North Dakota travels to The Nest on Thursday to take on Sacramento State. Tip-off occurs at 10:05 EST. The Fighting Sioux are 1-1 against the Hornets over the last four years. They fell 75-64 on 12/18/2011, the last time they met.

Sacramento State is in 5th place in the conference and will be trying to close the gap with 3rd place North Dakota.

In an 85-76 win over Portland State on January 19th, Aaron Anderson put up 25 points for the Fighting Sioux. He tallies 14.4 points per game and also adds 3.6 rebounds per game. For the Hornets, Dylan Garrity put up 20 points in the 65-56 loss to Weber State on January 19th. He averages 12.3 points per game in addition to a team-best 5.1 assists per game. From a tempo-free perspective, Sacramento State is strong in free throw rate at 41.4. This is good enough for 2nd in the conference and 43rd in the nation.

Sacramento State StatSmack

  • Josh Schuler is ranked 9th in the Big Sky in three-pointers.
  • The North Dakota steals leader (Jamal Webb) has more steals than the Sacramento State steals leader (Dylan Garrity).
  • The North Dakota blocks leader (Mitch Wilmer) has more blocks than the Sacramento State blocks leader (John Dickson).
  • Mitch Wilmer is ranked 4th in the Big Sky in blocks.
  • Jamal Webb is ranked 1st in the Big Sky in steals.
  • North Dakota players are more experienced than Sacramento State players (13,246 minutes played vs 8,716 minutes played).
  • Grand Forks isn't as congested as Sacramento (population is significantly lower).
  • You'll do better on next semester's exams, right? North Dakota currently has a higher Academic Progress Rate (968 to 959) than Sacramento State, per the NCAA.
  • Winning is in our blood. North Dakota had a better record in close games than Sacramento State last season (5-3 vs 2-5).