THIS WEEK
The University of Mary men's basketball team will spend a busy Thanksgiving Week traversing South Dakota with three games in five days in the Mount Rushmore State.
 
 The Marauders first visit Northern State University on Tuesday, November26, in Aberdeen. SD. The Northern Sun opener for both teams tips off at 7 pm at Wachs Arena.
 
UMary then heads west for a pair of games in Rapid City, SD, on Friday and Saturday, November 29-30. Both games are hosted by South Dakota Mines on campus at the King Center.
 
The Marauders first square off against Black Hills State University in a neural site game at 5 pm CT/4 pm MT. The weekend wraps up when UMary faces host South Dakota Mines on Saturday at 5 pm CT/4 pm MT.
 
FOLLOW LIVE
Links to live video and stats are available at www.GoUMary.com/coverage.
 
THE RECORDS
The Marauders are 1-6 after playing seven non-conference games… Northern State is 1-4 overall… Black Hills State is 3-3 and South Dakota Mines is 0-6 entering Thanksgiving weekend.
 
AFTER THE ACTION
Marauders fans should make plans to stop Buffalo Wild Wings following all home men's basketball contests. With two convenient Bismarck locations and great food and drink specials, it's easy to see why Buffalo Wild Winds is the preferred post-game hangout of Marauders Basketball! 
 
LAST WEEK
In the lone game of the week for UMary and the team's 7^th game in 19 days, Jeremiah Jones scored 23 points and Rich Ashu 17 in an 83-76 loss to visiting Valley City State on Nov. 19. The point totals were career-highs for both players. Jones also had eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and four blocks. Ashu 6-of-7 from the floor, hit 5-of-6 free throws and grabbed nine rebounds. Alex Mattes added three treys and scored 13 points.
 
TRIAL BY FIRE
The Marauders opened the season with an incredibly hectic schedule, playing seven games over the course of 19 days. UMary opened with three games in Montana and two more in Oklahoma over the course of nine days. The first four games featured opponents coming off 20+ wins last season (MSU Billings, St. Edward's, Alaska-Anchorage, Central Oklahoma), three that received votes in the NABC preseason top 25 poll (MSUB, St. Edwards, UAA), and two teams that made the NCAA tournament (MSUB, UAA).
 
HISTORY LESSON
In a series dating back to November 1986 when UMary defeated Northern State 76-73, the Marauders are 7-29 against the Wolves. UMary's last win in Aberdeen occurred December 13, 2016, when Bryan Jefferson scored 17 points in a 77-75 Marauders victory. The Wolves have won the last 15 meetings… UMary is 16-8 against South Dakota Mines with identical 8-4 records at home and on the road. Former DAC10 foes, the Marauders have won the ast  two meetings and 6-of-7. In their last meeting, the Marauders defeated the visiting Hardrockers 68-52 on November 18, 2018, behind 25 points from Tom Kubank and a 14-10 double double by Matthew Kreklow. UMary won the last meeting in Rapid City, SD, 92-81 on November 21, 2017, as Keith Hunter scored 17 points and Kubank and Trevor Zacher had 16 each… Also former DAC10 foes, the Marauders have won four of their last seven meetings with Black Hills State. The last meeting between the two programs occurred December 13, 2007, with the Marauders earning an 89-78 win as Geoff West scored 17 points, Eric Erdmann 16 and Zach Dosch 13.
 
STAT STUFFER
Jeremiah Jones ranks among the Northern Sun's top-20 in multiple categories:

• 2^nd steals/game (2.6)
• 13^th blocked shots/game (1.0)
• 14^th points/game (15.1)
• 15^th rebounds/game (6.7)
• 17^th field goal percentage (.489)
• 18^th 3-pointers/game (1.9)

 
STOP THIEF
Jeremiah Jones ranks 41^st in NCAA D2 in steals with 2.57 per game.
 
SHARING THE LOAD
Four Marauders are averaging at least 7.7 points through five games:

• Jeremiah Jones leads UMary in scoring at 15.1 ppg. He is shooting 48.9% from the field overall and 36.1% on treys. The sophomore guard, who missed last season due to injury, also leads the team in rebounding (6.7 rpg), steals (18) and blocks (7) and is 2^nd in assists (16). Jones has reached double figures in five games with a season-high 23 against Valley City State.  
•  Kevin McGaskey, in his first season at UMary as a graduate transfer from Prairie View A&M, is scoring 10.0 ppg and leads the squad in assists (19).  
• Junior forward Ty Rogers averages 9.1 ppg. He is making 54% of his shots and is pulling down 3.6 rpg.
• Cayden Redfield, a transfer from United Tribes Community and Technical College, averages 7.7 ppg while coming off the bench in his first season at UMary. Through seven games he is third on the team in treys with seven. He scored a season-best 16 points against St. Edward's.  

 
DEBUTS
Seven Marauders made their UMary debuts this season. Kevin McGaskey has started all seven games at guard. Cayden Redfield, Ty Johnson and Tamerrein Henderson have played key minutes off the bench in all seven contests with Daniel Hong playing in six. Wylee Delorme (4 games) and Matija Otasevic (3) also have seen their first action in the Blue & Orange this year.  
 
