Column: Breakdown of North Dakota State-IU

WHO North Dakota State Bison
WHAT Game two of the season for the Hoosiers
WHEN 7 p.m. today
WHERE Assembly Hall, Bloomington
HOW Watch on BTN.com italics or listen to WIUX

Head coach
Saul Phillips (sixth season as head coach; 85-67 career record at NDSU)

Last season’s leading scorer
As a sophomore, 6-foot-7-inch guard Taylor Braun led the Bison with 15.4 points a game. Braun went 36-of-80 (.450) from downtown and 158-of-304 (.520) from the field on his way to scoring 478 points.

Last season’s leading rebounder
In 31 games, Braun also grabbed the most rebounds for the Bison last year. The Newberg, Ore., native averaged 6.6 rebounds a game — 178 defensive rebounds and 28 offensive rebounds.

Last win
Friday v. Valley City State

How last year ended
North Dakota State finished 2011-12 tied for fourth in the Summit League with a 17-14 overall record.

What they do well
Last year, the Bison shared the ball well and averaged 13.6 assists a game. Then-freshman guard Lawrence Alexander led way with 142 assists, and Braun followed with 78 of his own. Alexander and Braun work well with each other when they are in the game together, which will be a lot. Both players finished one and two in number of minutes played last season for North Dakota State (939 minutes for Braun, 1,062 for Alexander).

What needs work
Although NDSU racked up a lot of assists, the Bison also turned over the ball frequently. Last year, Phillips’ crew averaged 12.4 turnovers a game (384 total), while only stealing the ball 192 times. Because of IU’s athleticism on the defensive side of the ball, the Bison could have a very tough time securing the ball against the Hoosiers.

My Take
After starting the season with a win against Bryant, IU will continue to build toward the Big Ten season with another non-power conference opponent. While Bryant was not much of a match for IU’s physicality and size, NDSU has more size and strength — five players on NDSU’s roster are listed at 220 pounds or more — that will make it difficult for the Hoosiers’ big men.

In the Hoosiers’ first game out, we got a glimpse of why sophomore center Cody Zeller was named preseason player of the year and senior forward Christian Watford’s commitment to rebounding this season. Both Zeller and Watford should have good games down low against NDSU, but I expect them to stretch their range more in this game. Watford didn’t shoot particularly well last Friday night (3-of-9 from the field, 1-of-5 from downtown), so look for his stroke to bounce back in this one.

Overall, IU’s depth should wear NDSU down, but it will be important for guards freshman Kevin ‘Yogi’ Ferrell and senior Jordan Hulls to control tempo of the game. Ferrell and Hulls did a good job pushing the ball in their first game of the season, and I don’t see NDSU stopping them in this one. Ferrell looked eager to play in front of the Assembly Hall fans, and he put on a show for them. His performance was even good enough to inspire a tweet from former IU guard Isiah Thomas, who simply tweeted “Kevin “yogi” Ferrell.” during the game Friday night. Look for Ferrell to backup Friday night’s performance with another solid outing.

While I believe NDSU will pose more of a threat to IU than Bryant did, I don’t think the Hoosiers will have much trouble beating the Bison. IU Coach Tom Crean will work in anywhere from 10 to 14 players, and a number of Hoosiers will finish with double figures in the scoring column. IU wins a fast-paced game 98-57.

­— mdnorman@indiana.edu