BUFFALO, N.Y. – The No. 14 seed North Dakota State Bison enter March Madness with a program-best 27 wins. Led by head coach David Richman, who has earned 238 wins in 12 seasons in Fargo.
“This has been absolutely a special year, a program record 27 wins, the biggest word that stands out to me is that it’s been a lot of fun,” Richman said.
Richman led the Bison to a First Four win in 2019, before a loss to the freshman-stacked Duke team that Michigan State took down in the Elite Eight later on in the tournament.
No players on NDSU have March Madness experience, but Richman believes his team is mature enough to rise to the moment.
“We don’t have the NCAA Tournament experience, but we have two 24-year-olds and we have guys that took control of the Summit League Tournament, in Noah Feddersen and Damari Wheeler-Thomas, guys that have done it, so experience, age is a premium and maturity,” Richman said.
MSU head coach Tom Izzo’s first impression on the Bison was that they are a team that can shoot with the best of them, but Richman isn’t focused on just the three-ball.
“I’m not a huge analytics guy, but we’ve studied some upsets, and if we can make some threes tomorrow, then tip your hat to us, we would love every bit of that,” Richman said. “But our program is built on defending, valuing the basketball, and finishing possessions…As much as it’s about shooting, we have to be on point about those three things.”
NDSU will have to deal with the challenge of being drastically undersized compared to the Spartans; with two players over 6-foot-7, redshirt freshman forward Caleb Schoenrock and junior forward Noah Feddersen.
The Bison beat their in-state rival, the North Dakota Fighting Hawks, in the Summit League Championship, with the NCAA Tournament automatic bid on the line.
Bison junior guard Damari Wheeler-Thomas won the Summit League Tournament MVP, he averaged 17 points per game and surpassed 1,000 career points in the championship game.
“The game has slowed down for him a little bit. He’s a fierce competitor, call him a dog, he’s an elite athlete, so explosive,” Richman said.
The Spartans need to be wary of NDSU forward Tay Smith, who can catch fire on the perimeter at any time. He knocked down three consecutive three-pointers in the championship win over North Dakota from the same spot on the wing.
As a double-digit seed, the odds are stacked against NDSU, especially against a coach like Izzo, who’s been to 28 straight NCAA Tournaments.
“Our next guest needs no introduction, this is a well-coached program that has been here and doing it and it will be a challenge for us,” Richman said.
The Spartans pose a physical threat to the Bison, as they have more size and athleticism.
“The biggest things we’ve prioritized our focus on is: how fast they are in transition, making sure we get back and then the backboards, they’re so strong, physical, athletic and they’re relentless going on the glass,” Richman said.
How the offense starts
Richman runs an offense that is primarily created through ball movement, the Bison will start with your traditional two forward and three guards (or point guard, two wings). For a group that jacks 25.6 threes per game, North Dakota State relies heavily on quickness from its guards and movement off the dribble.
So far this season, in games where North Dakota State shoots over 40 percent from beyond the arc, the Bison are 14-2. Most looks get generated by dribble penetration at the top, waiting to see how much help-side defense the opposition gives. From there, movement off-ball is imperative.
The main focus of this is Wheeler-Thomas, the 6-foot, 180 pounds, junior who has an electric first step. Shooting 38.6% beyond the arc this season, accomplishing his best success rate in his Bison career.
Both Wheeler-Thomas and Smith are the two focuses when it comes to offense from the perimeter. Whether you see them in dribble-handoffs or pass and kick dribble penetration, both of them have attempted more than 180+ threes this season (for reference, MSU’s team leader in 3PT attempts is Kur Teng, with 139).
Make no mistake, it’s not just Wheeler-Thomas and Smith; three other Bison shoot the ball over a 36% clip from beyond the arc, including junior guard Trevian Carson, sophomore forward Treyson Anderson and sophomore guard Andy Stefonowicz.
What could MSU do to make it difficult?
Ball pressure. For a group like North Dakota State, of course, you don’t want to make them beat you from three, but where MSU would be in a world of hurt is if the Bison start hitting the threes you WANT them to take.
I think if you’re the Spartans, you have less weakside defense, trust your on-ball defenders like Jeremy Fears Jr., Jordan Scott, and even Jaxon Kohler/Coen Carr if either of them gets pushed out there on the matchup with Smith.
Now the shots you want them to take are in these 1-on-1 situations on dribble penetration, if the ball is kicked to the wing, you’d much rather a contested three, compared to an open three due to weakside pressure.
Of course, if you’re MSU and the weakside defense is good, you might get away with it on a few possessions, but you don’t want to get trapped into a 10-0 run by the Bison due to perimeter shots.
At the end of the day, you have to stop the dribble drive. Ball pressure has to be at its best the rest of the way, and we know ball-screen coverage is something Izzo and MSU have been working on the past couple of weeks.
Tip-off for the First Round matchup between No. 3 seed Michigan State and No. 14 seed North Dakota State is at 4:05 p.m. Catch the radio call from Jack Stager and Joe Dez on channel 88.9 FM in the Lansing area.