BLOCK PARTY
Rich Ashu led the Marauders in blocks last season with 1.0 per game and is off to a strong start this year with seven rejections in seven games (1.0/game).
 
HIGH EFFICIENCY
Ty Rogers is converting an impressive amount of his shots. The junior forward is connecting on 54% of his field goal attempts through seven games and has reached double figures in scoring four times. He scored a season-high 14 points against Northeastern State.
 
SHARING THE LOAD
11 Marauders scored points against Central Oklahoma while ten did so against Northeastern State.  
 
MCGASKEY NSIC PLAYER TO WATCH
 New arrival Kevin McGaskey is the preseason UMary Northern Sun Player to Watch for the Marauders in the 2024-25 season. A graduate transfer from NCAA Division I Prairie View A&M, McGaskey joins the Marauders after competing for two seasons for the Panthers. He played in 24 games in 2023-24, including 13 starts, for SWAC member PVAM. The 6-0 point guard averaged 4.0 points, 3.0 assists and 2.2 rebounds while making 35 steals and hitting 71.0% of his free throw attempts in 25.5 minutes of play per game. The native of Missouri City, Texas, and graduate of Hightower High School posted season highs of 12 points and six rebounds against Alcorn State.    McGaskey played with former Marauders guard Zyon Smith at Highland Community College in Highland, KS, from 2020-22. 
 
BACK IN THE BLUE & ORANGE
The Marauders have a strong returning. Ten players return from last season, including five who started ten or more games in 2023-24 and a 6^th player returning from injury:  

• Junior forward Xavier Lewis - the Marauders leading returning scorer (6.7 ppg) and rebounder (5.5 rpg) – started 16 out of 27 games
• Sophomore guard Alex Mattes, who started 13 games last season as a true freshman, chipped in 6.2 points per game
• Junior forward Ty Rogers averaged 5.7 ppg and 3.8 rpg while starting 10 games
• Junior guard Gunner Swanson hit 29 treys last season, tops among returners, while starting 18 games
• Senior forward Rich Ashu started 11 games for UMary and led the team in blocks (25 in 26 games)
• Junior guard Marquel Saleek played over 14 minutes per game and averaged 4.3 ppg and delivered 30 assists while starting one out of 27games
• Sophomore guard Nick Harrell averaged over 11 minutes per game in 19 outings while senior forward Liam Dougherty was limited to eight games by injury
• Guard Jeremiah Jones was a key reserve as a freshman in 2022-23 before missing all of last season due to injury. Jones averaged 6.7 ppg and 5.7 rpg while playing 24.2 minutes per game, the fourth most on the team. He led the team in steals (29) and was second in assists (64).
• Redshirt freshman guard Alex Dvorak looks to make his UMary debut this season.

 
FRESH FACES
The Marauders have added eight new faces for the 2024-25 season:

• Graduate transfer guard Kevin McGaskey joins the Marauders from NCAA Division I Prairie View A&M
• Other transfers include junior guard Daniel Hong (North Dakota), junior guard Ty Johnson (Highland (IL) CC), and junior guard/forward Cayden Redfield (United Tribes)
• Incoming freshmen are guard Wylee Delorme (Devils Lake, ND), Tamarrein Henderson (West Salem, WI), guard Ryan Larson (Jamestown, ND) and forward Matija Otasevic (Herceg Novi, Montenegro).

 
JONES NAMED TO TIPOFF CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Seeing his first action since February 2023 after missing all of the 2023-24 season due to injury, Jeremiah Jones returned to the court for the Marauders in impressive fashion. After averaging 12.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while adding eight assists and sight steals in three games, Jones was named to the 2024 D2CCA Tipoff Classic at the Trailhead all-tournament team. Jones opened with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting – including a 2-for-3 effort on treys – while grabbing four rebounds and making three steals against host team MSU Billings. Jones hit three treys and scored 11 points against St. Edwards, adding seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. The sophomore guard finished the weekend with eight points, ten rebounds and three steals in a 73-72 win over Alaska Anchorage. He grabbed a key offensive rebound and was fouled trying to shoot with 1.7 seconds left in a tie game. After sinking the winning free throw, he protected the victory by knocking away a long inbound pass from the Seawolves. 
 
STAFF ADDITIONS
Marauders head coach Jack Nelson has several new faces on the bench alongside him this season. Bryan Forbes joins UMary as the lead assistant men's coach after serving as the head assistant coach at Briar Cliff the last five seasons following two years as the graduate assist at East Tennessee State University. Also joining the staff this season are DJ Sanchez, Nate Symens and former UMary player Zyon Smith.
 
YEAR FOUR
Head coach Jack Nelson enters year four with the Marauders. In his first season in 2020-21, the native of Dillon, CO, 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. Prior to joining the Marauders Nelson was an assistant coach at the University of Sioux Falls (2018-21) and Minot State University (2012-16) in the Northern Sun and the head coach at Central Wyoming College (2016-18) for two seasons in between… In his first three seasons at UMary, Nelson has had scholar-athletes earn NSIC Newcomer of the Year honors (1), NSIC Player of the Week accolades (1), All-NSIC 1^st team recognition (1) and NSIC All-Academic Team honors (13).  
 
#marauders#