The Games: The North Dakota State men’s basketball team will host St. Thomas on Thursday, Feb. 23, and Western Illinois on Saturday, Feb. 25, inside the Scheels Center this week to close out the regular season.
Feb. 23 vs. St. Thomas 7 p.m. CT WDAY (ABC statewide), ESPN+
Feb. 25 vs. Western Illinois 1 p.m. CT WDAY Xtra, ESPN+
Where to Watch: Thursday’s game will be broadcast by WDAY and available statewide on ABC affiliates. Saturday’s game will be on WDAY Xtra. Both games will also be carried on ESPN+.
Radio: Rob Hipp and Dexter Werner will call the games on 107.9 The Fox and the 107.9 The Fox app. Audio of all NDSU basketball games is always streamed free at GoBison.com/AllAccess.
The Series vs. St. Thomas: Thursday will be the 22nd meeting all-time between the Bison and Tommies, with NDSU leading the series 12-9. NDSU won both games last season in UST’s first year in The Summit League, but UST won 78-68 in St. Paul on Dec. 21 this season.
The Series vs. Western Illinois: Saturday will be the 35th game between NDSU and Western Illinois dating back to 2007-08. NDSU holds a 24-10 lead in the all-time series. The Bison have won 18 of the last 21 vs. the Leathernecks, going 8-2 over the past four-plus seasons.
Getting Defensive: NDSU limited Oral Roberts to 36.9 percent shooting in their meeting on Feb. 18 – ORU’s second-lowest percentage of the season, behind only their game at No. 2-ranked Houston in November. It was only the second time this season that a Summit League school held ORU under 46 percent shooting.
Nelson’s Remarkable Run: Grant Nelson recorded his fifth and sixth consecutive double-doubles at Kansas City and Oral Roberts last week. Over the last seven games, Nelson is averaging 22.0 points, 12.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.0 blocks, while shooting 56 percent.
All Five Categories: Grant Nelson leads NDSU in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals – both in Summit League play, and for the entire season. He is the only player in the league’s top 10 for all five of those categories.
High Percentage Offense: The Bison are shooting 48 percent as a team in Summit League play — second-best in the league. Six times in the past 11 games, NDSU has shot 51.7 percent or better.
Boden’s Career Day: Junior Boden Skunberg poured in a career-high 30 points in NDSU’s 78-70 win over Denver on Feb. 11, making 6-of-10 from beyond the arc.
Efficient Buckets: Boden Skunberg is one of only three players in The Summit League to rank top-12 in scoring and top-5 in field goal percentage this season.
Streit on the Money: Joshua Streit is shooting 16-for-19 (84 percent) in Summit League play. He has missed only one field goal attempt since Jan. 15.
Cashing In: Damari Wheeler-Thomas has made 40-of-44 at the free throw line in league play (90.9 percent).
Baby Bison: In terms of minutes played, seven of the top nine Bison this season are freshmen or sophomores. NDSU has no seniors on the roster.
Three-Headed Bucket: Andrew Morgan (58.9%), Grant Nelson (55.5%), and Boden Skunberg (49.5%) rank second, third and sixth, respectively, for field goal percentage in Summit League play.
Among The Best: In Summit League play, Grant Nelson is averaging 19.8 points, a league-leading 10.1 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game. Nelson is the only player in The Summit League this season to rank top-five in scoring and field goal percentage.
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