Bison Make Final Road Trip of Regular Season to Oakland Thursday, IPFW Saturday

THIS WEEK:  The North Dakota State men's basketball team makes its last road trip of the regular season this week when the seventh-place Bison (13-12, 7-8) take on first-place Oakland (18-9, 13-1) at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, Feb. 17, at the Athletics Center O'Rena (3,000) in Rochester, Mich., and fourth-place IPFW (16-9, 9-5) at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 19, at Memorial Coliseum (11,500) in Fort Wayne, Ind.

KFGO-AM 790 of Fargo and Bison Radio Network affiliate KFYR-550 AM of Bismarck will carry Thursday's game at Oakland live beginning at 5:40 p.m. CT with Scott Miller calling the action.  KFGO will have solo coverage of Saturday's game at IPFW beginning at 2:40 p.m. CT.

Live stats and live audio for both games will be available on GoBison.com.  Live video for Thursday's game at Oakland will be available by subscription to OU All Access on OUgrizzlies.com and live video for Saturday's game at IPFW will be available by subscription to IPFW All Access on GoMastodons.com.

THE SERIES:  Thursday will be the 10th meeting between North Dakota State and Oakland dating back to 2004-05.  Oakland has won three straight and leads the series 7-2 after last month's 83-76 win in Fargo.  OU won 88-81 last year in Rochester, where NDSU has an 0-4 record.

Saturday will be the 12th meeting betwen North Dakota State and IPFW dating back to 2005-06.  IPFW has won three straight and leads the series 6-5 after last month's 84-80 win in Fargo.  The Mastodons won 71-67 in Fort Wayne last year, where NDSU has a 1-4 record.

ABOUT OAKLAND:  The Golden Grizzlies are 18-9 overall and lead The Summit League with a 13-1 record after an 86-78 home win over IPFW last Saturday.  Oakland had its record 20-game Summit League winning streak snapped with a 100-88 loss at IUPUI two weeks ago.  Reigning Summit League Player of the Year Keith Benson leads four players scoring in double digits with 17.4 points and 10.0 rebounds per game.  He is seventh in the nation with 15 double-doubles and ranks third with 3.8 blocks per game.  Summit League Player of the Week Reggie Hamilton is averaging 16.7 points after scoring a game-high 30 in last week's win over IPFW.  OU ranks fifth in the nation in scoring offense (84.0 ppg), seventh in field-goal shooting (.489), 13th in blocks (5.7 bpg), 21st in assists (16.1 apg), 25th in rebound margin (+5.6) and 27th in 3-pointers made per game (8.3) in the NCAA Division I stats through Sunday, Feb. 13.  Travis Bader is eighth nationally in 3-point shooting at 46.1 percent.  Head coach Greg Kampe (Bowling Green State, 1978) has a 463-332 record in his 27th season at Oakland.

ABOUT IPFW:  The Mastodons are 16-9 overall and fourth in The Summit League with a 9-5 record heading into Thursday's game with South Dakota State.  IPFW is 10-2 at home this year with its only losses coming to Oakland and IUPUI.  Frank Gaines leads four Mastodons in double figures with 14.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, Ben Botts is scoring 14.2 ppg and shooting 48.2 percent from the 3-point line (55-114), Jeremy Mixon is third with 10.8 ppg and Zach Plackemeier is fourth with 10.0 ppg and leads the team with 4.3 assists per game.  IPFW ranks seventh in the nation in free-throw shooting at 77.9 percent led by Botts, who is 57th nationally at 85.1 percent.  The Mastodons rank 17th in 3-point shooting (.394) and 29th in 3-pointers made per game (8.2).  Head coach Dane Fife (Indiana, 2002) has an 80-94 record in his sixth season at IPFW.

BISON CLINCH PLAYOFF SPOT IN LOSS TO IUPUI:  North Dakota State clinched a spot in the eight-team Summit League tournament despite its 76-72 loss to IUPUI last Saturday, thanks to South Dakota State's win over Western Illinois.  Michael Tveidt had 21 points, six rebounds and four assists to lead North Dakota State and Taylor Braun had 18 points, three rebounds and three assists.  Braun scored NDSU's first eight points of the game and the Bison led by as many as eight when Eric Carlson's layup made it 12-4 less than five minutes in.  IUPUI came back to tie it 16-16 on a Thomas 3-pointer that sparked a 19-0 run by the Jaguars.  It was 32-16 before Tveidt's jumper at the 6:48 mark ended a nearly six-minute scoring drought.  Nobles made a pair of foul shots to make it a 21-point lead with 4:28 left in the half, but the Bison finished on a 14-2 run to close within 45-36 at intermission.  NDSU pulled within eight inside the 5-minute mark of the second half, then got a pair of free throws from Braun after an intentional foul, and a long Drew Lundberg 3-pointer late on the shot clock to make it 66-63 with 4:02 left.  Leroy Nobles and John Ashworth combined to go 6-for-6 from the foul line in the final 30 seconds to ice it.  Alex Young had 24 points, five rebounds and five blocks for IUPUI.

