THIS WEEKEND
On the back end of a four-game swing, the University of Mary men's basketball team makes their last road trip of the regular season when the Marauders visit St. Cloud State University and the University of Minnesota Duluth on February 9-10. The weekend opens against the Huskies in Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud, MN, at 8 pm on Friday. The team's longest road trip of the season concludes against the Bulldogs in Duluth, MN, at 4 pm in Romano Gymnasium on Saturday.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Marauders opened their four-game road trip with a pair of losses to two of the top teams in the Northern Sun South division… Matthew Kreklow and Keith Hunter both scored 17 points in the Marauders 75-66 loss to Sioux Falls (3^rd NSIC South). Trailing by as many as 17, the Marauders pulled within five points with 49 seconds left. The Cougars made four straight free throws to hold off UMary. The Marauders shot just 38 percent for the game but were 18-of-22 at the line. USF held a 45-29 rebounding edge… Trevor Zacher scored a career-high 27 points in the Marauders 83-61 loss at Southwest Minnesota State (2^nd NSIC South, 3^rd overall). Zacher made 8-of-11 shots (4-of-6 on treys) and hit all seven free throws. Carter Kirk led SMSU with 22 points and Ryan Bruggeman had 14 points and seven assists. SMSU shot 56 percent and outscored the Marauders 38-10 in the paint. UMary was 10-of-25 behind the arc but shot 35 percent overall.
 
THE RECORD
The Marauders are 5-17 overall and 3-15 in Northern Sun play (8th NSIC North, 16th overall).
 
PLAYOFF SEEDINGS
With four games remaining, including contests against three of the four teams directly in front of UMary, the Marauders could finish anywhere from fourth to eighth in the Northern Sun North Division (Bemidji State 7 wins, Minnesota Crookston 6, Minnesota Duluth 5, MSU Moorhead 4, UMary 3). The Marauders play at UMD on Saturday and close the season at home with games against UMC and BSU… The opening round of the Northern Sun tournament pairs the #1 team in the NSIC North against #8 in the NSIC South, 2 v 7, 3 v 6, 4 v 5, etc.
 
FAST BREAK

• This is the second straight weekend the Marauders have played on the road. It is the first time all season UMary has played consecutive weekends away from home.
• The Marauders three-game road winning streak was snapped last Friday at USF
• UMary has more road wins (4) than home (1)
• Eight Marauders are averaging at least 4.5 points per game
• A pair of Marauders are averaging double digits in points: Keith Hunter (14.8 ppg) and Trevor Zacher (11.8 ppg) with Jaylan White (9.1 ppg), Matthew Kreklow (9.2 ppg) and Tom Kubank (8.3 ppg) just 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 22 games. In the back court Jaylan White has 21 starts and Keith Hunter 19.
• Four out of the Marauders five top scorers and 11 out of 13 made their UMary debut this season

 
OPPO RESEARCH VS. THE ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY HUSKIES
St. Cloud State is 18-6 overall and 14-4 in the Northern Sun (2^nd NSIC North, 3^rd overall)… Huskies are on a 7-game win streak, longest current streak in NSIC… Preseason NSIC Player of the Year Gage Davis, a two-time All-NSIC first team selection, has missed eight games this season but leads the Huskies in scoring (19.5 ppg) and assists (3.9 apg). He also averages 7.8 rpg and converts 82.8 percent of his free throw attempts… Sr. Jon Averkamp averages 18.3 ppg, 6^th best in the NSIC… Brindley Theisen chips in 12.4 ppg… Defensively SCSU allows just 68.2 ppg (2^nd NSIC) and opponents are making only 44.1 percent of their shots (4^th NSIC)… Head coach Matt Reimer has an overall record of 68-48 and a 51-33 mark in the NSIC in his career… The program has won 17 or more games 19 times, including last year, since 1994-95.
                                   
HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. HUSKIES
UMary is 9-13 all-time against St. Cloud State… The Marauders are 6-4 at home, 3-7 at SCSU and 0-2 on neutral ground… UMary's first NCAA win came at SCSU 86-77 on 11.18.06… UMary's first signature NCAA win was a 77-48 home victory over #8 SCSU on 12.16.07… Prior to 2017-18, UMary and SCSU have split their season series three out of the last four years (SCSU swept in 2015-16).
 
LAST MEETING
A four-point game with four minutes remaining, visiting St. Cloud State outscored UMary 12-4 down the stretch in the Huskies 77-66 win over the Marauders on Dec. 31, 2017. Matthew Kreklow scored 17 points and Keith Hunter 12 on a night nine Marauders got into the scoring column. UMary shot 44.4 percent overall while SCSU made 52 percent of their free throw attempts. Jon Avenkamp led SCSU with 23 points and Gage Davis had 21.
 
