Complete NDSU Game Notes
Jan. 9 at ORU  Watch  |  Listen  |  Live Stats

The Game:  The North Dakota State men's basketball team (11-5, 2-0 Summit) travels to Tulsa, Okla., to take on Oral Roberts (7-8, 0-2) on Thursday night at the Mabee Center.
          Thursday, Jan. 9        at Oral Roberts               7 p.m.
 
Where to Watch: Thursday's game at Oral Roberts will be broadcast on ESPN3.
 
Radio: The 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. Jeff Culhane will call the action.
          All Bison conference games will also be carried on KYCR 1440 AM in the Twin Cities.
 
About Oral Roberts: The Golden Eagles are 7-8 overall and 0-2 in The Summit League after falling at South Dakota State and Omaha to open league play. ORU is a perfect 6-0 at home this season.
          The Golden Eagles were voted third in the Summit League preseason poll this year, with a pair of first-team all-league selections in senior Emmanuel Nzekwesi and sophomore Kevin Obanor.
          Nzekwesi leads ORU with 16.2 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. Freshman Max Abmas is scoring 13.2 points on eight three-point attempts per contest. As a team, the Golden Eagles rank sixth in the nation with an average of 14.5 offensive rebounds per game, and they are 35th-best in the country in rebounding margin.
 
History with Oral Roberts: Thursday will be the 27th meeting between North Dakota State and Oral Roberts dating back to 1967-68, with the Bison leading the series 14-12 after sweeping all three games last season. The Bison have won 9 of the last 12 meetings.
 
Last Time vs. Oral Roberts: The Bison scored the first 15 points after halftime and outscored Oral Roberts by 18 points in the second half to pull away for an 86-73 victory in the quarterfinals of the Summit League Tournament on March 10 last season.
          Oral Roberts made 12 of its first 13 shots, and the Bison fell behind by as many as 13 points early in the first half. NDSU stormed back with a 21-7 run on seven three-pointers, including four from Cameron Hunter.
          Oral Roberts led 48-43 at halftime, but the Bison scored the first 15 points of the second half to go ahead 58-48. After ORU shot 67 percent in the opening half, the Bison limited the Golden Eagles to 20-percent shooting in the second half.
          Tyson Ward led all scorers with 25 points, hitting 11-of-13 at the free throw line to go with five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Jared Samuelson and Hunter joined Ward in double figures at 15 and 13 points, respectively. The Bison shot 59.5 percent for the game and made 10-of-20 from beyond the arc.
 
1200 Points, 600 Rebounds: Tyson Ward is one of only 10 players in North Dakota State history to record at least 1200 points and 600 rebounds in a career. He joins Brett Winkelman (2005-09), Taylor Braun (2010-14), and Marshall Bjorklund (2010-14) as the only four Bison to accomplish the feat in NDSU's Division I era.
 
Top 25 Talent: Tyson Ward ranks among NDSU's all-time Top 25 in career points (23rd), rebounds (16th), and assists (22nd).
 
Automatic: Senior Vinnie Shahid is tied for No. 2 on the NDSU career list in free throw shooting, making 83.9 percent of his attempts.
 
Florida Heat: Tyler Witz (Clearwater, Fla.) and Tyson Ward (Tampa, Fla.) lead the Bison in field goal percentage over the past five games. Witz is 14-for-17 (82 percent), and Ward is 37-for-59 (63 percent) over the past five games.
 
Two-Headed Monster: In NDSU's current run of six wins in seven games, both Vinnie Shahid and Tyson Ward have scored exactly 128 points – 18.3 points per game. Shahid is shooting 49 percent from beyond the arc in that span, and Ward is making 59 percent overall.
 
Winning the Arc: In the current run of six wins in the past seven games, the Bison are shooting 39.5 percent from three-point range and limiting opponents to 32.1 percent from beyond the arc.
 
Against Oral Roberts: NDSU's dynamic duo of Tyson Ward (18.0 ppg) and Vinnie Shahid (17.7 ppg) combined to average 35.7 points in three wins over Oral Roberts last season. The pair shot a combined 59 percent in those games, leading the Bison to 50-percent shooting as a team in the three victories.
 
Defense First: The Bison lead The Summit League in scoring defense, allowing just 62.9 points per game.
 
Limited Turnovers: NDSU ranks 5th in the nation this season for fewest turnovers committed per game (10.4).
 
Over the Past 5 Games:

• Vinnie Shahid has made 15-of-30 attempts from three-point range.
• Tyson Ward is averaging 19.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game while shooting 63%.
• Tyler Witz has made 14-of-17 shots (82%).

 
Road Dubs: Following the victory at Denver on Dec. 29, the Bison have four road wins already this season. Last year, NDSU didn't get its first victory on the road until Jan. 26, and finished the season with four road wins.
 
Long Distance Duo: Jared Samuelson (42.3%) and Cameron Hunter (41.4%) rank sixth and ninth, respectively, on the NDSU career three-point percentage list.