PLAYOFF WEDNESDAY
The 2020 postseason for the University of Mary men's basketball team tips off midweek when the Marauders visit Upper Iowa University in the opening round of the Northern Sun / Sanford Health Basketball tournament on Wednesday, February 26.  Game time is 6 pm between the Marauders and the Peacocks at Dorman Gymnasium in Fayette, Iowa.
 
RECORDS
The 7^th seed in the NSIC North, the Marauders are 12-16 overall and finished 7-15 in Northern Sun play (11th in NSIC, 6th in NSIC North)… Upper Iowa, the 2^nd seed from the NSIC South, is 18-10 overall and finished 15-7 in the NSIC (3^rd in NSIC, 2^nd NSIC South).
 
LOOKING AHEAD – NSIC / SANFORD HEALTH BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
The winner of the UMary-Upper Iowa game advances to the quarterfinals of the NSIC / Sanford Health Basketball Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 29, to face the winner of the Wayne State College at MSU Moorhead game. Tip off is 2:30 pm at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, SD… The semifinals are 12 noon and 2:30 pm on Monday, March 2, with the NSIC Championship at 5pm on Tuesday, March 3.  
 
AT STAKE
The winner of the NSIC / Sanford Health Basketball tournament earns an automatic berth into the NCAA Central Region tournament.
 
CHANGE THE RADIO DIAL TO KFYR 550 AM
The UMary men's basketball NSIC/Sanford Health playoff game at Upper Iowa will air on KFYR 550 AM. Voice of the Marauders Jesse Rostvedt will call the action… The Marauders women's NSIC / Sanford Health playoff game will remain on Fox Sports 710 with Todd Domres and Scott Woodmansee calling the game… links to live video, audio and stats are available at www.GoUMary.com/coverage. 
 
 
MARAUDERS NSIC POST-SEASON HISTORY
The Marauders are 3-10 in the NSIC tournament… The first win was a 70-65 1st round home victory over MSU Moorhead on March 2, 2011. Anthony Moody scored 25 points with eight rebounds and seven assists. Eric Erdmann added 17 points and Jordan Wilhelm 12... Mary has faced Winona State three times in the NSIC tournament, more than any other team.
 
MARAUDERS NSIC PLAYOFF HISTORY (3-10)
March 1, 2008           at Winona State (1st round)                                 L 50-77
March 3, 2010          at Winona State (1st round)                                 L 57-76
March 2, 2011          MSU Moorhead (1st round)                                  W 70-65
March 5, 2011         vs. St. Cloud State (semi-finals)                            L 59-65
Feb. 27, 2013            at Winona State (1st round)                                 L 64-77
Feb. 27, 2014            at Southwest Minn. State (1st round)                 L 65-82
Feb. 21, 2015            at Concordia-St. Paul (1st round)                         L 65-78
Feb. 24, 2016            Concordia-St. Paul (1st round)                             W 76-72
Feb. 27, 2016            vs. Minnesota State (quarterfinals)                     W 96-91 OT
Feb. 29, 2016            vs. MSU Moorhead (semifinals)                           L 65-89
Feb. 22, 2017            at Minnesota State (1st round)                            L 78-87
Feb. 21, 2018           at Southwest Minnesota State (1st round)        L 73-78
Feb. 27, 2019             at Wayne State College (1^st round)                       L 62-84            
 
MARAUDERS NCAA PLAYOFF HISTORY (0-1)
March 12, 2011        vs. Metro State (at Mankato, MN)                       L 73-78
 
LAST WEEK
In one of the toughest road trips on he schedule, the Marauders closed out the regular season with a split, falling to NSIC champion Northern State before defeating 6^th place MSU Moorhead… Jaylan White and Josh Sipes scored 13 points each in a 77-63 UMary loss at Northern State. Down just 38-34 at half, the Marauders couldn't keep pace with the Wolves in the second half. Parker Fox led the Wolves with 27 points and nine rebounds. Gabe King added 15 points and nine rebounds… Matthew Krekow posted his 7^th double double of the year and a clutch team effort at the free throw line carried the Marauders to a 75-69 road win over the Dragons. Kreklow scored 26 points and added 10 rebounds, hitting 7-of-9 shots and making 12-of-13 free throws. As a team UMary was 23-of-26 on free throws while MSUM finished 11-of-15. The Marauders also had a 43-31 rebounding edge. Leading for over 36 minutes in the game, the Marauders fell behind 54-53 with just under seven minutes remaining. UMary responded with a 9-2 run to regain control before winning the game at the line. In the final two minutes, UMary made all eight free throw attempts. Trever Kaiser came off the bench to score 16 points, grab eight rebounds and distribute four assists Jaylan White had 11 points. Wyatt Carr registered seven points and nine rebounds. Johnny Beeninga had 13 points, six assists and five rebounds for MSUM.
 
