Bison Close Home Schedule vs. IUPUI, Fort Wayne

Thursday, February 19

Fargo, N.D.

7 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

IUPUI

Photo by: Richard Svaleson

Bison Close Home Schedule vs. IUPUI, Fort Wayne

2/18/2015 5:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Complete NDSU Basketball Game Notes (PDF)
Feb. 19 vs. IUPUI: Live Video | Free Audio | Live Stats
Feb. 21 vs. Fort Wayne: Live Video | Free Audio | Live Stats

  This Week's Games: The North Dakota State men's basketball team (18-8, 10-3 Summit League) closes out its home schedule with games against IUPUI (9-17, 5-7 Summit) and Fort Wayne (14-11, 7-5 Summit) on Thursday, Feb. 19, and Saturday, Feb. 21, respectively. The Bison enter this week tied for first place in the league standings with South Dakota State. Both schools have three games remaining.
            Feb. 19            vs. IUPUI                7 p.m.
            Feb. 21            vs. Fort Wayne         2 p.m.

            Viewing Options: Both games will be televised statewide on MeTV, with Brian Shawn and former Bison Juno Pintar calling the action. A separate live video stream will be available for purchase at GoBison.com/allaccess.

            Radio: Scott Miller and Jeremy Jorgenson will call the games on KFGO-AM 790 of Fargo. Free audio streaming will be available at GoBison.com/allaccess.

Giveaway: NDSU Athletics will give away 1,500 free yellow NDSU Basketball t-shirts before Saturday's game.

            Food Fight: Designated Summit League basketball games have been selected with each school having one week to collect food and/or cash donations for the Summit League Food Fight Challenge. At the end of the Food Fight schedule, the school that raises the most amount of food (measured in pounds) or cash donations will be declared the winner.
            The Food Fight Challenge scheduled for NDSU will be at Scheels Arena during the men's basketball game vs. Fort Wayne at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, and at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse for the women's basketball game vs. Denver at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26.

            About IUPUI: The Jaguars are 9-17 overall and 5-7 in Summit League play this season. IUPUI is 5-10 on the road this year.
            Junior guard Marcellus Barksdale leads IUPUI with 8.2 points per game, and senior forward DavRon Williams is averaging 8.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest. In league play, senior guard Khufu Najee tops the Jaguars with 9.2 points per game.
            As a team, the Jaguars are 58th in the country with 7.5 steals per game. IUPUI shoots three-pointers at one of the lowest rates in the nation, making only 4.1 treys per contest.
            IUPUI was picked ninth in the Summit League preseason poll after going 6-26 overall and 1-13 in the league last season.

            The Series with IUPUI: NDSU leads IUPUI 8-7 in the all-time series, but the Bison have won five meetings in a row and six of the last seven between the two schools. NDSU won 69-61 in overtime on Jan. 22 this season in Indianapolis.

            About Fort Wayne: The Mastodons are 14-11 overall and 7-5 in Summit League play this season, but they carry a six-game winning streak into this week. IPFW is 5-7 on the road this year.
            Senior forward Steve Forbes leads IPFW with 14.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game while shooting 58 percent from the floor. Senior guard Joe Edwards is averaging 10.9 points for the Mastodons. Fort Wayne is shooting 46.7 percent as a team -- good enough to rank among the top 50 teams in the nation.
            IPFW was picked first in the Summit League preseason poll after going 25-11 overall and 10-4 in the league last season.

            The Series with Fort Wayne: NDSU and IPFW are tied 10-10 in the all-time series after the Mastodons won 77-71 in Fort Wayne on Jan. 24 this season. NDSU has won five of the last eight meetings with Fort Wayne overall.
            NDSU won two of the three meetings between the schools last season, when the Bison and Mastodons also met in the title game of the Summit League Tournament, where NDSU won 60-57 to clinch a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

            Home Court: The Bison have won 23 straight home games, which is the 7th-longest active home winning streak in the nation. NDSU is 36-2 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.

            Best Stretch: The Bison have won 68 games over the last three seasons, making it the winningest three-year stretch in school history.

