Bison Take Road Swing to East Tennessee State, No. 3 Gonzaga

Saturday, November 24

Johnson City, Tenn.

3 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

East Tennessee State

Photo by: Carrie Snyder

Bison Take Road Swing to East Tennessee State, No. 3 Gonzaga

11/21/2018 12:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Complete NDSU Game Notes
Nov. 24 at ETSU Watch | Listen | Live Stats
Nov. 26 at Gonzaga Watch | Listen | Live Stats

The Games: The North Dakota State men's basketball team (2-3) continues its lengthy road swing with trips to East Tennessee State on Saturday, Nov. 24, and No. 3-ranked Gonzaga on Monday, Nov. 26. The Bison will fly the nearly 2,400 miles between the two universities on Sunday.

Where to Watch: Saturday's game at ETSU will be streamed on ESPN+. Monday's game at Gonzaga will be broadcast by ROOT Sports.

Radio: Jeff Culhane will call both games on 107.9 The Fox, as well as being streamed on the 107.9 The Fox app and on GoBison.com/allaccess. Monday's game at Gonzaga will also be joined in progress on Bison 1660 and the Bison 1660 app.

About East Tennessee State: The Buccaneers carry a record of 4-2 into Saturday's game with NDSU, dropping only two road contests at Georgia State (Nov. 6) and Creighton (Nov. 11). Five players are averaging double figures in scoring, led by junior guard Tray Boyd at 12.7 points per game. Junior forward Jeromy Rodriguez is averaging 11.3 points and 12.5 rebounds per contest.
        ETSU was picked to finish third in the Southern Conference this season after going 25-9 last year. The Buccaneers are averaging 25 victories per season under fourth-year head coach Steve Forbes.

History vs. ETSU: The Bison and Buccaneers have never played each other in men's hoops.

About Gonzaga: The Zags are 5-0 and ranked third in both the AP Top 25 Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll, as of Nov. 21. Gonzaga plays No. 1 Duke in the championship game of the Maui Invitational on Wednesday evening before returning home to host the Bison.
        Junior forward Rui Hachimura leads Gonzaga with 23.0 points per game this season. Zach Norvell, Jr. is averaging 17.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists. For the 17th time in the past 18 seasons, the Zags were voted the favorite in the West Coast Conference preseason poll.

History vs. Gonzaga: The Zags hold a 2-0 lead in the all-time series with the Bison. The last meeting came in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament -- an 86-76 win by No. 2 seed Gonzaga over No. 15 seed NDSU in Seattle.

Last Time vs. Gonzaga: Bison sophomore Dexter Werner scored a career-high 22 points, and senior Lawrence Alexander had 19 in his final game for NDSU, but second-seeded Gonzaga pulled away for an 86-76 victory over No. 15 seed NDSU on March 20, 2015.
        Gonzaga led by as many as 18 midway through the second half, but the Bison went on a 16-4 run to trim the deficit to 57-51 on Werner's three-point play with 11:13 to go.
        Werner's back-to-back buckets made it 68-62 with six minutes left, but Gonzaga pulled away behind WCC MVP Kevin Pangos, who scored 12 of his team's final 18 points. Kyle Wiltjer scored a game-high 23 points and Pangos finished with 18 for the Zags.

The Volunteer State: Saturday's game at ETSU will be NDSU's first game in the state of Tennessee since Nov. 19, 2007, when the Bison won 90-72 at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville.

From All Angles: 10 of the 11 Bison who have played this season have made at least one three-pointer. Jared Samuelson, Rocky Kreuser, Deng Geu, Jordan Horn and Tyree Eady are all shooting better than 43 percent from three-point range this season.

Three Threes: Junior guard Jared Samuelson has made three three-pointers in each of the past three games.

Facilitator: Junior point guard Vinnie Shahid has registered multiple assists in all but one game this season.

Bench Points: The Bison received 46 of their 82 points from bench players in the victory over UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 11.

Kreuser's Career Night: Bison sophomore forward Rocky Kreuser scored a career-high 23 points in the season opener at New Mexico State on Nov. 6, shooting 9-of-11 for the game and 5-for-6 from beyond the arc. It was just the third double-digit scoring performance of Kreuser's young career.

First Starts: Rocky Kreuser, Vinnie Shahid and Sam Griesel all made their first career starts for the Bison at New Mexico State on Nov. 6. Kreuser played in all 32 games last season as a true freshman. Shahid, a junior college transfer from Western Nebraska CC, and Griesel, a true freshman from Lincoln, Neb., made their NDSU debuts.

Making Shots: NDSU ranked among the top 60 teams in the nation in all three shooting categories last season. The Bison were 33rd in free throw percentage, 50th in three-point percentage, and 58th in field goal percentage.

Good Run: The Bison are averaging 21 wins per season over the past six years.

Experience: Junior Tyson Ward is NDSU's most experienced returner, having played in 62 games for an average of 23.6 minutes per game over the past two seasons. Junior Deng Geu is next on the list, playing in the same 62 games over two seasons, averaging 12.0 minutes.

Picked Fifth: The Bison were picked to finish fifth in The Summit League this season, according to the annual preseason poll of league head coaches, sports information directors and media. South Dakota State topped the preseason poll with all but two first-place votes. South Dakota came in second, Denver was third, and Purdue Fort Wayne was fourth in front of the Bison.

Preseason 2nd Team: Tyson Ward was voted to the preseason All-Summit League second team. Ward is NDSU's top returning scorer (11.8 ppg), and he led the Bison in rebounding as a sophomore last season with 5.9 boards per game.

High Percentage: Deng Geu posted a .623 field goal percentage last season as a sophomore, ranking ninth on the NDSU all-time single-season list.

Three-Point Record: The Bison set a school record with 294 three-pointers made last season, breaking the previous high of 284 set in the 2002-03 season. NDSU averaged 9.2 three-pointers made per game.

At The Line: The Bison were historically good at the free throw line last season, shooting 76.1 percent for the year. That percentage ranks second-best in school history.