Bison Host Minnesota Crookston Monday to Open 2026-27 Regular Season

Monday, November 2

Fargo, N.D.

7 p.m.

North Dakota State

Minnesota Crookston

Photo by: Zachary Lucy

10/31/2026 2:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Complete NDSU Game Notes

The Game: The North Dakota State men's basketball team opens the 2026-27 season on Monday, Nov. 2, against Minnesota Crookston at 7 p.m. inside the Scheels Center on campus.

Where to Watch: The game will be broadcast locally on WDAY Xtra and streamed on the Summit League Network.

Radio: Sam Neidermann and Dexter Werner will call the game on 107.9 The Fox. Broadcasts can also be streamed on the NDSU Athletics app, as well as at GoBison.com/AllAccess for free.

Last Time vs. Minnesota Crookston: The Bison beat the Golden Eagles 101-67 on Dec. 15 last season in Fargo, as NDSU improved to 10-3 on its way to a school record for wins. Markhi Strickland scored 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting to lead NDSU. Damari Wheeler-Thomas added 14 points, and Andy Stefonowicz and Noah Feddersen both scored 10. Nine Bison players scored at least seven points in the contest.

Coming Up: The Bison will kick off the regular season with a flurry, playing four games in seven days. Following the contest vs. Minnesota Crookston on Monday, NDSU will depart on a three-game road trip to California, playing Saint Mary's (Nov. 4), San Francisco (Nov. 6), and CSU Bakersfield (Nov. 8).

Picked First: NDSU was picked to finish first in The Summit League this season, according to the annual preseason poll of league head coaches, sports information directors and media.

Preseason Accolades: Bison point guard Andy Stefonowicz was named to the preseason All-Summit League first team. He earned honorable mention All-Summit League status last season, averaging 9.1 points, 4.8 assists, and 3.1 rebounds in 32 minutes per game. Stefonowicz led the league in assists, posting a pair of double-doubles with points and assists in conference play.

Tradition of Success: NDSU has won six Summit League Tournament titles and earned six NCAA Tournament bids since 2009.
The Bison have played in 10 of the past 14 Summit League Tournament championship games, dating back to 2013.

School Record for Wins: The Bison set a new school record with 27 wins last season, breaking the previous record of 26 set in 1924-25, 2008-09, and 2013-14.

High Standard: NDSU is averaging 20.6 wins over the past 14 seasons (since 2012-13).

Coach of the Year: Head coach David Richman was named the Summit League Coach of the Year last season for the second time in his career, joining 2014-15 when he claimed the honor in his first year.

Go West, Young Man: NDSU will play four games in California and four games in Idaho during the non-conference portion of the schedule. The Bison only have one non-conference road game in the Central time zone -- Dec. 13 at Illinois State.

Collect 'Em All: The Bison will play all three Division I schools from the state of Idaho during non-conference play -- vs. Boise State in Idaho Falls on Nov. 29, at Idaho in Moscow on Dec. 8, and hosting Idaho State in Fargo on Dec. 20.

Head Man: David Richman owns 238 career victories, needing six more to match Erv Inniger (1978-92) at 244 for the most in school history. Richman's .615 career winning percentage is the third-best by an NDSU coach in the last 100 years. He has led the Bison to eight Summit League Tournament championship games, posting a record of 21-8 in the conference tournament.

Challenge Awaits: The Bison have 10 non-conference games scheduled against teams projected to be in the top half of Division I, according to the preseason KenPom ratings.

Fresh Faces: The Bison return just 23 percent of their minutes played and 15 percent of their scoring from last season.

Who's Back: NDSU returns three players who have seen game action for the Bison – Andy Stefonowicz, Carson Smith, and Riley Massey.

New to Us: NDSU has 13 newcomers this season from a variety of levels of basketball.

Division I transfers – Rob Diaz III (Long Beach State), Melvin Bell Jr. (San Jose State), Jack Robison (Wisconsin), Jaziah Harper (Maryland), Karl Poom (Northern Arizona)
Division II transfer – Andrew Nagy (Point Loma Nazarene)
Junior college transfer – Kaden Tate (DMACC)
International – Santiago Paz Vazquez (Spain)
Freshmen – Max Iversen, Chance Schoenfeld, Amir Danforth, Oliver Junker, Colin Stack

Top of the Chart: Rob Diaz III owns the most career points on the revamped Bison roster, racking up 1,036 points over two seasons at Cal Poly Humboldt and one season at Long Beach State. Diaz is entering his fourth season of college basketball this fall, which makes him the most experienced Bison in terms of years (and minutes) played.

Five Have Scored 20: While NDSU is introducing many new faces, the Bison do have five players who have scored 20-plus points in an NCAA game last season.