Complete NDSU Basketball PDF Game Notes
Complete Oklahoma Basketball PDF Game Notes
Live Video  |  Live Stats  |  Live Audio

            Thursday's Game: The No. 12-seeded North Dakota State men's basketball team (25-6, 12-2 Summit League) will play No. 5 seed Oklahoma (23-9, 12-6 Big 12) in the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena (11,736) in Spokane, Wash., on Thursday, March 20. Game time is set for 6:27 p.m. (CT) / 4:27 p.m. (PT).
 
            What's at Stake:  NDSU is looking for its first Division I NCAA Tournament victory in its second tournament appearance.  The winner of the North Dakota State-Oklahoma contest will play the winner of No. 4 seed San Diego State and No. 13 seed New Mexico State in the third round on Saturday, March 22, with that game time still to be determined.
 
            Television: Live coverage will be on truTV with Spero Dedes (play-by-play), Doug Gottlieb (analyst) and Jaime Maggio (reporter) calling the action.  NCAA.com/march-madness will have live video streaming of each tournament game.
 
            Radio: KFGO-AM 790 of Fargo and KXMR-AM 710 of Bismarck will broadcast live with Scott Miller calling the play-by-play and Jeremy Jorgenson on analysis.  Coverage includes 20-minute pregame and postgame shows.
            Westwood One Sports will broadcast live with Ted Robinson and P.J. Carlesimo calling the action.  Audio streaming will be available exclusively at WestwoodOneSports.com.
 
            Series History: NDSU and Oklahoma have never met in basketball. The Bison are 0-7 against members of the Big 12 Conference in the Division I era (since 2004-05) including an 84-74 loss to Kansas in the first round of the 2009 NCAA tournament in Minneapolis.
 
            Title Talk: NDSU swept The Summit League's regular season and tournament titles for the second time in school history. The Bison overcame an eight-point deficit in a 60-57 win over Fort Wayne in the championship game of the league tournament last Tuesday, March 11.
            NDSU clinched its second Summit League regular season title with an 82-54 win over South Dakota in Fargo on Feb. 27. The Bison also earned the league crown outright in 2008-09.
 
            Bison in the Postseason: North Dakota State is making its second NCAA tournament and its fourth postseason appearance as a Division I program. NDSU was a No. 14 seed and played Kansas (L, 74-84) in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Midwest Regional at the Metrodome.  NDSU's first year of Division I postseason eligibility was 2009 after a five-year reclassification from Division II that left the Bison out of the playoffs from 2005 through 2008.  The Bison played in the College Basketball Invitational in 2012 and 2013.
 
            One Win From the Record: NDSU has reached the 20-win mark four times in its 10-year Division I history. The 25 wins this season are the third-most in school history. One more victory would match the school record of 26 wins set in 1924-25 and 2008-09.
 
            Shooting Prowess: NDSU is No. 1 among all 351 NCAA Division I basketball teams in field goal percentage this season at 50.9 percent. The Belmont Bruins entered the tournament second at 50.5 percent. Senior Marshall Bjorklund is No. 1 in the nation in field goal percentage for individuals at 63.6 percent.
 
            National Team Rankings for the Bison:
                        1st - field goal percentage (50.9%)
                        12th - fewest turnovers per game (9.8)
                        18th - winning percentage (.806)
                        19th - scoring margin (+11.0 ppg)
                        24th - free throw percentage (74.7%)
                        39th - rebound margin (+4.6)
                        44th - scoring offense (76.4 ppg)
                        51st - turnover margin (+1.9)
 
            National Individual Rankings for the Bison:
                        1st - Marshall Bjorklund, field goal percentage (63.6%)
                        40th - Taylor Braun, free throws made (175)
                        48th - Lawrence Alexander, free throw percentage (86.0%)
                        51st - Taylor Braun, free throw attempts (224)
                        83rd - Taylor Braun, points per game (18.2)
                        85th - TrayVonn Wright, blocks per game (1.77)
 
            Bison Against Top 25 Opponents: Thursday will be North Dakota State's eighth game against a ranked opponent in Division I play, with the Bison holding a 2-5 record in those games.  (Rankings are USA Today Coaches/Associated Press.)
            #13/15 Wisconsin        W, 62-55         Kohl Center                Jan. 21, 2006
            #9/8 Marquette            W, 64-60         Bradley Center            Dec. 2, 2006
            #13/14 Kansas             L, 74-84          Metrodome                 March 20, 2009           NCAA
            #15/17 Minnesota       L, 65-84          Williams Arena           Nov. 24, 2010
            #1/1 Indiana                L, 61-87          Assembly Hall             Nov. 12, 2012
            #16/13 Minnesota       L, 57-70          Williams Arena           Dec. 11, 2012
            #2/3 Ohio State           L, 62-79          Value City Arena        Dec. 14, 2013
 
            Seasoned Senior Class: The six Bison seniors have combined to play in 660 career games and have logged over 13,300 minutes, scoring more than 5,500 points and grabbing more than 2,300 rebounds.
 
