Summit League Play Begins Thursday at Oral Roberts, Saturday at Centenary
12/4/2007 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
THIS WEEK: North Dakota State (4-4) begins Summit League play this week at two-time defending champion Oral Roberts (4-3). Tipoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6, at the Mabee Center (10,575) in Tulsa, Okla. NDSU closes out the week taking on a hot Centenary (5-3) team that has beaten Northwestern State and Texas Tech in its last two outings. Tipoff is at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, at the Gold Dome (3,000) in Shreveport, La.
RADIO: WDAY-AM 970 (Fargo) and Bison Radio Network affiliates KLXX-AM 1270 (Bismarck), KPOK-AM 1340 (Bowman), KQLX-FM 106.1 (Lisbon), KHRT-AM 1320 (Minot), KGFX-FM 92.7 (Pierre, S.D.) and KZZJ-AM 1450 (Rugby). WDAY sports director Scott Miller will call the action. The broadcast begins 15 minutes prior to tipoff. The audio can be heard online at GoBison.com.
LIVE STATS: Live in-game statistics for all North Dakota State home games and some road games will be available on the Internet at GoBison.com. Choose "Live Stats" from the multimedia menu for the schedule of games available.
LIVE VIDEO: Live streaming video of all North Dakota State home games and Summit League road games will be available on the Internet. SummitTV is the live and on-demand video service available by subscription at www.TheSummitLeague.org.
THE COACHES: Saul Phillips (Wisconsin-Platteville, 1996) is in his first season as the North Dakota State head coach. Phillips was an assistant for the Bison the past three years. He came to NDSU from Wisconsin, where he was director of basketball operations for three years under Bo Ryan. He was an assistant coach for two seasons each at Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Lake Superior State and was a graduate assistant at Wayne State in Nebraska for one year.
Scott Sutton (Oklahoma State, 1995) is in his ninth season as head coach at Oral Roberts with a career record of 148-105. Sutton's teams have won the last three regular-season conference championships, made an appearance in the NIT, and made back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances for the first time in school history. He is the son of Oklahoma State coaching legend Eddie Sutton and brother of current Oklahoma State coach Sean Sutton.
Rob Flaska (Michigan Tech, 1982) is in his third year as head coach at Centenary with a 19-47 career record heading into Thursday night's Summit League opener against South Dakota State. Flaska has been a collegiate coach since 1983-84 when he broke in as an assistant at Indiana State, and he has been a Division I assistant at four other schools including Detroit Mercy (1984-86), Texas-Pan American (1991-92), TCU (1999-02) and Arkansas (2003-05). Flaska has also served as head coach at Mott Community College in Michigan, where he was 121-44 in five seasons from 1986-91, and at Florida Community College in Jacksonville where he was 64-31 in three years from 1996-98.
THE SERIES: Thursday will be the third meeting between North Dakota State and Oral Roberts. The series is tied at 1 with the home team winning both games. NDSU was an 86-79 winner in Fargo in 1967-68, and Oral Roberts won the second meeting 109-102 in Tulsa. Saturday will be the first meeting between North Dakota State and Centenary.
ABOUT THE BISON: North Dakota State is 4-4 after losing 88-56 at Minnesota on Monday night. It was the most lopsided loss for the Bison since January 2005 when Manhattan beat NDSU 89-47 in New York. Guard Ben Woodside had 17 points and forward Brett Winkelman added 16 for North Dakota State, which shot 33 percent from the field -- its first time under 40 percent this year.
|
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
Hometown |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
FT% | |||
|
F |
22 |
6-6 |
220 |
Jr. |
Morris, Minn. |
20.3 |
8.5 |
.548 |
.792 | |
|
F |
23 |
6-7 |
207 |
RFr. |
Pierre, S.D. |
7.0 |
3.6 |
.471 |
.615 | |
|
C |
40 |
6-10 |
255 |
Jr. |
Dickinson, N.D. |
5.5 |
4.6 |
.400 |
.471 | |
|
G |
10 |
5-11 |
189 |
Jr. |
Albert Lea, Minn. |
25.3 |
2.6 |
.522 |
.804 | |
|
G |
31 |
6-4 |
195 |
Jr. |
Madison, Wis. |
13.9 |
5.6 |
.467 |
.741 |
ABOUT ORAL ROBERTS: The Golden Eagles are 4-3 overall after having a three-game winning streak snapped at Arkansas on Saturday, 62-51. ORU has won the past three Summit League regular-season championships and the last two tournament titles. Three starters are back from last year's 23-11 team that lost to Washington State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Gone are forward Caleb Green (20.5 ppg, 9.3 rpg), who was a three-time conference Player of the Year, and guard Ken Tutt (16.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg), a three-time all-conference first team selection. Junior college transfer Robert Jarvis from Seminole State College leads the team in scoring with 18.4 ppg.
