North Dakota
Head Coach: Paul Sather (5th year)
Location: Grand Forks, ND
Conference: Big Sky
Nickname: Fighting Hawks
Line: Nebraska by 18.5
Typical Rotation Depth: 9+
KenPom rank: 262
Nota bene:
- The Fighting Hawks have a lot of length on the roster to the point they are KenPom's 18th ranked team in Average Height
- Nebraska last played hosted North Dakota back in 2019 during Fred Hoiberg's first season with North Dakota pulling off the 75-74 upset
- York, Nebraska native Brady Danielson is the only remaining player from the last meeting between the Hawks and Huskers
KenPom most used lineups
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Player to watch: BJ Omot
ND's leading scorer Omot is a budding star in the Summit and currently leads the Hawks at over 16 points per game. He's much better taking to the rim as he's a fairly poor 3pt shooter. Offers some rim protection.
Player to watch: Trevsen Eaglestaff
Another sophomore, Eaglestaff is easily the best 3pt shooter on the team, currently shooting 38.7% on the year. Tends to set up on the left side of the court and has a quick release.
Player to watch: Tyree Ihenacho
6'4 PG Tyree Ihenacho has an interesting backstory as he started his college career earning Freshman of the year honors at North Dakota. He ended up transferring to James Madison where he had a couple of decent seasons. He decided to transfer back to North Dakota and was in the middle of sitting out for the season before the NCAA lost a court case about multiple transfers and decided to play. This will be his 2nd game back and it wouldn't be surprising to see him get the starting nod at PG. Ihenacho is probably the flashiest passer on the team but tends to be turnover prone. His shooting is spotty.
Others to watch
Juco transfer Amar Kuljuhovic is the team's leading rebounder and is shooting 67.3% on the season from the floor. Tsotne Tsartsidze is a 4/5 who will shoot at a decent clip from the outside. Deng Mayar is a skinny JUCO post who rebounds well but hasn't been scoring much. Iowa St transfer Eli King is starting at PG but he's been just plain bad shooting the ball this season. Elijah Brooks at SG brings dribble drive ability. Brady Danielson is a glue guy for the Fighting Hawks.
UNL Game Notes
Roster/infirmary report
Out indefinitely
5 Ahron Ulis 6-3 190 lbs Junior - Likely out for the season
15 Blaise Keita 6-11 257 lbs Junior - Ongoing ankle injury recovery
Out not indefinitely
51 Rienk Mast 6-10 248 lbs Junior - Knee
Out, Unknown
2 Ramel Lloyd Jr. 6-6 210 lbs RS Freshman
35 Henry Burt 6-7 216 lbs RS Freshman
Possible starters for Nebraska
10 Jamarques Lawrence 6-3 183 lbs Sophomore
30 Keisei Tominaga 6-2 179 lbs Senior
3 Brice Williams 6-7 213 lbs Junior
4 Juwan Gary 6-6 221 lbs Junior
53 Josiah Allick 6-8 231 lbs Senior
Bench
0 C.J. Wilcher 6-5 214 lbs Junior
9 Jarron Coleman 6-5 213 lbs Senior
1 Sam Hoiberg 6-0 183 lbs Sophomore
11 Eli Rice 6-8 213 lbs Freshman
21 Matar Diop 6-10 213 lbs Freshman
31 Cale Jacobsen 6-4 200 lbs RS Freshman
24 Jeffrey Grace III 6-3 197 lbs Sophomore
Hoiberg w/Greg Sharpe
Danny Nee called in to the show and he and the 1993-94 team will be honored in January for the Northwestern game.
The Skinny:
Nebraska looks to head into Christmas break on a 3 game winning streak in a potential trap game against North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks' style of taking away the 3 is similar to both the Creighton and Minnesota squads responsible for Nebraska's only two loses. I'm interested to see how many 3pt attempts Keisei has in this game given this type of defense tends to limit him but it doesn't have B1G level defenders. Feels like Nebraska should be able to get the FT line in this one.
The Hawks will probably take a bunch of 3s and probably won't make a ton of them but some times the shots fall. As long as Nebraska can control the paint, they'll likely be ok.
I think Nebraska will try and work in Boogie, Rice, and Diop in the first half if possible in this one.
Prediction: Nebraska 77 - North Dakota 64
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