Bison Host Missouri State Saturday, Play at Big Sky Favorite Montana Monday

Saturday, December 15

Fargo, N.D.

7:30 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

Missouri State

Photo by: Carrie Snyder

Bison Host Missouri State Saturday, Play at Big Sky Favorite Montana Monday

12/13/2018 3:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Complete NDSU Game Notes
Dec. 15 vs. Missouri St. Watch | Listen | Live Stats
Dec. 17 at Montana Watch | Listen | Live Stats

The Games: The North Dakota State men's basketball team (3-7) hosts Missouri State (4-5) of the Missouri Valley Conference on Saturday, Dec. 15, at 7:30 p.m. inside the Scheels Center on campus. The Bison then travel to Missoula, Mont., to take on the Montana Grizzlies (5-3) on Monday, Dec. 17, at 8 p.m. CT / 7 p.m. MT.

Where to Watch: Saturday's game will be broadcast on Midco Sports Network, as well as being available on ESPN+ through the ESPN app. Brian Shawn (play-by-play) and Greg Stemen (analyst) will call the action. Monday's game will be streamed on Pluto TV (channel 237).

Radio: Both games will be broadcast on 107.9 The Fox and Bison1660, as well as being streamed on the 107.9 The Fox app, the Bison1660 app, and on GoBison.com/allaccess. Jeff Culhane will call the action.

About Missouri State: Missouri State has a record of 4-5 this season after snapping a five-game losing streak with a home victory over Western Kentucky on Dec. 5. Three of the Bears' losses were against high majors -- Nebraska, USC and Oregon State.
          Junior forward Tulio Da Silva is leading the Bears with 17.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Senior guard Jarred Dixon is averaging 16.7 points and shooting 43 percent from beyond the arc.
          Dana Ford is in his first season as the head coach at Missouri State after spending four years leading Tennessee State. The Bears were picked to finish 8th in the 10-team Missouri Valley Conference this season after going 18-15 last year.

History vs. Missouri State: The Bison are 1-2 all-time against Missouri State, with Saturday's game being the fourth meeting in the series.
          The two schools split a pair of contests last year, with NDSU winning 57-54 at Missouri State on Nov. 17, and the Bears winning 71-58 in Fargo on Dec. 4.

About Montana: Montana has a record of 5-3 this season, and Monday will be the first game for the Griz in nine days, since falling 60-51 at UC Irvine.
          Four different Montana players are averaging 14 or more points per game. Senior guard Michael Oguine is leading the Griz in scoring with 15.1 points per game, and senior guard Ahmaad Rorie is putting up 3.9 assists to go along with his 14.8 points.
          As a team, Montana is shooting 51 percent for the season to rank 8th in the nation. The Griz were picked to repeat as Big Sky Conference champions after winning the regular season and tournament titles last year, going 26-8 overall and 16-2 in the Big Sky.

History vs. Montana: Monday's game will be the 10th meeting between North Dakota State and Montana. The Bison are 3-6 all-time against the Griz.
          NDSU won 73-53 in the most recent meeting on Nov. 25, 2015, at Scheels Arena in Fargo. Dec. 7, 2014, was the last time the schools played in Missoula, with the Griz winning 69-57.

Make It, Take It: Deng Geu's field goal percentage of 60.3 percent this season is the best by any Summit League player who averages at least seven shots per game.

Shahid Leads: Junior point guard Vinnie Shahid has led the Bison in scoring in three of the past four games, averaging 18.5 points over that stretch. His 29 points vs. Drake on Dec. 1 are the most by a Bison this season.

Bench Scoring: NDSU is getting 41 percent of its scoring (29 ppg) from bench players through 10 games.

Expanding Role: The past three games for NDSU have been the three highest minutes totals of Deng Geu's career, playing 24 vs. Drake, 23 at Iowa State, and 25 vs. Eastern Washington. Geu is averaging 23.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per 40 minutes.

From All Angles: 11 of the 12 Bison who have played this season have made at least one three-pointer. Chris Quayle leads NDSU in three-point shooting, making 55 percent from beyond the arc.

Strong Ratio: Junior guard Jared Samuelson leads the Bison and ranks second in The Summit League with a 13-to-5 assist-to-turnover ratio this season.

Knotek's Debut: Freshman Jaxon Knotek (River Falls, Wis.) made his season debut vs. Eastern Washington on Dec. 8, scoring three points in 11 minutes of action.

Balanced Attack: NDSU's top four scorers are all averaging between 9.6 and 11.8 points per game this season.

Deng vs. Drake: NDSU junior forward Deng Geu set or matched career highs in points (21), assists (3), free throws made (6), and free throws attempted (7) vs. Drake on Dec. 1. He also pulled down seven rebounds in the game -- a season-high until grabbing eight vs. EWU.

Nine in Double Figures: With freshman Jarius Cook scoring a season-high 10 points at East Tennessee State on Nov. 24, nine different Bison players have now scored in double figures this season.

Taking on the Best: NDSU's game at No. 1-ranked Gonzaga on Nov. 26 was the second time in its Division I history that the Bison took on the No. 1 team in the country. NDSU also played at No. 1 Indiana on Nov. 12, 2012.