Bison Open Season with Games at UC Davis, Illinois

Friday, November 13

Davis, Calif.

7:30 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

UC Davis

Photo by: Richard Svaleson

Bison Open Season with Games at UC Davis, Illinois

11/11/2015 7:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball

NDSU Basketball on Twitter
Complete NDSU Basketball Game Notes
At UC Davis on Nov. 13: Live Video | Audio | Live Stats
At Illinois on Nov. 15: ESPN3 Video | Audio | Live Stats

  This Week's Games: The North Dakota State University men's basketball team will play at UC Davis in the 2015-16 season opener on Friday, Nov. 13, before traveling to take on Illinois in Springfield, Ill., on Sunday, Nov. 15.
          Nov. 13 at UC Davis 7:30 p.m. (CT) / 5:30 p.m. (PT)
          Nov. 15 at Illinois      2 p.m. (CT)

            Where to Watch: A live video stream of the season opener on Friday will be provided by UC Davis and the Big West Conference. Sunday's game at Illinois will be available through ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.

            Radio: KFGO-AM 790 of Fargo will broadcast Friday's opener live with Gary Rogers calling play-by-play. Sunday's game at Illinois will be on 740 The Fan. Coverage includes 20-minute pregame and postgame shows. Free audio streaming will be available at GoBison.com/allaccess.

            About UC Davis: The Aggies won the Big West Conference regular season title last season, going 25-7 overall and 14-2 in conference play. After being upset by Hawaii in the conference tourney, UC Davis earned a bid to the NIT and dropped a first-round contest at Stanford.
            The Aggies lost three starters and five letterwinners from last year's team, including standout guard Corey Hawkins who averaged 21 points per game. Senior forward Josh Fox is their top returning scorer after averaging 9.0 points and 4.3 rebounds a year ago. UC Davis shot an impressive 49 percent from the field and 45 percent from three-point range last season.
            Like NDSU, UC Davis is receiving votes in the preseason CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll.

            About Illinois: The Fighting Illini posted a record of 19-14 overall and 9-9 in the Big Ten Conference last season, losing at Alabama in the first round of the NIT. Junior guard Malcolm Hill is the top returning scorer for Illinois after averaging 14.4 points a year ago.
            The Fighting Illini lost two starters and six letterwinners from last year's team, including top scorer Rayvonte Rice.
            Illinois is playing five games off campus in Springfield, Ill., this November while its home arena, the State Farm Center, undergoes a renovation.

            Series History vs. UC Davis: The Bison are 2-0 against UC Davis, with wins in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. NDSU won 63-62 in Davis on Nov. 24, 2009.
            The Bison earned a 76-71 victory in Fargo on Dec. 16, 2010, with current NDSU assistant coach Freddy Coleman leading NDSU with 19 points -- a career high at the time.

            Series History vs. Illinois: Illinois leads the all-time series 4-0 over North Dakota State. The last meeting was a 90-61 Illinois victory in Champaign on Dec. 22, 1981.

            Against the Big Ten: Sunday will be NDSU's 12th game in the school's Division I era (since 2004) against a Big Ten Conference opponent, with the Bison going 1-10 in their first 11 meetings. NDSU's lone win over a Big Ten opponent was a 62-55 victory at No. 13/15 Wisconsin on Jan. 21, 2006.

            Season Openers: North Dakota State has a 71-45 record in regular-season opening games. The Bison are 5-6 in season openers since beginning Division I play in 2004-05.

            Champions: NDSU swept the Summit League regular season and tournament titles three times in a seven-year span (2009, 2014, 2015), winning a school-record 26 games in both 2008-09 and 2013-14.

            Best Ever: With 73 victories over the past three seasons, the Bison had the most successful three-year stretch in program history.

            Home Court: With 25 straight home wins, the Bison are tied with Kansas for the fifth-longest active home court winning streak in the nation. NDSU is 38-2 at home since the start of the 2012-13 season, with the only two losses being to Southern Miss (70-69) on Nov. 18, 2013, and Western Illinois (49-36) on Feb. 14, 2013.

            High Level: NDSU is one of only nine mid-major programs in the country to post at least 23 victories in each of the last three seasons. Wichita State, Gonzaga, VCU, Stephen F. Austin, BYU, Louisiana Tech, Stony Brook and New Mexico State are the other eight.

            In the Classroom: NDSU was one of only six Division I schools to play in the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament while owning a cumulative team GPA of 3.0 or better.

            Quick Learner: David Richman's 23 wins in the 2014-15 season were the most in the country by any first-year Division I head coach.

            Sustained Success: The Bison have made four straight postseason tournament appearances and five in the last seven seasons.

            Under Richman: David Richman has been a member of the NDSU coaching staff for five 20-win seasons, as well as producing 13 all-league players and eight of the top 17 scorers in NDSU history. In all, the Bison are 193-114 (.629 win percentage) in his 10 years as a full-time member of the staff.

            RPI: NDSU finished the 2014-15 season 94th in the official NCAA RPI -- one year after finishing an all-time best 32nd in 2013-14.

            Take Care: The Bison had the ninth-fewest turnovers per game in Division I for the 2014-15 season at 9.8 per contest.

            Dynamic Duo: A.J. Jacobson and Paul Miller were the top-scoring freshman duo in The Summit League last season (18.3 combined PPG) and the top NDSU pair since Ben Woodside and Brett Winkelman in 2005-06.

            Winners: Seniors Kory Brown and Chris Kading both enter the 2015-16 season with 71 career victories. The NDSU all-time record for wins belongs to Lawrence Alexander, who won 90 games from 2011-15.

            Bahamas Trip: NDSU got an early start on the 2015-16 season by taking a foreign tour to the Bahamas from Aug. 10-15. The Bison won three exhibition games on three consecutive days in Nassau from Aug. 12-14.

            Pro Bison: There are currently five former Bison playing professional basketball -- Andre Smith (South Korea), Ben Woodside (Turkey), Taylor Braun (Germany), TrayVonn Wright (England) and Lawrence Alexander (Hungary).

            Preseason Honors: NDSU sophomore A.J. Jacobson was voted to the preseason All-Summit League first team, while senior guard Kory Brown and junior forward Dexter Werner claimed spots on the second team.