No intimidation for young Bison squad
Legendary, hot-tempered and 872 wins.
All of those describe Texas Tech head coach Bob Knight, but for the Bison he is just another coach, and the Red Raiders are just another team for the young Bison squad in the early part of their season.
Despite Knight’s on-court tactics, the Bison are playing in Lubbock, Texas tonight to face an undefeated and very tough Big 12 Conference opponent.
In addition to being a solidified Division I program, there will be an extra spotlight on Knight and one of his players tonight, sophomore forward Michael Prince.
On Monday against Gardner-Webb University, Knight forcefully “lifted” Prince’s head during a timeout near the end of the game with a closed fist.
The incident has since received a lot of national attention, due to Knight’s past incidents in his illustrious career of coaching.
Knight has also collected 872 wins — eight wins away from becoming the winningest head coach in Division I history.
While the focus will be on Texas Tech, the Bison are lying in the shadows of the spotlight, looking for an upset and not becoming Knight’s 873rd victim.
“ We were really disappointed with the way we played against the Gophers,” said NDSU head coach Tim Miles. “We have to play more aggressive and that starts with Texas Tech.”
While Prince may be getting the most attention in college basketball this week, the Bison need to focus on Texas Tech guard Jarrius Jackson.
Jackson has been the main threat and the leading scorer for the Red Raiders so far this season.
Jackson was first dismissed from the team two weeks ago for academic reasons. Knight has since allowed him to rejoin the team and has been a key player for Texas Tech.
“ Texas Tech is a good team with big size throughout,” sophomore forward Lucas Moormann said. “Jackson is a good player that will need to receive a lot of attention.”
With all the hype before the game has even played, the players and the coaches both know it’s just another game and against another opponent.
“ We’ve got to put the nervousness aside and play well,” said sophomore guard Ben Woodside. “It’s fun going against ‘The General’ (Knight), but we can’t be intimidated. We have to play NDSU basketball and look past playing Bobby Knight.”