The roller coaster that has been the NDSU men’s basketball season has nowhere close to leveled off but the team now seems to be steadily climbing in the right direction without a giant drop off each time something starts to go their way. The Bison welcomed Sam Griesel back with open arms but just as they did Maleeck Harden-Hayes went down with an injury and a game later freshman Andrew Morgan, who had just been starting to really hit his stride was sidelined with a medical issue and is out indefinitely. Through everything, this team has battled during the non-conference season, they have continued to push forward, making no excuses, and continuing to focus on getting better every day. All of the hard work seems to be paying dividends as of late as the team closed out the non-conference schedule on a 3 game win streak with 2 wins at home followed by an ever elusive road win. The Bison are now 6-0 inside the SHAC and 2-0 in the state of California but 0-4 elsewhere and head into conference play at 8-4. After what was a very underwhelming performance against Montana St on the road, NDSU came home to play CSUN who was a team they were favored against. They played well, started to look the part a bit more on offense and won 68-54 in a game that they were never really in danger of losing. Then came their biggest opportunity on their home floor against Indiana St. ISU poured it on the Bison early and often and lead 43-34 at halftime, then extended that lead early in the 2nd half before the Bison stormed back behind the play of Sam Griesel. In his most extensive action since rejoining the lineup he scored 25 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and added 5 assists in a game where he took over and lead his team to victory. In that 2nd half the Bison pushed the ball in transition, moved the ball with more urgency in the half court game and finally got some shots to fall consistently when open. It was about as good as the Bison have looked on offense as a whole all year. That offense continued on the road in Pacific on Friday night while most of Bison Nation was attending or watching their football team win a semi-final game to head back to Frisco for another national championship game. The Bison didn’t shoot quite as well against the Tigers but they were again pushing the ball up the floor, taking shots in transition if they were there and moving the ball in the half court with the intent to score instead of the slower, lazier play we’ve seen at times earlier in the year. The result was NDSU rolling to a 73-61 victory in yet another game that was never really in question. If NDSU can keep up this offensive rhythm to combine with their fairly consistent defensive effort, they will really start to look like the team we all thought we would be watching at the beginning of the year.
The next opportunity of course is always the most important one and that comes tomorrow night against the Fighting Hawks of UND. A rivalry game to kick off Summit League play is always a great way to get things under way. UND has struggled a bit to get it going in the early part of this season as they have also had some guys in and out of the lineup for various reasons. One thing is for sure, Freshman Paul Bruns appears to be the real deal and taking the lead role for UND. He’s now averaging 12.5 ppg on the season thanks to averaging 16.5 ppg in his last 4 outings capped by scoring 21 against Dixie St in a 78-69 loss on Saturday. It’s the holiday season, it’s conference play time, it’s a rivalry game and it’s at home. Time to pack the SHAC and give this team the support they deserve, see ya there Bison Nation!
Good article