The Games: The North Dakota State men's basketball team will open the 2025-26 regular season with a road trip to play at Oregon State on Monday, Nov. 3, and UC Davis on Wednesday, Nov. 5.
          Monday, Nov. 3          at Oregon State     8:30 p.m. CT / 6:30 p.m. PT
          Wednesday, Nov. 5    at UC Davis           8 p.m. CT / 6 p.m. PT
 
Where to Watch: Both games are scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
Radio: Sam Neidermann will call the games on 107.9 The Fox. Broadcasts can also be streamed on the NDSU Athletics app, as well as at GoBison.com/AllAccess for free.
 
Against Oregon State: Monday will be the first meeting between NDSU and Oregon State in men's basketball.
 
Against UC Davis: Wednesday will be the sixth game all-time between the Bison and the Aggies, with NDSU holding a 4-1 lead in the series. UC Davis won the most recent meeting, 68-53, on Nov. 14, 2023, in Missoula, Mont. Damari Wheeler-Thomas and Noah Feddersen were the only current Bison to play in that game.
 
Last Time at Davis: The Bison rallied late for an improbable victory at UC Davis in the season opener on Nov. 13, 2015, winning 79-71 in overtime. Trailing 69-60 with less than two minutes remaining in the game, the Bison scored 19 straight points – nine in a row to force overtime, and then 10 more to open the overtime period. By the time NDSU's remarkable run was over, the Bison held a 79-69 lead with 33 seconds left in OT.
          NDSU sophomore guard Paul Miller led all players with 20 points. Dexter Werner posted a double-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. NDSU recorded 14 straight defensive stops from the final two minutes of regulation through overtime.
 
Preseason Accolades: NDSU's Noah Feddersen and Markhi Strickland were voted to the preseason All-Summit League second team. Feddersen started all 32 games for the Bison last season, averaging 8.3 points and 6.0 rebounds with 52-percent shooting. Strickland is a senior transfer from Western Michigan, where he started every game for the Broncos last year, led the team in minutes, and averaged 11.3 points per game.
 
Picked Fourth: NDSU was picked to finish fourth in The Summit League this season, according to the annual preseason poll of league head coaches, sports information directors and media.
 
Tradition of Success: The Bison have played in 9 of the past 13 Summit League Tournament championship games, dating back to 2013.
 
Big West Slate: NDSU will play four schools from the Big West Conference this season -- UC Davis on Nov. 5, CSUN on Nov. 11, CSU Bakersfield on Dec. 11, and UC Irvine on Dec. 21.
 
Head Man: Head coach David Richman has accumulated 211 wins in 11 seasons at NDSU, ranking him second in school history. He has led the Bison to seven Summit League Tournament championship games, posting a record of 18-8 in the conference tournament.
 
High Percentage: The Bison were the top three-point shooting team in Division I last season, making 39.8 percent from beyond the arc to lead all 350-plus Division I schools. NDSU also led the nation in true shooting percentage (62.2%) and ranked second in effective field goal percentage (58.2%).
 
Bombs Away Bison: The Bison set a school record with 380 three-pointers made last season – an average of 11.9 made three-pointers per game, which ranked them among the top 15 in NCAA Division I history for threes per game.
 
On the Mark: NDSU was one of only three teams to rank Top 25 nationally in three-point percentage, two-point percentage, and free throw percentage last season.
 
Shooters Shoot: NDSU graduated a trio of elite three-point shooters following last season. Masen Miller drained 90 threes last season, shooting 46 percent from beyond the arc and 49 percent in league play. Jacari White made 88 three-pointers at a 40-percent clip, and Jacksen Moni hit 64 threes on 41-percent shooting from downtown.
 
Fresh Faces: The Bison return just 20 percent of their minutes played and 14 percent of their scoring from last season.
 
Damari Returns: Junior guard Damari Wheeler-Thomas returns this season after redshirting in 2024-25. As a sophomore in 2023-24, he started every game, averaged nearly 34 minutes per contest, and scored 10.7 points per game.
 
Who's Back: NDSU returns four players who have seen game action for the Bison – juniors Noah Feddersen and Damari Wheeler-Thomas, and sophomores Andy Stefonowicz and Treyson Anderson. Redshirt freshman Carson Smith was with the program last season, but redshirted and did not play.
 
New to Us: NDSU has nine newcomers this season from a variety of levels of basketball.

• Division I transfers – Markhi Strickland (Western Michigan), Emil Skytta (Sacramento St.)
• Division II transfer – Tay Smith (Lenoir-Rhyne)
• Junior college transfers – Trevian Carson (DMACC), Max Majerle (Pima CC)
• Freshmen – Riley Massey, Dom Clay, Riley Saunders, Caleb Schoenrock

 
NBA Connection: Two of NDSU's newcomers have fathers who played in the NBA. Max Majerle is the son of Dan Majerle, who played 14 seasons in the NBA from 1988-2002 for the Suns, Cavs and Heat. Markhi Strickland is the son of Mark Strickland, who played eight NBA seasons from 1995-2003 primarily with the Heat, Nuggets and Hawks. The two were teammates with the Miami Heat from 1996-2000.
 
Bucket Getter: Fifth-year transfer Tay Smith comes to NDSU with 1,572 points, 575 rebounds, and 227 three-pointers made in his career. He played two seasons at NAIA Brescia University in Kentucky, before playing the most recent two seasons at Division II Lenoir-Rhyne University in North Carolina. Smith has averaged just under 14 points per game for his career.