740 The FAN

In the last game against IUPUI in men’s basketball, there were a couple of Bison fans in the student section that were heckling the opposing team to the point where the Head Coach of IUPUI thought it was out of control and needed to be addressed by NDSU Administration.  

Although coach Hunter might have overreacted and made a bigger deal out of  the situation then need be, Gene Taylor handled the situation loud and clear.  There is added security through out the entire BSA and more importantly added Police Officers behind the opposing teams bench.  NDSU also lets fans know that harassing and verbally abusing the players will not be tolerated. 

Gene Taylor has continuously shown through out the years that if there is any type of problem, he’ll handle it immediately.  It’s too bad that Ron Hunter didn’t address the problem right away because if he had, Gene would have handled it and cooler heads would have prevailed.

As I sit and watch the Lady Bison  take on Southern Utah,  all I can notice is the empty seats at the BSA most notably the student section.  This is something I would expect at an MSUM woman’s game, but not certainly at NDSU.  I’m literally able to count the number of NDSU students here with 2 hands. 

I think that it’s evident that NDSU needs to look at doing double headers with the men and women’s games on Saturday.  Students clearly don’t want to come for a 2 o’clock game only to have to return for the 7 o’clock game.  They want the back to back games.  As a life long Bison fan, this is flat out embarrassing for the University.  Whatever you guys are doing, you need to make the adjustments to get students in the seats to support this team.  The NDSU women’s team deserves much better especially considering they are up 24 in the first with virtually zero support from the students.

As I sit and watch the NDSU Bison basketball team compete against the UMKC Kangaroos in a big time Summit league conference game, the biggest question I come away with is where are the students?  It was less then a year ago when the students completely filled the BSA screaming various chants.  Opposing teams couldn’t hear their coach call out directions, let alone their own teammates.  Now the section is maybe two thirds full at best and you could hear a pin drop in the students section. 

It’s not like the Bison went from being the best team in the conference to being the worst team in the conference.  This Bison team has had a chance to win every game they’ve played this year but yet in a crucial game where the students should  play a huge factor, they decided to bail on their beloved Bison.  Saul Phillips and his Bison basketball team deserved better from their student section.  All I know is that win or lose, I will be here to support the NDSU Bison basketball team.  It’s just too bad that the students couldn’t say the same.

The season is over and quite frankly, I’m sick of all the talk about what the Vikes could have done and all this other bla bla bla.  It is time to start talking some Minnesota Twins, NDSU Bison basketball, UND Hockey, heck even some high school basketball.  It’s boring, it’s repetitive, and we here the same crap all the damn time.  There are other stories to talk about other then Brett Favre.  I would even take some NFL Draft talk and some big time college basketball talk, anything to spare me the misery of having what could have been.

• Vaughn coming out shooting with a big 3 right out of the gates
• Oakland using its size and athleticism for an easy layup, Bison down 8 with 17 to go.
• Tveidt playing extremely well with a driving layup to put the Bison down 6 with 16 to go.
• NDSU really challenging Benson this half as Pennick hits a driving layup.
• Ball literally right in my mug knocking my computer off the stand, Bison down 10 with 13 to go.
• Jonathan Jones drives and Keith Benson finishes his mess, Bison down 12 with 12 to go.
• Sussenguth with a nice layup, Bison down 10 with 11 to go
• Jones with 2 crazy over the shoulder layups in a row, Oakland up 15 with 9 minutes left.
• Drew Lundberg with a killer crossover for an easy lay up, crowd going nuts Bison down 9 with 7 to go.
• Jones with another tough layup, Oakland up 12 with 6 to go.
• Vaughn with a nice put back, Bison down 8 with 5 to go.
• Tveidt makes it 6 20 seconds later.
• Vaughn with a huge 3 to make it a 3 point game with 3 minutes to go.
• Lundberg giving the Bison some nice minutes, down 2 with 246 to go.
• Pennick drives to the hoop and Benson picks up his 4th foul, down 2 with 215 to go.
• Benson rocks the rim to put Oakland up 4 with 145 to go.
• Carleson right back at him to make it a 2 point game.

Good effort by the Bison, Oakland was just too much tonight.  I think NDSU will find more PT for Lundberg, he did a great job running the show for the Bison.  Also a learning experience for Aaberg tonight in going against Benson, hopefully he’ll take away alot from this game.  Bison lose  85 to 79.

