The NDSU Bison have 6 full days off before their next contest and it couldn’t come at a better time for this team. After closing out the trip with a 97-45 loss at Arizona, in a game that the team looked like a shell of itself out on the court, they’ll get to regroup before home contests against Tarleton and Idaho before their next high major test on the road at Creighton.
The trouble for the Bison on this road trip began even before their first game Friday afternoon against Cal Poly as starting point guard and team leader Sam Griesel had to have emergency surgery for an abdomen issue upon arriving in California. The team then had to take the floor all of 12 hours later without their leader and likely with the mental distraction of concern for their teammate. The lack of focus was evident out of the gate with NDSU committing 17 turnovers in this game. Eady showed some rust, Kreuser didn’t look like himself early and before you knew it this game turned into a rock fight. Both teams shot exactly 37.7% from the floor which is definitely a number neither squad will be too happy about. Eventually the Bison made enough plays down the stretch to get the W. Rocky converted a clutch 3 point shot and then followed it up with a driving layup in the closing seconds to allow the Bison to escape SLO, California with a victory by a score of 60-57.
NDSU then made their way to Sin City to play the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels on Monday night. This game was more of the same for the Bison, struggled to shoot the ball and find rhythm on the offensive end without Griesel out there to make things happen. McKinney actually played well in his place, notching a career high 4 steals and scoring 9 points in 27 minutes of play but the Bison just couldn’t capitalize on their solid defensive performance and get it going back on the other end. Despite the struggles NDSU stormed back at the end to get it within 2 and McKinney took the ball coast to coast on the last play of the game but got blocked at the rim leaving the Bison 2 points short from forcing overtime, losing 64-62. A tough loss against a team that NDSU no doubt feels like they should have beaten. It’s a game where missing Griesel proved costly and Richman also did not play Andrew Kallman at all in this one, seemed like a spot where his defense and his 3 point shooting ability could have proven valuable so it was puzzling as to why he did not see the floor.
The Bison then had the daunting task of going from a hard fought 2 point loss to jumping on a bus, driving down to Tuscon, AZ for another game on back to back nights against an Arizona Wildcat team that had absolutely pummeled their first two opponents. NDSU came out sluggish, as could be expected and never had a chance in this one. The Wildcats looked every bit of top tier high major team and should be in the top 25 in no time as they just relentlessly poured it on the Bison to the tune of a 97-45 victory. If there was any positive to take from the Arizona game for this Bison team, it was that Andrew Morgan absolutely looked like he belonged as he scored 4 points on some terrific post work against the 7’1″ Center Christian Koloko for Arizona who has the potential to be in the running for the POY in the Pac12. Morgan also grabbed 8 rebounds and added a block to his stat line in his 22 minutes on the floor. He’s NDSU’s highest rated recruit ever and 3 games into the season he certainly looks to have the potential to be a real special player.
There’s no doubting the fact that NDSU returned home from this road trip disappointed as I think most people would have thought this team would get at least 2 wins on this trip. The reason for optimism going forward is that 4 games into this season the entire roster has not yet played a game together. Eady missed the exhibition and opener due to a disciplinary issue and then Griesel missed all 3 games of the road trip due to his surgery. Skunberg did not play in the Cal Poly game, Kallman did not play in the UNLV game or the Arizona game until garbage time the last 6 minutes or so of the game. I’m not sure what’s going on with Coach Richman and some of the playing time situations that have happened thus far this season but it seems like this is always the theme for NDSU. Start the season on a rough patch, start looking like a solid team in time for league play and then be at 100% go by Summit League Tournament time. It’s definitely frustrating as a fan to not look better early in the year especially against those high major opponents but I’m still optimistic this team will have a successful season. Hopefully Griesel will be able to get back on the floor before too long and then this team can really find their groove. The good news is the Bison get to play a couple games at home next week before hitting the road again and hopefully can get back on track inside the SHAC. Next game is Monday the 22nd at 7pm against the Tarleton Texans who currently sit at 0-3 but will come in battle tested with games against Stanford, Kansas and Wichita State already under their belt. Should be another battle for the Bison so get out to the SHAC and make some noise!