Bison Hit the Road for Games at Western Illinois, Purdue Fort Wayne

Complete NDSU Game Notes
Jan. 30 at WIU Watch | Listen | Live Stats
Feb. 1 at PFW Watch | Listen | Live Stats

The Games: The North Dakota State men's basketball team (14-7 overall, 5-2 Summit League) travels to take on the Western Illinois Leathernecks (5-13, 2-6) and the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (9-13, 2-5) this week in Summit League play.
                    Thursday, Jan. 30          at Western Illinois                    7:30 p.m. CT
                    Saturday, Feb. 1            at Purdue Fort Wayne            7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT

Where to Watch: Thursday's game will be broadcast on ESPN3. Saturday's game will be streamed live on YouTube by Purdue Fort Wayne.

Radio: Thursday's game 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. Saturday's game will be on 107.9 The Fox. Jeff Culhane will call the action.
          All Bison conference games will also be carried on KYCR 1440 AM in the Twin Cities.

History with Western Illinois: Thursday will be the 29th game between NDSU and Western Illinois dating back to 2007-08. NDSU holds a 20-8 lead in the all-time series. The Bison have won 14 of the last 15 vs. the Leathernecks after sweeping all three meetings last season and winning 94-74 in Fargo on Jan. 2 this year.

Last Time vs. WIU: All five starters scored in double figures for the Bison, and NDSU never trailed as they cruised to a 94-74 win over Western Illinois on Jan. 2 in Fargo. NDSU senior Tyson Ward led all players in points, rebounds and assists, finishing with 25, 11 and 6, respectively.
          Vinnie Shahid scored 22 points for NDSU, Tyree Eady added 12, Cameron Hunter had 11, and Rocky Kreuser registered 10 points. Eady also pulled down a career-high seven rebounds.
          NDSU shot a perfect 16-for-16 from the free throw line, setting a new single-game school record for most free throws made without a miss. Overall, the Bison shot a season-high 54 percent from the floor.
          NDSU was quick out of the gate, going ahead 22-10 just over seven minutes into the contest. The Bison led by as many as 19 in the first half and 25 in the second half.

History with Purdue Fort Wayne: Saturday will be the 32nd meeting between the Bison and Mastodons since 2005-06, with NDSU leading the series 16-15. The two schools split their meetings last season, with the road team winning both games.

Last Time vs. The Mastodons: Vinnie Shahid drilled a three-pointer from the right wing with 0.4 seconds left to give the Bison a 69-66 victory at Purdue Fort Wayne on March 2 in last year's regular season finale. It was NDSU's first victory in Fort Wayne since Feb. 9, 2013.
          The Bison were up 57-44 with 7:30 remaining after a pair of threes from Shahid and Jared Samuelson. Purdue Fort Wayne went on an 11-0 run to cut the margin to two at 57-55 with 4:15 left. After another three by Samuelson and a three-point play from Tyson Ward, NDSU held a 63-55 advantage with 3:30 to play. The Mastodons charged back, tying the game at 66 on a pair of free throws by Jarred Godfrey with 11.5 seconds left.
          Shahid pulled up from the right wing to hit the game-winner with 0.4 seconds on the clock.
          Tyson Ward led the Bison with 11 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the conference season. Sam Griesel and Cameron Hunter both scored 10 for NDSU. The Bison survived 22.6-percent shooting in the second half by limiting the Mastodons to only seven three-pointers in the game.

Back-To-Back Season Highs for Rock: Rocky Kreuser set -- and then matched -- his season-high for points in the past two games. He scored 18 points at South Dakota State on Jan. 22, and then 18 again vs. Denver on Jan. 25.

At The Line: NDSU is No. 10 in the nation in free throw percentage, making 78.0 percent for the season -- which would surpass the school-record mark of 77.7 percent set last year. The Bison are 98-of-118 (83.1 percent) at the charity stripe in Summit League play.

Doing It All: Tyson Ward led the Bison in points, rebounds and assists in back-to-back games on Jan. 19 and Jan. 22. He finished with 27 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists vs. North Dakota on Jan. 19, and followed up with 24 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists at South Dakota State on Jan. 22.
          Ward made 11 field goals in both games -- setting, and then tying, a new career-high.

Ball Security: The Bison rank 7th in the country for fewest turnovers per game at 10.3.

Long Distance Attack: NDSU is 38th in the nation (and first in the Summit League) with 9.1 three-pointers made per game.

Dynamic Duo: NDSU is the only team in the league with two players in the league's top six for scoring in conference play. Vinnie Shahid is No. 3 in the league (21.4 ppg), and Tyson Ward is No. 6 (18.6 ppg) in scoring.

Two-Headed Monster: The Bison have won 9 of their last 12 games, led by the combination of seniors Vinnie Shahid and Tyson Ward. In that 12-game stretch, Shahid is averaging 19.8 points and shooting 44 percent from beyond the arc. Ward is averaging 17.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, and shooting 59 percent overall.

Florida Heat: Tyler Witz (Clearwater, Fla.) and Tyson Ward (Tampa, Fla.) lead the Bison in field goal percentage over the past 12 games. Witz is 25-for-33 (76 percent), and Ward is 83-for-141 (59 percent) over the past 12 games.

Over the Past 5 Games:

Vinnie Shahid has made 31-of-33 at the free throw line.
Rocky Kreuser is averaging 12.4 points, shooting 52 percent overall, and 42 percent from three-point range.
The Bison are shooting 48.5 percent overall.
The Bison are shooting 80.9 percent at the free throw line.

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Players Mentioned

Tyree Eady

Sam Griesel

Cameron Hunter

Rocky Kreuser

Jared Samuelson

Vinnie Shahid

Tyson Ward

Tyler Witz

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