Notes: Tight one likely on tap with Bears

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- If recent history is any indicator, Saturday's matchup between North Dakota and Northern Colorado should be a tight one. Tip-off between the Big Sky travel partners is set for 8 p.m. CT from Bank of Colorado Arena.

UND VS. NORTHERN COLORADO SERIES
All-time: UND leads 45-24
In Greeley: UNC leads 16-14
Last Meeting: UND 84, UNC 81 (ot) (Feb. 25, 2017; Greeley)
UND Head Coach Brian Jones vs. UNC: 5-8
UND Head Coach Brian Jones vs. Linder: 2-0
UNC Head Coach Jeff Linder vs. UND: 0-2
UNC Head Coach Jeff Linder vs. Jones: 0-2

WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN/TRACK
TV: Eleven Sports Network | Bill Doleman (pbp) and Joe Cravens (color)
Radio: 100.3 FM (GF) | 740 AM (Fargo) | Paul Ralston (pbp)
Audio:www.UNDSports.com
Live Stats:www.UNCBears.com
Live Stream: Pluto.TV Ch. 241

IN THE PAINT ...
• Three of the last six matchups between these two former North Central Conference foes have gone into overtime, while the other three were decided by one point in regulation.
• The Bears won the first three during that six-game stretch, whlie UND has won the last three, including both overtime contests played last season.
• The teams are separated by just one game in the Big Sky standings with UNC holding a 3-3 league record after snapping a three-game skid with a win over Idaho State last Saturday, while UND is 2-4 after picking up its first two league wins at home last week.
• Both teams' coaching staffs will be participating in the 'Suits and Sneakers' promotion to help bring awareness to the battle against cancer and encourage people to educate themselves about cancer prevention, screening and early detection. Members of each staff will keep the dress shoes in their closets for this contest and wear sneakers with their gameday attire.
• UND took a break from Big Sky play on Tuesday as the Fighting Hawks posted an 86-77 victory over in-state rival NDSU in Fargo. It was the first road win of the season for the Fighting Hawks, who had started 0-7 in those contests.
• The teams split a home-and-home series for the second-consecutive season and with UND's win, the road team has now won the last five matchups.

ON THE HORIZON
UND stays on the road to wrap up a four-game road swing next week with Big Sky games at Eastern Washington (Jan. 25) and Idaho (Jan. 27). The Fighting Hawks were swept at home by both of those teams in late December.

DID YOU KNOW?
Among the current Big Sky programs, Northern Colorado is the team that UND has the most history with having been in the North Central Conference with the Bears during both team's Division II era. This will be the 70th matchup between the two programs. Montana State is the only other league member that UND has played at least 25 times.

BETTY BEWARE
The Fighting Hawks went 11-2 at The Betty last season and own a 123-58 record in the building that opened prior to the 2004-05 season. UND won its eighth-consecutive home opener earlier this season and improved to 4-4 this season with a sweep of Idaho State and Weber State last week. The Fighting Hawks were 8-1 in Big Sky play on their home court a year ago, but dropped their first two league contests at home in late December.

RECORD REWIND
The North Dakota men's basketball program holds a 1569-1046 (.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 147-158 in those contests. As a Big Sky member, the Fighting Hawks owns a 54-42 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
Over the past two seasons, UND owns a 22-2 record when scoring 80 or more points. The only two losses when reaching that point total have been against ranked opponents (100-82 vs. Arizona; NCAA Tournament and 89-83 OT loss at Gonzaga). So far this season, the Fighting Hawks are 6-1 when scoring 80-plus points.

RARE BREAK
UND's victory at NDSU 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 is 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 in the last three victories, the Fighting Hawks have committed single-digit turnovers, including a season-low five in the victory over NDSU (Jan. 16).

FINALLY FALLING
The Fighting Hawks have buried double-digit 3-pointers in each of the victories during their current three-game winning streak. 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).

THIRTY FOR THIRTY
Junior Geno Crandall 's first point against Northern Colorado will move into the top 30 on UND's all-time scoring charts. He enters the contest tied for 31st with Jim Goodrich at 1,095 points.

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 with 323 for his career. He now has 326 and Doug Moe (8th place, 1978-81; 330) is next up for Crandall to track down.

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).

OPPONENT PREVIEW: NORTHERN COLORADO
• Head coach Jeff Linder has the Bears off to a 12-7 start and 3-3 mark in Big Sky play during his second season at the helm of the program. Linder went 11-18 during his first season, which the Bears were playing under a self-inflicted postseason ban and did not participate in the Big Sky Tournament.
• The Bears opened Big Sky play with home wins over Eastern Washington and Idaho, but lost three-straight before trumping Idaho State 94-80 at home on Jan. 13. Arizona State transfer Andre Spight scored a career-high 30 points in that win.
• Spight is playing his final collegiate season for the Bears after sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules. Spight is averaging a team-best 19.5 ppg and his 23.0 ppg average in league games is fourth best in the Big Sky.
• Spight has led the Bears in scoring in five of their six league games, while junior Jordan Davis is the only other UNC player averaging double-figures in league action (15.3 ppg). Overall, Davis, who was a preseason All-Big Sky selection, is averaging 16.2 ppg and shooting 52.0 percent from the field.
• Senior Anthony Johnson, who redshirted during last season, while the team was serving its postseason ban, provides the scoring punch off the bench for the Bears. He is scoring 10.6 in overall games, but that average has dipped to 7.7 ppg in Big Sky play.
• Forward Tanner Morgan, like Johnson, redshirted last season. He has started all 19 games for Linder this season and is averaging 8.7 ppg and a team-best 6.7 rpg in league action. Morgan averaged just 4.6 ppg and 5.5 rpg in 13 non-conference games.

HAWK-UMENTARY
• UND committed nine turnovers in back-to-back Big Sky wins last week help to snap an eight-game skid. The Fighting Hawks also dished out 37 total assists in those victories after having just 38 in the four losses to start league play.
• UND's halftime lead on Idaho State was the first for the team since holding a 34-30 advantage on No. 12 Gonzaga (Dec. 16). That was the first time UND had led a ranked opponent in its DI history at the half.
• 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 went 21-for-42 (50 percent) from beyond the arc in the two Big Sky victories at home last week. The 52.4 percent effort from deep against Weber State was a season-best. In their four league losses, UND went just 28-for-100 (28 percent) from 3-point range.
• UND also knocked down 54.4 percent of its shots from the floor against the Wildcats, which was the best showing against a DI opponent this season (54.7 percent vs. Presentation).

-- UND --