Bison On Road for Three Straight Starting Thursday at UMKC, Saturday at South Dakota

THIS WEEK:  The third-place North Dakota State men's basketball team (15-8, 8-5) is on the road for its next three straight games beginning at UMKC (9-16, 3-10) at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, at the Swinney Rec Center (1,504) in Kansas City, Mo., and South Dakota (8-14, 3-10) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at the DakotaDome (10,000) in Vermillion, S.D.  UMKC and USD are tied for ninth place in the league, but both have winning records (5-4) at home this year.

TELEVISION:  Saturday's game at South Dakota will be televised live on Midco Sports Net beginning at 7:30 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. Thursday and 7:10 p.m. Saturday with KFGO's Scott Miller calling the play-by-play.  Thursday's game will be carried by Bison Radio Network affiliate KFYR-AM 550 in Bismarck.  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 of Thursday's game at UMKC will be 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 Thursday will be available on GoBison.com free of charge and also through the NDSU Bison mobile app for Android, iPhone and iPod Touch devices.  Saturday's live stats and live video will be on USDCoyotes.com.

THE SERIES VS. UMKC:  Thursday will be the 12th meeting between North Dakota State and UMKC dating back to 2004-05.  NDSU leads the series 8-3 and has won two straight including a 55-54 win in Fargo on Jan. 12.  The Bison are 3-2 in Kansas City, but 1-1 at the Swinney Rec Center after last season's 75-73 loss.  The last five games in the series have been decided by no more than four points and a combined 10 points (2.0 ppg).
NDSU-UMKC, Last 5 Meetings
1/26/2010 - NDSU 73, at UMKC 69 (+4)
2/4/2010 - UMKC 58, at NDSU 56 (-2)
12/28/2010 - at UMKC 75, NDSU 73 (-2)
1/29/2011 - at NDSU 89, UMKC 88, 2OT (+1)
1/12/2012 - at NDSU 55, UMKC 54 (+1)

ABOUT UMKC:  The Kangaroos have lost three straight to drop to 9-16 overall and are tied for ninth in The Summit League with a 3-10 record after last Saturday's 79-63 loss at South Dakota.  UMKC is 5-4 at home after wins over Western Illinois and IUPUI three weeks ago.  Reggie Chamberlain leads UMKC in scoring (17.0 ppg), free-throw shooting (.860) and 3-point shooting (.454), and ranks eighth in league scoring at 17.9 ppg.  Trinity Hall is averaging 10.7 points and Thomas Staton averages a team-high 4.7 rebounds per game.  UMKC is last in The Summit League in rebounding (25.5 rpg) and rebounding margin (-8.5).  Matt Brown (Shippensburg, 1994) has a 51-93 record in his fifth season as the head coach.

THE SERIES VS. SOUTH DAKOTA:  Saturday will be the 164th meeting between North Dakota State and South Dakota dating back to 1922-23 but only the second as Division I opponents.  NDSU leads the series 87-76 after the 82-59 home win Jan. 14.  This is NDSU's first trip to the DakotaDome in Vermillion since Feb. 20, 2004, when USD snapped a four-game losing streak to the Bison with a 105-96 win.

ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA:  The Coyotes are 8-14 overall heading into Thursday's home game with South Dakota State and are tied for ninth in The Summit League with a 3-10 record after snapping a four-game losing streak with a 79-63 home win over UMKC last Saturday.  Charlie Westbrook leads the Coyotes with 18.0 points and 2.0 steals per game and is seventh in league scoring at 19.3 ppg.  Louie Krogman is averaging 14.9 points and a team-high 3.5 assists per game, and Trevor Gruis averages 10.9 ppg.  Ricardo Andreotti is the leading rebounder with 6.9 rpg.  Head coach Dave Boots has a 491-210 record in his 24th season at USD and a 606-271 record in his 30th season overall.

MORRISON, ORU TOO MUCH FOR BISON:  Dominique Morrison had 36 points and Damen Bell-Holter added 16 points and eight rebounds to lead Oral Roberts to an 85-76 win over North Dakota State last Saturday in Fargo.  Mike Felt made five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points to lead North Dakota State.  Lawrence Alexander scored 16, Taylor Braun had 13, Marshall Bjorklund 12 and Eric Carlson 10 for NDSU.  The Bison led by as many as five points midway through the first half, but ORU went on a 9-1 run to go ahead for good.  The Golden Eagles extended their lead to 11 early in the second half, but NDSU slowly got back within 52-50 with 10:39 left.  It was 62-60 at the 7:28 mark before ORU pulled away with six straight points.  ORU shot 60 percent from the field and was 23-for-30 at the foul line, including 8 of 10 in the final two minutes to keep the lead.  NDSU shot 51 percent overall and was 10-for-21 from the 3-point line for 47.6 percent.  The Bison were 16-for-21 at the foul line.

BISON RIDE HOT START TO 85-64 WIN OVER SOUTHERN UTAH:  Mike Felt made five 3-pointers and scored 16 points to lead North Dakota State to an 85-64 win over Southern Utah last Thursday.  Marshall Bjorklund and Taylor Braun scored 14 points each, Lawrence Alexander had 13 and Eric Carlson 10 for North Dakota State.  NDSU raced out to a 16-2 lead and led by as many as 22 points in the first half before settling for a 43-29 lead at intermission.  The Bison made six of their first eight shots and led by double digits less than five minutes into the game.  NDSU shot 57.4 percent from the floor and went 24-for-29 from the foul line.  SUU shot 46.3 percent overall.  The Bison had a 32-24 advantage in total rebounds.

IN THE NCAA STATS:  North Dakota State ranked sixth in field-goal percentage (.496), 40th in 3-point shooting percentage (.382) and 45th in scoring offense (74.8 ppg)  in the NCAA Division I statistics through Sunday, Feb. 5.  Individually, Mike Felt was 15th in 3-point percentage (.447) and 34th in 3-pointers made per game (2.7), and Taylor Braun was 37th in field-goal percentage (.550).
NCAA Team Field Goal Percentage, through Feb. 5
1. Creighton - .512
2. Coastal Carolina - .501
3. Iona - .500
4. Missouri - .499
5. Campbell - .499
6. North Dakota State - .496

NDSU 123rd IN NCAA RPI:   North Dakota State was 133rd in the NCAA Rating Percentage Index released Monday, Feb. 6.  NDSU was third in The Summit League behind Oral Roberts (47) and South Dakota State (58).  Minnesota (49) was the only other Bison opponent in the top 100.

NEW-LOOK BISON GET FIRST WIN IN ROCHESTER:  Lawrence Alexander's 3-pointer with 4.1 seconds left gave North Dakota State a 78-75 win at Oakland on Jan. 28.  Alexander and Marshall Bjorklund finished with 19 points apiece, and Taylor Braun had 15 points, four rebounds and three assists for NDSU, which won for the first time in six trips to Rochester.  After losing three straight games, NDSU inserted seniors Eric Carlson and Drew Lundberg into the starting lineup for the first time all year.  Carlson tallied nine points, nine rebounds and seven assists, and Lundberg scored nine points.  Reggie Hamilton scored 37 points for OU.

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 66.8 points allowed per game through the first 23 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)
66.8 - 2011-12 (15-8, 8-5 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 a 82-61 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.