The North Dakota State Bison (14th seed in the Midwest Region) will play the 3rd seed, Big 12 Champion Kansas Jayhawks in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, Friday, March 20th, at 11:30 a.m. (Central time) The Jayhawks are making their 38th appearance in the NCAA Tournament including winning the tournament last season, while the Bison are making their first appearance. The Bison won both the Summit League regular-season and postseason championships and have compiled a 26-6 overall and 16-2 conference record.

This is first season the Bison were eligible for the NCAA Tournament after a five-year reclassification from Division II.  NDSU is a deadly three-point shooting team, ranking fifth nationally with a 41.2 three-point shooting percentage. The Bison average 7.1 threes per game. NDSU is a veteran team with four fifth-year seniors and a fourth-year senior. Senior guard Ben Woodside leads the team in scoring with 22.8 points per game, including a 60-point effort in a triple-overtime loss (112-111) against Stephen F. Austin on Dec. 12. His 22.8 ppg is ninth nationally. He also averages 6.3 assists per game, has a team-best 64 three pointers and 84.2 free throw percentage. Senior forward Brett Winkelman is next in scoring at 18.7 points per game and he leads the Bison with a 7.4 rebound average and 48 steals.

He is making 80.9 percent from the free throw line. Senior guard Mike Nelson is scoring 11.9 points per game. He is second on the team with a 4.2 rebound average, with 81 assists and 57 three pointers made. Sophomore forward Michael Tveidt is making a team-best 45.8 percent from beyond the arc to complement his 9.7 scoring average. His 20 blocked shots are a team high and one ahead of senior center Lucas Moormann’s 19 blocks. Moorman is scoring 4.5 points per game. Junior forward Dejuan Flowers (3.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg), freshman forward Eric Carlson (2.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg), junior guard Josh Vaughan (2.8 ppg) and sophomore guard Freddy Coleman (2.5 ppg) round out the Bison regulars. NDSU’s starting five of Woodside, Winkelman, Nelson, Tveidt and Moormann score 83.6 percent of the Bison’s points.