BRAUN, BISON ROLL PAST WESTERN ILLINOIS, 68-48:  Taylor Braun had 16 points and nine rebounds to lead North Dakota State to a 68-48 win over Western Illinois last Thursday before a crowd of 2,245 at the Bison Sports Arena.  Drew Lundberg scored 10 of his 11 points in the second half and Michael Tveidt added 10 points for North Dakota State.  The game was tied five times before the Bison closed out the half with an 11-4 run highlighted by two Mike Felt 3-pointers.  Braun had the other five points on that run, including a jumper in the closing seconds that gave NDSU a 26-19 lead.  The 19 points was the fewest the Bison have allowed in a single half this year, and Western's 48 total points were the fewest by an NDSU opponent since the 74-43 home win over IPFW in January 2009.  It was still a seven-point game midway through the second half before NDSU went on an 18-6 run over a four-minute span to build a 58-39 lead.  NDSU had a 33-24 advantage in total rebounds and shot 45 percent compared to 44 percent for Western Illinois.  The Bison scored 17 points off turnovers and converted 12 offensive rebounds into 14 points.

CARLSON NAMED CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK:  North Dakota State forward Eric Carlson was named Summit League men's basketball co-Player of the Week by the league office on Monday, Jan. 31.  Carlson averaged 25.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in a pair of home wins.  He scored 19 points in the 87-75 win over Southern Utah had career highs of 32 points and 12 rebounds in the 89-88 double-overtime win against UMKC.  Carlson had 17 points in the first half against UMKC to lead the Bison to a four-point halftime lead.  He grabbed a season-high five offensive rebounds in the game, including a key putback with seven seconds left in the second OT that broke an 85-85 tie.  Carlson assisted Michael Tveidt's game-winning layup with 1.7 seconds left with a lob pass of a sideline inbounds play.  He had three assists and two steals in the game.  Carlson was the first NDSU player to score 30 points in a single game since Ben Woodside scored a tournament-high 37 points against Kansas in the first round of the 2009 NCAA tournament. Carlson shared the award with IPFW guard Frank Gaines, who came off the bench to get 19 points and seven rebounds in a win over Centenary and followed with 19 points and four blocks in a win over Oral Roberts.  Gaines shot 70.6 percent from the floor and was 11-for-11 from the foul line.

HOME AND AWAY:  North Dakota State is 9-3 at home this year including a seven-game winning streak that dated back to last year but was snapped with consecutive losses to IPFW and Oakland in January.  NDSU is 2-9 on the road.  The Bison snaped a five-game road losing streak at Centenary on Feb. 3 and got their only other road win in the Summit League opener Dec. 4 at South Dakota State.  Here's a comparison of NDSU's stats at home and on the road this year:

BISON IN THE NCAA STATS:  North Dakota State ranks among the Top 50 in the nation in three categories in the NCAA Division I statistics through Sunday, Feb. 13.  NDSU ranks 24th in field-goal shooting (.476), 27th in 3-point shooting (.386) and 33rd in scoring offense (76.4 ppg).  NDSU ranked as high as 10th in 3-point shooting earlier this year before going 1-for-14 against Oakland.  The Bison have shot over 40 percent from the arc in 12 of 25 games.

BISON IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE STATS:  North Dakota State ranks fourth in The Summit League in scoring offense (75.5 ppg) and fourth in scoring defense (72.9 ppg) in the league-only statistics through Tuesday, Feb. 15.  The Bison are sixth in field-goal shooting (.473), seventh in 3-point shooting (.341), fifth in free-throw shooting (.725), and fifth in total rebounds (33.9 rpg).  Individually, Taylor Braun is fourth in free-throw shooting (.846) and ninth in field-goal shooting (.568), Freddy Coleman is tied for fifth in steals (1.4 spg), Mike Felt is fifth in 3-point shooting (.492) and eighth in 3-pointers per league game (2.1), Marshall Bjorklund sixth in offensive rebounds (2.5 rpg), and Michael Tveidt is 10th in scoring (15.8 ppg).

TVEIDT 15th ON SCORING LIST:  Senior forward Michael Tveidt became the 28th NDSU player to reach 1,000 career points against UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 13 when his third of five 3-pointers gave the Bison an 11-2 lead at the 14:51 mark of the first half.  Tveidt ranks 15th in school history with 1,344 points through 116 games.  The last player to reach the milestone was guard Mike Nelson in 2007-08.

OVERTIME GAMES:  North Dakota State is 6-4 in overtime games since 2007-08, including a 1-1 mark in OT this year.  NDSU lost 97-92 in this year's regular-season opener at Oregon but defeated UMKC 89-88 in double overtime on Jan. 29.

