South Dakota State (1/30)
It was (5-2) North Dakota State vs (5-2) South Dakota State for the commanding lead of third place in the Summit League. Heading into this matchup, the Bison led the all-time series 122-114. It was an odd scene in 2024, as the away teams won both games last season. The Bison won in Brookings last February in overtime 74-73. When the Jacks came to Fargo on Senior Day last season, they handled the Bison 78-61. This one was a huge one for future playoff seeding implications. The Bison got off to about as good of a start as you could possibly ask for, as they led 21-8 with just under ten minutes remaining. The Jacks then stormed back, and the Bison went cold. SDSU went on a 20-0 run over the next five minutes. It was the same story from there on, as the Bison just couldn’t get a lead back from the Jacks. It was just a one-point deficit at halftime but following that, the Jacks took over.
It was a 72-62 loss for the Bison, snapping a five-game win streak over the past three weeks. Oscar Cluff was a killer for the Jacks inside as he scored 23 points along with 15 rebounds over a 33-minute span that he played. Cluff accounted for exactly half of their rebounds. Joe Saylor was deadly from the three-point line, going 4-6 with 19 total points. Those two were the guys that were the difference for SDSU in this game. The Bison were dead cold from the three-point line in this one, shooting just 23%. Jackson Moni went 1-8 from the three-point range but still led the team with 19 points. Nobody got to double digits in rebounds for NDSU, but Moni led the team by eight. Tajavis Miller had one of his best games of the season with 14 points off the bench and seven rebounds, three of them being offensive rebounds. Overall, it was just a cold night for the Bison, and couldn’t stop Oscar Cluff.
St. Thomas (2/1)
St. Thomas was an opponent heading into their matchup with the Bison, which was in second place and, with a win, would be tied for 1st place with Omaha at 8-1. The Bison were 5-3 heading into this one, sitting in fourth place behind SDSU in third place. The last time these two played this season in Fargo, the Bison fell 89-85. This one would give the Bison trouble once again as the Bison fell behind 45-26 at the half for a 19-point deficit. The Bison were cold from the three-point line, just like Thursday night against SDSU, and it gave them trouble in the first half. The biggest killer in this game, though, was turnovers. The Bison turned it over 15 times to St. Thomas’s four turnovers.
In the end, that was the difference, as the Bison fell 79-62 and dropped to 5-4 in the conference play season. Jacari White led the squad with 23 points and was 5-8 from three-point range. Tajavis Miller was once again really good off the bench, scoring 13 points in just 27 minutes. Jackson Moni was solid, as usual, with 17 points and was five for five from the free throw line. The main issue was turnovers, but another issue was that some of the starters and regular players weren’t scoring. Noah Feddersen didn’t score in 23 minutes played, and Masen Miller scored six points in over 37 minutes. Overall, it was a rough week for the Herd, and they have a shot of getting back on track this Thursday as they take on Kansas City on the road. A winnable game to get momentum heading into a monster matchup with Omaha on Saturday.