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Treysen Eaglestaff caps off 51-point day with and-1 jumper (0:31)
Treysen Eaglestaff sets the mark for highest total in a Division I game this season with 51 points in North Dakota's upset win over South Dakota State. (0:31)
ESPN News Services
Mar 8, 2025, 02:08 AM ET
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Treysen Eaglestaff scored a Summit League-record 51 points to power North Dakota to an 85-69 victory over South Dakota State on Friday night in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Geno Crandall set the previous conference record for the Fighting Hawks, scoring 41 in a victory over Troy during the 2017 regular season.
Eaglestaff's 51 points are the most by a Division I player in any game since Houston Christian's Darius Lee scored 52 in a four-overtime win against McNeese on March 5, 2022. It's the most points in a non-overtime game against a Division I opponent since Marquette's Markus Howard scored 54 against USC on Nov. 29, 2019.
Eaglestaff became the third Division I player to score 50 points in a conference tournament game in the past 30 years. He scored 40 points in a loss to Alabama on Dec. 18, making him the only Division I player with multiple 40-point games this season.
Eaglestaff shot 15-for-28 from the floor, including 8-for-18 from 3-point range, and 13-of-17 from the free throw line. He scored 28 points in the second half.
His 50-point game was the fourth in North Dakota history, with two of the others belonging to NBA coaching legend Phil Jackson (Feb. 24, 1967 (50), March 11, 1967 (52)).
The third-seeded Jackrabbits (20-12) were led by Oscar Cluff with 27 points and 17 rebounds. Kalen Garry added 12 points and 7 rebounds. Matthew Mors totaled 10 points and 7 rebounds.
No. 6 seed North Dakota (12-20) advances to play second-seeded St. Thomas-Minnesota in Saturday's semifinals.
The Tommies are currently in Year 4 of a four-year transition to Division I that renders them ineligible for the NCAA tournament. If St. Thomas were to win the Summit crown, the conference's automatic NCAA tournament bid would be awarded to regular-season champion Omaha, even if the Mavericks lose in Saturday's semifinal against South Dakota.
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
