2024-01-14 00:21:22
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AND Athletics)– B.J. Omot scored a career high 30 points as the North Dakota men’s basketball team got its first Summit League win of the season on Saturday followingnoon, defeating Kansas City 82-69 in the City of Fountains.
Tyree Ihenacho scored 20 points, the first time that UND has had two scorers with 20+ since Omot and Ihenacho did it at Nebraska last month. Amar Kuljuhovic also reached double-figures with 11 points and led the team with eight rebounds. Ihenacho dished out five assists, and Eli King tied a career high with four steals.
Early in the first half Omot spearheaded the attack for the Fighting Hawks, scoring 12 of the first 14 points for NoDak. Eaglestaff made two foul shots to put UND up 16-14, the first lead for the green and white since 2-0. As the half went on Ihenacho emerged for the Fighting Hawks, finishing with ten points in the half. He knotted it up at 31 with 2:06 remaining and then Kuljuhovic got a layup and a free throw to give UND a three-point lead at 34-31, but the Roos knotted it up before intermission and the teams went to the lock room tied at 34.
Coming out in the second half, Kansas City took the early lead but an 8-0 run by the Fighting Hawks starting at the 15:37 mark put them ahead for good. Kuljuhovic got it started with a hook shot, then following a miss on the other end Brady Danielson found Omot with a bullet pass from the backcourt to hit Omot in stride who slammed it home ti tie the game. Ihenacho drove the ball in for a layup to put UND back up and then intercepted the inbound pass to make it 46-42. Overall, NoDak closed the game on a 44-27 run over the last 16 minutes to finish off the game.
North Dakota will return home next week for games once morest Oral Roberts on Thursday night, followed by a visit from Denver on Saturday followingnoon.
Postgame Notes
- Omot is the first Fighting Hawk to score 30+ points in a game since Marlon Stewart scored 35 in a win over North Dakota State on Feb. 22, 2020.
- UND snaps a six game losing streak and picked up the first Summit League win of the season.
- Kuljuhovic has scored in double-figures for the eighth time this season, and in back-to-back games. He scored 10+ in three straight games from Dec. 3-Dec. 12 this season.
- Omot scored 12 of the first 14 points for NoDak, and tied career highs in field goals made and threes made.
- UND went 17-21 from the foul line, outscoring the Roos 17-4 from the stripe.
- Points in the paint were 42-26 in favor of the Fighting Hawks.
How It Happened
First Half
15:11 – Roos 8, AND 5
11:34 – Roos 14, AND 11
7:32 – Roos 18, AND 18
3:43 – Roos 28, AND 25
Half – Roos 34, AND 34
Second Half
14:45 – AND 46, Roos 42
10:04 – AND 61, Roos 51
7:29 – AND 63, Roos 57
2:52 – AND 75. Roos 61
Final – AND 82, Roos 69
Game Recap: Men’s Basketball | 1/13/2024 4:30:00 PM | Josh McSwain, FightingHawks.com
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