Game #2 Notes - Saint Mary’s November 12, 2013 NORTH DAKOTA STATE BASKETBALL Contact: Wes Offerman | (701) 446-7788 | [email protected] Bison Schedule/Results Bison Basketball Takes on Saint Mary’s (1-0, 0-0 Summit League) November Thursday 8 Viterbo .......................................... W, 93-49 14 at Saint Mary’s (Calif.) ..............................10:30 p.m. THE GAME: The North Dakota State men’s basketball team will travel to Moraga, Calif., this 18 Southern Mississippi ...................... 7 p.m. week to play its first road game of the 2013-14 season at Saint Mary’s on Thursday, Nov. 14. The 20 at Western Michigan ................................6 p.m. Bison earned a 93-49 victory over NAIA Viterbo University in their season opener on Nov. 8. 24 at North Dakota .......................................5 p.m. 29 % at Santa Clara ......................................10 p.m. RADIO: KFGO-AM 790 of Fargo will broadcast live with Gary Rogers calling the play-by- 30 % vs. Rice or Rider ...................................8/10 p.m. play. Coverage includes 20-minute pregame and postgame shows, and live audio streaming will be available at GoBison.com/allaccess. December 2 Valley City State ............................. 7 p.m. THE SERIES: NDSU and Saint Mary’s have never met in basketball. The Bison are 1-0 7 ^ at Bryant ..............................................12 p.m. against members of the West Coast Conference, winning at San Francisco 73-65 in the season 11 ^ at #21/22 Notre Dame .........................6 p.m. opener on Nov. 11, 2011. 14 ^ at #11/10 Ohio State ............................7:15 p.m. 16 ^ Delaware .................................... 7 p.m. ABOUT SAINT MARY’S: Saint Mary’s is 2-0 this season after defeating Louisiana Tech 83- 21 Towson .......................................... 7 p.m. 70 in its season opener on Nov. 8 and topping preseason MAC favorite Akron 85-63 on Nov. 12. 23 at Utah Valley ...........................................8 p.m. Saint Mary’s returns two starters from last year’s team, which went 28-7 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Among the three starters lost was Matthew Della- January vedova, the Gaels’ all-time leading scorer and a two time honorable mention All-American, who 4 Mayville State ................................ 7 p.m. now plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA. 9 * at Fort Wayne ........................................6 p.m. Saint Mary’s has reached four of the last six NCAA Tournaments and owns a 337-152 record 11 * at IUPUI .................................................1 p.m. (.690) at McKeon Pavilion (capacity 3,500). 16 * Omaha ........................................ 7 p.m. 18 * Western Illinois............................ 2 p.m. ROAD OPENERS: North Dakota State is 1-5 in its last 6 road openers, including losses to 25 * at South Dakota State ...........................4 p.m. Indiana, Oregon and Florida. The lone victory in a road opener over the last 6 years came at 30 * at South Dakota ....................................7 p.m. West Coast Conference opponent San Francisco on Nov. 11, 2011. February MID-MAJOR MATCHUP: Thursday’s game will be a meeting of top-20 mid-major pro- 1 * at Denver ..............................................5 p.m. grams. NDSU was ranked sixth in the Mid-Major Top 25 Poll released by CollegeInsider.com on 6 * IUPUI .......................................... 7 p.m. Nov. 11, and Saint Mary’s came in at No. 19. 8 * Fort Wayne .................................. 4 p.m. 13 * at Western Illinois .................................7 p.m. HIGHEST RANKING: The No. 6 ranking for North Dakota State in the latest CollegeInsider. 15 * at Omaha ..............................................4 p.m. com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll is the highest in school history for the Bison. NDSU was ranked 22 * South Dakota State ...................... 2 p.m. seventh in the preseason poll this year, 10th in January 2013, and 11th in the final poll of 2009. 27 * South Dakota .............................. 7 p.m. March BISON NOTES • NDSU has been selected as the overwhelming preseason favorite to win The Summit League, 1 * Denver ........................................ 7 p.m. 8-9 $ Summit League Quarterfinals ...............TBA receiving 25 of a possible 28 first-place votes in the preseason poll. League newcomer Denver 10 $ Summit League Semifinals ...................TBA was picked second. 