Bison at South Dakota State Wednesday, Host Western Michigan Saturday

THIS WEEK:  North Dakota State plays its final road game of the regular season when third-place NDSU (16-9, 9-6) faces second-place South Dakota State (20-7, 12-3) at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15, at Frost Arena (6,500) in Brookings, S.D.  The Bison close out the year with three straight home games beginning with a Sears BracketBusters contest against Western Michigan (10-15) at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, at the Bison Sports Arena (5,830) in Fargo.

TELEVISION:  Wednesday's game at South Dakota State will be televised live on Midco Sports Net beginning at 7 p.m. with Tom Nieman and Brad Newitt calling the action.

RADIO:  KFGO-AM 790 of Fargo will have live coverage beginning at 6:40 p.m. both nights with KFGO's Scott Miller calling the play-by-play and NDSU director of sales and broadcasting Jeremy Jorgenson as color analyst.  Bison Radio Network affiliate KFYR-AM 550 in Bismarck will carry Wednesday's game.  A free audio stream will be available on GoBison.com and through the NDSU Bison mobile app for Android, iPhone and iPod Touch devices with a one-time premium purchase of $4.99.

INTERNET:  Live video is available by subscription to NDSU All Access on GoBison.com.  Prices are $9.95 for a monthly subscription, $29.95 for four months, and $79.95 annually.  Live stats are available on GoBison.com free of charge and also through the NDSU Bison mobile app for Android, iPhone and iPod Touch devices.

THE SERIES:  Wednesday will be the 204th meeting between North Dakota State and South Dakota State dating back to January 1910.  NDSU leads the series 108-95 but SDSU snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 91-88 overtime win in Fargo on Jan. 21.  The Bison have won five straight at Frost Arena since the 67-65 loss on Feb. 18, 2006.

Saturday will be the second meeting between North Dakota State and Western Michigan.  The Broncos won 79-57 in Kalamazoo on Dec. 8, 1956.  NDSU is 2-2 against the Mid-American Conference since joining Division I in 2004-05 (Eastern Michigan 1-2, Northern Illinois 1-0).

ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA STATE:  The Jackrabbits are 20-7 overall and second in The Summit League with a 12-3 record after losing 72-68 at South Dakota and winning 75-62 at UMKC last week.  SDSU is 10-0 at home and has won 13 straight home games back to Jan. 27 of last season when UMKC beat the Jacks 63-58.  Nate Wolters ranks eighth in the nation in scoring (21.5 ppg), 15th in assists (6.0 apg) and 15th in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.71).  SDSU is No. 19 in scoring offense (78.6 ppg), 19th in fewest turnovers per game (11.1) and 20th in 3-pointers made per game (8.4).  Behind Wolters, SDSU's next top four scorers all shoot over 40 percent from the 3-point line.  Head coach Scott Nagy (Delta State, 1988) has a 309-197 record in his 17th season at South Dakota State.

ABOUT WESTERN MICHIGAN:  The Broncos have lost four straight and six of their last eight to drop to 10-15 overall heading into Wednesday's game at Northern Illinois.  Western Michigan is tied for second place in the West Division of the Mid-American Conference with a 4-7 record.  WMU returned 10 letterwinners including all five starters from last year's team that went 21-13, won the MAC West, and advanced to the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.  The Broncos lost seven of their first eight this year, including an 82-76 loss at South Dakota State in the season opener.  WMU won four straight in December including a 91-76 victory at Oakland.  Matt Stainbrook, a 6-foot-9, 300-pound sophomore center, leads the Broncos with 12.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game and has a team-high 22 blocks.  Head coach Steve Hawkins (South Alabama, 1987) has a 155-127 record in his 9th season at Western Michigan and a 292-238 record in his 18th season overall.

BISON, SUMMIT IN THE BRACKETBUSTERS:  Saturday will be North Dakota State's second appearance in the BracketBusters event.  NDSU won 77-69 at Milwaukee in a non-televised game Feb. 21, 2009.  The Bison qualified for the NCAA tournament in their first year of eligibility in 2009.  This is the first year The Summit League has had all 10 members participate in the event.  The league has a 5-6 record dating back to 2005 (NDSU 1-0, Oral Roberts 3-3, South Dakota State 0-1, Valparaiso 1-2).

SUMMIT VS. MID-AMERICAN:  Summit League teams are 2-4 against the Mid-American Conference this season and will play three head-to-head matchups in Saturday's Sears BracketBusters event including Buffalo at South Dakota State on ESPNU and Akron at Oral Roberts on ESPN2.  The leagues have met only once before in BracketBusters with Western Michigan beating Valparaiso 89-80 in overtime in 2007.