• Oakland starts the game with a 3 pointer, not a good sign for the Bison considering they are shooting 30% on the year from 3 point land.
• Keith Benson is an absolute athletic freak down low, controlling both ends of the court just 2 minutes into the game.
• Bison forcing Oakland to shoot the 3 ball and Oakland making the Bison pay 2 3’s already 3 minutes into it.
• Grizzlies 3 for 3 from 3 point land up 13 to 4 4 minutes into the game.
• Bison playing tough defense, but Oakland’s point guard is just tearing apart the Bison defense.  Reminds you a lot of how Woodside rean the team last year
• Oakland’s coach is potentially the most animated coach I’ve ever seen, he’s always screaming about something
• No second chance points this game for the Bison with Benson roaming low, continuing to dominate on both ends of the court.
• Zastrow looking good thus far, able to break down Oakland’s defense on several nice drives Bison down 5.
• Tveidt with a nice aggressive move challenging Benson, Bison down 3 with 9 minutes to go.
• Bison struggling to get open looks with Benson controlling the paint with 2 more blocks, Bison down 9 with 7 minutes to go.
• Tveidt hits a nce driving layup with a foul,  Bison down 7 with 4 minutes to go.
• Andy Nagel playing some nice aggressive defense on Benson.  The impressive thing is he has hardly played this year and you’d hardly notice.
• Oakland is on fire from 3 point land, 2 threes in a row, Bison down 11 with 1 minute left in the first half.
• Benson looking in severe pain and still comes up with a steal to lead to an easy layup.  Bison down 11 at half.

Oakland just dominating both ends of the court.  NDSU is struggling to get any type of good looks.  Expect Saul to make some obvious halftime adjustments.

Stripes are letting both teams play early, again very physical play through out the first 3 minutes.  

Both teams continue to struggle on the offensive end shooting around 30 percent 5 minutes to go in the 2nd half,  NDSU down only 6 though with 15:45 to go.

Kevin Ford dominating the Bison down low, they have to answer for him.   Oral Roberts up 11 with 13 minutes to go. 

Austin Pennick giving the Bison some nice minutes tonight keeping the game close with some clutch shooting.  Bison down 6 with 10 to go.

Vaughn with 2 huge threes in a row to make it a 2 point game with 754 to go, BSA absolutely going nuts.  Vaughn having one of his best games has a Bison no doubt about it.

Carlson with a great left handed hook to give the bison the lead with 642 to go in the game

Oral Roberts getting a lot more 2nd chance points in the 2nd half, getting a lot more offensive rebounds 2nd half.

Tveidt gives the Bison the lead again with 425 to go with an amazing fade away from the free throw line. 

Morrison gives OU the lead right back with a 3 pointer with 4 minutes to go.

In the end,  NDSU made it a very very close.   Oral Roberts was just too athletic for NDSU.  NDSU did a good job first half limiting 2nd chance points, but struggled in the 2nd half.  Good performance by Josh Vaughn and Eric Carleson.  Carlson finishes the night with 19 points and 6 rebounds.   Oral Roberts wins  65 to 59.

Oral Roberts has to the the quickest and most athletic team NDSU has seen this year.  Every player on the court including their 6ft 9 center are super quick and all over the court.  Kevin Ford already has 2 monstrous dunks on cuts in the paint 5 minutes into the game.

NDSU is going with a more defensive starting lineup with Pennick starting at the 2 and Vaughn.  They are also playing much better defense most notably in the paint with Jordan Aaberg being an active force in the paint with his ability to block shots.    The biggest difference I see is their defense is much improved with their trapping in the paint. 

Vaughn looks much more comfertable playing the offguard as usual, he just seems much more natural coming off of screens.

The officials are defintely letting the guys play this game, very physical play with little fouls being called.

Tveidt picks up his 2nd found with 11 minutes to go in the half, won’t see him again for awhile.  Bison still hanging in there though, up 1 with 9 minutes to go in the first half.

Eric Carlson and Josh Vaughn having a good game all around, both are very active defensively and defintely dictating the play on the offensive end.

I can’t say it enough though on how much improved the bison defense looks.  They are controlling the paint and not allowing any 2nd chance points.

Both teams struggling shooting the ball, both teams shooting at 31 and 29 percent.  Bison hanging in there though, down 5 with 2:26 to go in the half.

Officials haven’t been kind to the Bison the first half but the Bison are lucky to only be down 8 at half though.

Compound fracture of the Tib Fib, very very painful

Can’t even imagine the pain he is going through.

Skier severely breaks his leg

Yeah, probably one of many reasons why I gave up downhill skiing