Complete NDSU Game Notes
Feb. 19 at USD  Watch  |  Listen  |  Live Stats
 
The Game:  The North Dakota State men's basketball team (19-7 overall, 10-2 Summit League) travels to Vermillion, S.D., to take on the South Dakota Coyotes (19-9, 9-4) at 7 p.m. Wednesday night at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. NDSU carries a six-game winning streak into the contest.
 
Where to Watch: Wednesday's game will be broadcast on Midco Sports Network 2 and streamed 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.
 
History with South Dakota: Wednesday will be the 179th meeting between North Dakota State and South Dakota dating back to 1922-23. The Bison hold a 97-81 lead in the series.
          NDSU is 12-5 against the Coyotes as Division I opponents. The two schools split last year's meetings with the home team winning both times. The Bison won 72-70 in Fargo on Jan. 15 of this season.
 
Last Time vs. South Dakota:  Tyson Ward scored the game-winning basket with 1.4 seconds remaining to lift the Bison to a 72-70 victory over South Dakota on Jan. 15.
          Senior Vinnie Shahid led NDSU with 21 points, and sophomore Tyree Eady added a career-high 18. Ward finished with 14 points and five assists. South Dakota was led by 23 points from junior Stanley Umude and 21 from senior Tyler Hagedorn.
          NDSU trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half, but stormed back with a 17-1 run to lead 41-34 at halftime.
          The Bison led 66-61 with 4:30 remaining, but the Coyotes used a 7-2 run capped by a three-pointer from Hagedorn to tie the game at 68-68 with 3:56 left.
          NDSU and South Dakota traded layups by Ward and Umude for a 70-70 tie with 29 seconds on the clock. NDSU's Cameron Hunter took a charge to thwart the Coyotes' possession, and after a USD foul with 4.2 seconds remaining, the Bison inbounded the ball in front of their own bench.
          Shahid found Ward with the inbounds pass, and when both Coyote defenders anticipated a handoff back to Shahid by the arc, Ward was left alone to drive to the rim. Ward made the layup through contact to put NDSU up 72-70 with 1.4 seconds left.
 
Good Company: NDSU's current six-game win streak is the longest streak for the Bison since winning 10 in a row at the end of the 2013-14 season, when NDSU won the final seven regular season games, two in the Summit League Tournament, and defeated No. 5 seed Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament.
 
10-2 Start: After winning 80-70 over Purdue Fort Wayne on Feb. 14 to improve to 10-2 in Summit League play, NDSU has tied its best conference start through 12 games since the 2014-15 season. A victory on Wednesday would match the 2013-14 squad at 11-2 through 13 games.
 
Approaching 20: With one more victory this season, NDSU will achieve its seventh 20-win season in the Division I era. It would be the third 20-win season under head coach David Richman, tying Saul Phillips (2007-14) for the second-most by a head coach in NDSU history. Richman also owns a pair of 19-win seasons.
          Former head coach Tom Billeter posted four straight 20-win seasons from 1993-97 in the Division II era.
 
Kickstart: The Bison are 14-3 since defeating East Tennessee State on Dec. 7 in Fargo. The Buccaneers are now 23-4 and ranked 2nd in the College Insider Mid-Major Poll.
 
Dynamic Duo: Vinnie Shahid (18.1 ppg) and Tyson Ward (15.5 ppg) are on pace to become the first NDSU duo since Ben Woodside and Brett Winkelman in 2008-09 to average over 15 points per game for the season. Woodside averaged 23.2 points, and Winkelman averaged 18.6 for the first Bison team to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
 
At The Line: NDSU is No. 3 in the nation in free throw percentage, making 79.3 percent for the season -- which would surpass the school-record mark of 77.7 percent set last year. The Bison are 199-of-239 (83.3 percent) at the charity stripe in Summit League play.
 
Ball Security: The Bison rank 6th in the country for fewest turnovers per game at 10.4.
 
Winning The Arc: NDSU is 35th in the nation (and first in The Summit League) with 9.0 three-pointers made per game. The Bison also allow the fewest three-pointers per game in the conference at 5.8 per game in league play.
 
Road Dubs: Following victories at Western Illinois (Jan. 30), Purdue Fort Wayne (Feb. 1) and Omaha (Feb. 5), the Bison have seven road wins already this season. Last year, NDSU finished the season with four road wins. The 2013-14 Bison squad was the best of the last decade on the road, winning 10 times.
 
Few Freebies: The Bison foul the least often of any team in The Summit League, committing just 16.25 fouls per game in conference play.
 
Mr. Reliable: Vinnie Shahid has scored at least 19 points in 10 of 12 conference games.
 
Shahid Player of the Week: Vinnie Shahid claimed his second Summit League Player of the Week award this season on Feb. 10. Shahid averaged 27.5 points and made 10 total three-pointers between a road win at Omaha and home win vs. Oral Roberts. He scored a career-high 31 points vs. ORU, making 6-of-7 from three-point range in the first half.
 
Strong 2nd Half: In three of the last seven games, the Bison have scored 50-plus points in the second half. NDSU scored 51 at SDSU on Jan. 22, 53 vs. Denver on Jan. 25, and 50 at Omaha on Feb. 5. The Bison are outscoring their opponents 308-273 in the second half over that seven-game stretch.
 
Lineup Boost: Sophomore Sam Griesel is shooting 14-for-23 (61 percent) in the past six games since returning to the Bison lineup.
 
Over the 6-Game Win Streak:

• Vinnie Shahid has made 46-of-50 (92 percent) at the free throw line.
• Vinnie Shahid is 18-for-42 (43 percent) from beyond the arc.
• Vinnie Shahid is averaging 23.3 points.
• Rocky Kreuser is averaging 12.8 points -- 2.5 above his season average.
• Jared Samuelson is 9-for-22 (41 percent) from beyond the arc.
• The Bison are shooting 83.7 percent at the free throw line.
• The Bison are limiting opponents to 33-percent three-point shooting.
• The Bison are averaging +7 in the rebounding battle.