THIS WEEKEND
As the University of Mary men's basketball team enters the second half of the Northern Sun schedule, the Marauders face a pair of fellow North division teams for the first time this season when UMary visits the University of Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State University on Friday and Saturday, January 19-20. The Marauders open the weekend against the Golden Eagles at 8 pm on Friday, followed with a 6 pm tipoff on Saturday against the Beavers. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
Hosting the top and bottom teams in the NSIC South, the Marauders opened last weekend with a heartbreaking 70-66 loss to Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears. Tom Kubank hit four treys and tied Keith Hunter for the team scoring lead at 16. Avan Ward led CSP with 27 points. The Marauders made a couple runs at NSIC South-leading Minnesota State but fell short 80-64. Hunter led the Marauders with 17 points. Chris Kendrix hit all five trey attempts and scored 21 points for MSU and Cameron Kirksey added 26 points as the Mavericks shot 62.2 percent for the game.
 
THE RECORD
The Marauders are 3-13 overall and 1-11 in Northern Sun play (8^th NSIC North, 16^th overall).
 
ALUMNI WEEKEND JANUARY 26-27
Marauders men's basketball honors their alumni January 26-27 with a special emphasis on the 1976-77 and 1977-78 teams that went 48-10 and were undefeated at home (26-0) and the North Dakota College Athletic Conference championship teams of 1990-91 and 1992-93.
Saturday, January 27, features a women's alumni game at 9 am, a men's alumni game at 10 am, the women's and men's varsity games at 4 pm/6 pm, and a post-game social for all University of Mary basketball alumni in Chick's Place. Men's basketball alumni planning to attend any of the weekend festivities should contact Head Men's Basketball Coach Joe Kittell at jjkittell@umary.edu .
 
FAST BREAK

• The Marauders look to get back into the win column as they face Bemidji State (4-8 NSIC) and Minnesota Crookston (5-7) in a pair of road games
• Led by four 3-pointers from Tom Kubank, the Marauders finished with ten as a team against the Golden Bears. The Marauders added eight more against the Mavericks
• With 12 Northern Sun games in the book and 10 remaining, the Marauders are into the second half of their conference schedule
• In a schedule oddity, the Marauders are more than halfway through their schedule but have yet to face fellow NSIC North competitors Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State until this weekend. UMary will face both squads twice in the final ten games of the year.
• Eight Marauders are averaging at least 5.1 points per game
• A pair of Marauders are averaging double digits in points: Keith Hunter (13.9 ppg), and Trevor Zacher (10.6 ppg) with Matthew Kreklow (9.4 ppg) and Tom Kubank (9.3 ppg) barely off the pace.
• Only six players have started games this season for the Marauders. The front line of Tom Kubank, Trevor Zacher and Matthew Kreklow has started all 16 games. Jaylan White has 15 starts, Keith Hunter 13 and Brody Sharkey four in the backcourt for UMary.
• Four out of the Marauders five top scorers and 11 out of 13 made their UMary debut this season

 
TOUGH RUN
Out of their first 12 conference contests, eight of the Marauders games came against teams with winning records and teams currently in the top seven of the league standings. Two more games came against the defending conference champion.
 
OPPO RESEARCH: UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA CROOKSTON GOLDEN EAGLES
Minnesota Crookston is 8-10 overall and 5-7 in the NSIC (4^th in the NSIC North standings, 9^th overall)… This is the best start the Golden Eagles history… school record for wins in a season is nine… currently on a four-game losing streak with all four losses on the road… 7-1 at home, 1-9 on the road… Gable Smith is leading NCAA Division II on blocks with 3.94/game… So. G Harrison Cleary is 11^th in NCAA D2 with 23.1 ppg. He leads NCAA D2 in free throw percentage at 96.1. He also averages 4.6 rpg and leads the team in assists at 3.9/game. Earlier this season Cleary went over 1,000 career points… four players average double digits in scoring… Alan Hodge averages 16.7 ppg and 4.7 rpg… Head Coach Dan Wiesse is in his fourth season at UMC and has a record of 25-74.
 
