Under The Radar Game of the Day: North Dakota at North Dakota State

North Dakota at North Dakota State – 8:00 PM EST – ESPN3/WatchESPN

Today’s feature UTR game takes us to the Flickertail State of North Dakota – this is the final year that this will be a non-conference matchup since North Dakota will be joining the Summit League next season. The Bison of North Dakota State won the first matchup 88-79 back on December 9; they will be going for the season sweep tonight. NDSU is also 2-2 in the Summit League (8-8 against Division I competition) and has respectable wins against South Dakota on the road and at home against Oral Roberts (along with a Tier I victory at Missouri State out-of-conference), but is offset with home losses against South Dakota State and Denver. Paul Miller leads the Bison with 18.3 PPG and 3.7 APG; Tyson Ward also averages 10.6 PPG and 6.3 RPG.

As for the defending Big Sky champions, North Dakota is off to a rough start with a 2-4 record in their league and 4-11 overall against Division I competition. Their best win so far is against a Troy team that has an RPI above 200. However, they did give Gonzaga a scare on the road back in December before losing by a final score of 89-83. Geno Crandall leads the Fighting Hawks with 15.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG and 3.4 APG; Dale Jones also averages 10.3 PPG and 6.8 RPG.