The UND men’s basketball season has been done for over a week now, so let us take some time to look back on what the season looked like.
Going into the season, UND was slotted fifth in the Summit League Preseason Poll. Coming off a 13-20 season last year, the Hawks were projected to improve significantly this season. UND surpassed the lofty regular season expectations and went on to an 18-13 regular season record, placing third in the Summit League.
After getting blown out by the Iowa Hawkeyes in its opening game, UND went on a non-conference rampage. The Hawks won six consecutive non-conference games and showed that this season would be different than past ones.
Following the six-game winning streak, UND fell into a heavy slump. The Green and White dropped nine out of eleven games, many of which were on the road.
UND would then go on a tear in the Summit. The Hawks got back on track against the Kansas City Roos and would then win the next six games. UND went almost a month without a loss.
The Fighting Hawks went 3-4 the rest of the way and finished with a 10-6 record in the Summit League.
The third seeded Hawks were matched up against the sixth seeded Omaha Mavericks in the first round of the Summit League tournament. UND lost in heartbreaking fashion, ending an otherwise exciting and fruitful season.
BJ Omot (So.) was named to the First Team All-Conference Team, averaging 16.7 points per game and 4.2 rebounds. Omot declared for the transfer portal once the season concluded.
Tyree Ihenacho (Sr.) was named to the Second Team All-Conference Team, averaging 14.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game.
Amar Kuljuhovic (Jr.) was named to the All-Newcomer Team, averaging 8.7 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Kuljuhovic played the first two years of his collegiate career at the Junior College level. The Juco transfer logged eight double-doubles for UND this season.
Treysen Eaglestaff (So.) averaged 14.4 points per game and led the team in three-point shooting, burying 80 triples on 38.3% shooting this season.
In his final season for the Hawks, Tsotne Tsartsidze (5th) scored 9.3 points per game and grabbed 5.1 rebounds per game. Hailing from Tbilisi, Georgia, the big man played the final three years of his collegiate career at UND.
Eli King (So.), highly touted transfer from Iowa State University, averaged 7.1 points per game and led the Hawks in steals with 50 on the season.
Brady Danielson (5th) was the last rotational player for the Hawks, averaging 3.7 points per game and playing 18.6 minutes per game.
Here are my awards for the UND Men’s Basketball Season:
MVP: BJ Omot, Defensive MVP: Eli King, and Best Newcomer: Amar Kuljuhovic.
Garrett Webber is a Dakota Student Section Editor. He can be reached at [email protected].
