STOCKTON, Calif. – The Pacific men's basketball team continues its early season road trip as it travels to the Peace Garden State for two non-conference matchups at North Dakota State on Sunday, Nov. 13, and North Dakota on Tuesday, Nov. 15.
The two non-conference contests will be the first venture for the Tigers to North Dakota in program history.
Jordan Ivy-Curry shined in his season debut for the Tigers (0-1), leading the team in scoring with a 23-point performance at Stanford. Tallying four during the 2021-22 season with UTSA, Ivy-Curry's performance marked the fifth time he has recorded 20 or more points in a game in his career. The sophomore from La Marque, Texas, is one of seven players in the West Coast Conference to score at least 20 points in the season's opening game.
Donovan Williams had a breakout game in his first action with the team, tallying a career-high 17 points against the Cardinal. Scoring in double figures for the first time in his career, Williams connected on 63.6 percent (seven-for-11) of his shots and recorded one three-point basket.
Judson Martindale led the Tigers in rebounds with five, while Luke Avdalovic tallied a career-high four steals.
Trailing by 12 points at halftime, the Tigers came out slow to start the final 20 minutes of play as the Cardinal lead ballooned to 19, 53-34, at the 16:53 mark of the second half. The Tigers, however, battled back into the game and outscored the Cardinal, 26-10, in the following 9:52. During the run, Ivy-Curry poured in nine points, while Williams added four.
North Dakota State enters Sunday's game winless after dropping its first two games of the season to #10 Arkansas and #5 Kansas. In the two contests against nationally ranked opponents, the Bison (0-2) averaged 58.5 points per game and shot 35.1 percent from the floor.
Grant Nelson leads the Bison in scoring and rebounds through the first two games of the season, averaging 14.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Nelson, who nearly recorded a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds at Kansas, was one of two team members to score in double figures in both games to open the season.
Pacific and North Dakota State have only competed once in the history of the two programs, with the first-ever meeting coming last season. Nick Blake led the Tigers in scoring with 14 points as the Tigers dropped a 73-61 decision to the Bison at the Alex G. Spanos Center on December 17, 2021.
Following the game at North Dakota State, the team travels north and faces North Dakota at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The Fighting Hawks (1-1) are coming off a 35-point loss on the road to #9 Creighton last Thursday after starting the season with a 65-57 win over Incarnate Word. In the loss to the Blue Jays, the Fighting Hawks connected on 46.3 percent of their shots and recorded a season-high eight three-point baskets.
The Fighting Hawks have two team members averaging in double figures, with Tsotne Tsartsidze leading the way with 11.5 points per game. Matt Norman ranks second on the team in scoring, averaging 10.0 points per game.
Defensively, Elijah Brooks leads the team with 12 rebounds, three steals, and three blocks.
In two contests against the Fighting Hawks, the Tigers have come out victorious in both meetings, dating back to the first-ever meeting on December 7, 1977. The last time the two programs competed against each other was on December 1, 2013, in a 93-76 win for the Tigers in Eugene, Ore.
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