The Tournament: The No. 3-seeded North Dakota State men’s basketball team will play No. 6 seed South Dakota in the quarterfinals of the Summit League Tournament on Sunday, March 5, at 8:30 p.m. inside the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. The winner will play the winner of No. 2 seed South Dakota State and No. 7 Kansas City or No. 10 Omaha in the second semifinal on Monday night.
Where to Watch: All first round, quarterfinal, and semifinal games of the Summit League Tournament will be broadcast on Midco Sports and be available on ESPN+. Tuesday’s championship game will be on ESPN2 and the ESPN app.
Radio: Rob Hipp and Dexter Werner will call the games on 107.9 The Fox, Bison 1660, and their respective apps. Audio of all NDSU basketball games is always streamed free at GoBison.com/AllAccess.
What’s at Stake: The winner of the Summit League Championship receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. NDSU is looking for its fifth league tournament title in 10 years and its sixth NCAA Tournament berth in school history.
Bison in Sioux Falls: NDSU is 23-9 all-time in Sioux Falls at the Summit League Tournament. The Bison are 16-5 at the Summit League Tournament in the Dave Richman era.
Familiar Territory: The Bison have played in four consecutive Summit League Tournament championship games from 2019-22, winning the title in 2019 and 2020. NDSU has played in 8 of the past 10 Summit League championship games, dating back to March 2013.
Top of the Summit: North Dakota State and South Dakota State are the only Summit League schools to finish among the top three in the league standings every year over the past five seasons.
In seven of David Richman’s nine seasons at NDSU, the Bison have finished in a tie for third place or better in The Summit League.
Approaching 1,000: Grant Nelson needs nine points to reach 1,000 for his career. Nelson would become the 39th member of NDSU’s 1,000 Point Club. The most recent addition was Tyree Eady on Feb. 17, 2022.
500 Point Season: Grant Nelson needs 16 points to reach 500 for the season. He would become the 21st player in NDSU history to score 500 points in a season.
February’s Finest: For eight games in the month of February, Grant Nelson averaged 20.1 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.9 blocks, and 1.0 steals. He shot 55 percent overall and 36 percent from three-point range during the month, stringing together seven consecutive double-doubles.
True Freshman, Big Role: Damari Wheeler-Thomas started all 18 Summit League games this season, becoming the first Bison to start every conference game as a true freshman since Lawrence Alexander in the 2011-12 season.
Baby Bison: In Summit League play this season, 66 percent of the total available minutes for NDSU were played by freshmen or sophomores (2,385 out of 3,600).
In terms of total minutes played, seven of the top nine Bison this season are freshmen or sophomores. NDSU has no seniors on the roster.
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 (now No. 1-ranked) Houston in November. It was only the second time this season that a Summit League school held ORU under 46 percent shooting.
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 11 for all five of those categories.
High Percentage Offense: The Bison shot 48.4 percent as a team in Summit League play — second-best in the league.
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 shot 19-for-23 (83 percent) in Summit League play.
Cashing In: Damari Wheeler-Thomas made 44-of-48 at the free throw line in league play (91.7 percent).
Three-Headed Bucket: NDSU’s top three scorers — Andrew Morgan (59.2%), Grant Nelson (55.6%), and Boden Skunberg (49.0%) — combined to shoot 54 percent in Summit League play.
Among The Best: In Summit League play, Grant Nelson averaged 19.9 points, a league-leading 9.8 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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