SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- After entering the week sitting in last place in the League standings with a 1-3 mark, North Dakota vaulted right into the thick of things following back-to-back home wins. The Fighting Hawks' two victories to pull back to the .500 mark and within a one-and-half games of League-leading South Dakota State only underscores just how much parity exists early in the campaign.

All nine teams have at least two wins and only the Jackrabbits have suffered just one setback as they lead things at 4-1.  What stands behind SDSU, who will play Kansas City at 6 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network Thursday, is a group of eight teams of which half have accumulated three wins, while the other half has mustered two early in the season.

UND will have to wait until Saturday night to see if it can creep over the .500 mark and perhaps even closer to the top perch. The Fighting Hawks will also be looking for a little revenge as they face a St. Thomas team that belted them 70-45 in the League opener on Dec. 29.

The UND-UST contest is one of seven #SummitMBB contests this week that will be free for fans to watch on the Summit League Network. For a full schedule and more information on the free preview, fans can check out the following story.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
FREE PREVIEW WEEK ON THE SUMMIT LEAGUE NETWORK FOR GAMES ON JAN. 25TH and 27TH!
Thursday, Jan. 25
Kansas City at SDSU* (CBSSN) | 6 p.m. CT
Omaha at Oral Roberts* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
NDSU at St. Thomas* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
South Dakota at Denver* (SLN) | 7 p.m. MT

Saturday, Jan. 27
Omaha at Denver* (SLN) | 2 p.m. MT
South Dakota at Kansas City* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
SDSU at Oral Roberts* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
North Dakota at St. Thomas* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
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Thursday, Feb. 1
Denver at Kansas City* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
St. Thomas at Omaha* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
North Dakota at South Dakota* | 7 p.m. CT
NDSU at SDSU* | 7 p.m. CT

Saturday, Feb. 3
NDSU at North Dakota* (MS/SLN) | 3:30 p.m. CT
Denver at Oral Roberts* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
St. Thomas at Kansas City* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT

Sunday, Feb. 4
South Dakota at SDSU* (CBSSN) | 4 p.m. CT

Rankings: (AP/Coaches)
All times local to site
# Big Sky-Summit Challenge

Key:  MS (Midco Sports), CBSSN (CBS Sports Network), ESPN+ (ESPN Plus), MWC (Mountain West Conference Live), SLN (Summit League Network), YT (YouTube)

TEAM TRACKER
DENVER PIONEERS (12-8; 3-2 SL) | @DU_MensHoops
Next Up: South Dakota* (1/25; 7 p.m. MT); Omaha* (1/27; 2 p.m. MT)
Previous Game: at North Dakota State* (W, 78-70); at North Dakota* (L, 92-78)    
The Pioneers split their two games in the Peace Garden State last week and now sit in a tie for second place in the League standings ... In the 78-70 win over NDSU, Touko Tainamo paced the Pioneers with 21 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the floor ... It was the seventh 20-plus point scoring game of the season for Tainamo and first against a League foe ... Graduate student Jaxon Brenchley added 15 in the win as he reached double figures for the fifth time in the last six games - a stretch of games where he is averaging 13.0 ppg ... Senior Tommy Bruner led DU with 32 in a loss at North Dakota, which marked the sixth 30-plus point game of the season for the nation’s leading scorer (25.2 ppg) ... Bruner went 12-for-23 from the field and 5-for-8 from beyond the arc against the Fighting Hawks and also surpassed the 1,000-point plateau as a Pioneer in just 52 career games (1,012) ... Denver returns to the Mile High City for a pair of Summit games this week against South Dakota and Omaha.  

KANSAS CITY ROOS (8-12; 2-3 SL) | @KCRoosMBB
Next Up: at South Dakota State* (1/25; 7 p.m. CT); South Dakota* (1/27; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: North Dakota State* (L, 92-91; 2OT); North Dakota* (L, 82-69); at Omaha* (W, 74-72)   
The Roos won their lone contest of the week in thrilling fashion as Jamar Brown hit a driving layup with 13 seconds to play to lift Kansas City to a 74-72 win at Omaha ... Brown’s basket helped the Roos snap a three-game skid against League foes as he finished with 11 points ... Cameron Faas paced Kansas City with 15 points as all of his points came from behind the arc where he went 5-for-7 in the contest ... Faas leads all Summit League players with a 44.2 percent clip and has made 53 shots from deep on the season ... Faas is 13-for-26 from 3-point territory in League play ... Freshman Yulian Ramirez-Montero matched his season-high with 10 points off the bench in the victory ... Kansas City travels to South Dakota State for a clash with the Jackrabbits on CBSSN Thursday at 6 p.m. CT before returning home to play South Dakota Saturday.    
  
NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS (11-10; 3-3 SL) | @UNDMBasketball
Next Up: at St. Thomas* (1/27; 7 p.m. CT); at South Dakota* (2/1; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: Oral Roberts* (W, 87-77); Denver* (W, 92-78)
The Fighting Hawks picked up back-to-back home wins to even their Summit League record at 3-3 and move back over the .500 mark in overall games at 11-10 ... Sophomore B.J. Omot led UND in scoring in both victories, posting 25 against Oral Roberts and 20 against Denver and now has 20-plus in three consecutive games for the first time in his career ... Omot is averaging 25.0 ppg and shooting 52.9 percent from 3-point range during that three-game stretch ... In the 14-point win over the Pioneers, Amar Kuljuhovic posted season-highs in points (19) and rebounds (15) to register his team-leading fourth double-double of the season ... All five starters reached double figures for the Hawks as Treysen Eaglestaff added 18 poins, Tyree Ihenacho put up 14 and Tsotne Tsartsidze chipped in with 12 ... Eaglestaff made four 3-pointers and leads all Summit League players with 56 makes on the season ... The Fighting Hawks will look for revenge in their lone Summit action of the week as they visit a St. Thomas team Saturday that beat them 70-45 in the League opener.

NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON (9-11; 2-3 SL) | @NDSUMBB 
Next Up: at St. Thomas (1/25; 7 p.m. CT); at South Dakota State* (2/1; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: Denver* (L, 78-70); Oral Roberts* (W, 72-67)  
The Bison split a pair of home games last week, bouncing back from a 78-70 loss to Denver to oust Oral Roberts 72-67 ... Senior Boden Skunberg paced NDSU in scoring in both games as he creeps closer to the 1,000-point plateau for his Bison career (enters week with 988) ... Skunberg scored 15 against the Pioneers, then put up 20 in the win over the Golden Eagles, marking the fifth 20-plus point game of his season ... Freshman Noah Feddersen reached his season-high of 18 for the second time in four games against ORU, going 7-for-11 from the field and 3-for-4 from beyond the arc ... Senior Andrew Morgan logged his second double-double of the season and first since the opener at Western Michigan, finishing with 14 points and 13 rebounds against the Golden Eagles ... NDSU’s lone matchup this week is a Thursday tilt at St. Thomas.

OMAHA MAVERICKS (10-11; 3-3 SL) | @OmahaMBB 
Next Up: at Oral Roberts* (1/25; 7 p.m. CT); at Denver* (1/27; 2 p.m. MT)
Previous Game: at South Dakota State* (L, 90-87); Kansas City* (L, 74-72) 
The Mavericks dropped both of their Summit tilts last week by a combined total of five points as they fell back to the .500 mark in League play at 3-3 ... Junior Marquel Sutton averaged 20.5 ppg in those two losses as he scored 20-plus in back-to-back games for the first time in his career ... In the 90-87 loss to League-leading South Dakota State, Sutton and Frankie Fidler each scored 20 points to pace the visitors ... Sutton went 10-for-15 from the field and  pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to record his second double-double of the season ... Sutton paced the team with 21 points in a 74-72 loss to the Roos as all five Maverick starters reached double figures ... Fidler scored 15 and leads all Summit League players with a 26.2 ppg in six conference games ...  The Mavericks will look to get back on the winning track with back-to-back road games at Oral Roberts Thursday and Denver Saturday.

ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (8-11; 2-4 SL) | @ORUMBB 
Next Up: Omaha* (1/25; 7 p.m. CT); South Dakota State* (1/27; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: at North Dakota* (L, 87-77); at North Dakota State* (L, 72-67)
The Golden Eagles dropped back-to-back games at North Dakota and North Dakota State to fall to 2-4 in League play ... Senior Issac McBride scored a career-high 30 in the 87-77 loss to the Fighting Hawks and is averaging 22.2 ppg in six League games (third overall) ... Classmate Kareem Thompson averaged 21.0 ppg in the two losses and went 3-for-7 from beyond the arc in both contests ... Thompson had a career-high 23 points against the Bison to go with nine rebounds and four assists ... His 17 triples in League play are the most by a Summit League player and he is shooting 48.6 percent from deep in six conference games ... ORU returns to the Mabee Center with a chance to get back to the .500 mark with tilts against Omaha Thursday and League-leading South Dakota State Saturday.

ST. THOMAS TOMMIES (13-7; 3-2 SL) | @TommieMBBall
Next Up: North Dakota State* (1/25; 7 p.m. CT); North Dakota* (1/27; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: South Dakota State* (L, 81-80); at Oral Roberts* (W, 87-76); at South Dakota (L, 74-73 OT)     
The Tommies fell 74-73 in overtime at South Dakota in what was their lone action of the week ... The loss dropped UST into a tie for second in the League standings with Denver ... Graduate student Parker Bjorklund led UST with 17 points and seven rebound, while Raheem Anthony added 14 ... It marked the eighth time this season that Bjorklund led the Tommies in scoring ... Drake Dobbs chipped in with 11 points as he reached double figures for the 11th time overall and fifth time in the last six games ... Dobbs is averaging 14.0 ppg over those last six games after putting up 8.6 ppg in his first 14 games ... The Tommies return to Schoenecker Arena to face North Dakota State Thursday and North Dakota Saturday.   
 
SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES (9-11; 2-3 SL) | @SDCoyotesMBB 
Next Up: at Denver* (1/25; 7 p.m. MT); at Kansas City* (1/27; 7 p.m. CT) 
Previous Game: St. Thomas* (W, 74-73 OT); South Dakota State* (L, 73-55)  
The Coyotes split a pair of home games last week, winning 74-73 in overtime against St. Thomas before falling to in-state rival South Dakota State by 18 ... In the win over the Tommies, USD trailed by as many as 10 midway through the second half before rallying to force the extra session on a putback jumper by redshirt freshman Jevon Hill with five seconds to play ... Lahat Thioune led USD with 18 points and 10 rebounds to record his League-leading ninth double-double of the season ... Bostyn Holt finished with 15 and hit the game-winning jumper in overtime with 31 seconds to play ... Hill finished with 12 points in the win and added a career-high 15 vs. the Jackrabbits off the bench to post back-to-back double-digit scoring games for the first time ... Hill went 5-for-9 from beyond the arc against SDSU to account for all his team-high points ... Kaleb Stewart, who missed the UST contest with an illness, added 10 against the Jackrabbits and continues to lead the team in scoring in both overall (13.9 ppg) and conference games (19.0 ppg) ... USD has two roads games in Summit action this week Thursday at Denver and Saturday at Kansas City. 

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS (11-9; 4-1 SL) | @GoJacksMBB 
Next Up: Kansas City* (1/25; 6 p.m .CT); at Oral Roberts* (1/27; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: Omaha* (W, 90-87); at South Dakota* (W, 73-55)
The Jackrabbits moved into sole possession of first place in the League standings with a home win over Omaha and road win at in-state rival South Dakota ... Junior Zeke Mayo earned his first TicketSmarter Peak Performer of the Week honor of the season after averaging 20.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg and 4.0 apg in those two victories ... Mayo scored 21 against the Mavericks and 20 against the Coyotes, while combining to shoot 8-for-16 from beyond the arc ... The Lawrence, Kan., native is the active career scoring leader among Summit League players with 1,288 points (87 games) ... Senior Charlie Easley averaged 18.0 ppg and 6.5 rpg last week and ranks among the top 20 nationally in steals (46; 15th after swiping five in the two wins ... Sophomore William Kyle has reached double figures in a career-best seven consecutive games after going for 11 against Omaha and adding 12 in the win over the Coyotes ... He has his season average up to 13.2 ppg and is averaging 16.6 ppg since returning to the starting lineup five games ago (vs. Montana State; Jan. 6) ... SDSU plays host to Kansas City Thursday on CBSSN then travels to reigning regular season and tournament champion Oral Roberts Saturday. 

#SUMMITMBB