February 22nd Vs. St. Thomas
After losing to St. Thomas by 13 four weeks ago, North Dakota State took down the Tommies on Thursday night, 64-50 at the Scheels Center.
Andrew Morgan led the Bison with 17 points going 6-for-7 from the field. Jacari White added a career-high 10 rebounds and Noah Fedderson collected nine.
In the first five minutes of the game, the Bison were left scoreless, down by 10 at the 15-minute mark. They took their first lead at the 7:43 mark after Morgan scored a layup. After another lead change, the Bison ended the first half on an 8-0 run in the last four minutes before halftime. Noah Fedderson’s jumper in the last 30 seconds gave NDSU the lead going into the second half 23-22. The Bison took over in the second half, outscoring the Tommies by 13 points. NDSU started the last 20 minutes strong with Morgan dunking within the first 15 seconds and a jumper made by Damari Wheeler-Thomas shortly after. The Bison maintained their lead throughout the entire second half, leading by as much as 18 points with 1:14 left of play. After a couple of free throws made by the Tommies, NDSU finished 64-50.
North Dakota State finished shooting 47% from the field and 23% from three. St. Thomas shot 36 percent from the field and 24 percent from the three. The Tommies were left behind by having 20 rebounds in the game while the Bison had 39. The 50 points that NDSU allowed were the fewest given up to a D-1 opponent this season.
February 24th Vs. North Dakota
“The rivalry is back a little bit,” said David Richman after having a great 73-68 win at Saturday afternoon’s Autism Awareness game against North Dakota.
Junior Andrew Morgan led the Bison to victory with 27 points. Jacari White added 13 points and three steals. Noah Fedderson led with eight rebounds.
The 5,058 fans were not disappointed and came with plenty of energy in front of a national TV audience. The first half was evenly matched, neither having a lead larger than six. The score was tied at 33 at halftime. With seven minutes left, NDSU was down by seven. In the next minute, the Bison went ahead by one with the help of Damari Wheeler-Thomas’s jumper, Morgan’s dunk, and three. NDSU went on a 19-7 run in the last six minutes to secure the win, 73-68. The match consisted of 14 lead changes and four ties. Morgan went 11-for-15 from the field. UND had the lead for 19:43 of the game while NDSU had it for 17:52.
The Bison finished shooting 49% from the field and 33% from three. UND made 33% of its shots from the field and from behind the arc. North Dakota State is now 17-7 against the Fighting Hawks in the Division I era. This was Morgan’s first time playing UND at home in his career.
They are 15-14 overall and 8-6 in Summit League play, placing third in the league standings. The Bison’s last two games happen this week starting at South Dakota on Thursday, February 29th, and then hosting South Dakota State on Saturday, March 2nd.