THIS WEEK
The University of Mary men's basketball team remains on the road for a second straight weekend as the Marauders pay a visit to the University of Sioux Falls and #22/13 Southwest Minnesota State University. UMary first ventures to the Stewart Center in Sioux Falls, SD, on Friday, January 17. Tipoff is slated for 5:30 pm between the Marauders and the Cougars. UMary then heads to Marshall, MN, to take on Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday, January 18. Game time between the Marauders and the Mustangs is 3:30 pm at the R/A Facility on the SMSU campus.
 
FOLLOW LIVE
Links to live video and stats are available at www.GoUMary.com/coverage.
 
THE RECORDS
The Marauders are 4-15 overall and 2-8 (13^th place) in the Northern Sun… Sioux Falls is 9-7 overall and 5-5 (9^th) in the NSIC… SMSU is 13-3 overall and 8-2 (1^st) in the NSIC.
 
FROM CLOSER TO OPENER
Beginning this weekend (January 18-19) in the Northern Sun, the men's game tips off first with the women playing the nightcap during all conference doubleheaders. The first half of the NSIC season featured the women's game prior to the men's contest.  
 
FRIDAY IN THE FALLS
The Marauders are playing a second straight Friday in Sioux Falls, SD. UMary opened their road trip last weekend at Augustana. This Friday the weekend opens at the University of Sioux Falls.
 
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 TIME OUT
In their first road games of 2025, the Marauders dropped a pair of NSIC contests… Alex Mattes scored a career-high 19 points and Kevin McGaskey added 13 in a 70-63 loss at Augustana on Friday. Mattes hit all four of his 3-point attempts and went 5-of-6 at the line… Ty Rogers paced UMary with 16 points in an 83-58 loss at Wayne State College. The junior forward was 8-for-9 at the free throw line. Freshman Wylee Delorme came off the bench to scored a career-best 10 points.
 
HISTORY LESSON – MARAUDERS v. COUGARS
The Cougars lead the series with the Marauders 11-3… USF won the first four games in the series before UMary claimed the next two… In the first meeting the Cougars beat the Marauders 75-63 on 11.20.99... The Marauders first win was a 69-65 road win on Dec. 12, 2015, UMary's only victory at USF… Mary is 1-3 at home, 1-8 at USF and 1-0 in neutral site games… The two former NAIA competitors first met as NCAA and NSIC foes on 2.9.13 with USF gaining a 75-70 home win. The Marauders joined the Northern Sun for the 2006-07 season and the Cougars began NSIC play in 2012-13.
 
HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. MUSTANGS
The Marauders trail the Mustangs in the series 17-5… UMary is 3-5 all-time at home in the MAC and 2-11 at SMSU's R/A Facility… The Marauders last win in Marshall, MN, was 91-82 on December 11, 2015, as Bryan Jefferson had 18 points and Marquealis Edwards had 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
 
 
 
SHARING THE LOAD
Three Marauders are averaging over 10.0 points/game this season:

• Jeremiah Jones leads UMary in scoring at 11.3 ppg. He is shooting 43% from the field overall. The sophomore guard, who missed last season due to injury, also leads the team in rebounding (5.9 rpg) and steals (43) and is 2^nd in blocks (10) and assists (43). Jones has reached double figures in ten games with a season-high 23 against Valley City State… He is 2^nd in the NSIC in steals (2.3/game) and 20^th in rebounds (5.9/game).
•  Kevin McGaskey, in his first season at UMary as a graduate transfer from Prairie View A&M, is scoring 10.6 ppg and leads the squad in assists (61). He is 8^th in the NSIC in assists/game (3.4). Ten times he has scored ten or more points with a season-best 21points against MSU Moorhead. McGaskey is making a team-high 79.6% of his free throws.
• Junior forward Ty Rogers averages 11.1 ppg. He is making 46% of his shots overall and a team-best 39% on treys. Rogers also is pulling down 3.7 rpg.

 
STOP THIEF
Jeremiah Jones ranks 11^th in total steals (43) and 29^th in steals/game (2.3) in NCAA Division II… UMary is 6^th in the NSIC with 6.8 steals/game.
 
DOUBLING DOWN
Jeremiah Jones produced the first UMary double double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds in the Marauders 86-75 win at Minnesota Crookston. The sophomore guard now has three career double doubles after positing two his freshman season in 2022-23.
 
DEBUTS
Eight Marauders made their UMary debuts this season. Kevin McGaskey has started 18 of 19 games at guard. Cayden Redfield, Ty Johnson and Tamerrein Henderson have played key minutes off the bench. Transfer Daniel Hong, redshirt freshman Alex Dvorak, and freshmen Wylee Delorme and Matija Otasevic 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 16 rejections in 19 games (.8/game). The senior forward has also been efficient shooting the ball, making 48% of his shots this season.
 
HIGH EFFICIENCY
Ty Rogers is converting an impressive amount of his shots. The junior forward is connecting on 47% of his field goal attempts through 19 games and has reached double figures in scoring 11 times. He scored a career-best 22 points against Black Hills State… Junior forward Xavier Lewis is knocking down a team-leading 55% of his shot attempts as he is scoring 6.2 ppg.  
 
TRIAL BY FIRE
UMary faced a rigorous challenge the first 12 games this season which included:

• Five teams in national polls (#RV MSU Billings, #RV St. Edward's, #RV Alaska-Anchorage, #7 MSU Moorhead, #13 Minot State)
• Six teams who won at least 20 games last season (#RV MSU Billings, #RV St. Edward's, #RV Alaska-Anchorage, Central Oklahoma, #7 MSU Moorhead, #13 Minot State)
• Three teams who made the 2024 NCAA tournament (MSU Billings, Alaska-Anchorage, MSU Moorhead)

 
PRECIOUS COMMODITY
The Marauders committed just two turnovers against Winona State on January 4. It's the fewest turnovers committed by UMary in a single game during the program's NCAA era (beginning with the 2006-07 season), matching the Marauders total of two on February 23, 2008, in a 72-50 loss to #4 Northern State at the MAC.  
 
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).  
 
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