 in the win on New Year's Eve.
• The Eagles get off nearly 24 3-point attempts per game and Ty Gibson leads the team in makes (42) and attempts (114) from distance. He is averaging 7.5 ppg.
• EWU is 5-1 at home this season with that lone loss coming the last time it played on Reese Court (58-51; Idaho, Jan. 12).
• Bliznyuk is one of seven international players that help make up the Eagles' 18-man roster. Six different countries are represented in total, including three from Australia.

HAWK-UMENTARY
• In its last four games (3-1), UND is shooting 52.4 percent from the field (132-for-252) and 47.4 percent from 3-point range (36-for-76). At the end of the team's 8-game losing streak, UND was shooting 43.6 percent from the field and just 28.1 percent from 3-point range.
• During that 8-game losing streak, opponents shot 54.3 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from 3-point range. In the last four games, UND's defense has improved drastically, holding team's to a 44.5 percent clip from the field and 31.0 percent clip from beyond the arc.
• UND's 53 second-half points against Weber State matched its previous high of 53 in the season-opening win against Troy (Nov. 10).
• The Fighting Hawks are the only Big Sky team with all five starters averaging in double figures.
• This is the second trip to the Evergreen State for UND this season and, more specifically, the Spokane area. The Fighting Hawks nearly pulled off their biggest upset in program history on Dec. 16 when they took No. 12/13 Gonzaga into overtime before the Bulldogs prevailed 89-83.
• EWU is the only one team from the state of Washington that UND has defeated on its home court. Throughout its hardwood history, the Fighting Hawks, who are 2-3 all-time at Reese Court, have also played at Gonzaga (0-3), Seattle (0-1), Seattle Pacific (0-3) and Washington (0-2).
• Sophomore Kienan Walter gets to play in his home state for the second time this season on Thursday at Eastern Washington, but the native of Vancouver, Wash., actually gets to play closer to his home on March 3 when UND wraps up Big Sky play at Portland State.

-- UND --