FORT WAYNE, Ind. – North Dakota State was picked fifth in the Summit League men’s basketball preseason poll and Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne was ranked first, and the Bison found out Saturday night why those who voted had high praises for the Mastodons.
Two big scoring runs by IPFW were too much for NDSU to overcome as the Bison fell to the Summit League’s last-place team 77-71
“You can’t judge anything,” Bison coach David Richman said of the preseason rankings. “Our first four games were decided by 16 points. This league is so balanced. On the road for us, you have to be 10 points better, and tonight we weren’t.”
Early in the first half, sophomore Dexter Werner scored his lone bucket of the game to give the Bison (13-7, 5-2 Summit) a 14-12 lead with 13:29 to play. After that, NDSU seemed to struggle with the in-your-face Mastodons’ defense.
The following four minutes, the Bison went 0-for-5 from the field, while the Mastodons went on an 8-0 run to give IPFW (9-11, 2-5) a 20-14 lead.
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“They were in the gaps a lot,” Bison freshman A.J. Jacobson said. “We have seen better ball pressure, but they were in the gaps and that really threw us off.”
The offense did improve some after the cold spell, shooting just under 50 percent from the field, but it was not enough to allow the Bison to overtake the Mastodons.
Senior Lawrence Alexander held the ball near midcourt waiting to get a shot off with just a few ticks left on the clock before the half, but the normally sure-handed guard had the ball go off his foot for the Bison’s fourth turnover of the half.
IPFW failed to convert and the Bison trailed 35-29 at the break.
Jacobson led the Bison with 17 points, two shy of his career high. He shot an impressive 6 of 9 from the field, including 4 of 6 from beyond the arc.
“My teammates did a great job getting into the paint and getting me open looks,” he said. “I couldn’t do it without those guys and drawing two defenders.”
The second half could not have started worse for the Bison.
NDSU struggled on both ends of the court early in the second half. IPFW looked to have taken complete control of the game with a 13-2 run that was capped off by an Isaiah McCray dunk that brought the sellout crowd to its feet.
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It was one of many IPFW drives in the lane that ended with a bucket. The Mastodons outscored the Bison 36-24 in the paint.
“Our help side wasn’t great, our rotations weren’t great and we were just a step slow tonight,” Jacobson said. “We can’t be like that against a talented team like IPFW.”
Six Mastodons scored 10 or more points led by Max Landis’ 16. He and fellow guard Mo Evans, who finished with 13, scored 10-points apiece in the second half.
When things worked right and the defense got stops, the offense managed to find its stroke.
NDSU trailed by 16 with 13:49 to play when Jacobson converted the old-fashion 3-pointer to start a 10-0 run that ended with another Alexander 3-pointer, and the Bison were within 49-43.
“We were just trying to play fast on one end and slow with poise on the other end, and I thought we rushed some things offensively at time,” Richman said. “I give our kids a ton of credit for battling back against a really good team.”
That lead would shrink to three when Jacobson hit one from the outside with 4:15 to go. That would be as close as the Bison would get.
“They made some big plays down the stretch,” Jacobson said. “Their seniors stepped up and played well. We need to do a better job coming out of the gun and not giving them that big of a lead at the beginning.”
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Three other Bison reached double-digit scoring. Alexander had 16 points, freshman Paul Miller added 16 and junior Kory Brown accounted for 10.
“Our whole group is still young and inexperienced,” Richman said. “We are learning and there are some trials and tribulations, especially on the road against a good team.”
NDSU: Jacobson 6-9 1-1 17, Alexander 6-15 0-0 16, Brown 4-9 1-2 10, Dupree 3-6 2-3 8, Kading 2-4 0-0 4, Miller 4-7 5-6 14, Werner 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 26-54 9-12 71.
IPFW: Landis 3-6 8-9 16, McCray 5-9 3-8 14, Evans 5-12 1-1 13, Forbes 5-9 2-2 12, Edwards 4-9 2-3 10, Reed 5-7 1-1 12, Gunjina 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-53 17-24 77.
Half: IPFW 35, NDSU 29. 3-point goals: NDSU 10-24 (Jacobson 4-6, Alexander 4-10, Brown 1-2, Kading 0-2, Miller 1-4), IPFW 6-17 (Landis 2-4, McCray 1-1, Evans 2-8, Edwards 0-2, Reed 1-2). Total fouls: NDSU 22, IPFW 14. Fouled out: Jacobson. Rebounds: NDSU 28 (Brown 6), IPFW 34 (Evans; Forbes 8). Assists: NDSU 12 (Brown; Dupree 3), IPFW 13 (Landis 5). Steals: NDSU 3 (three tied with 1), IPFW 4 (four tied with 1). Turnovers: NDSU 6, IPFW 7. A: 1839.