            Threes Record: Entering Thursday's game vs. IUPUI, Lawrence Alexander needs one three-pointer to set the NDSU single-season record for treys. Alexander is tied with Ross Manson (1993-94) with 85 three-pointers this season.

            Mid-Major Top 25: NDSU appeared in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll last week at No. 22. It was the first time back in the Top 25 for the Bison since finishing last season at No. 3 – an all-time high for the program and The Summit League.

            League's Best: Senior Lawrence Alexander was named the Summit League Player of the Week for the second week in a row, the third time this season, and the fourth time in his career after averaging 26.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game last week.
            In a 73-69 overtime win at Denver on Feb. 12, Alexander scored 28 and gathered a team-high seven rebounds, while connecting on 4-of-6 three-point attempts. Two days later at South Dakota State, Alexander scored a game-high 24 points and pulled down a season-high nine rebounds. He drained five three-pointers in the game, dished out three assists and had three steals.

            Top Freshman: A.J. Jacobson leads all Summit League freshmen in scoring at 10.9 points per game. Jacobson is on pace to score the second-most points by a Bison freshman since 2006, behind only Lawrence Alexander.

            Record-Breaking Day: Alexander drained an NDSU single-game record eight three-pointers in a 71-47 win over South Dakota on Feb. 7. That output is tied for the seventh-most in a game in all of Division I this season.

            Hot Shots: Alexander, Paul Miller and Carlin Dupree went a combined 13-of-17 from beyond the arc in NDSU's rout of South Dakota on Feb. 7. Alexander made 8-of-11 attempts from downtown.

            Wins Record: Lawrence Alexander owns the most wins ever by a Bison basketball player. He has 85 wins in his career, passing the previous record of 82 held by Mike Felt (2009-14).

            Moving Up: Alexander moved up from 11th to eighth on the NDSU all-time scoring list with 49 points in two games Feb. 5-7. The Peoria, Ill., native has scored 1,629 points over 124 games.
            He needs 24 points to pass Taylor Braun (1,651 career points) and Steve Saladino (1,652) for the No. 6 spot on the Bison career scoring list.

            Best Around: Alexander leads The Summit League in points per game (19.2), three-pointers made (85) and minutes per game (38.5).

            Taking Care: The Bison are averaging 9.8 turnovers per game this season – an average which ranks them seventh-best in the nation. NDSU is also ranked 10th in Division I for fewest fouls committed per game at 15.0.

            Lawrence Alexander's National Rankings (as of Feb. 18)
            3rd in minutes per game (38.5)
            4th in 3-pointers made (85)
            6th in 3-pointers made per game (3.27)
            9th in 3-point field goal percentage (44.7%)
            19th in total points (498)
            26th in points per game (19.2)

            Shot Blocker: Chris Kading is No. 2 in The Summit League with 1.7 blocks per game in league play. He ranks eighth in school history with 78 career blocked shots.

            On the Boards: Kory Brown ranks 10th in The Summit League with 5.5 rebounds per game in league play.

            At the Line: A.J. Jacobson has made 33-of-36 free throw attempts (91.7 percent) in league play -- good enough for the second-best percentage in The Summit League.

            Most Minutes: Alexander has passed Ben Woodside (2005-09) for the NDSU record for minutes played in a career. Woodside played 4,117 minutes in 118 games. Alexander has totaled 4,362 minutes in 124 games.

            Three-Year Run: The Bison are in the midst of the winningest three-year run in school history. NDSU is 68-25 since the start of the 2012-13 season, including a mark of 34-9 in league play.
            No. of wins        Years
            68                       2012-15
            67                       2011-14
            64                       1994-97
            64                       1923-26

            Win at IUPUI: NDSU exploded for 16 points in overtime to pull out a 69-61 victory on the road at IUPUI on Jan. 22. The Jaguars and Bison battled through 15 lead changes and 12 ties in the contest. Neither team led by more than four points over the first 40 minutes. Lawrence Alexander recorded his eighth game of 20-plus points this season, tallying 24 to lead all players.

            Senior Steps Up: Alexander has 11 games this season with four or more three-pointers. He only had three such games over his first three seasons combined.