Summit League Tournament Begins Saturday for Bison Hoops

Saturday, March 4

Sioux Falls, S.D.

8:30 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

IUPUI

Photo by: Kevin Wolf

Summit League Tournament Begins Saturday for Bison Hoops

3/2/2017 5:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Tournament: The No. 2-seeded North Dakota State men's basketball team (19-10 overall, 11-5 Summit League) will play No. 7 seed IUPUI (13-17, 7-9 Summit) in the quarterfinals of the Summit League Tournament on Saturday, Mar. 4, at 8:30 p.m. inside the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. The winner will play the winner of No. 3 seed Omaha and No. 6 seed Fort Wayne in the second semifinal on Monday night.

                Mar. 4       vs. (7) IUPUI           8:30 p.m.
                Mar. 6       Semifinals               8:30 p.m.
                Mar. 7       Championship       8 p.m.

Where to Watch: All quarterfinal and semifinal games of the Summit League Tournament will be broadcast on Midco Sports Network and be available on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. Tuesday's championship game will be on ESPN2.

Radio: Each NDSU 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.

What's at Stake: The winner of the Summit League Championship receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. NDSU is looking for its third league tournament title in four years and its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in school history.

Bison in Sioux Falls: NDSU is 12-5 all-time in Sioux Falls at the Summit League Tournament.

                Year       Record      Result
                2009       3-0              Defeated Oakland in championship
                2010       0-1              Eliminated by Oral Roberts in quarterfinals
                2011       0-1              Eliminated by Oral Roberts in quarterfinals
                2012       0-1              Eliminated by Western Illinois in quarterfinals
                2013       2-1              Eliminated by South Dakota State in finals
                2014       2-0              Defeated IPFW in championship
                2015       3-0              Defeated South Dakota State in championship
                2016       2-1              Eliminated by South Dakota State in finals

Bison in the Postseason: North Dakota State is seeking a trip to its fourth NCAA Tournament and its sixth postseason appearance as a Division I program. The Bison played in the NCAA Tournament in 2009, 2014 and 2015 and made appearances in the College Basketball Invitational in 2012 and 2013.

Title Talk: NDSU has won three Summit League Tournament crowns in eight seasons as a full member of the league -- 2009, 2014 and 2015.

No. 2 Seeds: No. 2 seeds have won three of the last five Summit League Tournaments.

All-League Honors: A pair of Bison were honored by The Summit League with postseason awards. Junior guard Paul Miller was named first-team All-Summit League. Miller averaged 19.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in league play, shooting 42 percent from three-point range and 78 percent at the free throw line. He led all Summit League players with 52 three-pointers in conference play.
                Senior forward Dexter Werner earned second-team All-Summit League honors and the league's Sixth Man of the Year award. He posted averages of 13.7 points and 7.6 rebounds in league play, shooting 58 percent from the field. Werner also shot 83 percent at the free throw line and ranked fourth in blocks per game and eighth in steals per game among Summit League players.

Academic All-American: NDSU junior A.J. Jacobson was voted to the CoSIDA Academic All-America first team with a 3.99 cumulative GPA. Jacobson is the first Bison to earn first-team Academic All-America honors in men's basketball since Brett Winkelman was named Academic All-American of the Year in 2009. Jacobson was a third-team honoree last season as a sophomore.

The Series with IUPUI: NDSU leads IUPUI 12-9 in the all-time series. Each team won on its home court this season, with the Bison earning a 93-89 victory in Fargo on Jan. 5, and the Jaguars winning 86-81 in overtime on Feb. 1 in Indianapolis.

Dupree Stepped Up: NDSU senior guard Carlin Dupree averaged 14.3 points in the Summit League Tournament last season, leading the Bison in scoring in Sioux Falls. He had the two highest-scoring games of his career back-to-back in the semifinals and championship game, scoring 22 against Fort Wayne and 19 against South Dakota State.

Werner Last Season: NDSU senior forward Dexter Werner nearly averaged a double-double in three Summit League Tournament games last year, averaging 10.7 points and 9.0 rebounds.

One More to Make History: One more victory would give NDSU five consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in school history. The Bison won 20-plus games for four straight years from 1993-97.

70 or Less: The Bison are 14-2 this season when holding their opponent to 70 points or less.

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

Ball Security: The Bison 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 Bison finished with a 1.3 ratio this year.

Rare Company: Senior Dexter Werner is one of only three players in NDSU history with more than 900 points, 600 rebounds and 90 blocks. The other two are TrayVonn Wright (2010-14) and Joe Regnier (1985-89).

Senior Impact: NDSU seniors Carlin Dupree and Dexter Werner have seen the best of Bison basketball in the past four years. The Bison are 88-40 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.

22-Plus: Six different Bison (Paul Miller, Dexter Werner, A.J. Jacobson, Khy Kabellis, Tyson Ward and Carlin Dupree) have scored 22 or more points in a game this season.

Attendance Figures: North Dakota State averaged 4,205 fans for home games against Division I opponents – the best mark in The Summit League. NDSU's average home attendance this season was its best since the 1994-95 season and the top mark in the school's Division I era.

Home Court: NDSU is 61-5 at home since the start of the 2012-13 season.

Double-Double Dex: Dexter Werner's six double-doubles this season are the most by a Bison since Brett Winkelman in the 2008-09 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.

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 48 percent in the second half, and Bison opponents are shooting 41 percent after halftime.

Eighty-Plus: The Bison scored 80-plus points in 12 out of 16 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 committed an average of only 10.0 turnovers per game and limited their opponents to 43-percent shooting in conference play – both numbers that led The Summit League.

Never Give Up: Four times this season, the Bison have trailed by double digits before coming back to win. NDSU pulled the same feat six times last year.

Nov. 11 vs. Arkansas State Trailed by 10 with 12:29 left in 1st half W, 76-66
Dec. 14 vs. UC Davis Trailed by 11 with 15:48 left in 2nd half W, 74-70
Dec. 28 at South Dakota State Trailed by 16 with 14:51 left in 2nd half W, 80-69
Jan. 25 vs. Oral Roberts Trailed by 13 with 15:00 left in 2nd half W, 81-71

Good Half Decade: The Bison have 112 victories in the last five seasons -- the winningest five-year stretch in NDSU history.

Against The Summit League: NDSU is 50-20 in its last 70 games against Summit League opponents.

From Downtown: The Bison shot a school record 81 percent (13-for-16) from three-point range at Western Illinois on Jan. 21. A.J. Jacobson made 6-of-7 from downtown and finished with 23 points.

Into the Top 10: Juniors Paul Miller (8th) and A.J. Jacobson (9th) both moved into NDSU's all-time top 10 in three-pointers made this year.

Court Time: Juniors A.J. Jacobson and Paul Miller and sophomore Khy Kabellis are all averaging more than 31 minutes per game for their careers. Kabellis played all 50 minutes of NDSU's double-overtime win over Western Illinois on Feb. 18.