NUMBERS TO KNOW
325 Jaylan White cracked 300 career assists when he dropped 12 in the Marauders win over Southwest Minnesota State. He is the sixth UMary player to accomplish that feat and has 325 in his career. The others are Tracy Porter (489), Scott Kleinjan (478), Jim Hughes (404), Rod Hubka (375) and Rusty Gillette (323).
 
1,054 Marauders senior guard Jaylan White cracked 1,000 career points last Saturday against Winona State University and now has 1,030 career points. The native of St. Charles, IA, is the 19th player in University of Mary men's basketball history to accomplish this feat. He now ranks 17th all-time. The last UMary players to crack 1,000 career points was Bryan Jefferson and Damonta Henry in the 2016-17 season… White passed Chuck Welch (1,031 points) for 16^th place on the all-time UMary leader board with Anthony Moody (1,126) next on the list. 
 
 
128 After breaking the UMary team record for blocked shots, Matthew Kreklow's total continues to grow. After two more rejections last weekend, the junior forward now has 128 in his career. He broke the career record in UMary's win over St. Cloud State on Jan. 11, 2020. The former record was established by UMary Hall of Famer and All-American Marc Hawley, who finished his career with 108 blocked shots (1995-97). Kreklow blocked 23 shots as a freshman, 53 last year as a sophomore and has 52 blocks this season, an average of 1.6 blocks per game.
 
52 With 52 blocks this season, Matthew Kreklow is two away from equaling UMary's NCAA record of 54 rejections in a single season, established by Damon Smith in 2011-12.
 
964 The 26th UMary player to reach 900 career points, Matthew Kreklow ranks 20^th all-time with 964 career points… Kreklow is the second UMary player to crack 900 points this season, joining Jaylan White.
 
502 On top of setting the school blocked shot record and passing 800 career points in the win over St. Cloud State, Matthew Kreklow also reached 400 career rebounds in the Huskies game. He is the 20th UMary player to reach that figure in his career and ranks 8^th all-time. Kreklow is just the 8th UMary player to reach 500 career rebounds.   
 
103 Wyatt Carr became the 19^th UMary player to connect on 100 3-pointers in his career when he connected for a pair of treys against Minnesota Crookston. Damonta Henry (2013-17) is the all-time leader with 200. Right in front of Carr on the all-time leader board is Craig Steffan (104), Joel Welstad (106) and Leon Washington (108). 
 
98 Connor Hellebust is closing on 100 made treys in his career. The UMary junior is sitting at 98.
 
660 Connor Hellebust is making his way up the Marauders career scoring list and sits at 660 points.  
 
103 Marauders head coach Joe Kittell earned his 100th career win as a collegiate head coach in UMary's 75-60 win over Southwest Minnesota State on Jan. 18, 2020, and now has 103. Kittell earned 42 wins at Lake Region State College from 2013-15. He has won 61 games at UMary since taking over the Marauders program in 2015-16.
 
KAISER ROLL-ING
Trever Kaiser has been on a scoring run. He has hit for double digits in six of his last nine games. During his last ten games Kaiser is averaging 11.6 points per game. He is 14-of-31 on 3s, 29-of-34 at the free throw line and 36-of-77 from the field. For the year he is averaging 7.2 ppg.
 
OPPO RESEARCH – UPPER IOWA UNIVERSITY PEACOCKS
 
 
A balance, high-scoring offense has led the Peacocks to third place this season in the Northern Sun, finishing the regular season 18-10 overall and 15-7 in league play. It's a dramatic turnaround for a team that was 7-22 last year and tied for last in the conference. Upper Iowa is 2nd in the NSIC in scoring at 80.6 ppg but dead in scoring defense at 80.0 ppg, scoring 17 points more than they have allowed this season. Much of the damage comes from deep as the Peacocks are 4^th in the NSIC in 3s per game at 9.9. Seven players average at least 7.0 ppg, led by Jareese Williams at 13.4 ppg. Jake Hillmer chips in 12.1 ppg and Joe Smoldt 12.5 ppg.
 
HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. PEACOCKS
The Marauders are 8-10 all-time against the Peacocks… Upper Iowa is 6-3 at home in Dorman Gym… UMary is 5-4 at the McDowell Activity Center against UIU…The Marauders have won the last two meetings with the Peacocks… The Peacocks have won six of the last nine meetings with the Marauders… LAST GAME AT UIU Returning to face his old teammates, UIU graduate Dennis Austin III led the Marauders to a 78-72 victory with a 22 point outburst. He hit 8-of-12 shots and grabbed nine rebounds. Connor Hellebust hit four treys to score 19 points, Matthew Kreklow added 12 and Jaylan White 10. Joe Smoldt hot five treys and scored 19 points... LAST MEETING Hosting the 3^rd place Peacocks, the Marauders rolled to an 85-71 home win over Upper Iowa on Feb. 7. Jaylan white led the Marauders with 21 points, five assists and five steals. UMary shot the ball well, making 10-of-18 3s, shooting 53 percent overall and making 17-of-20 at the line. UIU made 47 percent of their shots but was only 5-of-13 on treys and 3-of-8 at the line.  Matthew Kreklow scored 17 points and had six rebounds as UMary was +8 in rebounding. Trever Kaiser added 13 points and Glenn Jordan 10. Josh Carter led the Peacocks with 17 points.  
 
