#SummitMBB Weekly Notebook: No. 14

Posted: Feb 05, 2019

WEEKLY NOTEBOOK: No. 14 (w/stats)

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The top three teams remained in order after the opening week of the second half of #SummitMBB play, but there is a newcomer to the top half of the standings. NDSU has moved over .500 mark and traded spots with Oral Roberts thanks to a 78-76 victory over Western Illinois Saturday. The Bison are now in fourth at 5-4 in league play and get the upcoming week started with a road tilt at in-state rival North Dakota slated for Wednesday.

South Dakota State kept its perch atop the standings thanks to a pair of road wins over Oral Roberts and Denver. In the process, senior Mike Daum moved past Larry Bird into the top 15 on the NCAA's all-time scoring charts during Sunday's win over the Pios (28 pts, 13 rebs). It was his 15th double-double of the season.

FIVE THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED...
• South Dakota State's David Jenkins, Jr. (81), and Skyler Flatten (68) rank one-two on The Summit League charts for 3-pointers made this season. The duo has combined for 149 makes from beyond the arc this season, which entering the week was more than 98 other Division I teams had made. Both players were also ranked in the Top 10 nationally in 3-point field goal percentage: Flatten is ninth (46.9) and Jenkins, Jr., is tenth (46.8).
• Purdue Fort Wayne's John Konchar now sits fifth all-time in The Summit League record books with eight Player of the Week honors for his career. His latest came after the Mastodons went 2-0 last week when the senior standout averaged 23.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 6.0 apg and 3.0 spg.
• North Dakota State's Deng Geu scored a career-high 22 points a road win at Western Illinois and the junior remains the only reserve in The Summit League to lead his team in scoring (12.3 ppg).
• Omaha's starters all reached double figures and accounted for 86 of its 90 points in an 18-point win over UND Sunday. Senior Zach Jackson led the way with 22 points as he posted his 10th 20-plus point game of the season.
• North Dakota's Cortez Seales averaged 17.0 ppg, 11.5 rpg and 5.5 apg as the Fighting Hawks opened the second half with a road split at Western Illinois (W, 74-73) and at Omaha (L, 90-82). His 15 rebounds against the Leathernecks were a career-high and the most for a Fighting Hawk since their 2017 NCAA Tournament appearance against Arizona.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (TV/Stream; all times local to site)
Wednesday, February 6
NDSU at North Dakota* (MSN/E+) 7 p.m.

Thursday, February 7
Denver at Oral Roberts* (KGEB/E+) 7 p.m.
Western Illinois at Purdue Fort Wayne* 7 p.m.
Omaha at South Dakota* (MSN2/COX/E+) 7 p.m.

Saturday, February 9
Denver at North Dakota State* (MSN2/E3) 3 p.m.
North Dakota at SDSU* (MSN/E3) 4:15 p.m.

Sunday, February 10
Oral Roberts at South Dakota (MSN/E3) 1 p.m.

RECENT RESULTS
Wednesday, January 30
Purdue Fort Wayne 102, South Dakota 71*

Thursday, January 31
SDSU 86, Oral Roberts 80*

Friday, February 1
North Dakota 73, Western Illinois 72*

Saturday, February 2
Purdue Fort Wayne 82, Oral Roberts 81*
NDSU 78, Western Illinois 76*

Sunday, February 3
Omaha 90, North Dakota 72*
SDSU 92, Denver 82*
*Summit League contest

THE NET RESULTS
Here's a look at how Summit League members are stacking up in the NCAA's new "NET" rankings system, which replaced the RPI from year's past.

Through games of Feb. 4:

South Dakota State (95)

Omaha (178)

Purdue Fort Wayne (212)

North Dakota State (216)

South Dakota (224)

North Dakota (288)

Western Illinois (295)

Oral Roberts (305)

Denver (308)

DAUM NAMED TO WOODEN AWARD® LATE SEASON WATCH LIST

South Dakota State's Mike Daum was one of 20 Division I college basketball players named to the John R. Wooden® Award Late Season Watch List revealed on ESPN2 Monday night. So far this season, Daum is one of two DI players averaging over 20 points and 10 rebounds per game, leading The Summit League in scoring (24.4 ppg) and rebounding (11.3 rpg).

NOTING THE PIONEERS...

• The Pioneers opened the second half of #SummitMBB play with a 92-82 home loss to league-leading South Dakota State.

• A pair of freshmen turned in career highs to pace the Pioneers in scoring off the bench against the Jackrabbits.

• David Nzekwesi went 6-for-6 from the field and 7-for-7 from the charity stripe to finish with 21 points -- also made both of his 3-point attempts.

• Classmate Jase Townsend reached double figures for just the fourth time during his rookie season, totaling 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting. It was Townsend's best scoring output since opeing the season with 16 in his collegiate debut against Maine.

• DU has back-to-back road games to navigate this week starting at Oral Roberts Thursday before ending the week in Fargo vs. NDSU.

NOTING THE FIGHTING HAWKS...

• The Fighting Hawks earned a road split to the back end of their first league slate.

• In Friday's postponed matchup with Western Illinois, junior Kienan Walter scored a career-high 18 points while senior Cortez Seales registered a double-double with 17 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.

• Seales continued his strong week in the loss at Omaha, flirting with a triple-double before setting with 17 points and team-bests in rebounds (8) and assists (7).

