THIS WEEK
Back home for the first time in over three weeks, the University of Mary men's basketball team hosts Augustana University and Wayne State College on Friday and Saturday, January 12-13, in a pair of Northern Sun contests. A four-game home stand starts Friday, January 12, when the Marauders face off against the Vikings at 5:30 pm. The Marauders then host the Wildcats at 3:30 pm on Saturday, January 13. Both games will be played in the McDowell Activity Center on the University of Mary campus.
 
THE RECORD
The Marauders are 6-8 overall and 1-7 in the Northern Sun (14^th place)… The Vikings are 8-7 overall and 3-6 in the NSIC (10^th place)… The Wildcats are 9-7 overall and 2-7 in the NSIC (13^th place).
 
MIDWAY FLIP FLOP APPROACHES
The January 12-13 weekend is the final weekend when the man's teams plays before the women's teams in Northern Sun doubleheaders. Starting the January 19-20 weekend the women's game will precede the men's.
 
FAST FINISH
Since the Northern Sun season opened November 21, the Marauders played eight conference games over eight weeks. UMary will now play 14 NSIC games in seven weeks.
 
BACK TO BACK
The January 5-6 road games were the first time this season the Marauders had played a Friday-Saturday weekend series with NSIC games both days. UMary has its first NSIC back-to-back home series this weekend when the Marauders host the Vikings and the Wildcats January 12-13.
 
LAST WEEK
Playing for the first time in nearly three weeks, the Marauders dropped a pair of road games… Brock Heffner scored 19 points in just 21 minutes in an 82-60 loss at #23 Minnesota Duluth. Heffner hit 8-of-11 shots in the game… The Marauders dropped a narrow 84-76 decision at Concordia-St. Paul. Heffner produced 26 points with a 12-for-16 effort at the line. Gerald Gittens added 22 points. UMary was 24-of-32 at the line and CSP was 26-of-35.
 
FOLLOW LIVE

• Voice of the Marauders Jesse Rostvedt broadcasts all Marauders home games and Northern Sun contests on Fox Sports 710 and online at https://foxsports710.iheart.com/
• Free video streaming of Marauders home and all Northern Sun games is available at https://nsicnetwork.com/goumary and at www.GoUMary.com/coverage
• Live stats for Saturday's games are available online at www.GoUMary.com/coverage

 
HEFFNER ON A RUN
Brock Heffner has led the Marauders in scoring three straight games, averaging 27 points per game while shooting 58% (29-of-50) from the floor and converting 69% (22-of-32) at the line. He had 36 points on 14-of-19 shooting against Valley City State, posted 19 points while making 8-of-11 shots against #23 UMD and finished with 26 points while making 12-of-16 free throws at Concordia-St. Paul.

• Heffner was named to the "NSIC Shining 5" after scoring 36 points against VCSU. He is the first UMary player to make the NSIC honor list this season.
• The 36 points was the most by a UMary player since Kai Huntsberry scored 42 against the University of Minnesota Duluth in the Northern Sun quarterfinals on February 26, 2022
• The last time a UMary player scored 36 points in the regular season was Anthony Moody (42 at St. Cloud State on February 19, 2011)
• Eric Erdman is the only UMary player to score more than 36 at the McDowell Activity Center during the Marauders NCAA era (37 vs. Upper Iowa on January 2, 2010)

 
DOUBLING UP
The Marauders have a trio of players with double doubles this season:

• Xavier Lewis – 15 points, 12 rebounds at Northeastern State (Nov. 11, 2023)
• Xavier Lewis – 12 points, 13 rebounds vs. Minnesota Crookston (Dec. 8, 2023)
• Brock Heffner – 25 points, 11 rebounds vs. Mayville State (Nov. 15, 2023)
• Ty Rogers – 13 points and 11 rebounds vs. Trinity Bible College (Nov. 24, 2023)

 
20 + 20
Twice this season UMary has had a pair of 20 point scorers in a game:

• Brock Heffner (25) and Gerald Gittens (23) vs. Mayville State (11.15.23)
• Brock Heffner (26) and Gerald Gittens (22) at Concordia-St. Paul (1.6.24)

The last time two Marauders scored 20 points in a game was Kam Warrens (21) and Zyon Smith (20) against Sioux Falls (January 7, 2023).
 
TRIPLE 9s
Junior guard Gerald Gittens just missed a triple double with nine points, nine rebounds and nine assists against VCSU on December 18. The last time a Marauders player had at least nine points, nine rebounds and nine assists in a game was December 15, 2015, when Marquealis Edwards had 10 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in a 100-76 win over Presentation. It remains the Marauders lone NCAA era triple double.
 
POWER TRIO
The Marauders and Minnesota State are the only teams in the NSIC to have three players averaging at least 12 points/game this season. Gerald Gittens is 18th in the NSIC in scoring (14.6 ppg), Brock Heffner (14.6 ppg) is 17^th and Zyon Smith is 25^th (12.0 ppg):

• Gerald Gittens, a transfer from North Central Missouri College, is second on the Marauders in scoring at 14.6 points per game. He is shooting 46.7% from the floor, 41% on treys and averages 4.9 rebounds/game. He also leads UMary in assists with 44.
• Zyon Smith averages 12 points per game with 5.4 rebounds/game. The senior guard leads the team with 28 3-pointers and is making 33% of his trey attempts.
• Brock Heffner, a transfer from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, averages 14.6 points per game and 5.1 rebounds. The sophomore forward is shooting 49.4% from the floor and has 12 blocks.

