THIS WEEK
It's a split weekend for the University of Mary men's basketball team against two of the Marauders closest competitors with a road game Thursday before hosting their Highway 83 rival on Saturday.

Thursday, February 1
7:30 pm at Northern State University
Wachs Arena, Aberdeen, SD
 
Saturday, February 3
5:30 pm vs. Minot State University Beavers
McDowell Activity Center, Bismack ND
 
THE RECORD
The Marauders are 6-14 overall and 1-13 in the Northern Sun (15^th place)… The Wolves are 7-13 overall and 5-9 in the NSIC (10^th place)… The Beavers are 16-4 overall and 11-3 in the NSIC (3^rd place).
 
LAST WEEK
Gerald Gittens delivered 16 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals, Ty Rogers came off the bench to score 15 points and Alex Mattes drilled three treys in the Marauders 83-51 loss at Southwest Minnesota State… Gittens followed with 15 points while making all nine of his free throws and Mattes scored 13 points and added three assists in an 81-56 loss at Sioux Falls.  
 
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

 
YOUTH
UMary is perhaps the youngest team in the NSIC. The ten Marauders who have played at least 150 minutes this season include two freshmen, five sophomores, two juniors and one senior. Both juniors are in their first year at UMary (Gerald Gittens, Rich Ashu) and senior Zyon Smith is in his second season.
 
TEN
Ten Marauders have earned starts this season.
 
LINE PLAY
The Marauders are finding recent success at the free throw line after a cold start. In their last seven games UMary is converting 77% (99-of-129), including a 19-of-21 effort at Sioux Falls. The Marauders made 58% of their free throws through the first 13 games… UMary is 5^th in the NSIC in getting to the free throw line, earning 368 opportunities this season. The Marauders have a 368-345 edge in free throws attempted over the opposition.
 
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).
 
MATTES ON MARCH
Freshman Alex Mattes is making forward strides since joining the starting lineup the last five games. At SMSU he tied his season high with three treys and had a career-best four steals. At Sioux Falls the guard from Woodbury, MN, scored 13 points and distributed a career-high three assists. Mattes owns a career-high 14points earlier this season against Peru State.
 
POWER TRIO
The Marauders have three players scoring at least 11 points per game.  Gerald Gittens is 16th in the NSIC in scoring (14.7 ppg), Brock Heffner (13.4 ppg) is 23^rd and Zyon Smith is in the top 30 (11.4 ppg):

• Gerald Gittens, a transfer from North Central Missouri College, leads the Marauders in scoring at 14.7 points per game. He is shooting 45% from the floor, 37% on treys and averages 4.8 rebounds/game. He also leads UMary in assists with 66.
• Zyon Smith averages 11.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. The senior guard leads the team with 37 3-pointers and is making 32% of his trey attempts.
• Brock Heffner, a transfer from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, averages 13.4 points per game and 4.9 rebounds. The sophomore forward is shooting 48% from the floor and has 13 blocks.

 
HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. WOLVES
The Marauders trail the Wolves 37-13 in the all-time series… UMary and NSU split their series in 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 before the Wolves swept the series the last six seasons… The Wolves have won the last 14 meetings… UMary last defeated Northern State 77-75 on Dec. 3, 2016, in Aberdeen, SD, as Bryan Jefferson scored 17 points and Ricky Suggs added 14 off the bench… The Marauders last home win was a 60-58 victory on Dec. 4, 2015. Marquealis Edwards led UMary with 16 points and four steals… LAST MEETING Zyon Smith scored 16 points and Gerald Gittens 13 for UMary in a 90-74 home loss to the Wolves to open the 2023-24 NSIC schedule. Jacksen Moni led the Wolves with 31 points.
 
HIGHWAY 83 HISTORY
In a series that stretches back to the 1972-73 season – just the third year of Marauders basketball – the University of Mary and Minot State University have played 82 times with the Beavers holding a slight 42-40 series lead… The two teams split their 2022-23 series with each team defending their home court… UMary has an 9-8 edge over the last 17 meetings… In NSIC games the Marauders are 9-13 against the Beavers… a former assistant for the Beavers, UMary head coach Jack Nelson is 3-2 against the Beavers since taking over the Marauders program in 2021. | LAST MEETING Gerald Gittens scored 19 points and Brock Heffner 12 for the Marauders in an 88-65 loss at Minot State 12/9/23. Khari Broadway had 23 for MSU.
 
I KNOW YOU
In his first season at UMary in 2021-22, Marauders head coach Jack Nelson picked up his first two UMary coaching wins against a pair of schools at which he had been an assistant coach. Nelson earned his first win at Minot State on November 23, 2021, where he was an assistant coach from 2012-16. His second UMary win came against Sioux Falls on November 26, 2021, where Nelson coached the previous three seasons (2018-21) prior to joining UMary in what was his second stint at USF… Nelson is 4-4 against the two Northern Sun schools (3-2 vs. MSU, 1-2 vs. USF) at which he was previously an assistant.
 
BOARD GAMES
Sophomore forward Xavier Lewis is 13^th in the NSIC in rebounding. The Lynwood, IL, native averages 6.2 rebounds/game to lead UMary.
 
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 17 of the NSIC in blocked shots… Rich Ashu averages 1.1 blocks/game to rank 7^th in the NSIC. Heffner (0.7 blocks/game) ranks 16^th and Lewis (0.8 blocks/game) is 12^th… Overall the UMary defense is swatting away 3.00 shots/game to rank 7th in the NSIC.
 
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.
 
20/20 VISION
Gerald Gittens posted back to back 20 point games after dropping 24 points on Winona State on Friday and 22 against #1 Minnesota State on Saturday at the MAC. A junior guard from Brooklyn, NY, Gittens has scored 20+ in five games this season, including 23 v Mayville State, 25 at Bemidji State, 22 at Concordia-St. Paul.
 
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.
 
HEFFNER ON A RUN
Sophomore forward Brock 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. He followed with 19 points at Minnesota Duluth and 26 at Concordia-St. Paul.

• 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)

 
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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