Men set to take on Southern Utah

Written by Rob Detjen Friday, 05 February 2010 08:00

The men are back in Fargo, and back on a roll after beating UMKC and Centenary in their three game road trip this past week.

Josh Vaughan tries to dribble past his defender and get to the hoop at the Bison Sports Arena.

On Saturday, the men will be taking on the Southern Utah Thunderbirds.

NDSU lost the first match up of the season in overtime at Southern Utah 85-79. Senior guard Josh Vaughn played a big game for the Bison. Vaughn knocked in a career high 28-points while grabbing five boards. Forward Michael Tveidt contributed 19, and Eric Carlson had 11 of his own.

Southern Utah’s senior guard Davis Baker was the difference in the game for the Thunderbirds. Baker scored 10 of his 34 points in overtime, including going 6-of-7 from three-point range.

Baker is currently the only Southern Utah player averaging double-digit points with 16.7. He is also their average leading rebounder with five per game.

If the Bison plan on containing Baker, they will have to guard him closely every time he touches the ball. “When he’s comfortable, that’s when he’s good,” Assistant Coach Jason Kemp said. “We have to make him feel uncomfortable.”

If the Bison plan on getting revenge they will have to improve in a couple of different areas, mainly three-point defense.

Lately uncontested threes have been a big problem for the Bison. In the last few games against Oakland, IPFW, and UMKC, the Bison allowed each team to make nine three-pointers.

One area NDSU should be able to take advantage over Southern Utah is in the turnover category. The Thunderbirds have the worst turnover margin in the Summit League with -6.6 per game.

The past couple of games this Bison have switched to a smaller inside lineup, which has worked quite successfully. “Our team goals are to, first, take care of the ball; second, rebound well; and three, play good defense. We try to play the same every game,” Kemp said.

Currently the NSDU is slotted sixth in the Summit League. The Herd’s next two games take place against the number seven seed UMKC, and the eighth-seeded Southern Utah. “If you get to thinking too far ahead, weird things will happen to you,” Kemp said. “We need to just win the next game on the table versus UMKC before we can focus on Southern Utah.”

This will be the seventh meeting between the two conference rivals. The series is tied up at three games a piece.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.