|
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
Hometown |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
FT% | |||
|
F |
3 |
Yemi Ogunoye |
6-9 |
215 |
Sr. |
Cedar Hill, Texas |
2.6 |
2.7 |
.667 |
.600 |
|
F |
21 |
Marcus Lewis |
6-8 |
245 |
Jr. |
Long Beach, Calif. |
11.6 |
4.4 |
.660 |
.550 |
|
C |
33 |
Shawn King |
6-10 |
220 |
Sr. |
Bequia, St. Vincent |
9.4 |
6.9 |
.528 |
.588 |
|
G |
11 |
Adam Liberty |
6-2 |
185 |
Sr. |
Oklahoma City, Okla. |
8.4 |
4.3 |
.350 |
.875 |
|
G |
13 |
Moses Ehambe |
6-6 |
215 |
Sr. |
Arlington, Texas |
10.3 |
1.9 |
.365 |
.875 |
ABOUT CENTENARY:
The Gentlemen are 5-3 after impressive back-to-back home wins over Northwestern State and Texas Tech last week. The 70-66 win over the Texas Tech was Centenary's first victory over a Big 12 school since knocking off Texas A&M 73-63 during the 2001-02 season. The 105-90 win over Northwestern State marked the first time the Gents have scored 100 points or more against a Division I opponent since defeating Florida International 107-95 during the 1995-96 season. Junior guard Nick Stallings leads the team with 18.4 points per game. Stallings had team highs of 23 against Northwestern State and 17 against Texas Tech last week.
|
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
Hometown |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
FT% | |||
|
F |
34 |
Lance Hill |
6-7 |
225 |
Jr. |
Houston, Texas |
11.0 |
3.6 |
.516 |
.857 |
|
F |
3 |
Anthony Gatlin |
6-8 |
185 |
Fr. |
Pearland, Texas |
6.4 |
2.9 |
.477 |
.667 |
|
or |
30 |
Jerrald Bonham |
6-8 |
210 |
So. |
Plano, Texas |
5.6 |
4.8 |
.500 |
.650 |
|
G |
0 |
Tyrone Hamilton |
6-1 |
200 |
Jr. |
Shreveport, La. |
17.9 |
5.0 |
.416 |
.756 |
|
G |
1 |
Nick Stallings |
6-2 |
200 |
Jr. |
New Orleans, La. |
18.4 |
5.0 |
.441 |
.844 |
|
G |
11 |
Chase Adams |
5-10 |
175 |
So. |
Baltimore, Md. |
7.9 |
3.1 |
.404 |
.826 |
BISON IN THE NCAA STATISTICS:
North Dakota State will not qualify for the NCAA national statistics until becoming an active Division I member in 2008-09, but the Bison have a few marks that would fit in the first NCAA stats report through Sunday, Dec. 2. That includes junior guard Ben Woodside, whose 26.4 points-per-game average through seven games ranks third in the country. Woodside is also tied for 37th in 3-point percentage (.478), 41st in 3-pointers made per game (3.1) and 43rd in assists per game (5.4). As a team, NDSU was eighth in scoring with 87.9 points per game, 17th in 3-point percentage (.432), 19th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.33), tied for 29th in assists per game (17.7), 33rd in field-goal percentage (.498), and tied for 50th in rebounding margin (+6.6). Moreover, NDSU owns the eighth longest home-court winning streak at 14 games.WOODSIDE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
North Dakota State guard Ben Woodside was named men's basketball Player of the Week by the Summit League office last Monday, Nov. 26. Woodside averaged 35.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in two road games. He scored a career-high 39 points to go with five assists and three boards in a victory over Tennessee Tech. It was the 10th-best single game point total in school history. He followed that up with 31 points at Wisconsin-Green Bay. For the week, he shot 58 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 88 percent from the free-throw line.THOUSAND POINT SCORERS:
North Dakota State had one player reach the 1,000-point milestone already this season and two others are on their way. Junior guard Ben Woodside became the 25th Bison player to reach the mark against Minot State on November 14th. He did it at the free-throw line, scoring his 10th of a game-high 31 points. With 1,152 career points, Woodside is now 17th on the NDSU career scoring list. Junior forward Brett Winkelman (953) and junior guard Mike Nelson (891) are on pace to join Woodside in the 1,000-point club. Winkelman, who has 452 career rebounds, would be only the 14th player in school history to reach 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.WOODSIDE'S 39 IS TENTH BEST: North Dakota State guard Ben Woodside's 39-point outburst at Tennessee Tech on Monday, Nov. 19, was the 10th best single-game scoring effort in NDSU history, passing the 37 points by all-time leading scorer Denver TenBroek against Columbus State in November 2002. The school record is 53 points set by Lance Berwald against Minnesota State Mankato in February 1984.