DEFENSE
The Marauders continue to be one of the toughest teams in the nation to score on. The Marauders hold the opposition to 70.4 points per game, 4^th in the Northern Sun. Opponents are making just 44.5 percent of their field goal attempts against UMary, 8th best in the NSIC… The Marauders defense allowed 70.9 ppg last season (2018-19) to finish 3^rd in the NSIC.
 
DEFENSE PART II
UMary is 64^th in NCAA Division II in scoring defense out of 303 teams, allowing 70.4 ppg.
 
HANDS OFF APPROACH
The Marauders commit an average of 14.5 personal fouls/game, the fewest in the NSIC and 15th fewest in NCAA Division II.
 
FREEBIES
Taking advantage of opportunities at the foul line, the Marauders are converting an impressing 75.2 percent of their free throw attempts (376-of-500). UMary ranks 4th in the NSIC and 60^th in NCAA Division II... The Marauders have shot 115 more free throws than the opposition and made 111 more (376 made by UMary to 265 for opponents)… UMary foes are making just 68.8 percent of its attempts, the worst figure in the NSIC. 
 
SWAT CITY
The Marauders are blocking 3.3 shots/game, 8th in the NSIC. Much of the work is being done by junior Matthew Kreklow, who is 3rd in the NSIC at 2.0 rejections/game.
 
WHITE HOT
In his 3rd season as a starter, Jaylan White is having another outstanding season for the Marauders and continues to climb the career charts…. The senior point guard is 7th in the NSIC in steals (1.3)/game), 10th in assists (3.6), and 7th in assists to turnovers ratio (2.1). He is averaging 11.8 points and 2.7 rebounds per game… When needed, White has taken over a quartet of Marauders wins this season. The senior point guard scored 18 points in the opening game of the year, nine coming in the second half and the other nine in overtime… Against Dickinson State he just missed his career-high, scoring 28 points and making 10-of-15 shots in the win… In a win at Minot State, White scored all 13 of his points in the final seven minutes to help the Marauders overcome an 11-point deficit, scoring the winning basket with 8.8 seconds left in the game… in a 75-72 home win over Minot State, White scored seven points in overtime… Entering his third season as a starter, White was named the Marauders NSIC Preseason Player to Watch for 2019-20. The native of St. Charles, IA, earned All-Northern Sun honorable mention honors in 2018-19 after averaging a team-leading 13.8 ppg and 3.3 RPG. He was among the league leaders in free throw percentage (.826), had 2.5 rebounds/game and 1.3 steals/game… After serving as a key reserve as a freshman, White has started 83 out of the Marauders last 84 games, including all 29 last year and 28 this season. He is averaging 9.4 points per game in 112 career games and has totaled 1,054 points while distributing 328 assists (5th all-time).
 
1,000/300
Jaylan White is one of just four Marauders who have scored 1,000 points and made 300 assists in their careers. The others are Tracy Porter (1,006 points/489 assists), Scott Kleinjan (2,268/478) and Rusty Gillette (1,167/323). All four were at the MAC and honored prior to the Marauders-Beavers game on Friday.
 
CLUTCH
For the second time in his career, Jaylan White hit a game-winning bucket in the final seconds of a game in the Marauders victory at Minot State University. The senior posted the game-winning basket in the 56-53 win with 8.8 seconds on the clock… Last season the All-NSIC guard hit a shot with under three seconds remaining of a 100-98 triple overtime win at Minnesota Duluth. 
 
12
Jaylan White set the Marauders NCAA era record for assists in a single game with 12 against Southwest Minnesota State. The old record was 11 by Marquealis Edwards against Presentation College on Dec. 15, 2015.White's previous high was eight.
 
