THIS WEEK
After a week off for Christmas break, the University of Mary men's basketball team opens the New Year with a pair of home games on Friday and Saturday, January 3-4. The Marauders first opponent in 2025 is defending NCAA Division II national champion Minnesota State University on Friday at 7:30 pm. The weekend wraps up with a visit from Winona State University at 5:30 pm on Saturday.
 
Both games will be played on Bortke Court inside the University of Mary's McDowell Activity Center.
 
FOLLOW LIVE
Links to live video and stats are available at www.GoUMary.com/coverage.
 
THE RECORDS
The Marauders are 4-11 overall and 2-4 in the Northern Sun… Minnesota State is 8-6 overall and 4-2 in the NSIC… Winona State is 10-3 overall and 5-2 in the NSIC.
 
DOUBLEHEADER WEEKEND ACTION
UMary plays its first weekend Northern Sun doubleheader of the season when Minnesota State and Winona State visit the MAC on January 3-4. This is the first of five straight conference doubleheader weekends for the Marauders. UMary played back-to-back games three times (including games on three straight days to open the 2024-25 schedule) in the first half of the season but all the games were non-conference contests.
 
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 the final week before taking a break from Christmas, the Marauders dropped a pair of games… UMary suffered a 66-50 loss at St. Cloud State on December 17. Gunner Swanson hit three treys and scored 11 points. Ty Rogers also chipped in 11… On Saturday, December 21, a 3-point shot by Jeremiah Jomes rimmed out in a heartbreaking 72-70 loss to visiting Bemidi State. Rogers paced the Marauders with 19 points, including a 3-for-4 effort begin the arc. Xavier Lewis, Rich Ashu and Gunner Swanson all added 11 points.
 
HISTORY LESSON – MARAUDERS v. MAVERICKS
The Marauders are 5-14 all-time against the Mavericks… Before an 87-71 Mavericks win in Bismarck on January 20, 2024, in the last meeting between the two teams, UMary had won two straight games against Minnesota State… UMary snapped a 5-game losing streak to Minnesota State with a 96-91 overtime win in the 2016 NSIC quarterfinals… The two teams first met Dec. 12, 2008, in Bismarck with the Mavericks winning 83-61… After losing the first four games in the series, UMary claimed its first win 84-69 over MSU in Bismarck on January 15, 2011 as All-American Anthony Moody hit eight treys and scored 31 points and Jordan Wilhelm added five three-pointers and 17 points… The Marauders picked up their first – and only - win at the Taylor Center 75-61 on January 14, 2017.
 
HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. WARRIORS
The Marauders are 3-23 all-time against the Warriors… Winona State claimed a 68-62 win at UMary on January 19, 2024, in the last meeting, snapping the Marauders 2-gae winning streak against the Warriors… UMary is 2-10 all-time at the MAC against Winona State… WSU is 13-1 at home against UMary, including 3-1 in the NSIC tournament… The Marauders lost the first seven games of the series before winning 87-85 in overtime at home on 1.3.10 behind 29 points from Anthony Moody. The All-American hit 5-of-6 3-point attempts and captured NSIC Player of the Week honors for his efforts.
 
SHARING THE LOAD
Three Marauders are averaging over 10.0 points/game this season:

• Jeremiah Jones leads UMary in scoring at 12.1 ppg. He is shooting 45.3% from the field overall. The sophomore guard, who missed last season due to injury, also leads the team in rebounding (6.1 rpg) and steals (35) and is 2^nd in blocks (8) and assists (30). Jones has reached double figures in eight 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 10.8 ppg and leads the squad in assists (54). Eight times he has scored ten or more points with a season-best 21points against MSU Moorhead.
• Junior forward Ty Rogers averages 11.7 ppg. He is making 52.4% of his shots overall and a team-best 41.9% on treys. Rogers also is pulling down 4.2 rpg.

 
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)

 
 
STAT STUFFER
Jeremiah Jones ranks among the Northern Sun's top-25 in multiple categories:

• 1^st steals/game (2.3)
• 21^st rebounds/game (6.1)
• 25^th assists (2.3)

 
STOP THIEF
Jeremiah Jones ranks 9^th in total steals (35) and 29^th in steals/game (2.3) in NCAA Division II… UMary is 6^th in the NSIC with 6.9 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 all 15 games at guard. Cayden Redfield (13 games), Ty Johnson (15) and Tamerrein Henderson (14) have played key minutes off the bench. Transfer Daniel Hong (8), redshirt freshman Alex Dvorak (3), and freshmen Wylee Delorme (7) and Matija Otasevic (6) 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 13 rejections in 15 games (.9/game). The senior forward has also been efficient shooting the ball, making 54% of his shots this season.
 
HIGH EFFICIENCY
Ty Rogers is converting an impressive amount of his shots. The junior forward is connecting on 52.4% of his field goal attempts through 15 games and has reached double figures in scoring ten times. He scored a career-best 22 points against Black Hills State… Junior forward Xavier Lewis is knocking down a team-leading 57.5% of his shot attempts as he is scoring 7.1 ppg.   
 
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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