Jan. 26, 2012

North Dakota and Utah Valley picked up GWC wins on Thursday night with UND defeating NJIT, 80-63, and Chicago State falling to the defending GWC champion Wolverines, 65-56.

North Dakota 80, NJIT 63

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Patrick Mitchell registered his first double-double of the season and reached a career milestone as UND topped NJIT 80-63 in Great West Conference action on Thursday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Mitchell buried two free throws in the final minute to reach 1,000 points for his career, helping UND (9-10, 1-1 GWC) snap a four-game skid in the series with NJIT (9-10, 2-1 GWC).

Mitchell finished with 13 points and a season-high 10 rebounds as all five UND starters reached double figures in the same game for the first time this season.

Jamal Webb led the starting quintet with 16 points. Ten of those came in the second half when UND shot 71.4 percent from the floor (15-for-21). Troy Huff added 15 points and eight rebounds for UND, while Aaron Anderson and Brandon Brekke also reached double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Anderson also dished out a career-high eight assists in the triumph, while Huff added four as UND finished with 16 helpers and a season-low eight turnovers.

Isaiah Wilkerson paced NJIT with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds, but after a fast start, the Highlanders cooled down and could never regroup.

Wilkerson had 11 points in the opening seven minutes as he staked the visitors to a 16-8 lead, but the preseason first team all-GWC selection sat out the last 7:39 of the first half after picking up his second foul. After starting the game 5-for-10 from the field, NJIT would connect on just three field goals (17 attempts) over the final 13 minutes of the half.

That slump allowed the home team to erase the eight-point deficit and build an eight point lead of its own at the break.

Mitchell capped a 14-2 run with a 3-pointer for UND to make it a 21-18 contest with just over six minutes to play. Two possessions before that, Josh Schuler had tied the score at 18-18 by converting the rare four-point play.

NJIT made just one of 14 attempts from the field during that stretch before making two of its final three shots to not fall further behind.

Those were the first two 3-pointers of the game for UND, which missed its first six shots from beyond the arc. The home team's final 3-pointer of the half came from Webb, who sent his squad into the lockerroom with a 33-25 advantage thanks to a buzzer-beating trey from the corner.

UND's scorching second-half shooting started early as the club opened the stanza making 8 of its first 11 shots to extend its lead to 15 after Webb knocked down his second trifecta of the game. The Highlanders would cut their deficit to single digits with a quick 10-3 spurt, but they could never get closer than eight down the stretch.

Mitchell gave the home crowd a jolt finishing off an alley-oop from Anderson to give UND a 19-point edge with under three minutes to play. That gave the team captain his double-double and put him within two points of the milestone.

Sensing the moment, Anderson found a cutting Mitchell with under a minute to play, but he was fouled by Daquan Holiday preventing the easy layup. The senior calmly sank his two free throws to become the 31st player in the UND history to achieve the feat. He left to a standing ovation from an appreciative home crowd.

UND finished with a 50 percent shooting clip from the floor (27-for-54), while holding NJIT to just a 36.1 percent effort (22-for-61).

Chris Flores and Ryan Woods added 12 points apiece for NJIT. Woods scored all of his points in the second half.

Utah Valley 65, Chicago State 56

OREM, Utah -- Utah Valley University ran its winning streak to five games, outlasting Chicago State on Thursday night in the UCCU Center, 65-56, to move to 2-0 in the Great West Conference.

 Holton Hunsaker led the Wolverines (12-10) with 18 points, using a 16-point first half to help keep UVU afloat. Isiah Williams then scored 11 of his 13 in the second half as Utah Valley outscored the Cougars by 12 over the final 20 minutes.

Geddes Robinson pulled down 16 rebounds to go along with 10 points while Keith Thompson scored 12 and Ben Aird finished with eight points and 10 boards. Robinson - who already owns the school's career rebound record - tied his single-season record set last season with his ninth double-double of the year.

Chicago State (2-18, 1-2 GWC) led by as much as eight late in the first half when, other than Hunsaker, UVU couldn't get much going offensively. Hunsaker was perfect from the field in the half, hitting all four of his field goal attempts - including three 3-pointers - and was 5-of-5 from the foul line.

UVU trailed 34-31 at the break. The Wolverines trailed by three at the 16-minute mark of the second half when Williams started a 15-3 run that put Utah Valley in control. He converted on a layup and free throw to tie the game at 38 and followed with a jumper to give UVU its first lead since the midway point of the first half.

Ardarius Simmons hit a three to put CSU back in front before Aird scored six of UVU's 10 points during a run that put the Wolverines up nine, 50-41, with 10:54 to go.

The Cougars would crawl back into the game late, working what was a 10-point deficit down to three, 59-56, with under two minutes to go.

Thompson hit two free throws to put the Wolverines up five and, after a missed 3-point attempt on the other end of the floor, Williams went the length of the court for two to make it 63-56 with 46 seconds to go. Hunsaker then iced it with a pair from the line with 22 seconds on the clock.

Jeremy Robinson had 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead CSU while Simmons also scored 18, hitting 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. Rosenberg was the other Cougar in double figures with 12.