Offense clicks in first half, but UND men's basketball drops fourth straight 97-87

GRAND FORKS — The UND men’s basketball team’s 97-87 loss to Northern Colorado Wednesday was a tale of two halves.

The Hawks led for the first 15 minutes, 35 seconds of the game, extending their lead by as many as seven points. UND started the half shooting 75% from the floor. Treysen Eaglestaff led the Hawks with 17 points. B.J. Omot had 12 points, and Tyree Ihenacho added eight points and four rebounds.

UND went into halftime trailing 51-49 after Brady Danielson’s put-back buzzer beater.

The Hawks got a stop on Northern Colorado’s first possession of the second half and scored on the other end to tie it at 51.

Then the game started to unravel.

UND watched as the Bears extended their lead in the Hawks’ first game of the Summit League-Big Sky Challenge. Northern Colorado guard Jaron Rillie scored eight points in the first 10 minutes of the half. The Bears continued to shoot over 57% from the floor, connecting on tough shots.

“We’re trying to find that confidence, that swagger, that feeling back, as far as we can go out there and get the stop we need and get the bucket we need,” UND coach Paul Sather said. “Tonight, we got some buckets, but, man, we didn’t get a lot of stops.”

The Hawks didn’t connect on a 3-pointer until 2 minutes, 40 seconds left in the game. Ihenacho hit both of UND’s first two threes of the half before fouling out.

UND ended shooting 40% and 3-for-14 from three.

“What was really working for us was ball movement, player movement, cutting, screening, attacking, not really first side shots or quick threes,” Sather said. “Sometimes we got to the rim and just didn’t finish. There’s a few of those in the second half that, as good as we were playing offensively, I thought we got away from what we were doing really well.”

Northern Colorado came up empty-handed from three in the second half, finishing 0-for-3.

Northern Colorado was led by Rillie with 30 points and four rebounds. Saint Thomas ended with a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds.

Eaglestaff led UND with 24 points. Ihenacho had 23 points and five rebounds, and Omot, who played all 40 minutes, had 19 points and seven rebounds. Danielson added 10 points.

UND had just four points off the bench. Eli King and Brian Mathews each had two points in the first half.

The loss is UND’s fourth in a row. The team isn’t “going in different directions,” Sather said, and they know what it will take to turn the season around.

“It’s going to take all of us,” Danielson said. “It happens in every season. No matter what sport you play, you’re going to go through ups and downs. It’s just sticking to it, sticking to what our coaches are telling us and just, as a group, collectively doing it on the offensive, defensive end together, and not trying to do it one-on-one individually.”

Amar Kuljuhovic was out with an injury he sustained in practice.

“I’m hoping it’s more day to day, but it’s a little bit early to really know when he’ll be back,” Sather said. “He came back from break fighting some sickness and played two games when he was really sick, and then he got hurt at practice. He’s just been grinding coming back.”

The Hawks head to Flagstaff, Ariz., to take on Northern Arizona Saturday, Jan. 6 in the second game of the Summit League-Big Sky Challenge.

“There’s always excuses you could let creep in because those things make you feel better,” Sather said. “But the truth is, we have to be more willing to work harder, longer, faster, more connected, more engaged. Toughness wise, we lost a lot of one-on-one battles tonight. The truth is, let’s toughen up. The truth is, let’s be more connected. The truth is, as coaches and as a team, let’s keep finding ways to try to improve and get better.”