Next Game: vs. Oral Roberts
The University of North Dakota men’s basketball team will look to repeat some magic in Sioux Falls this season, opening up the 2021 Summit League Tournament with a quarterfinal round matchup against No. 4 seed Oral Roberts on Sunday afternoon at 5:45 p.m. from the Sanford Pentagon. Fans can tune into Paul Ralston on 740 AM | 107.3 FM The Fan and the Home of Economy Radio Network.
Series History vs. Oral Roberts
This will be the seventh all-time meeting between North Dakota and Oral Roberts, with the teams splitting each contest the series. This will be the first postseason game between the programs and the third contest of the season. Both teams captured a win in a January series down in Tulsa, with the Fighting Hawks winning on Friday and ORU claiming the split on Saturday.
A Town Called Sioux
Sioux Falls, S.D., has hosted The Summit League Tournament every year since 2008-09. The Sanford Pentagon plays host to the three-day, eight-team championships in a neutral-court setting for both the men’s and women’s tournaments this year. UND will look to continue its success in league tournaments since moving to Division I. UND has appeared in seven semifinals over the last nine years, reached five title games and won three championships (2011 – Great West, 2012 – Great West and 2017 – Big Sky). UND’s overall record in DI conference tournaments is 16-7.
Last season, UND became only the second sixth seed in league history to reach the finals, knocking off South Dakota and former member Purdue Fort Wayne before falling to North Dakota State in the title game. Head Coach Paul Sather is the third coach in league history to reach the title game in his first season behind the bench.
Double Digit Win
It took 25 games, but North Dakota finally edged out a win by double digits in the season finale over Omaha. The Fighting Hawks defeated the Mavs, 81-69, to give UND its first win by more than 10 points since last year’s semifinal win over Purdue Fort Wayne in this tournament and snapped a 13-game losing streak to Omaha.
50 Percent Off
The .500 clip has been a magic mark for the Fighting Hawks this season from the field, moving to 3-0 this season when reaching that number in the season finale win over Omaha. Those three wins have all come in the final eight games, a stretch that UND has gone 5-3 over.
The Hawks have also been good from distance over that stretch, knocking down at least eight threes in all of those games. In the 85-76 win over South Dakota, UND hit a season-high 14 triples and knocked down 11 a day later to seal the series sweep.
Wide Open Spaces
This tournament has to feel the most open it has felt in recent memory, especially if you are a UND fan. The Fighting Hawks enter Sunday’s showdown with an 8-8 mark in league play, a stretch that saw them beat every team in the conference but No. 1 seed South Dakota State but lose to every team minus No. 2 seed South Dakota.
Men’s Basketball 3/6/2021 7:47:00 PM Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com
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