11 $ Summit League Championship .............TBA • Senior Taylor Braun was voted The Summit League’s Preseason Player of the Year after % Cable Car Classic (Santa Clara, Calif. averaging 15.4 points per contest last season. ^ BlackRock Gotham Classic $ Summit League Tournament (Sioux Falls, S.D.) • Senior forward Marshall Bjorklund and junior guard Lawrence Alexander joined Braun on the * Summit League games preseason all-league first team. All times Central National rankings are Associated Press/USA Today Coaches Probable Starters Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG FG% FT% G 12 Lawrence Alexander 6-3 180 Jr. Peoria, Ill. 10.8 3.8 .408 .736 G 22 Kory Brown 6-4 200 So. Hoffman Estates, Ill. 4.9 3.1 .484 .707 G 24 Taylor Braun 6-7 210 Sr. Newberg, Ore. 15.4 5.2 .459 .813 F 32 TrayVonn Wright 6-7 185 Sr. Waterloo, Iowa 10.3 6.0 .446 .875 F 42 Marshall Bjorklund 6-8 250 Sr. Arlington, Minn. 11.5 5.9 .667 .578 BISON BASKETBALL 2 Quick Facts North Dakota State Bison Name of School: North Dakota State University No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown (Previous School) City/Zip: Fargo, ND 58102 (pop. 107,349) 0 Fred Newell G 5-8 160 Sr. Lakeville, Minn. (Lakeville North HS) Founded: 1890 3 Mike Felt G 6-3 190 Sr. Redwood Falls, Minn. (Redwood Valley HS) Enrollment: 14,629 (fall 2013) 4 Zach Checkal G 6-3 190 Fr. Delano, Minn. (Delano HS) Nickname: Bison 12 Lawrence Alexander G 6-3 180 Jr. Peoria, Ill. (Peoria Manual HS/St. John’s NW Military Academy) School Colors: Yellow and Green (PMS 123, 343) 13 Carlin Dupree G 6-3 180 Fr. Milwaukee, Wis. (Bay View HS) Arena Name: Bison Sports Arena (5,830) 21 A.J. Jacobson G 6-6 205 Fr. Fargo, N.D. (Shanley HS) Affiliation: NCAA Division I 22 Kory Brown G 6-4 200 So. Hoffman Estates, Ill. (Elgin HS) Conference: The Summit League (since 2007-08) 23 Brett VandenBergh F 6-5 215 So. De Pere, Wis. (De Pere HS) President: Dr. Dean L. Bresciani (Humboldt State, 1984) 24 Taylor Braun G 6-7 210 Sr. Newberg, Ore. (Newberg HS) Athletic Director: Gene Taylor (Arizona State, 1980) 25 Joel Lindberg G 6-2 190 So. Superior, Wis. (Superior HS) Athletic Dept. Phone: (701) 231-8981 32 TrayVonn Wright F 6-7 185 Sr. Waterloo, Iowa (Waterloo West HS) Ticket Office Phone: (888) 231-NDSU (6378) 34 Chris Kading F 6-8 230 So. De Pere, Wis. (De Pere HS) 40 Dexter Werner F 6-6 235 RFr. Bismarck, N.D. (Bismarck HS) History 42 Marshall Bjorklund F 6-8 250 Sr. Arlington, Minn. (Sibley East HS) First Year of Basketball: 1897-98 (114 seasons) 44 Jordan Aaberg F 6-9 225 Sr. Rothsay, Minn. (Rothsay HS) All-Time Record: 1493-1068 (.583) Years in NCAA Tournament: Nine Last NCAA Tournament: 2008-09 (first round) • NDSU returns 96.5 percent of its scoring from a year ago. Last NCAA Opponent: Kansas (L, 74-84) Last Postseason: 2013 College Basketball Invitational • Senior Marshall Bjorklund is the active career NCAA leader in field goal percentage at 66.3 Finish: First Round at Western Michigan (L, 71-72 OT) percent. Bjorklund has never shot worse than 64.7 percent in a season. Team Info Head Coach: Saul Phillips (Wisconsin-Platteville, 1996) • Bjorklund currently ranks seventh all-time in NCAA Division I history in field goal percentage. Record at NDSU: 109-77 (7th season) He stands in front of NCAA legends Bill Walton (65.1 percent), Lew Alcindor (63.9 percent) and Career Record: 109-77 (7th season) Akeem Olajuwon (63.9 percent). Associate Head Coach: David Richman (NDSU, 2002) Assistant Coach: Will Ryan (Milwaukee, 2002) • Taylor Braun has been named to the Lou Henson Preseason All-America Team as one of the Assistant Coach: Freddy Coleman (NDSU, 2011) top mid-major players in Division I. Braun averaged 15.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists and Dir. of Operations: Josh Vaughan (NdSU, 2010) 1.5 steals per contest while shooting 43.5 percent from three-point range. Last Year’s Record: 24-10 overall, 12-4 Summit (3rd) Starters Returning/Lost: 5-0 • NDSU set a single-season team record with 144 blocks in the 2012-13 season. Senior TrayVonn Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 11/1 Wright had 61 of those blocks. Newcomers: 3 • Senior guard Mike Felt has made four or more three-pointers in a game 17 times in his career. Media Relations He ranks sixth in NDSU history with 207 career three-pointers made. Men’s Basketball Contact: Wes Offerman Office: (701) 231-8047 • The Bison roster has combined to play in 685 games, including 356 starts over the previous Mobile: (701) 446-7788 four seasons. E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.GoBison.com • Junior guard Lawrence Alexander started all 65 games in his first two seasons in Fargo, FAX: (701) 231-8022 earning Summit League Newcomer of the Year in 2012 and All-Summit League second team Press Row Phone: (701) 231-8611 honors in 2013. • The Bison have been labeled the seventh-best mid-major team in the country by two different Tale of the Tape media outlets leading into the season. NBCSports.com and the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major NDSU SMC Top 25 poll both tabbed NDSU at No. 7 to open the year. Overall Record 1-0 2-0 League Record 0-0 0-0 • NDSU men’s basketball games will be broadcast on television a minimum of 17 times this Scoring Offense 93.0 84.0 season, setting a new school record for TV exposure.