# 2016–17 North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's basketball team

The 2016–17 North Dakota Fighting Hawks Men's Basketball team represented the University of North Dakota during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Fighting Hawks, led by 11th-year head coach Brian Jones, played their home games at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 22–10, 14–4 in Big Sky play to win the Big Sky regular season championship. In the Big Sky tournament, they defeated Portland State, Idaho, and Weber State to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As a No. 15 seed in the West region, they lost to No. 2-seeded and No. 4-ranked Arizona in the first round.

## Previous season

The Fighting Hawks finished the 2015–16 season 17–16, 10–8 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for fifth place. They defeated Southern Utah and Idaho State to advance to the semifinals of the Big Sky tournament where they lost to Weber State. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they lost in the first round to UC Irvine.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Adam McDermott | 3 | G | 6'4" | 175 | Freshman | Cedar Falls, IA | Transferred to Northern Iowa |
| Shane Benton | 10 | C | 7'0" | 230 | RS Senior | Cedar Rapids, IA | Graduated |
| Wheeler Baker | 13 | G | 6'2" | 175 | Sophomore | Brooklyn Park, MN | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Dustin Hobaugh | 25 | F | 6'5" | 200 | RS Senior | League City, TX | Graduated |
| Bryce Cashman | 31 | C | 6'10" | 225 | Sophomore | Weston, MO | Left the team for personal reasons |
| James Richman | 50 | F | 6'7" | 220 | RS Freshman | Tower City, ND | Walk-on; didn't return |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Solomon Rolls-Tyson | 10 | F | 6'8" | 200 | Junior | Birmingham, AL | Junior college transferred from College of Eastern Utah |
| Jafar Kinsey | 11 | G | 6'2" | 185 | Junior | Syracuse, NY | Junior college transferred from Des Moines Area CC |
| Marlon Stewart | 13 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Sophomore | Eldridge, IA | Transferred from Creighton. Under NCAA transfer rules, Stewart will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |

### 2016 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Kienan Walter SG | Vancouver, WA | King's Way Christian School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | May 28, 2015 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 67 ||||||
| Billy Brown SG | Spirit Lake, IA | Spirit Lake High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Jun 22, 2015 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 24, 2016. ||||||

### 2017 incoming recruits

College recruiting information (2017) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Garrett Franken SF | Atlantic, IA | Atlantic High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Jul 10, 2016 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 24, 2015. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 1:00 pm | | Crown | W 98–48 | 1–0 | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center Grand Forks, ND |
| 11/15/2016* 7:00 pm | | Mayville State | W 94–66 | 2–0 | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,681) Grand Forks, ND |
| 11/20/2016* 4:00 pm | | Presentation | W 101–63 | 3–0 | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,573) Grand Forks, ND |
| 11/25/2016* 3:30 pm | | vs. North Florida Men vs. Cancer Classic | L 75–76 | 3–1 | Nutter Center (3,123) Dayton, OH |
| 11/26/2016* 6:00 pm | | at Wright State Men vs. Cancer Classic | L 79–83 | 3–2 | Nutter Center (3,024) Dayton, OH |
| 11/27/2016* 1:00 pm | | vs. Cal State Bakersfield Men vs. Cancer Classic | W 57–55 | 4–2 | Nutter Center (2,975) Dayton, OH |
| 12/07/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at North Dakota State | W 74–56 | 5–2 | Scheels Center (5,022) Fargo, ND |
| 12/10/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Northern Iowa | L 70–78 | 5–3 | McLeod Center (4,521) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 12/16/2016* 8:00 pm | | North Dakota State | L 70–87 | 5–4 | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (2,428) Grand Forks, ND |
| 12/20/2016* 8:00 pm, BTN | | at Iowa | L 73–84 | 5–5 | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (11,099) Iowa City, IA |
| Big Sky regular season ||||||
| 12/29/2016 9:00 pm | | at Portland State | L 62–99 | 5–6 (0–1) | Peter Stott Center (612) Portland, OR |
| 12/31/2016 2:00 pm | | at Sacramento State | W 90–82 $^{OT}$ | 6–6 (1–1) | Hornets Nest (505) Sacramento, CA |
| 01/05/2017 7:00 pm | | Northern Arizona | W 68–63 | 7–6 (2–1) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,518) Grand Forks, ND |
| 01/07/2017 4:00 pm | | Southern Utah | W 95–65 | 8–6 (3–1) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,749) Grand Forks, ND |
| 01/12/2017 8:00 pm | | at Montana State | W 90–85 | 9–7 (4–1) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,629) Bozeman, MT |
| 01/14/2017 8:00 pm | | at Montana | L 70–76 | 9–7 (4–2) | Dahlberg Arena (3,719) Missoula, MT |
| 01/19/2017 7:00 pm | | Weber State | W 83–77 | 10–7 (5–2) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (2,362) Grand Forks, ND |
| 01/21/2017 2:00 pm | | Idaho State | W 89–64 | 11–7 (6–2) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (2,570) Grand Forks, ND |
| 01/26/2017 7:30 pm | | at Southern Utah | W 91–89 | 12–7 (7–2) | Centrum Arena (2,069) Cedar City, UT |
| 01/28/2017 3:00 pm | | at Northern Arizona | L 67–68 | 12–8 (7–3) | Walkup Skydome (1,658) Flagstaff, AZ |
| 02/04/2017 2:00 pm | | Northern Colorado | W 87–77 $^{OT}$ | 13–8 (8–3) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (2,352) Grand Forks, ND |
| 02/09/2017 7:00 pm | | Eastern Washington | W 95–86 | 14–8 (9–3) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,891) Grand Forks, ND |
| 02/11/2017 4:00 pm | | Idaho | W 88–65 | 15–8 (10–3) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (2,345) Grand Forks, ND |
| 02/16/2017 8:00 pm | | at Idaho State | W 77–61 | 16–8 (11–3) | Holt Arena (1,415) Pocatello, ID |
| 02/18/2017 8:00 pm | | at Weber State | W 77–68 | 17–8 (12–3) | Dee Events Center (7,658) Logan, UT |
| 02/25/2017 8:00 pm | | at Northern Colorado | W 84–81 $^{OT}$ | 18–8 (13–3) | Bank of Colorado Arena (2,132) Greeley, CO |
| 03/02/2017 7:00 pm | | Sacramento State | L 53–57 | 18–9 (13–4) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (2,266) Grand Forks, ND |
| 03/04/2017 4:00 pm | | Portland State | W 82–73 | 19–9 (14–4) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (2,870) Grand Forks, ND |
| Big Sky tournament ||||||
| 03/09/2017 12:05 pm | (1) | vs. (8) Portland State Quarterfinals | W 95–72 | 20–9 | Reno Events Center (1,762) Reno, NV |
| 03/09/2017 5:35 pm | (1) | vs. (4) Idaho Semifinals | W 69–64 | 21–9 | Reno Events Center (2,003) Reno, NV |
| 03/09/2017 5:30 pm, ESPNU | (1) | vs. (3) Weber State Championship | W 93–89 $^{OT}$ | 22–9 | Reno Events Center (2,025) Reno, NV |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 03/16/2017* 8:30 pm, TBS | (15 W) | vs. (2 W) No. 4 Arizona First Round | L 82–100 | 22–10 | Vivint Smart Home Arena (16,341) Salt Lake City, UT |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West Region Source. All times are in Central Time. ||||||