BISON SURGE PAST USD IN SECOND HALF, 82-71:  Eric Carlson scored a season-high 19 points and North Dakota State made all eight free throws in the final 61 seconds to hold off South Dakota for an 82-71 win last Saturday.  NDSU trailed 39-35 at halftime but scored 11 straight points and converted on nine of its first 12 possessions in the second half to go ahead for good.  NDSU shot 68.2 percent in the second half and finished 56.9 percent for the game.  Lawrence Alexander and Taylor Braun finished with 13 points, TrayVonn Wright had 10, and Marshall Bjorklund nine.  The Bison opened the second half on a 21-5 run to build their biggest lead of the night, 56-44 with 12:20 left.  USD got within 69-65 at the 3:00 mark before Joel Lindberg's 3-pointer from the right wing on the next possession made it a seven-point game.

CHAMBERLAIN, UMKC ROLL PAST BISON, 72-61:  Reggie Chamberlain scored 27 points and UMKC rolled to a 72-61 win over North Dakota State on Thursday.  UMKC made 12 of 19 attempts from the 3-point line.  Taylor Braun scored 13 points and Drew Lundberg had 10 for North Dakota State.  UMKC led from the start.  The Kangaroos got back-to-back 3's from Chamberlain to make it a double-digit game midway through the first and it was 39-23 at halftime.  NDSU trailed by as many as 23 points and was down 69-48 with 3:30 left before closing the game on a 13-3 run.  The Kangaroos shot 52.1 percent overall compared to 47.6 percent for the Bison.  UMKC, which ranked last in the league in rebounding margin, had a 25-22 edge in total rebounds.

IN THE NCAA STATS:  North Dakota State ranked fourth in field-goal shooting percentage (.498), 35th in 3-point shooting percentage (.382) and 46th in scoring offense (74.6 ppg) in the NCAA Division I statistics through Sunday, Feb. 12.  Individually, Mike Felt was 12th in 3-point percentage (.446) and 44th in 3-pointers made per game (2.6), and Taylor Braun was 41st in field-goal percentage (.535).

NCAA Team Field Goal Percentage, through Feb. 12
1. Creighton - .504
2. Campbell - .502
3. Missouri - .500
4. North Dakota State - .498
5. Iona - .497

NDSU 139th IN NCAA RPI:  North Dakota State dropped six spots to No. 139 in the NCAA Rating Percentage Index released Monday, Feb. 13.  NDSU was fourth in The Summit League behind Oral Roberts (45) and South Dakota State (68) and Oakland (135).  Minnesota (61) was the only other Bison opponent in the top 100.

OPPONENTS HEATING UP FROM ARC:  North Dakota State has gone from first to eighth in The Summit League in 3-point defense over the past seven games, going 3-4 in that stretch.  NDSU was holding league opponents to .289 shooting from the arc through the first eight league contests, but that number has ballooned to .395 with opponents shooting 45 percent or better in six of the last seven games.  The Bison allowed a season-high 63.2 percent last Thursday at UMKC, which went 12-for-19 from the arc.
Opponent 3-Point Shooting, Last 7
.458 - South Dakota State (11-24)
.500 - at IPFW (8-16)
.448 - at Oakland (13-29)
.500 - Southern Utah (1-2)
.286 - Oral Roberts (2-7)
.632 - at UMKC (12-19)
.500 - at South Dakota (6-12)

SCORING DEFENSE AMONG BEST IN PROGRAM HISTORY:  North Dakota State's scoring defense is one of the best in the program's modern era dating back to 1950.  NDSU's 67.2 points allowed per game through the first 25 contests would rank seventh in school history.
NDSU's Top Scoring Defenses, since 1950
58.1 - 1950-51 (8-15, 3-9 NCC)
59.8 - 1951-52 (17-11, 10-2 NCC)
62.6 - 1957-58 (9-14, 5-7 NCC)
64.0 - 2006-07 (20-8)
64.9 - 1985-86 (16-12, 9-9 NCC)
66.3 - 2005-06 (16-12)
67.2 - 2011-12 (15-9, 8-6 Summit)

GAMES MISSED:  North Dakota State has had three players miss time this year due to injuries or illness.  Senior forward Eric Carlson missed one exhibition and the first nine regular-season games with a broken jaw suffered Nov. 1 against Minnesota State Moorhead.  He had his jaw wired shut for four weeks and returned Dec. 17 against Mayville State with four points and a game-high nine rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench.  Joel Lindberg missed Dec. 30 vs. IPFW (head), Jan. 5 at Oral Roberts (head), and Jan. 28 at Oakland (illness).  Dylan Hale missed Jan. 14 vs. South Dakota (head).

BEST START IN 11 YEARS:  North Dakota State started the season 2-0 for the first time since November 2002 and with six straight wins made NDSU's best start since the 2000-01 Bison won their first seven straight under current Creighton coach Greg McDermott.  The six straight wins to start the season was the fourth most in Summit League history and last done by South Dakota State last year before NDSU beat the Jackrabbits 82-75 in Brookings.
Most Consecutive Wins to Start a Season
Summit League, All Games
1.  9, Northern Illinois, 1994-95
2.  8, Oral Roberts, 2004-05
3.  7, Illinois-Chicago, 1990-91
     7, Green Bay, 1991-92
5.  6, North Dakota State, 2011-12
     6, South Dakota State, 2010-11
     6, Oral Roberts, 2002-03

BRAUN MVP, TWO OTHERS ALL-TOURNEY:  North Dakota State guard Taylor Braun was named Most Valuable Player of the Hilltop Challenge and Bison guards Mike Felt and Lawrence Alexander were also named to the all-tournament team.  Braun averaged a team-high 16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.  He notched a career-high 26 points and 10 rebounds against San Francisco and shot 68 percent from the floor and 86 percent from the foul line for the weekend.  Felt averaged 13.7 points and was 9-for-19 from the 3-point line for 47 percent.  He led NDSU in scoring twice off the bench with 18 points against Louisiana-Lafayette and 17 against Northern Arizona.  Alexander averaged 12.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists and nearly got a triple-double in his collegiate debut with 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists against San Francisco.

