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Complete NDSU Game Notes
Feb. 22 at WIU  Watch  |  Listen  |  Live Stats
Feb. 24 at Omaha  Watch  |  Listen  |  Live Stats

This Week's Games: The North Dakota State men's basketball team (13-15 overall, 4-8 Summit League) closes the regular season with games at Western Illinois (11-14, 2-10) on Thursday, Feb. 22, and at Omaha (9-19, 4-8) on Saturday, Feb. 24.  Omaha hosts Oral Roberts on Thursday night before playing the Bison.
              Thu., Feb. 22           at Western Illinois        7 p.m. CT
              Sat., Feb. 24            at Omaha                        1 p.m. CT
 
Where to Watch: Both games are only available to watch via live stream on the host schools' websites, GoLeathernecks.com and OMavs.com.
 
Radio: Both games will be broadcast on 107.9 The Fox, with audio streaming on the 107.9 The Fox app and GoBison.com/allaccess.  Jeff Culhane will call the action.
 
History with Western Illinois: Thursday will be the 24th meeting between North Dakota State and Western Illinois dating back to 2007-08. NDSU holds a 16-7 lead in the all-time series. The Bison have won 10 straight over the Leathernecks.
 
Last Time vs. Western Illinois: Paul Miller poured in 26 points to lead the Bison to an 80-69 win over Western Illinois on Jan. 27 in Fargo. It was the ninth consecutive game that Miller scored 20 or more points. NDSU redshirt freshman Cameron Hunter added 13 points for the Bison, and sophomore Tyson Ward had 10. Sophomore forward Deng Geu sparked the Bison with nine points and four rebounds off the bench in the second half.
          NDSU shot 55 percent for the game, including 8-for-20 (40 percent) from beyond the arc. WIU freshman Kobe Webster scored 18 points in the game's first nine minutes and finished with 24 for the game. NDSU was ahead 54-51 with just over 13 minutes remaining when the Bison exploded for a 12-2 run.
 
History with Omaha: Saturday will be the 79th meeting between North Dakota State and Omaha dating back to 1935-36. NDSU has a 47-31 lead in the series. The Bison have not won in Omaha since a 75-72 triumph on Jan. 8, 2015.
 
Last Time vs. Omaha: Paul Miller scored 25 points, and sophomore Tyson Ward added 17 as the Bison earned a 73-58 win over Omaha on Jan. 25 in Fargo. Miller drained five three-pointers and scored his 25 points on 12 shots. The Bison clamped down defensively, holding the Mavericks to a season-low 58 points. Omaha's previous season-low of 64 points came at nationally ranked Kansas on Dec. 18.
          NDSU held a slim 25-24 advantage with seven minutes left in the first half before rattling off a 16-0 run over the next four minutes. NDSU held Omaha scoreless for nearly six minutes to open the second half.
 
Making Shots: NDSU ranks among the top 70 teams in the nation in all three shooting categories. The Bison are 45th in free throw percentage, 62nd in field goal percentage, and 62nd in three-point percentage.
 
Locked In: A.J. Jacobson's 89.3-percent free throw shooting this season would be the fifth-best season percentage in NDSU history (with a minimum of 50 FTs made). His season three-point percentage of 45.7 percent is in line to rank seventh-best all-time at NDSU.
 
Doesn't Happen Often: North Dakota State's four straight losses between Feb. 1 and Feb. 10 made its first four-game losing streak since ending the 2011-12 season with four straight defeats.
 
Exclusive Club: Paul Miller is the sixth player in NDSU history to record at least 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 200 assists in his career. He joins Steve Saladino (1972-76), Denver TenBroek (1999-03), Brett Winkelman (2005-09), Taylor Braun (2010-14) and Lawrence Alexander (2011-15).
 
Miller on the Career Charts: Paul Miller enters the week ninth in school history with 1,627 career points, 24 shy of tying Taylor Braun for eighth place (1,651 points from 2010-14).  Miller also ranks second in career 3-pointers attempted (624) and fourth in 3-pointers made (236).
 
Geu's Game: Sophomore Deng Geu scored 12 points in back-to-back games against South Dakota State on Feb. 1 and South Dakota on Feb. 3. Those performances tie for his third-highest scoring output against a Division I opponent, trailing only his 18 points at No. 7 Xavier last season and his 16 points vs. UNC Wilmington on Dec. 21 of this season.
 
20-Plus: Paul Miller scored 20 or more points in nine consecutive games, with the streak ending with a 17-point performance at SDSU on Feb. 1. In NDSU's Division I era, no other Bison has ever scored 20-plus in more than five straight games.
 
Defensive Lockdown: The Bison clamped down defensively in their win over Omaha on Jan. 25, holding the Mavericks to a season-low 58 points. Omaha's previous season-low of 64 points came at nationally ranked Kansas on Dec. 18.
 
Solid Senior: Although A.J. Jacobson's scoring average is down this season, he is having the most efficient year of his career. Jacobson's field goal percentage (.474), three-point percentage (.457), and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9) are all the best of his career.
 
Record Rate on 3-Pointers: The Bison are making 9.2 three-pointers per game this season, which is nearly on pace to match the school record of 9.4 treys made per game in the 2001-02 season. In the Division I era, the NDSU season record for threes per game is 7.7 last season.
 
Top 3-Point Shooting League: For the second season in a row, The Summit League is the top three-point shooting conference in all of Division I. Summit League teams have combined to shoot 37.4 percent from beyond the arc this year. Last season, the Summit League led all conferences by more than one full percentage point, shooting 37.9 percent for the year.