Western Illinois Comes to Fargo for Senior Day

Saturday, February 18

Fargo, N.D.

4 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

Western Illinois

Photo by: Carrie Snyder

Western Illinois Comes to Fargo for Senior Day

2/17/2017 3:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Game: The North Dakota State men's basketball team (17-9, 9-4) hosts Western Illinois (8-16, 5-8) on Saturday, Feb. 18, for Senior Day at the Scheels Center. NDSU enters the weekend in a first-place tie with South Dakota, and will honor seniors Carlin Dupree and Dexter Werner following Saturday's game.
                Feb. 18           vs. Western Illinois              4 p.m. CT             MidcoSN, ESPN3

Where to Watch: Saturday's game will be broadcast live on Midco Sports Network, as well as being available on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app, in addition to GoBison.com. Brian Shawn (play-by-play) and Greg Stemen (analyst) will call the action.

Radio: The game will be broadcast on 107.9 The Fox, as well as being streamed on the 107.9 The Fox app and GoBison.com/allaccess. Jeff Culhane (play-by-play) and Jeremy Jorgenson (analyst) will call the action.

About Western Illinois: The Leathernecks are 3-10 away from home this season and 2-5 on the road in conference play.
The Leathernecks rank among the top 60 Division I schools in three-point percentage (38.0%) and three-pointers per game (8.8). Senior guard Garret Covington leads Western Illinois with 18.5 points per game this season, and senior forward Mike Miklusak is averaging 14.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per contest.
Billy Wright is in his third season as the head coach at WIU. The Leathernecks finished 10-17 overall and 3-13 in The Summit League last season.

The Series with Western Illinois: Saturday will be the 22nd meeting between North Dakota State and Western Illinois dating back to 2007-08. NDSU holds a 14-7 lead in the all-time series. The Bison have won eight straight over the Leathernecks.

Last Time vs. Western Illinois: The Bison shot a school-record 81 percent from three-point range at Western Illinois on Jan. 21, resulting in an 89-57 Bison victory. It was NDSU's largest margin of victory this season and its highest point total in a road game since Nov. 29, 2013, at Santa Clara.
                Junior A.J. Jacobson matched his career highs with 23 points and six three-pointers. Paul Miller scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds, making 4-of-4 from beyond the arc.
                As a team, the Bison connected on 13-of-16 shots from three-point range. NDSU's previous single-game record for three-point percentage was 71.4 percent at Oakland on Jan. 31, 2008.

Multiple Threats: NDSU has five players who are shooting better than 40 percent from three-point range in league play – Khy Kabellis, Tyson Ward, A.J. Jacobson, Paul Miller and Jared Samuelson.

Ball Security: The Bison have significantly improved their assist-to-turnover ratio in Summit League play from last season. NDSU's assist-to-turnover ratio was 0.8 last season, and the ratio sits at 1.3 this year through 13 games.

Carlin Dupree
•             Scored a career-high 22 points to lead the Bison to a comeback win over Fort Wayne in the semifinals of the 2016 Summit League Tournament
•             2016 Summit League All-Tournament Team
•             Ranks 19th in school history with 114 steals
•             34 times, he has led the Bison in assists
•             Single-game career highs of 22 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals
•             Against Oklahoma in the 2014 NCAA Tournament, Dupree scored four straight points in overtime to give the Bison a 76-72 lead and the upset over the Sooners.

Dexter Werner
•             Summit League All-Academic Team and NABC Honors Court honoree
•             Summit League Sixth Man of the Year in 2015 as a sophomore
•             Single-game career highs of 30 points, 16 rebounds, 6 blocks, 4 steals and 4 assists
•             10 career double-doubles
•             Against Gonzaga in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, Werner scored 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting
•             Ranks 8th in school history in field goal percentage at 54%
•             1 of 3 players in NDSU history with more than 800 points, 600 rebounds and 90 blocks

Senior Day: NDSU seniors Carlin Dupree and Dexter Werner have seen the best of Bison basketball in the past four years. The Bison are 86-39 overall in the Werner-Dupree Era, with three Summit League Tournament championship games, two Summit League Tournament titles, two regular season league titles, and two NCAA Tournament appearances.

Stat Sheet Stuffer: Dexter Werner leads the Bison in rebounds, blocks and steals, and ranks second on the team in points.

Jacobson, Miller Reach 1,000 Points: Juniors A.J. Jacobson and Paul Miller both surpassed 1,000 career points in the first half of NDSU's win over Denver on Feb. 11. Jacobson became the 33rd Bison to reach the milestone, and Miller was the 34th. Prior to Jacobson and Miller, the most recent Bison to reach 1,000 career points was Lawrence Alexander, who also did it as a junior, on Feb. 1, 2014.

25-Plus: Four different Bison (Paul Miller, Dexter Werner, A.J. Jacobson and Khy Kabellis) have scored 25 or more points in a game this season.

Attendance Figures: North Dakota State is averaging 4,156 fans for home games against Division I opponents – the best mark in The Summit League. NDSU's average home attendance this season is on pace to be its best since the 1994-95 season and the top mark in the school's Division I era.

Career Game for Jacobson: NDSU's A.J. Jacobson set new career highs with 26 points and 12 rebounds to lift the Bison to an 82-65 win over South Dakota State on Feb. 8. It was Jacobson's first career double-double.

Double-Double Dex: Dexter Werner's five double-doubles this season are the most by a Bison since Taylor Braun also recorded five in the 2011-12 season. Andre Smith holds the NDSU Division I era record with 10 double-doubles in 2006-07.

Ward's Breakout: Freshman guard Tyson Ward scored in double figures in three straight games from Jan. 21 to Feb. 1, including a season-high output of 22 points at IUPUI on Feb. 1. Against the Jaguars, Ward made 9-of-13 shots, including the game-tying dunk with 22 seconds remaining, and totaled seven rebounds and three steals.

Home Court: NDSU is 60-5 at home since the start of the 2012-13 season.

Tale of Two Halves: The Bison have flipped the switch at halftime this season, posting a significant shooting advantage in the second half of games. NDSU is shooting 49 percent in the second half, and Bison opponents are shooting 40 percent after halftime.

Against The Summit League: NDSU is 48-19 in its last 67 games against Summit League opponents.

Eighty-Plus: The Bison have scored 80-plus points in nine out of 13 Summit League games. NDSU only reached 80 points in a league game one time in the previous two seasons -- a 91-82 loss to Omaha on Jan. 7, 2016.

Program Staples: The Bison have committed an average of only 10.0 turnovers per game and have limited their opponents to 43-percent shooting in conference play – both numbers that lead The Summit League.

From Downtown: NDSU is shooting a league-best 42.5 percent from three-point range in Summit League play.