North Dakota State at North Dakota, 9:00 PM Eastern, Midco Sports/Fox College Sports Pacific/watchbigsky.com
The Battle of North Dakota is back on tonight for the 293rd time as the Fighting Hawks of UND will be hosting the North Dakota State Bison in the second half of a home-and-home series, notably the first time these two teams have played home-and-home since they moved up to Division I. North Dakota will be looking to complete the season sweep after pulling off a 74-56 win at ND State last week. Geno Crandall led the way for the Fighting Hawks in that game with 24 points, while Quinton Hooker added 9 assists. UND enters tonight’s game at 5-3 on the season, though three of their five wins have been outside of the Division I ranks. They will be looking to extend on their all-time lead in this series, which currently stands at 160-132.
North Dakota State sits at 7-4 overall this season but only 5-4 against Division I foes. Despite the earlier loss by almost 20 points to their in-state rivals, the Bison did provide that game’s best individual stat line. Dexter Werner pretty much did everything for his team, scoring 30 of their 56 points while pulling down 13 rebounds. The Bison spread the scoring out much better last time out against UC-Davis, as three players (none of them Werner) were in double-figures as they pulled out a four point win. If the Bison can hit the Fighting Hawks with a balanced scoring attack tonight, they have a great chance to pick up the win and the season series split.