BISON SUFFER BIGGEST BLOWN LEAD IN FIVE YEARS:  North Dakota State led by as many as 18 points late in the first half of the 84-80 loss to IPFW on Thursday, Jan. 20.  That was the biggest lead NDSU has blown in a loss since Dec. 3, 2005, when the Bison blew a 23-point lead in a 91-87 overtime loss at Idaho State.  That came four days after blowing a 16-0 lead at Green Bay in a 60-55 loss on Nov. 29, 2005.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK FELT TIES TWO RECORDS:  North Dakota State guard Mike Felt was named Summit League men's basketball Player of the Week by the league office on Monday, Jan. 10, after shooting 11-for-17 from the 3-point line and 10-for-10 at the free-throw line in home wins over Oral Roberts and Centenary.  Felt scored a career-high 22 points in the 80-74 win over ORU.  He went 4-for-6 from the arc and made eight straight free throws in the final 65 seconds to seal the win.  Felt was 7-for-11 from the 3-point line and scored a game-high 21 points in the 76-60 win over Centenary.  He tied the NDSU single-game record for most 3's made in a game held by five other players, and tied the single-game record for free-throw percentage going 10-for-10 against ORU.  It was the first career award for Felt, who entered the week averaging 3.5 points per game and 9-for-20 from the 3-point line.

RECORD HOME CROWD:  North Dakota State set a single-game home attendance record on Saturday, Dec. 11, at the Fargodome when a crowd of 10,709 turned out to see the Bison and the University of North Dakota meet for the first time as Division I opponents.  That passed the estimated crowd of 8,500 against UND on Jan. 31, 1981, and the exact count of 7,002 against South Dakota State on Feb. 9, 1996.  It was the first meeting between the longtime Division II rivals since the teams split a home-and-home North Central Conference series in January and February 2004.  UND leads the series 156-127.

MOST OFFENSIVE BOARDS IN 11 YEARS:  North Dakota State's 25 offensive rebounds in the 82-75 win at South Dakota State were the most for an NDSU team since a Division II game against Montana State-Billings on Dec. 11, 1999.  The Bison converted 28 second-chance points and had a 55-37 advantage in total rebounds.  NDSU freshman TrayVonn Wright had nine of the offensive boards and his 15 total rebounds were the most by a Bison player since February 2008 when Brett Winkelman hauled in 15 caroms in a home win over Western Illinois.

TVEIDT NAMED CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK:  North Dakota State forward Michael Tveidt was named Summit League co-Player of the Week on Nov. 15 by the league office after averaging 18.7 points, 3.7 rebound and 2.0 assists per game in the Basketball Travelers Invitational.  Tveidt shot 53.8 percent from the floor including 69.2 percent from the 3-point line (9 of 13).  He scored a game-high 27 points in the five-point overtime loss to Oregon and also led the Bison with 18 points and a career-high five 3-pointers against UC Santa Barbara.  South Dakota State guard Nate Wolters shared the award after averaging 18.0 points and 6.0 assists in road wins over Eastern Illinois and Iowa, including career highs of 25 points and nine assists at Iowa.

FIRST LOSING SEASON:  North Dakota State won at least 16 games each of its first five years as a Division I program, but the Bison are coming off their first losing season after an 11-18 finish last year.  It was the first sub-.500 team since 2001-02 under first-year head coach Tim Miles and only the fifth since 1972-73 when coach Marv Skaar took over the Bison program.  NDSU's 18 losses were the most since 1971-72 and the second most in school history.  The Bison finished sixth in The Summit League with an 8-10 record and lost to Oral Roberts in the Summit League quarterfinals, 65-64 in overtime.

TVEIDT, CARLSON PRESEASON PICKS:  North Dakota State's top two scorers from a year ago were both named to the Preseason All-Summit League team by a vote of the league's coaches, sports information directors and media.  Senior forward Michael Tveidt was picked to the first team and junior forward Eric Carlson was picked to the second team.  Tveidt was NDSU's leading scorer with 15.7 points per game last year and ranked fifth in The Summit League.  Carlson was NDSU's second leading scorer (14.8 ppg) and led the Bison with 6.9 rebounds per game.  He ranked sixth in the league in scoring and rebounding.

BISON PICKED FOURTH IN SUMMIT:  North Dakota State was picked to finish fourth out of 10 teams in The Summit League in a preseason poll of the league's coaches, sports information directors and media.  Defending champion Oakland received 29 of 34 first-place votes, Oral Roberts was picked second with three first-place votes, and IUPUI was third with two top votes.  South Dakota State, IPFW, Western Illinois, UMKC, Southern Utah and Centenary rounded out the fifth through 10th spots in order.

THE SUMMIT LEAGUE:  This is North Dakota State's fourth season in The Summit League after spending three seasons as a Division I independent.  Other members are Centenary College in Shreveport, La.; 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.; South Dakota State University, Southern Utah University; and Western Illinois University.  Centenary will drop to Division III next season and the University of South Dakota will join to keep the league at 10 teams for 2011-12.  Southern Utah will leave to join the Big Sky Conference in 2012-13.

THE COACH:  Saul Phillips (Wisconsin-Platteville, 1996) is in his fourth season as head coach at North Dakota State with a 66-50 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 Wisconsin-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.  Bison Feedback can also be heard live on GoBison.com.