North Dakota State vs. Kansas Basketball Preview
Debuts are in the books and Kansas has its first win of the season. Now the Jayhawks will look to beat their second Summit League opponent of the week in North Dakota State. But the Bison should prove to be a tougher test than Omaha.
Opponent Overview
Team: North Dakota State
Record: 0-1
KenPom: 204
Line: KU -23
Team Form
North Dakota State is kicking off its season on the road in a gauntlet. On Monday, the Bison were in Fayetteville to take on No. 10 Arkansas and now it has to drive north and face Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse.
NDSU put up a fight against the Razorbacks, trailing by just eight at halftime and six early in the second half before Arkansas pulled away and won 76-58. The Bison were not overly efficient from the floor but were strong on the boards and managed to get to the free-throw line 23 times.
Players to Watch
Last year’s Summit League Sixth Man of the Year Grant Nelson is now a preseason first-team all-conference selection and he kicked off the season with 17 points and six rebounds against Arkansas. The 6-11, 235-pound was by far the Bison’s most efficient offensive player, going 5-9 from the field while hitting six of eight free throws. He is also the reigning best shot blocker in the Summit League, averaging 1.7 blocks per game last year.
Junior Boden Skunberg tied Nelson in points and was the only other Bison in double figures, but was just 5-13 from the field and 1-4 from three. He also played the most minutes (36) by far of NDSU’s nine players.
Matchups to Watch
The Bison have decent size in Nelson and 6-10, 245-pound sophomore Andrew Morgan and this led to NDSU only losing the rebounding battle by five while grabbing more offensive boards (seven to six) than the Razorbacks. Whoever plays at the five—KJ Adams and Ernest Udeh most likely given Monday’s result—will have to be ready to battle on the boards and not let NDSU get multiple shots at a possession.
The other area to watch is how well Kansas can create offense from defense and capitalize in transition. Arkansas stole the ball 11 times and NDSU had 14 total turnovers. If KU can continue that trend of disrupting passing lanes and pick Bisons’ pockets, it could be a long night for NDSU.
Prediction
This is a young NDSU team with three freshmen and zero seniors who played in the opener, which means Allen Fieldhouse could be a big factor if things start to get out of hand. Inexperience and a hostile environment will likely be more important than a second road game in four days given that the season just started and we’re talking about 18-22 year olds.
It’s too early to tell how good of a shooting team the Bison are. NDSU hit 15 3s while shooting 44% in its home exhibition game against DII Minnesota Crookston but then went 5-21 from behind the arc against Arkansas. That was also Omaha’s mark against the Jayhawks on Monday.
I could see NDSU giving Kansas a bit more of a fight than Omaha did, but Kansas causing enough havoc defensively to ultimately pull away and leave no doubt with its second double-digit win to start the season.
Kansas 83, NDSU 65
Prediction record
1-0 ATS
Last game: Prediction – 89-62; Actual – 89-64
