North Dakota State men’s basketball season got off to a dominant start by overwhelming Jamestown 96-59. Their first Division I opponent has a strong tie to Fargo as a Jamestown native, and NDSU 1,000-point scorer Boden Skunberg returned as an Illinois State Redbird. It’s not often that the Missouri Valley Conference school visits a Summit League school, but it was ISU’s turn to return the favor in this home-and-home series between the MVFC rivals.
The Redbirds won 75-65 last season at CEFCU Arena in Normal and were looking for a home-and-home sweep, but they would do it short-handed as Skunberg would miss his homecoming with a stress fracture in his foot. Illinois State shot the three ball early and often in this game, as in their season-opening loss to UT-Martin, the Redbirds were 8-41 from behind the arc.
The first half was a tight battle for most of the first 20 minutes as neither team had more than a five-point lead until the under eight timeout where a slim two-point Redbird lead ballooned to a 11 point halftime lead as the Redbirds benefitted from sloppy play by the Bison as numerous turnovers and fouls turned into instant offense for ISU. NDSU shot just 36% from the field in the first half, but that quickly shifted in the second half.
NDSU shot 46% in the final frame, mainly due to the outstanding play of preseason second team All-Summit League selection Jacari White. Four made threes by White gave NDSU a 56-55 lead with 10:03 to play, but then Illinois State’s talented guards Johnny Kinzinger, Ty Pence, and Chase Walker would put the game away by getting to the basket and drawing contact as Illinois State pulled out a 77-68 win over NDSU. Jacari White finished with a career high 27 points and was 4 of 6 from three point range.
Four days later the Bison would head to Bakersfield, California and blow a 13-point second half lead to fall 86-81 to the Roadrunners of CSU-Bakersfield. Unlike the Illinois State loss NDSU would take the 11 point lead into the locker room, but the second half has quickly become the source of NDSU issues over the past year as a 13-point lead was down to one with 5:14 remaining as a 12-point Roadrunner run was aided by NDSU going cold from the field and Bakersfield attacking the basket, drawing fouls, and extending possessions with 10 offensive rebounds.
NDSU had a six minute scoring drought in the second half from the 10 minute mark when Noah Fedderson made a layup to push the lead back to double digits until Brennan Watkins would snap the coldspell with a layup of his own at the 4:40 mark to keep NDSU ahead 73-68. The Bison would shoot 1 for 10 from deep in the second half and that cost them late as their inability to put the ball in the basket kept Bakersfield in the game. Bakersfield would grab all momentum after Jacari White tied the game at 77 with a made foul shot as a 8-4 run by the Roadrunners gave them the win.
Dave Richman’s team will look to end their second half woes as they continue their California road trip at Santa Clara on Wednesday night. Tipoff between the Bison and Broncos is set for 9 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN+.