Box Score
GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The North Dakota men's basketball team (0-2, 0-0 Summit League) fell in a close one to UC Riverside (2-0) 74-70 on Thursday night from Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
The Hawks couldn't quite get over the hump for much of the game, trailing for 33:25 of total game time. UND trailed by as many as 10 in the first half and got the Highlanders lead down to as little as two on multiple occasions.
North Dakota's best opportunity came when the team was down 59-57 with 3:40 remaining in the second half with the ball. NoDak had two cracks at it, first with Anthony Smith lll missing on a driving layup, than
Josh Jones having one fall off the cylinder following his offensive rebound. The Highlanders then corralled the defensive rebound and Andrew Henderson converted on a three-pointer to make it 62-57 with 3:02 remaining.
UND got 59 shot attempts up compared to 43 from the Highlanders, the main difference was UC Riverside shooting 22-of-27 from the free throw line and North Dakota going 12-of-24.
NoDak had four players total double-digit scoring outings, led by Smith lll with 17 points, followed by
Zach Kraft (12),
Eli King (12) and Jones (10).
Smith lll poured in 13 of his 17 in the second half, while totaling four steals, four assists and two rebounds overall.
Kraft tied his career best with three-point field goals made, including going 3-of-4 from deep in the first half. Jones had an impactful paint presence, logging eight of the team's 40 points in the point overall.
UND got out to a 7-2 early lead with 15:45 to play, but the Highlanders responded with a 12-5 run over the next 3:31 of game play to go up 14-12 and never gave the lead back. Riverside went up as many as 23-13 with 8:47 to play in the first half.
UND trailed 33-24 with 3:56 to play and closed out the first half on 10-4 run to go into the break down 37-34.
NoDak came out the break with a nice offensive set, resulting in a
George Natsvlishvili layup off a dish from King to get the Hawks as close as they would be, down 37-36. The Hawks could not get ahead, trailing by two-to-nine points the rest of the second half. North Dakota shot 5-of-11 in the second half from the free throw line.
The Fighting Hawks will be back in action on Sunday against Cal State Northridge at 1 p.m.
Postgame Notes
- UND falls to 0-2 against UC Riverside all-time
- Smith lll had his first career double-digit point game with 17 points on 6-of-11 shootiing
- King recorded 12 points, his fifth consecutive double-digit point game
- Jones scored 10 for the Hawks, his first career point for North Dakota
- Kraft tied his career high with four three-point baskets, now shooting 6-of-13 from three this season
- Greyson Uelmen had a team-high six assists
- UND had 19 points off of 19 UC Riverside turnovers
- North Dakota shot 26-of-59 while UC Riverside shot 24-of-43
- The Hawks grabbed 10 offensive rebounds
- UND connected on 12-of-24 free throws
- North Dakota falls to 4-3 in home openers under head coach Paul Sather
For more information on North Dakota men's basketball, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDmbasketball.
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