NDSU Men’s Basketball 2014-15 Schedule

FARGO, N.D. – The North Dakota State men’s basketball program will play non-conference games at Texas and Iowa on the opening weekend of the 2014-15 season as part of the 2k Classic benefiting Wounded Warrior Project, it was announced Thursday, Sept. 4.

NDSU will open the season at the potential preseason national top-10 Texas Longhorns on Friday, Nov. 14, before traveling to Iowa to take on the Hawkeyes on Monday, Nov. 17.

Texas went 24-11, reached No. 15 in the national polls and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament last season despite fielding a team with no seniors. Iowa was 20-13 overall last year and peaked at No. 10 in the national polls, earning its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2006.

The following weekend, NDSU will host a 2k Classic sub-regional event featuring four games at Scheels Arena. On Nov. 21, Alcorn State will play Hampton and the Bison will follow with a game against Kennesaw State of the Atlantic Sun Conference. The losers of the two opening games will meet in a consolation game on Nov. 22, followed by a championship game between the two winners.

“We’re very pleased to announce a schedule that we think will be challenging as well as exciting for our players and fans,” said NDSU head coach David Richman. “We’ll open against a couple of national powers in Texas and Iowa, but we also have a good number of regional opponents in our non-conference schedule that our fans will recognize.”

“With the 2k Classic games at home, plus an in-state game with North Dakota and a premier mid-major opponent in Akron, we’ll give our fans an entertaining home schedule at Scheels Arena,” said Richman.

The Bison open the season with an exhibition game against Minot State at Scheels Arena on Nov. 5.

NDSU also has non-conference road games at Big Sky opponents Montana State on Nov. 30 and Montana on Dec. 7, with a return trip in between to play Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Dec. 3. Montana has played in three of the past five NCAA Tournaments, while Southern Miss went 29-7 last year and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT.

The Bison host North Dakota on Dec. 13 and MAC opponent Akron at Scheels Arena on Dec. 16 in a return game for a 2013 ESPN BracketBusters contest. Akron posted a 21-12 record last season and finished second in the MAC East Division.

NDSU will take part in the WestStar Bank Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational held in El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 21-22, taking on MAC opponent Kent State in the first round on Dec. 21 and then either host UTEP or Alcorn State on Dec. 22.

The Bison host a pair of non-Division I opponents this season, with Division II Minnesota-Crookston coming to Fargo on Nov. 25 and Division III Northland College (Wis.) visiting on Dec. 28.

NDSU hosts Oral Roberts at Scheels Arena on Jan. 2 to open Summit League action. With the return of ORU to The Summit League this season, all league schools will play 16 conference games.

The Summit League Championship will run Mar. 7-10 in Sioux Falls, S.D. With Omaha in its final year of postseason ineligibility due to its transition to Division I, the tournament will be an eight-team field.