Men's Basketball to Battle for First in Fargo

GAME NOTES (.pdf)

FARGO, N.D. - The IPFW Mastodons will face off against the North Dakota State Bison on Saturday afternoon, with the winner earning the top seat in the Summit League standings with five games to play in the season.

Opponent: North Dakota State Bison (17-6, 6-2 Summit League)
When: Saturday, February 8 | 5 p.m. EST
Where: Fargo, N.D. | Bison Sports Arena
Television: Fox College Sports/Central
Radio: WKJG 1380 AM The Fan | Mike Maahs, play-by-play
Live Stats: North Dakota State StatBroadcast
Live Video: NDSU All-Access

QUICK HITTERS

• IPFW's 18-6 start is tied for the fifth-best 24-game start in program history, and the best start in IPFW's NCAA Division I era (2001-02 to present)

• IPFW ranks 12th in NCAA Division I in field goal percentage according to the NCAA, while Steve Forbes is second in the county in individual field goal percentage by the ESPN statistical rankings (he is 12 field goal makes shy of qualifying for the NCAA rankings).

• IPFW's 20-of-21 free throw shooting game against North Dakota State stands as the 20th-best single-game shooting performance in NCAA Division I this season.

• IPFW's current RPI of 129 is the second-lowest in program history, behind only the 128 from two weeks ago. Coming into the season, the best season-ending RPI was 180 in 2010-11.

• IPFW head coach Tony Jasick, now 45-43 in his career, stands in sole possession of fourth place in career coaching wins and is one of two coaches in program history to have a career record of .500 or better.

• Through 25 games of the season, IPFW has trailed for just three hours, 39 minutes, and 40 seconds, while leading for 12 hours, four minutes, and five seconds.

• IPFW's 18-7 record stands as the most wins in the state among NCAA Division I programs, and second in winning percentage. IPFW is just ahead of Indiana St. with 17 wins, and trail just the Sycamores (17-5) in win percentage. Of the 10 NCAA Division I teams in the state, seven have a winning record with an overall winning percentage of .529 (119-106).

• IPFW finished the month of January with a 7-1 record, the best record for the month in program history, better than the previous top mark of 8-2 in 1991-92.

SCOUTING THE BISON

North Dakota State comes into the battle for first place in the Summit League standings after holding off the Jaguars of IUPUI on Thursday evening by a 66-60 final score.

In the game, Lawrence Alexander led four players in double-figure scoring with 17 points, as Taylor Braun scored 14. Jordan Aaberg scored 11, while Kory Brown poured in 10. Marshall Bjorklund pulled down a team-high six rebounds to go with his eight points, while Brown grabbed four steals.

Braun leads the team with an 18.3 point per game scoring average, while Bjorklund averages 14.1. Alexander puts in 11.3 points per game, while TrayVonn Wright averages 11.0 points per game.

Braun also leads the team with 88 assists, and is second on the team with 108 rebounds. Wright paces the team on the year with 115 boards, as four players have over 100 rebounds on the season - along with Bjorklund (103) and Alexander (102). Wright has 41 blocked shots, as Braun has a team-best 38 steals.

MID-MAJOR RANKING

The IPFW men's basketball team has reached its highest-ever ranking in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25, sitting at 19th overall. The Mastodons have been ranked inside of the top-25 five weeks prior to this weeks' poll, and previously sat at 21st in the poll. IPFW made its top-25 debut this season on December 9, and has been in the top-25 every week since.

~ Feel the Rumble ~

Purdue University Fort Wayne Athletics

Men's Basketball to Battle for First in Fargo

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