 
HISTORY LESSON Since joining the Northern Sun for the 2006-07 season, the Marauders are 17-5 against the Golden Eagles… UMary is 10-1 at home and 7-4 away versus UMC… The Marauders are 9-2 in the last 11 outings against the Golden Eagles… Mary has won five straight home games… The only home Mary loss to UMC was 56-53 on Jan. 8, 2012.
LAST MEETING In the final regular season game of 2017, UMary dropped a 91-80 decision at Minnesota Crookston that cost the Marauders a home game in the opening round of the Northern Sun tournament. Ricky Suggs scored a career-high 26 points and Bryan Jefferson added 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Marauders. UMC used a 24-7 run to pull away from UMary midway through the second half. Harrison Cleary led UMC with a game-high 33 points, making 14-of-17 shots and distributing seven assists along the way. Chase Knickerbocker added 27 points.
 
OPPO RESEARCH: BEMIDJI STATE UNIVERSITY BEAVERS
Bemidji State is 7-10 overall and 4-8 in the NSIC (6th in the NSIC North division, 12^th overall)… The Beavers are 5-3 at home (2-3 against NSIC teams)… BSU won its 1,000 game all-time 74-68 at Sioux Falls last Friday… Defensively BSU is sixth in the NSIC in points allowed at 72.1 ppg, third in field goal percentage defense (.425) and fourth in 3-point field goal percentage defense… Shariff Black is averaging 13.9 ppg and 4.9 rpg… Logan Badger contributes a team-best 5.7 rpg and 10.9 ppg… Jai'Vionne Green also is a double digit scorer at 12.6 ppg… Head Coach Mike Boschee is in his sixth season at BSU and has a mark of 71-85.
 
HISTORY LESSON Mary leads the series with BSU 14-9… The series began in 1971 with a 92-87 home win for the Marauders… The two teams played twice in the 1987 season with each school winning at home… Since becoming a member of the NSIC, Mary captured the first five meetings before BSU broke through with a home win in the 2009-10 season… After six straight losses to the Beavers, the Marauders swept the season series in 2014-15 and 2015-16 before splitting last season… BSU snapped a 4-game losing streak to the Marauders earlier this season at the MAC.
LAST MEETING Gaining a modicum of revenge for a home loss earlier in the season, Damota Henry scored 25 points and Bryan Jefferson and Rickey Suggs both added 19 in an 87-82 UMary road win at Bemidji State. Lucas Wendt scored 19 points off the bench to lead the Beavers.
 
UP THE CHARTS
In his third season at the helm of the Marauders, head coach Joe Kittell picked up his 34^th UMary win against MSU Moorhead on Saturday to pass Fritz Fell on the Marauders coaching win chart. Fell was the Marauders first head coach and was 33-37 in three seasons (1970-73). Legendary Hall of Fame coach Al Bortke leads the way with 335 wins in 16 seasons, followed by Jim Feeney (144), Rod Jonas (69), Juno Pintar (55), Randall Herbst (38), Kittell (34), Fell (33) and Jevin Budde (28). 
 
STOP THIEF!
The Marauders are sixth in the NSIC in steals at 6.3/game. The main culprits are Jaylan White (18 steals), Tom Kubank (16), Trevor Zacher (19) and Keith Hunter (13).
 
GUARDIAN OF THE GOAL
Fr. F Matthew Kreklow is off to a strong start on the defensive end. The 6-9 man in the middle is averaging 1.1 blocks/game (8th in the NSIC) and influences many other shots. Kreklow leads the Marauders in rebounds. He is also picking up the pace offensively, leading the team in field goal percentage (.538, 12^th in the NSIC) and is up to third among Marauders in scoring at 9.4 ppg. Kreklow was a force in the paint against UMD and SCSU. He scored 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting against the Bulldogs. Against the Huskies Kreklow was 6-of-7 from the floor and 5-of-6 at the line for a career-best 17 points.
 
