K-State returns home after 2 losses in Kansas City to face North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks are 2-4 and led by Paul Sather. Sather is in his 3rd year at UND after coaching at a pair of smaller colleges in the Dakotas. His only connection with the Big 12 or Kansas State is spending one season on Ricardo Patton's staff at Colorado in the mid 00s. UND made an NCAA tournament appearance in 2017, but have declined since and this year's team is struggling through 6 games. They have wins over Montana and Troy with losses to Milwaukee, Florida Atlantic, Tennessee Martin, and Florida International.
North Dakota features one of the worst defenses in college basketball right now, allowing 1.12 points per possessions (kenpom adjusted, #349) and an eFG% of 55.5 (#317). Opponents are making 51.6% on 2s (#239) and 41.7% of their 3s (#338). Their rate of forcing TOs is only 15.7% (#303) and they send opponents to the FT line often with a FT rate allowed of 37.3% (#291). Their strength is rebounding and they only allow opponents to grab 24.1% of their misses (#66).
Offensively they are slightly better, but still struggle. They score 0.97 points per possession (kenpom adjusted, #255) and have an eFG% of 48.2% (#211), making 44.5% on 2s (#278) and 35.6% of their 3s (#108). They take care of the ball decently with a TO rate of 17.4% (#100) and have an offensive rebounding rate of 28.4% (#172) and a FT rate of 29.0% (#195), though they do make 75.7% from the line (#57).
UND Players to Watch
UND lost their top scorer from last year (6-9 Filip Rebraca, 16.8 PPG, transfered to Iowa), but several solid players are back.
6-2 junior guard Caleb Nero leads the team with 13.3 points per game, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game. Nero is hitting 30% from 3 on 5 attempts per game. He leads the team in shot rate and has an offensive rating of 1.06.
6-9 forward Mitchel Sueker is scoring 11.3 points per game to go with 3.2 rebounds. Sueker is hitting 35.7% from 3 and takes just over 2 per game.
6-4 FR guard Paul Bruns comes off the bench, but scores 9.7 points per game and grabs 3.7 rebounds. Bruns is hitting 30.8% from 3 on 4.3 attempts per game.
6-4 guard Matt Norman has a few starts, but came off the bench in their last game. He scores 9.2 PPG and hits 42.3% from 3 while leading the team with 5.2 attempts per game.
6-9 forward Tsotne Tsartsidze leads the Fighting Hawks in rebounds with 6.2 per game to go along with 8.0 points per game.
6-3 guard Ethan Igbanugo starts and is another outside threat. Igbanugo only scores 6.5 points per game, but is hitting 38.9% from 3 on 4.5 attempts.
This is a game K-State should win soundly against a bad defensive team. They do need to defend the arc as every UND player will step out to shoot the 3 and several guys are good shooters. K-State has to get some confidence on offense and improve after a pair of losses to good teams in Kansas City. This should be an opportunity to do just that.
Wildcats 82 - Fighting Hawks 65
