After a Summit League play opening weekend sweep on the road against Western Illinois, the NDSU Men’s basketball team will play their first home games of the season this weekend beginning tonight at 7:30PM. NDSU last played at the Sanford Health Athletic Complex (SHAC) on a day that only exists on a calendar every 4 years, February 29th, 2020. After playing an incredibly tough out of conference schedule against top tier competition, the Bison are battle tested and seem to have been finding their groove on the offensive end. NDSU has won 4 of their last 5 with the only loss coming at the hands of TCU in a great 89-82 game that was a thrill to watch.
On deck for the Bison this weekend are 2 games against the Omaha Mavericks. The Mavs at 2-10 (0-2 Summit) have had a rough go of it to this point this season as they have seemed to struggle to find their identity on offense after the departures of KJ Robinson and JT Gibson. Maybe the bigger surprise has been the struggle on the defensive end as they have been giving up an average of 79.5 ppg with last year’s Summit League Defensive Player of the Year Matt Pile still on the roster entering his senior season. Bison fans will definitely recognize some of the names when the Mavs take the floor as key players from last season in Pile, Ayo Akinwole, Marlon Ruffin and Wanjang Tut are seeing significant minutes and producing well for coach Derrin Hansen. There’s definitely still talent on this Omaha roster and it’s likely only a matter of time before coach Hansen has them playing at a higher level, NDSU will just hope that doesn’t take place until after this weekend as the Bison look to sweep the Mavs and make it to 4-0 in Summit League play.
Key Matchup to Watch
Rocky Kreuser vs. Matt Pile – These two have had their battles over the years that’s for sure. Pile has kept Kreuser in check most of the time but that’s when Kreuser has been the 3rd or 4th scoring option for the Bison. Now one of the players the NDSU offense runs through it will be the battle to watch. The biggest key for Kreuser will be avoiding foul trouble while defending Pile on that end of the floor. In their first meeting last season Kreuser only played 16 minutes due to foul trouble and still ended up fouling out of the game.