FRESHMAN FIREPOWER
Matthew Kreklow is fourth among NSIC freshmen in scoring at 9.6 ppg, trailing only Upper Iowa's Joe Smoldt (12.8), Minnesota Crookston's Ben Juhl (10.1 ppg) and Winona State's Devin Witelow (10.1 ppg). Kreklow leads all conference freshmen in shooting percentage (.538) and rebounding (5.3 rpg).
 
DOWNTOWN
Jr. G Keith Hunter has been the Marauders deep threat, averaging 1.9 treys per game while hitting 38.9 percent of his 3-point attempts. He also leads the team in scoring at 13.9 ppg while making an efficient 47.5 percent of his shots. The top scorer among newcomers in the NSIC, Hunter is 20^th in the NSIC in scoring. He has led the Marauders in scoring nine times this season with a high of 30 against MSU Moorhead.
 
DISTRIBUTION POINT
Since moving into the starting lineup in the second game of the season, Jaylan White has been one of the conference leaders in assists. The sophomore guard leads the Marauders with 3.5 assists per game, 10^th in the NSIC. He had a career-high eight against Yellowstone Christian and six against MSU Moorhead. White is also 3^rd in the NSIC in assist to turnover ratio (3.0). He upped his offensive game when he posted 16 points against Northern State and followed with 27 in a win at MSU Moorhead.
 
NEW BLUE
The Marauders feature a new look in the 2017-18 season with just three players back who saw action last year for UMary. Senior forward Trevor Zacher started 13 games last season for the Marauders and is UMary's lone returner who played significant minutes. Senior forward Michael Gorder enters his fourth season at UMary and has been a key reserve. Sophomore guard Jaylan White is also back and has stepped into the starting lineup.
 
STEPPING FORWARD
While the Marauders return three players with experience playing in the Blue & Orange, not all players are new to the roster. Junior forward Tom Kubank, sophomore guard Evan Anderson, and freshmen Matthew Kreklow, Connor Hellebust and Levi Clagett all redshirted at UMary last season.
 
FIRST
Junior guards Keith Hunter and Brody Sharkey, redshirt freshman Connor Hellebust and freshmen Wyatt Carr and Lucas Mayer are in their first year with the Marauders and all have made key contributions. Hunter leads the team in scoring at 13.9 points per game. He's making 48 percent of his shots overall and hitting 39 percent of his trey attempts… Sharkey has started four games and averages 6.7 ppg… Hellebust is scoring 5.9 ppg and making 40 percent of his trey attempts. He went a combined 4-of-6 last weekend behind the arc and scored a career-high 14 points against Minnesota State… Carr chips in 5.1 ppg and is making 46 percent of his shots overall. He combined for five treys against CSP and MSU, scoring nine points against the Golden Bears and ten against the Mavericks… Mayer has played in 14 of 16 games and averages 1.6 ppg.
 
FRONT LINE
The Marauders mobile front line quickly learned to play together. Senior F Trevor Zacher is second on the Marauders in scoring (10.6 ppg), 3-pointers (21) and rebounding (4.5 rpg) while shooting 46.8 percent … Junior F Tom Kubank is 4th in scoring at 9.3 ppg, pulls down 3.0 rebounds/game and is shooting 43.1 percent from the field… Freshman center Matthew Kreklow registered his first career double double with 11 points and ten rebounds against Yellowstone. He averages 9.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.1 blocks and is making 54 percent of his shots.
 
LISTEN LIVE
University of Mary fans can listen to all Marauders conference games live on Fox Sports 710 as Rick Anthony, the Voice of the Marauders, brings you all the game action. You can also listen live online at www.foxsports710.com. Click the "Listen Live" link to stream the game in real time.
 
ON THE HORIZON
The Marauders return home for Alumni Weekend on January 26-27 when Upper Iowa and Winona State visit the McDowell Activity Center.
 
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