Jan. 14—GRAND FORKS — Head coach Paul Sather didn’t pay much attention when UND was picked to finish second-to-last in the Summit League preseason poll.
Preseason predictions have become especially finicky at the mid-major level, where the transfer portal era has provided near-constant roster changes across the board from year to year.
The Fighting Hawks, who lost leading scorers Treysen Eaglestaff and Mier Panoam to the portal in the offseason, are off to a 3-1 start in conference play and are currently third in the standings.
Redshirt freshman Greyson Uelmen, a former walk-on, has emerged as the Hawks’ leading scorer. Who could’ve seen that coming?
Senior guard Eli King has been just as excellent on defense and seems to have brought his offense to another level, averaging 11.4 points per game. The bench — a healthy mix of returners, transfers and freshmen — has been provided a major boost.
Still, it’s hard to ignore the preseason noise surrounding St. Thomas, especially when the program has lived up to said expectations thus far.
UND welcomes the Summit League’s preseason favorites to the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center this Thursday. It’s time to see if the Hawks can hang with perhaps the best the league has to offer.
“(It’s) a team that is just like us — we want to compete for a Summit League championship,” Sather said. “This is the kind of team that you’ve got to be able to beat to put yourself in that position. So at the end of the day, let’s come out and let’s compete every possession. Let’s make every possession important, and then kind of improve as the game goes on. Do the things that we’ve been doing and then improve on some of the things that we need to continue to improve on.”
As it stands, the Tommies are 14-4 and 3-0 in conference play. They’re currently No. 115 in the NET Rankings, according to bballnet.com. That’s 24 spots higher than North Dakota State, the second-highest ranked team in the league.
St. Thomas’ offense has been one of its greatest strengths. The Tommies are scoring 82.4 points per game, shooting 50.1% from the field and do not turn the ball over. Their assist-to-turnover ratio is 1.9, the sixth-best in Division I basketball.
That’s helped St. Thomas to a plus-4.11 turnover margin, third only to UND and North Dakota State in the Summit League.
“What they do well is they just move the ball at a high level,” Sather said. “They make easy plays, they don’t turn it over, so you’ve got to really be solid defensively.”
The problem is, it’s hard to key in on just one player.
St. Thomas has Nolan Minessale, who Sather described as “probably Player of the Year in our league.” He’s averaging 20.6 points per game, good for second in the conference.
Redshirt freshman guard Nick Janowski is averaging 15.6 points per game. Sophomore forward Isaiah Johnson-Arigu is averaging 11.5. Carter Bjerke, a 6-foot-9 forward, is shooting 38.9% from 3-point range and averages 9.3 points.
Redshirt sophomore guard Austin Herro, little brother of the Miami Heat’s Tyler Herro, is scoring at a lower clip (5.5 points per game) but shoots 52.9% and is a major presence on defense.
“Each one of their guys can attack you off the bounce,” Sather said. “They all can score it off the bounce, they all can make the right plane pass off the bounce and off two feet. They all have the ability to step up, make shots, some better than others, but they all have that ability.”
It will be UND’s hardest test of the conference slate so far.
Some of the Hawks’ early success in the Summit League has to do with their competition. They’ve beaten 5-13 (0-3) Oral Roberts and 4-14 (1-3) Kansas City. Their most impressive win came at home in overtime against South Dakota State, which is 9-9 and 2-1 in conference.
But that doesn’t mean UND’s success has been a mirage. The Hawks have won at home and split on the road. That’s a recipe for success in league play.
Plus, there are stats and individual performances that point toward reasons for excitement.
UND’s plus-5 turnover margin leads the Summit League and ranks No. 10 in the nation. Its defense, which faced a
complete overhaul in the offseason
, has consistently forced turnovers and sped up opposing offenses.
Uelmen’s emergence, King’s growth and the development of transfers and freshmen alike have all helped the Hawks along to their 3-1 start in conference play. They seemed to take their licks and grow during the non-conference season, highlighted by a 90-88 win over Winthrop.
After taking on St. Thomas on Thursday, UND will host 9-9 (1-2) South Dakota on Saturday. The two-game home stand is an opportunity for the Hawks to establish themselves as a threat in the Summit League.
“I think this is a really big testament to how our season is going to go,” junior center Josh Jones said. “Playing St. Thomas, we all need to step up. We have to all play well, because they’re a really good team, and well-coached. So I think these next two games will really be like a kind of character moment for us.”
Outsiders — myself included — might look at this weekend and think, “Well, let’s see if they can hang around with St. Thomas and beat South Dakota. That would look like success.”
That’s outside the building, though. When asked what success would look like in these next two games, Jones offered a succinct response: “Winning both.”