YOUNG GUNS, PART 2:  North Dakota State's roster includes 10 underclassmen this year with a combination of seven sophomores and three freshmen.  Two of those sophomores could be juniors by now, but Mike Felt was granted a hardship year in 2009-10 with an early foot injury and Jordan Aaberg sat out all of last season to recover from a concussion.  This is the youngest team NDSU has fielded since listing 13 underclassmen in both 2005-06 and 2006-07.  NDSU held the distinction of being the youngest team in the nation in 2005-06, but the Bison are not even among the top 10 this year.  UC Irvine, Navy and Texas Tech are the three youngest teams in America, in order, based on years of experience per player.

FOREIGN TOUR:  North Dakota State, with seven sophomores and three freshmen on its roster, got its youthful team a jump-start on the season with a two-game trip to Winnipeg in August as part of a once-in-four-years foreign tour allowed under NCAA rules.  The Bison held 10 practices before going to Canada and beating Manitoba 97-56 and Winnipeg 89-42.  NDSU's only other foreign trip was to Winnipeg and Toronto in 2005-06.  NDSU had four freshmen and one junior in its starting lineup that year and went 16-12 overall including a 62-55 win in January at No. 13/15-ranked Wisconsin.

OVERTIME GAMES:  North Dakota State is 7-5 in overtime games since joining The Summit League in 2007-08, including a 1-1 mark in OT this year.  NDSU won 72-69 at Southern Utah on Jan. 7 but lost at home to South Dakota State 91-88 on Jan. 21.

CLOSE GAMES:  North Dakota State has played more close games the last two seasons than any other years in the program's Division I history.  NDSU is 5-5 this year in games decided by five points or less, an improvement from last year's 2-8.

FOUR STARTERS BACK:  North Dakota State returns four players who started at least 20 games for last year's 14-15 team that placed seventh in The Summit League with an 8-10 record.  NDSU has three of its top four scorers back including senior forward Eric Carlson (10.1 ppg), sophomore forward Marshall Bjorklund (8.7 ppg) and sophomore guard Taylor Braun (8.2 ppg).  The other returning starter is senior guard Drew Lundberg (8.0 ppg).  The Bison graduated their leading scorer and second team All-Summit League forward Michael Tveidt (15.3 ppg), who is playing for the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League.

BISON PICKED FIFTH IN SUMMIT:  North Dakota State was picked to finish fifth out of 10 teams in The Summit League in a preseason poll of the league's coaches, sports information directors and media.  Oral Roberts received 27 of 32 first-place votes as the preseason favorite, two-time defending champion Oakland had four votes in second place, South Dakota State was third  with one top vote, and IUPUI was fourth ahead of NDSU.  IPFW, UMKC, Southern Utah, Western Illinois and first-year member South Dakota rounded out the poll in order.

THE SUMMIT LEAGUE:  This is North Dakota State's fifth season in The Summit League after spending three seasons as a Division I independent.  Other members are Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW), Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI); University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC); Oakland University in Rochester, Mich.; Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla.; University of South Dakota; South Dakota State University, Southern Utah University; and Western Illinois University.  The Summit League will drop to nine teams next year with the addition of the University of Nebraska Omaha from Division II and the departure of Southern Utah to the Big Sky Conference and Oral Roberts to the Southland Conference.

THE COACH:  Saul Phillips (Wisconsin-Platteville, 1996) is in his fifth season as head coach at North Dakota State with an 83-62 record.  Phillips directed North Dakota State to its first Summit League championship and NCAA Division I tournament appearance in 2009, and was one of 10 finalists for the Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year award.  A Bison assistant for three seasons, Phillips came to NDSU from Wisconsin, where he was director of basketball operations for three years under Bo Ryan.  He was an assistant for two seasons each at Milwaukee and Lake Superior State and a graduate assistant at Wayne State in Nebraska for one year.

BISON FEEDBACK:  Join North Dakota State head men's basketball coach Saul Phillips and head women's basketball coach Carolyn DeHoff for "Bison Feedback" from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday nights on KFGO-AM 790 in Fargo.  Bison play-by-play voice Scott Miller hosts the call-in program and takes your questions for the coaches all season long (no shows Nov. 22, Dec. 20, Dec. 27 or Jan. 17).  Bison Feedback can also be heard live on GoBison.com and on the NDSU Bison mobile app for Android, iPhone and iPod Touch.