            High RPI: The Bison are a Summit League-best No. 35 in the latest edition of the official NCAA RPI -- the second-best ranking in school history.  NDSU was ranked 32nd in the first official RPI this season on Jan. 10, marking the highest NCAA RPI ranking in school history.
 
            Good Run: The Bison have 49 wins over the last two seasons, marking the most in a two-year span in school history. NDSU has back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since the 1995-96 and 1996-97 campaigns.
 
            Out Front: Over a span of 7 1/2 games leading into the Summit League championship game on March 11, the Bison trailed for only 14 of 300 minutes played, dating back to halftime of the IUPUI game on Feb. 6.
 
            Big Five: NDSU has played 405 minutes this season with starters Lawrence Alexander, Kory Brown, Taylor Braun, TrayVonn Wright and Marshall Bjorklund on the floor together. No other lineup combination has spent more than 84 minutes on the floor together.
 
            Inside the Arc: NDSU ranks 315th among the 351 Division I schools in three-pointers attempted this season. The Bison attempt an average of 14.8 three-pointers per contest, while the national average is around 18 attempts per game from beyond the arc.
            The Bison have outscored their opponents by an average of 37-24 in points in the paint this season.
 
            Multiple Threats: Taylor Braun (1,633 points), Marshall Bjorklund (1,419), TrayVonn Wright (1,113) and Lawrence Alexander (1,100) give NDSU four active 1,000-point scorers. NDSU and Elon are the only two Division I teams in the nation this year with four 1,000-point scorers.
            Braun and Bjorklund each passed the 1,000-point mark during the 2012-13 season. Wright used a 20-point game at South Dakota on Jan. 30 and Alexander used a 20-point game at Denver on Feb. 1 to pass the milestone.
            Senior Mike Felt owns 978 career points for NDSU.  If Felt reaches 1,000 points, it will be the first time in Division I history that a school has five active 1,000-point scorers who scored all their points at the same school.
 
            Starts Record: With a start against Western Illinois on Feb. 13, Marshall Bjorklund set the NDSU career record for games started at 119, breaking the mark of 118 set by Ben Woodside and Brett Winkelman, who both played from 2005-09. Bjorklund has started every game of his career, starting with the first contest of the 2010-11 season. His record currently stands at 125 games started.
 
            Brown Delivers: Sophomore Kory Brown led The Summit League in field goal percentage in league play, shooting 64.3 percent (45-for-70).
 
            Charity Stripe: NDSU's team free throw percentage of 74.7 percent this season would be the second-highest season percentage in school history. The 1984-85 Bison squad shot 76.8 percent from the line.
            Lawrence Alexander was 51-for-57 (89.5 percent) from the free throw line in Summit League games this season.
 
            Felt's Longevity: Mike Felt has played in 130 games in his career, setting the NDSU career record for games played with his 121st at Denver on Feb. 1. Michael Tveidt held the previous high, playing in 120 games from 2006-11.
 
            Over 1,600: Taylor Braun surpassed the 1,600 point mark against Denver on March 10, becoming just the seventh player in NDSU history with more than 1,600 career points.
 
            Balanced Contributions: Taylor Braun ranks seventh at NDSU in career points, eighth in steals, ninth in rebounds and 13th in assists. He is also fourth on the all-time list in free throws made. Braun is the only player in NDSU history to rank top 15 for the Bison in career points, rebounds and assists.
 
            Top 10: Lawrence Alexander is now 10th all-time at NDSU with 346 career assists after recording five vs. South Dakota State on Feb. 22.
 
            Experience Counts: The current NDSU roster has combined to play in 958 career games and make 510 starts, making the Bison one of the most experienced teams in the nation.
 
            Record Pace: NDSU's current team field goal percentage of 50.9 percent could be a new single-season school record. The previous high was 50.4 percent in the 1983-84 campaign.
 
            Get Buckets: Taylor Braun has scored in double digits in 27 of his 30 games this season, including 11 games of 20 or more points and four games of 30 or more points. He is one of 10 players in NDSU history to surpass 1,500 career points.
 
            Mid-Major Poll: The Bison are ranked fourth in the latest College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, setting a new program high.
 
            Sure Shot: Senior Marshall Bjorklund is No. 1 in the nation in field goal percentage for individuals at 63.6 percent.
            Bjorklund is the active career NCAA leader in field goal percentage at 65.5 percent. Bjorklund has never shot worse than 64.7 percent in a season.
            Bjorklund currently ranks ninth all-time in NCAA Division I history in field goal percentage. He stands in front of NCAA legends Bill Walton (65.1 percent), Lew Alcindor (63.9 percent) and Akeem Olajuwon (63.9 percent).