 
HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. VIKINGS
UMary is 6-16 against Augustana… In their last win in the series, the Marauders snapped an 8-game losing streak to the Vikings with a 101-87 win on Feb. 2, 2019. The Marauders shot 57% for the game and hit 14 treys. Trever Kaiser posted 21 points, Jaylan White had 20 points and 8 assists, Connor Hellebust added 18 points and Matthew Kreklow 16… Augie has won the last three games… The series started in 1999-2000 with an 89-64 Vikings win… The first Marauders win was a 68-64 victory on January 18, 2006… Last Marauders road win over the Vikings was a 63-49 victory on December 4, 2009… LAST MEETING Kam Warrens scored 26 points for UMary in a 77-70 road loss at Augie December 13, 2023.
 
HISTORY LESSON – MARAUDERS v. WILDCATS
The Wildcats hold a 18-6 series lead over the Marauders… The Wildcats have won the last six meetings… The two teams first met during UMary's transition season from NAIA to NCAA play in 2005-06 with the Marauders claiming a 70-65 win… Wayne State followed with six straight wins over Mary before the Marauders broke the streak with a 73-62 win at WSC on Dec. 5, 2009… The Wildcats are 9-2 in Bismarck and 9-4 at home against the Marauders… The Marauders last home win was an 85-78 victory 12.9.16 behind 19 points from Bryan Jefferson… The Marauders last road win was a 99-80 victory on January 31, 2016, behind 26 points from Bryan Jefferson. Six Marauders reached double figures… LAST MEETING Jeremiah Jones had 10 points and nine rebounds for UMary in a 72-52 loss at Wayne State on January 14, 2023.
 
LINE GAME
UMary is 6^th in the NSIC in getting to the free throw line, earning 271 opportunities this season.
 
BOARD GAMES
The Marauders are +2.4 rebounds per game over the opposition. Sophomore forward Xavier Lewis is a big key to the Marauders advantage. The Lynwood, IL, native averages 7.5 rebounds/game to lead UMary. He is 7th in the NSIC. Additionally Zyon Smith (5.4 rpg) ranks 24^th in the NSIC.
 
GET THAT OUTTA HERE
Rich Ashu, Brock Heffner and Xavier Lewis are making things difficult for Marauders opponents to score inside as all three rank in the Top 12 of the NSIC in blocked shots… Rich Ashu averages 1.3 blocks/game to rank 4^th in the NSIC. Heffner (0.9 blocks/game) ranks 11^th and Lewis (0.8 blocks/game) is 12^th… Overall the UMary defense is swatting away 3.21 shots/game to rank 6th in the NSIC.
 
PICKING POCKETS
The Marauders average 5.93 steals/game to rank 8th in the Northern Sun.
 
CLUTCH
Gerald Gittens has shown a magic touch in a pair of late game situations. The Brooklyn, NY, native in his first season at UMary hit a shot to beat the buzzer in the Marauders 63-61 win at Northeastern State University in the second game of the season… in the Marauders home opener he hit a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 70-70 and force overtime. Gittens hit five straight free throws to seal the 81-72 UMary win.
 
SMITH NAMED UMARY'S NSIC PLAYER TO WATCH IN 2023-24
A senior guard from Montgomery, AL, Zyon Smith is UMary's NSIC Player to Watch for 2023-24. Smith joined the Marauders last season as a transfer from Highland (KS) Community College. In his first season at UMary he averaged 11.7 points per game. Smith hit a team-best 44 treys and averaged 2.8 rebounds per game. In the Marauders lone exhibition game of the preseason Smith hit four treys and scored a game-high 20 points at NCAA Division I South Dakota State University.
 
MARAUDERS MEMOS
Senior G Zyon Smith is the lone starter returning for UMary after graduating four starters
The Marauders return six players who saw action in at least 16 games, including junior F Liam Doherty and sophomores Jeremiah Jones, Gunner Swanson, Ty Rogers and Xavier Lewis.
Several newcomers will play key roles for the Marauders this season, including a trio of reserves: Junior guard Gerald Gittens (North Central Missouri College), junior forward Rich Ashu (Ellsworth Community College) and sophomore forward Brock Heffner (University of Wisconsin-Green Bay)
Marauders were picked to finish 13th in the NSIC in the preseason coaches poll
 
YEAR THREE
Head coach Jack Nelson enters year three with the Marauders. In his first season in 2020-21 he led UMary to its best conference record in four years. Nelson directed the Marauders to their first Northern Sun tournament road victory with an 82-70 win at Winona State to send UMary to the quarterfinals and a trip to the Sanford Pentagon. During the regular season the Marauders defeated #6 University of Minnesota Duluth 75-71, the highest ranked NCAA team UMary has beaten at home. Nelson recruited and coached Kai Huntsberry, the 2021-22 NSIC Newcomer of the Year and a 1st team all-conference selection who broke the NSIC tournament record for 3s in a game with eight.
 
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