REJECTION LETTERS
Matthew Kreklow is the Marauders all-time career leader in blocked shots with 128. He surpassed  UMary Hall of Famer and All-American forward Marc Hawley (108 rejections in 1995-97) when he blocked four shots in the Marauders win over St. Cloud State on Saturday...Kreklow's 53 blocks in 2018-19 as a sophomore was one shy of the school's NCAA era single season record by Damon Smith in 2011-12… Kreklow leads the Marauders in scoring (14.5 ppg), rebounding (8.2 rpg) and blocks (2.0) and field goal percentage (.560)… he is shooting80 percent at the free throw line and averages 0.9 steals and 1.1 assists… he has seven double doubles this season and ten in his career (see note below)… Kreklow is 17th in the NSIC in scoring, 7th in rebounding, 4th in field goal percentage and 13th in free throw percentage… In NCAA Division II rankings, Kreklow is 20^th in blocks/game, 45^th in field goal percentage and 71^st in rebounding… Kreklow is just the 3rd UMary player to win NSIC Player of the Week multiple times (Eric Erdmann and All-American Anthony Moody were both honored three times). Kreklow first won the honor in January 2019 after leading the Marauders to a weekend sweep of Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State… This season he captured the award for his efforts in the final week of the 2019 schedule after scoring 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting with 12 rebounds and three blocks in a win over the University of Maine, followed by 25 points, ten rebounds and five blocks in an overtime win over Minot State.
 
7x DOUBLE DOUBLE
Matthew Kreklow owns seven double doubles this season, including a run of four straight games. For his career Kreklow has ten double doubles. Here's the list:
2/22/20 at MSU Moorhead | 26 points and 10 rebounds
1/24/20 at Minnesota Crookston | 23 points and 12 rebounds
12/21/19 vs. Minot State | 25 points and 10 rebounds
12/17/19 vs. Maine-Fort Kent | 16 points and 12 rebounds
12/14/19 vs. Northern State | 18 points and 13 rebounds
12/13/19 vs. MSU Moorhead | 25 points and 10 rebounds
11/30/19 at Minot State | 12 points and 10 rebounds
1/25/19 vs. Minnesota Crookston | 14 points and 10 rebounds
11/20/18 vs. South Dakota Mines | 14 points and 10 rebounds
11.28.17 vs. Yellowstone Christian | 11 points and 10 rebounds
 
DOWNTOWN
The Marauders are making 8.0 treys per game (10th in the NSIC) and are converting 34 percent of their attempts (15th in NSIC)… Wyatt Carr is hitting a team-high 51 percent of his trey attempts, hitting 42-of-83 attempts behind the arc... Redshirt freshman josh Sipes is right behind Carr, connecting on 41-of-105 from behind the arc (39 percent)… The Marauders sank 15 treys against Southwest Minnesota State, the second most UMary has hit in an NCAA-era game (record is 17 against Saint Martin's in the 2008-09 season).
 
DEBUT
Four players have made their Marauders debut this season: junior Glenn Jordan, redshirt freshmen Kade Amundson and Josh Sipes and freshman Regan Tollefson. Sipes was in the Marauders starting lineup early in the season before becoming a scoring threat off the bench. He averages 6.7 ppg and is second on the team in treys (41)… Amundson has started two games and averages 4.0 ppg… Jordan has started 15 straight games and is scoring 5.3 ppg… Tollefson has played in 16 games and averages 3.0 ppg.
 
WELCOME ABOARD
The Marauders welcomed several newcomers this season. Jr G Glenn Jordan joins the Marauders after an all-conference career at Allan Hancock College… G Josh Sipes and F Kade Amundson are redshirt freshmen who were with the Marauders program last season… F Logan Nagorski, G Treyton Mattern, G Matthew Johnson and F Regan Tollefson are true freshmen with the UMary program this season.
 
THE BORTKE COURT MAC ATTACK
The Marauders once again found success on Bortke Court in the McDowell Activity Center. The playing floor was christened Bortke Court in honor of long-time Mary men's basketball coach and athletic director Al Bortke in July 2009. Here is the Marauders NCAA Division II home record:
2006-07:   5-  7
2007-08:   4-  7
2008-09:   7-  5
2009-10: 11-  2
2010-11: 12-  1
2011-12:   3-10
2012-13:   3-  9
2013-14:   6-  7
2014-15:   4-  8
2015-16:   8-  7
2016-17:   8-  6
2017-18:   2-11
2018-19:   9-  5
2019-20:   8-7
The Marauders once won 27 straight home games for Coach Bortke at the MAC (February 19, 1976 thru November 11, 1978).
 
NIFTY 50 | #4
After winning his 50th game at UMary in the season opener, Joe Kittell moved to 4th in all-time Marauders men's basketball coaching wins in a home win over Minot State. Legendary Hall of Famer Al Bortke tops the list with 335, followed by Jim Feeney (144), Rod Jonas (69), Kittell (61) and Juno Pintar (55).
 
KITTELL AT 103
Marauders head coach Joe Kittell, in his fifth season at UMary, won his 100th career game as a collegiate coach against Southwest Minnesota State. Kittell earned 42 wins in two seasons at Lake Region State College and owns 61 at UMary.
 
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