OPPO RESEARCH VS. THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA DULUTH BULLDOGS
Minnesota Duluth is 9-15 overall and 5-13 in the NSIC (6^th NSIC North, 13^th overall)… A young squad, UMD has just two seniors on the roster with nine freshmen/sophomores and four juniors… UMD converts 76.6 of its free throws, fourth in the NSIC… Brandon Myer, a 2x NSIC North Player of the Week, is 4^th in the NSIC in scoring at 20.4 ppg. He averages 7.3 rpg and makes 84 percent of his free throw attempts… Logan Rohrscheib averages 13.1 ppg… Matt Bowen is in his sixth season leading UMD and is just the third Bulldogs head coach since the mid 1980s.
                                   
HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. BULLDOGS UMary trails Minnesota Duluth 7-11 in the all-time series… The Marauders first victory over the Bulldogs was an 80-77 overtime win on 1.16.09… Entering 2017-18, the two teams have split their season series the last three years with the home team winning each time… The last UMary win at UMD was 82-72 on Jan. 29, 2011.
 
LAST MEETING Visiting Minnesota Duluth outscored UMary 10-5 in the last five minutes and the Bulldogs edged the Marauders 63-58 on December 30, 2017. The game featured seven ties and five lead changes. Keith Hunter led the Marauders with 17 points. Matthew Kreklow added 12 points and Trevor Zacher 11. Brandon Myers led UMD with 20 points. The two teams combined for 21 free throw attempts (UM 7-of-10, UMD 8-of-11).
 
LINE PLAY
In the Marauders last six games UMary is making 81.6 percent (71-of-87) of their free throws. Their worst effort during that stretch was against SMSU when UMary made a stellar 15-of-19 (78.9 percent). For the season UMary is converting 73.6 percent of its free throw attempts.
 
ARC WELDING
Sr. F Trevor Zacher has had some impressive efforts behind the arc in the last two weeks. In his last four games the senior from Beulah, ND, is 14-of-23 on 3-pointers. He was 5-of-8 on treys with 17 points and 11 rebounds against Upper Iowa, went 4-of-5 for 14 points against Winona State, faltered with a 1-for-4 effort at USF before rebounding with a 4-for-6 mark and a career-best 27 points at Southwest Minnesota State. For the year his shooting percentage is .422 on treys.
 
STOP THIEF!
The Marauders are 6th in the NSIC in steals at 5.8/game. The main culprits are Jaylan White (23 steals), Tom Kubank (18), Trevor Zacher (22) and Keith Hunter (20).
 
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 0.9 blocks/game (11th in the NSIC) and influences many other shots. Kreklow is second on the team in rebounds (4.8/game). He is also picking up the pace offensively, leading the team in field goal percentage (.539, 13th in the NSIC) and fourth among Marauders in scoring at 9.2 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 third among NSIC freshmen in scoring at 9.2 ppg, trailing only Upper Iowa's Joe Smoldt (13.9) and Minnesota Crookston's Ben Juhl (10.8 ppg) and just ahead of Winona State's Devin Witelow (8.4 ppg). Kreklow leads all conference freshmen in shooting percentage (.539) and rebounding (4.8 rpg).
 
DOWNTOWN
Jr. G Keith Hunter has been the Marauders deep threat, averaging 1.9 treys per game while hitting 38 percent of his 3-point attempts. He also leads the team in scoring at 14.8 ppg while making an efficient 46.2 percent of his shots. The top scorer among newcomers in the NSIC, Hunter is 16th in the NSIC in scoring. He has led the Marauders in scoring 11 times this season with a high of 30 against MSU Moorhead and Minnesota State.
 
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 3.7 assists per game, 12th in the NSIC. He had a career-high eight against Yellowstone Christian and six against MSU Moorhead. White is also 4^th in the NSIC in assist to turnover ratio (2.6). He also has found his scoring touch, twice hitting for at least 25 points in a game and reaching double figures in five of his last eight games.
 
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 14.8 points per game. He's making 47 percent of his shots overall and hitting 38 percent of his trey attempts… Sharkey has started four games and averages 5.7 ppg… Hellebust is scoring 5.5 ppg and making 36 percent of his trey attempts. He scored a career-high 14 points against Minnesota State… Carr chips in 4.5 ppg and is making 44 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 20 of 22 games and averages 1.8 ppg with a career-high eight points against Upper Iowa.
 
FRONT LINE
The Marauders mobile front line quickly learned to play together. Senior F Trevor Zacher is second on the Marauders in scoring (11.8 ppg) and 3-pointers (38) and leads the team in rebounding (4.9 rpg) and is shooting 48 percent… Junior F Tom Kubank is 5th in scoring at 8.3 ppg, pulls down 3.0 rebounds/game and is shooting 40 percent from the field… Freshman center Matthew Kreklow registered his first career double double with 11 points and ten rebounds against Yellowstone. He averages 9.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 0.9 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 to close out the regular season against Bemidji State University and the University of Minnesota Crookston on February 16-17.
 
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