Bears Face North Dakota in Big Sky-Summit League Challenge

Calendar

Nov 3

7:30 p.m. MST

Men's Basketball

vs Colorado College

Nov 7

6 p.m. MST

Men's Basketball

vs Colorado Christian

Nov 15

7 p.m. MST | 6 p.m. PST

Men's Basketball

at Pepperdine

Nov 21

5:30 MST | 4:30 PST

Men's Basketball

vs St. Thomas

Nov 22

6 p.m. MST | 5 p.m. PST

Men's Basketball

at Portland

Nov 23

12 p.m. MST | 11 a.m. PST

Men's Basketball

vs California State - Fullerton

Nov 26

4 p.m. MST

Men's Basketball

at Air Force

Nov 29

6 p.m. MST

Men's Basketball

vs Regis

Dec 3

TBA

Men's Basketball

at Omaha

Setting the scene
UNC opens 2024 at North Dakota in Grand Forks, N.D., Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Big Sky–Summit League Challenge. The Bears enter with a two-game winning streak after defeating Northern Arizona 92-77, in the Big Sky Conference opener for both teams Saturday, Dec. 30. UNC claimed its first road win in the last game before Christmas, an 83-79 victory at Air Force Thursday, Dec. 21.

GAME INFORMATION
WATCH                  Summit League Network (Brian Shawn – PxP | Zach Dosch – Analyst)
LISTEN                  KFKA 103.1/1310 (Mike Rice)
TIME                      6 p.m. MST
LOCATION             Betty Engelstad Sioux Center

ABOUT THE BIG SKY-SUMMIT LEAGUE CHALLENGE
The inaugural Big Sky–Summit Challenge begins Wednesday, with each team playing two games against the opposing conference. Both men's and women's results count equally into the result, with a combined champion declared after the 36 total games.

Based on whether they occur at home or on the road determines the tally towards the final conference total. A team's win on their home floor counts one point, while a road victory awards the league one and one-half points for the result. The conference with the most total points combined between men's and women's results in that league being declared the winner.

In case of a tie after all 36 contests, margin of victory accounts for the first tie breaker. If there is still a tie following the calculation of margin of victory, the two commissioners will compete in an arm-wrestling contest at the Final Four to determine the champion. The championship trophy goes to the winning side and placed on display at its office for the following year until the challenge commences for the 2024-25 season, when the teams compete for bragging rights once again.

LAST TIME OUT
Northern Colorado closed 2023 with a 92-77 rout of Northern Arizona in the Big Sky Conference opener for both teams at Bank of Colorado Arena Saturday, Dec. 30.

Jaron Rillie led five Bears in double figures with 18, matching his career high. Langston Reynolds and Zach Bloch established career highs, with 17 and 14, respectively. Brock Wisne tallied 16, while Riley Abercrombie finished with 15.
Full recap here.

HOW THE TEAMS STACK UP

PPG   RPG   APG   FG%   3P%   FT%
UND   66.1    30.4    14.0    43.7    31.6    61.9
UNC   78.2    35.6    14.0    45.6    32.9    70.5

SERIES HISTORY
The Bears trail the all-time series 45-26, including. The first meeting was on March 6, 1966, an 84-71 win for North Dakota. The most recent meeting was on February 24, 2018 – win for the Bears in Grand Forks 79-66.
UND won 16 of the first 20 meetings in the series but UNC enters with a two-game winning streak and triumphs in six of the last 10.
UP NEXT
UNC returns to The Bank Saturday, Jan. 6, in the second part of a doubleheader day for the Bears against Denver. Following the women's game at 2 p.m., the men clash at 6 p.m. Both games count in the overall result for the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge.

To purchase tickets, visit uncbears.com/tickets or call 970-351-4849. Tickets can also be purchased at the Campus Commons Ticket Office, Monday-Friday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.