NDSU Men’s Basketball Opens Summit League Play at Western Illinois on Jan. 2-3

Saturday, January 2

Macomb, Ill.

3:30 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

Western Illinois

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

NDSU Men’s Basketball Opens Summit League Play at Western Illinois on Jan. 2-3

12/30/2020 12:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Complete NDSU Game Notes
Watch | Listen | Live Stats

The Games: The Bison will travel to Macomb, Ill., to open Summit League play at Western Illinois on Saturday, Jan. 2, and Sunday, Jan. 3. Both games are scheduled to tip at 3:30 pm following the 1 p.m. women's games between the Bison and Leathernecks.

Saturday, Jan. 2 at Western Illinois 3:30 p.m. CT GoLeathernecks.com
Sunday, Jan. 3 at Western Illinois 3:30 p.m. CT GoLeathernecks.com

Where to Watch: Both games will have a free video stream available at GoLeathernecks.com.

Radio: Jeff Culhane will call the games on 107.9 The Fox, Bison 1660, and 94.5 KDLB in Detroit Lakes, Minn., as well as being streamed on the 107.9 The Fox app, the Bison 1660 app, and on GoBison.com/allaccess.

The Series: Saturday and Sunday will be the 30th and 31st games between NDSU and Western Illinois dating back to 2007-08. NDSU holds a 21-8 lead in the all-time series. The Bison have won 15 of the last 16 vs. the Leathernecks, going a perfect 5-0 over the past two seasons.

Starting Five: The five highest single-game scoring outputs by a Bison this season have come from five different players – Jarius Cook (22) vs. TCU, Rocky Kreuser (21) vs. TCU, Sam Griesel (20) vs. South Dakota State, Maleeck Harden-Hayes (18) vs. South Dakota State, and Tyree Eady (17) vs. South Dakota.

Now We're Cooking: Bison sophomore Jarius Cook scored a career-high 22 points and added a career-high six rebounds in NDSU's loss at TCU on Dec. 22.

Sammy Dimes: NDSU junior Sam Griesel dished out 12 assists at TCU on Dec. 22 – tied for the seventh-most in a single game in school history, and the most ever by a Bison against a Division I opponent.

Rock-er Texas Ranger: Rocky Kreuser's 21 points at TCU were the second-highest scoring total of his career. He poured in 23 points at New Mexico State on Nov. 6, 2018, in the season opener of his sophomore year.

Fill 'er Up With Griesel: Prior to the games at the Dakota Showcase in Sioux Falls on Dec. 10-12, Sam Griesel had only led the Bison in scoring one time in his career. He did it twice in that three-game event – against South Dakota State on Dec. 10, and against North Dakota on Dec. 12.

Shoot Your Shot: NDSU's field goal percentage increased significantly in its three games at the Dakota Showcase. After shooting 34 percent as a team through the first four games of the season, the Bison shot 46 percent for their three games in Sioux Falls on Dec. 10-12.

Big Three: Through eight games this season, NDSU has received a balanced scoring contribution from upperclassmen Rocky Kreuser, Tyree Eady and Sam Griesel. Kreuser is averaging 12.9 ppg, Eady is at 11.6 ppg, and Griesel is scoring 10.4 ppg.

Learning On The Go: Sophomores Jarius Cook and Maleeck Harden-Hayes have already played more minutes this season than they did in their entire freshman campaigns. Cook has logged 224 minutes in eight games this year, topping the 187 he played in the 2018-19 season before taking a redshirt year. Harden-Hayes has played 189 minutes in seven games this season, surpassing the 161 he played as a freshman last year.