NDSU Basketball Travels to Grand Canyon, San Jose State

Saturday, November 25

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m. CT

North Dakota State Athletics

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Zachary Lucy

NDSU Basketball Travels to Grand Canyon, San Jose State

11/22/2023 1:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Complete NDSU Game Notes

The Games: The North Dakota State men's basketball team (4-2) will travel to Phoenix, Ariz., to play Grand Canyon University on Saturday, Nov. 25, followed by a trip to San Jose State for a game on Monday, Nov. 27.

        Saturday, Nov. 25 at Grand Canyon          7 p.m. CT / 6 p.m. MT
        Monday, Nov. 27        at San Jose State 10 p.m. CT / 8 p.m. PT

Where to Watch: Saturday's contest at Grand Canyon will be broadcast on ESPN+. Monday's game at San Jose State will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.

Radio: Alex Coil will call the Grand Canyon game on The City 94.5 FM. Sam Neidermann will rejoin the team to broadcast the San Jose State game Monday on 107.9 The Fox and Bison 1660. Broadcasts can also be streamed on the stations' respective apps, as well as at GoBison.com/AllAccess for free.

About Grand Canyon: Saturday will be the first meeting between North Dakota State and Grand Canyon in men's basketball. The Lopes are the defending WAC champions and the preseason favorite to win the conference again this year. Junior guard Ray Harrison is the WAC Preseason Player of the Year.

About San Jose State: Monday will be the third meeting all-time between NDSU and San Jose State -- and the first since 1974. The Spartans won both previous games against the Bison on Dec. 17, 1973, and Dec. 14, 1974. San Jose State is coached by Tim Miles, who led the NDSU program for six seasons from 2001-07, compiling a record of 99-71 over the final years of the Division II era and into NDSU's transition to Division I.

Hands Off: The Bison rank 11th in the nation for fewest fouls committed per game, averaging just 13.0 fouls through six games.

From Downtown: The Bison rank 49th nationally for three-point percentage, shooting 38.3 percent from beyond the arc.

Buckets: Three different Bison -- Lance Waddles, Boden Skunberg, and Damari Wheeler-Thomas -- have scored 22 or more points in a game already this season.

First Double-Double: Sophomore Tajavis Miller recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds in NDSU's 101-72 victory over Wisconsin-Stout on Nov. 20.

Road Win at Montana: Sophomore Damari Wheeler-Thomas scored a career-high 22 points to lift the Bison to an impressive 78-69 victory at Montana on Nov. 16. Boden Skunberg finished with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists. NDSU led by as many as 17 points in the second half over the Griz, who were voted second in the Big Sky Conference preseason poll.

Career Highs vs. Mount Marty: Junior Joshua Streit scored a career-high 10 points, and sophomore Tajavis Miller pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds vs. Mount Marty on Nov. 8.

Season Opener: NDSU erased a 12-point deficit in the second half to claim an 80-76 overtime victory at Western Michigan on Nov. 6. Boden Skunberg led all players with 25 points, Andrew Morgan posted his third career double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Jeremiah Burke sent the game to overtime with a buzzer-beating putback off the glass.

Offensive Glass: The Bison pulled down 26 offensive rebounds in the season-opening win over Western Michigan on Nov. 6 -- the most by NDSU in a single game since at least 1999. Juniors Andrew Morgan and Jeremiah Burke combined for 17 offensive boards in the game.

March Mainstay: With a fifth straight title game appearance in 2023, NDSU improved to 18-6 at the Summit League Tournament in the Dave Richman era.

Familiar Territory: The Bison have played in five consecutive Summit League Tournament championship games from 2019-23, winning the title in 2019 and 2020. NDSU has played in 9 of the past 11 Summit League championship games, dating back to March 2013.

Top of the Summit: North Dakota State and South Dakota State are the only Summit League schools to finish among the top three in the league standings every year over the past five seasons.
       In seven of David Richman's nine seasons at NDSU, the Bison have finished in a tie for third place or better in The Summit League.

Preseason Poll: NDSU was voted third in the preseason Summit League poll, with South Dakota State picked as the preseason No. 1 and Oral Roberts at No. 2.

Preseason Accolades: Bison senior Boden Skunberg was voted to the preseason All-Summit League first team. Skunberg is NDSU's most experienced returner after leading the team in minutes played and ranking second on NDSU in scoring with 15.4 points per game in league play last season. He was one of only three players in the league to average at least 15 points and rank top-five in field goal percentage in 2023. Skunberg also averaged 5.4 rebounds and shot 41 percent from three-point range in league games.

Preseason Accolades (2): Junior Andrew Morgan claimed a spot on the preseason All-Summit League second team. Morgan shot 59 percent overall last season, averaging 10.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest. The 6-foot-10 Waseca, Minn., native posted four games with three or more assists and upped his scoring to 12.3 points per game in the Summit League Tournament.

True Freshman, Big Role: Damari Wheeler-Thomas started all 18 Summit League games last season, becoming the first Bison to start every conference game as a true freshman since eventual conference Player of the Year Lawrence Alexander did in the 2011-12 season.

Baby Bison: In Summit League play last season, 66 percent of the total available minutes for NDSU were played by freshmen or sophomores (2,385 out of 3,600).
        In terms of total minutes played, seven of the top nine Bison last season were freshmen or sophomores. NDSU has just one senior on the roster this season -- Boden Skunberg.