• UND has played the last three games without senior captain Conner Avants (12.3 ppg) who continues to recover from an undisclosed injury. Avants continues to lead the league in field goal percentage (61.2).

• The Fighting Hawks will look to avenge a road loss to in-state rival North Dakota State when the Bison visit Grand Forks Wednesday.

NOTING THE BISON...

• North Dakota State started the season 0-8 in road games, but have picked up back-to-back wins away from home. Those two victories moved the Bison into fourth place in the league standings and to 5-4 in league play.

• Junior Deng Geu poured in a career-high 22 points in NDSU's latest win -- a 78-76 victory at Western Illinois. Geu went 8-for-12 from the floor and buried a season-high three 3-pointers in just 17 minutes of action against the Leathernecks.

• The Bison overcame a seven-point halftime deficit thanks to Vinnie Shahid, who had 10 of his 15 points after the break. His 3-pointer with 4:15 to play gave NDSU the lead for good.

• Shahid is averaging 11.3 ppg in his first season with the Bison who take to the road Wednesday for a showdown at in-state rival North Dakota.

NOTING THE MAVERICKS...

• The Mavericks are the only team in #SummitMBB with its five starters all averaging double figures.

• That quintet all scored double figures in Omaha's 90-72 win over North Dakota and combined for 86 of those points.

• Senior Zach Jackson led that charge with a game-high 22 points -- his 10th 20-plus point game of the season (fourth among Summit League players).

• Junior J.T. Gibson added 20 points and a game-high four steals as the Mavericks combined for 14 in the contest.

• Those 14 steals matched Omaha's season high from an early season win over Buena Vista. The Mavs, who are second in the league in steals (6.3/g) had 13 the game before at South Dakota State.

• Omaha next plays at The Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls in what will be a home game for South Dakota.

NOTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES...

• Oral Roberts will look to snap a four-game skid on Thursday against Denver.

• The Golden Eagles played two of the league's top teams tough last week but both outcomes were not in their favor.

• The good news for ORU was the return of All-Summit League performer Emmanuel Nzekwesi, who averaged 10.0 ppg and 7.5 rpg in his return to action.

• Freshman Kevin Obanor held onto his reign as the league's top scoring rookie, averaging 18.0 ppg off the bench in the two losses.

• Sam Kearns delivered his best performance in an ORU uniform as the junior scored a career-high 27 points in the 82-81 loss to Purdue Fort Wayne Saturday.

NOTING THE MASTODONS...

• The Mastodons have been streaky so far in #SummitMBB action -- reeling off four wins, then dropping three straight before regrouping to win their last three.

• The latest was another thriller as Matt Holba drained a 3-pointer with four seconds to play, lifting Purdue Fort Wayne to an 82-81 victory at Oral Roberts.

• The one-point affair was the polar opposite of the 31-point victory that the Mastodons posted over South Dakota Wednesday to kick off the second half of league play.

• Senior John Konchar earned his third weekly honor after averaging 23.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 6.0 rpg and 3.0 spg in those two victories.

• Konchar posted his eighth double-double of the season (21 pts and 10 rebs) in the win over the Coyotes before tossing in 26 at ORU.

NOTING THE COYOTES...

• The Coyotes could never find their footing Wednesday in a 102-71 loss at Purdue Fort Wayne.

• The bright spot was sophomore Stanley Umude, who poured in a career-high 32 points in the loss. He went 10-for-16 from the field while the Mastodons limited the rest of the Coyotes to just a 13-for-46 effort.

• Umude now ranks among the top 10 scorers in The Summit League, chipping in 14.0 ppg. He has started the last seven games and is averaging 20.0 ppg during that stretch, including five 20-plus point efforts.

• Senior Trey Burch-Manning is averaging 9.7 ppg since his return to the lineup (four-game absence).

• The Coyotes will play host to Omaha at The Sanford Pentagon Thursday at 7 p.m.

NOTING THE JACKRABBITS...

• Senior Mike Daum scored 28 points in the win over Denver to pass Larry Bird and move into 15th place on the DI all-time scoring charts with 2,854 points.

• Surprisingly, Daum was the not the highest-scoring Jackrabbit in the victory. Those honors belonged to Skyler Flatten, who tallied a career-high 36 points on 14-of-18 shooting, including an 8-for-12 effort from beyond the arc. The eight made treys tied for the most in a game by a Summit League player this season.

• SDSU's eight-game winning streak was tied for the ninth longest in Division I entering the week.

• The Jacks play only once this week as they play host to North Dakota on Saturday.

NOTING THE FIGHTING LEATHERNECKS...

• The Fighting Leathernecks were on the wrong end of a couple of nailbiters that resulted in home losses to North Dakota (74-73) and North Dakota State (78-76).

• Junior C.J. Duff has seen his scoring acumen rise after four straight games in double figures. He is averaging 20.5 ppg and shooting 70 percent from 3-point range (14-for-20) during that stretch after reaching double figures just four times in the previous 12 games (8.8 ppg).

• Kobe Webster continues to be the league's top scoring underclassmen, averaging 17.5 ppg. He has reached double figures in all 10 #SummitMBB contests and 22 of 23 games this season.

• WIU plays just once this week against a Purdue Fort Wayne team it beat by 29 in the first meeting (Jan. 19). Duff had a career-high 30 points in that contest. Thursday's matchup will be in Fort Wayne.

#SUMMITMBB

Men's Basketball

#SummitMBB Weekly Notebook: No. 14