Bison men capitalize on big crowd, rally to defeat UND

For two, they even started the wave and the madness didn’t stop until NDSU left with a 73-68 men’s basketball win to inch closer to the top of the Summit League. Plus, it was the second straight win over a team ahead of the Bison in the standings this week.

“There was a little feel of the rivalry being back a little bit,” said Bison head coach Dave Richman. “It’s fun. I told the guys right before we left the locker room before the game what’s understood doesn’t need to be explained and if you can’t get yourself ready to go for a game like this in an environment like this, you don’t belong in college basketball.”

NDSU center Andrew Morgan continues to show he belongs as one of the top players in the Summit. He led the way with 27 points.

It was the first time Morgan played against UND at home in his three-year career, missing the game in his freshman year with an injury and last year because of his grandmother’s funeral.

Morgan was 11 of 15 from the field including 2 of 3 from 3-point range, an added element to his game this season.

“It’s dangerous, isn’t it?” said Bison guard Boden Skunberg of Morgan’s ability behind the arc. “He’s so dominant down low and when he’s able to pop out in space, we’re harder to guard.”

The Hawks rallied to beat the Bison in Grand Forks last month and threatened to sweep the season series for the first time since 2000. This time, the roles reversed. Trailing 61-54 with just over six minutes left, a technical foul on UND head coach Paul Sather appeared to ignite eight straight Bison points and NDSU’s first lead of the second half.

“I think that was huge,” Skunberg said. “It was going either way and I think that turned the tide a little bit. We went on a little run after that, too.”

Later, Jacari White’s 3-pointer with 2:22 remaining gave the Bison a 67-65 advantage. Four straight by the Bison extended a one-point advantage to 71-66 with 1:01 left. The Hawks got two free throws by Amar Kuljuhovic with 39 seconds left after his offensive rebound.

White made one of two free throws to make it 72-68. On the other end, UND’s Tyree Ihenancho missed the front end of the bonus free throw, plus the Hawks missed two shots after offensive rebounds, the last with 10 seconds left.

“We didn’t make a shot down the stretch,” Sather said. “They made some plays. They got the ball inside the way they wanted to and made some plays. But I thought we fought hard. You have to give credit to your opponent in games like this. It came down to those final few minutes and they’re the ones that finished the plays and made them.”

Tied at 33-33 at halftime, UND grabbed a quick second half lead and maintained that behind 6-foot-8 forward B.J. Omot, who had 11 of his 22 points in the first eight minutes. It gave UND a 52-46 lead.

It didn’t last. The race for the No. 1 seed, however, is still on. UND fell one game back of South Dakota State, which rallied to beat St. Thomas on Saturday.

SDSU is 10-4, UND 9-5 and the Bison imroved to 8-6.

“It’s all in front of us right now,” Sather said. “You don’t want to lose this game but at the same respect we have two games at home.”

UND (17-12, 9-5 Summit): Tsartsidze 3-9 0-0 9, Omot 8-19 4-4 22, Kuljuhovic 3-8 6-9 13, Ihenacho 3-12 0-1 7, Eaglestaff 4-9 0-0 11, King 3-6 0-0 7, Danielson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 24-64 10-14 68. NDSU (15-14, 8-6 Summit): Morgan 11-15 3-5 27, Feddersen 2-7 0-0 5, Wheeler-Thomas 5-9 0-0 11, White 4-11 3-4 13, Skunberg 5-12 5-8 15, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Dissette 1-2 0-0 2, Waddles 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 28-57 11-17 73.Halftime: NDSU 33, UND 33. Total fouls: UND 16, NDSU 14. Fouled out: none. Technical foul: UND bench. Rebounds: UND 36 (Kuljuhovic 11); NDSU 36 (Feddersen 8). 3-point goals: UND 10-30 (Tsartsidze 3-8, Omot 2-8, Kuljuhovic 1-3, Ihnechano 0-4, Eaglestaff 3-5, King 1-2); NDSU 6-18 (Morgan 2-3, Feddersen 1-2, Wheeler-Thomas 1-1, White 2-8, Skunberg 0-2, Dissette 0-1, Waddles 0-1). Assists: UND 12 (Ihenacho 7); NDSU 10 (White 3). Turnovers: UND 7 (three with 2), NDSU 7 (White, Skunberg 2). A-5,058.