BACK-TO-BACK 100-POINT GAMES: North Dakota State put together back-to-back 100-point games for the first time in 18 years with its 117-84 rout of Minot State (Nov. 14) and a 104-51 stampede of North Carolina Central (Nov. 17). The Bison scored 101 points against Augsburg and Jamestown to begin the 1989-90 season.
BISON THIRD IN BLUE RIBBON CHALLENGE:
Florida, North Carolina Central, North Dakota State, Rutgers and Tennesse Tech played in the inaugural Blue Ribbon Challenge, a five-team round robin tournament sponsored by The Gazelle Group. Florida (4-0) won the tournament, Rutgers (3-1) was second, North Dakota State (2-2) was third, North Carolina Central (1-3) was fourth, and Tennessee Tech (0-4) was fifth.HOME AND AWAY COMPARISON:
North Dakota State was 13-1 in home games last season for a winning percentage of .929 that was the best in 23 years. Off to a 3-0 start at home this year, NDSU has a 14-game winning streak at the Bison Sports Arena and has won 28 of its last 30 regular-season contests. Meanwhile, the road has been less friendly for the Bison, who went 6-7 in road games last year and are 1-4 this year. Here is a statistical comparison of the Bison averages home and away in 2007-08:
|
W-L |
FG% |
3-PT% |
FT% |
PTS |
REB |
AST |
TO |
STL |
BLK | |
|
Home |
3-0 |
.558 |
.574 |
.657 |
105.3 |
45.0 |
23.3 |
14.3 |
8.0 |
2.3 |
|
Away |
1-4 |
.424 |
.309 |
.784 |
71.0 |
35.4 |
12.8 |
13.8 |
4.8 |
2.2 |
BISON PICKED FOURTH IN THE SUMMIT: North Dakota State was picked to finish fourth in The Summit League in a preseason poll of the league's coaches, sports information directors and media. NDSU garnered four first-place votes and had 351 points behind preseason league favorite IUPUI (396), second-place Oral Roberts (393), and third-place Oakland (359). Two Bison players were selected to the preseason all-conference team. Junior guard Ben Woodside from Albert Lea, Minn., was a first-team pick, and junior forward Brett Winkelman from Morris, Minn., was a second-team pick.
TELEVISION SCHEDULE:
North Dakota State has added a fifth TV game to its men's basketball schedule this season. KXJB-TV of Fargo will televise the Jan. 25 home game with South Dakota State, and the game will also be seen on KSFY-TV in Sioux Falls, S.D. NDSU's regular-season opener at Florida on Nov. 9 aired on FSN Florida and FSN North, the Dec. 3 game at Minnesota appeared on the Big Ten Network, the Dec. 15 home game with Colorado State will air on FSN North, and the Jan. 31 game at Oakland will be televised on FSN Detroit. North Dakota State has an 0-10 record on TV during its four seasons as a Division I team.BISON MAKING THEIR MARK: North Dakota State has made its mark in Division I men's basketball with several outstanding performances against teams from the Big East, Big Ten and Big 12, among others. NDSU made its first splash with a 62-55 win over the 15th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers on Jan. 21, 2006. The Bison are 2-0 against Top 25 teams after their 64-60 win at No. 8-ranked Marquette on Dec. 2, 2006. Here's a look at some of the other notable games NDSU has played in its four years of Division I hoops:
|
Date |
Opponent |
Result |
Notes |
|
11/19/04 |
at Kansas State |
L, 61-70 |
First game as Division I team |
|
1/21/06 |
at Wisconsin |
W, 62-55 |
Wisconsin ranked No. 15 |
|
11/17/06 |
at Texas Tech |
L, 81-85 |
Trailed by 11 in the second half |
|
12/1/06 |
vs. Princeton |
W, 57-50 |
Trailed by 15 in the first half |
|
12/2/06 |
at Marquette |
W, 64-60 |
Marquette ranked No. 8 |
|
12/9/06 |
KANSAS STATE |
L, 81-83 |
Led by 10 in second half |
|
12/18/06 |
at Colorado State |
L, 80-82 |
Trailed by 10 in the first half |
|
11/9/07 |
at Florida |
L, 65-75 |
Within 6 at 2:23 mark of second half |
|
11/11/07 |
at Rutgers |
L, 67-79 |
Tied with 4:23 left |
THE RECLASSIFICATION: North Dakota State is in the final year of a five-year NCAA reclassificiation from Division II to Division I. This is NDSU's first year as a member of The Summit League after three years as a Division I independent. The Bison are eligible for the Summit League regular-season championship, but NDSU will not participate in the league's postseason NCAA-qualifying championship tournament until becoming an active Division I member in 2008-09.
