SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- In the first 39 seasons of Summit League men's basketball play, the regular season champion had never gone through a conference slate unbeaten. That changed in 2021-22 when South Dakota State went unblemished through the 18-game Summit schedule.
Last season, Oral Roberts duplicated that feat with another 18-0 run through League play. After nearly four decades of a champion never going unbeaten, could it happen for the third consecutive year?
Nine teams will embark on that quest this weekend with hopes of hoisting a regular season trophy when all the dust settles in the first weekend of March when League play wraps up.
St. Thomas and North Dakota will clash in what is the first of six #SummitMBB games that will air nationally on CBS Sports Network this season. The Tommies and Fighting Hawks tip off at 7 p.m. CT on the network. The remaining three games will all be available on the
Summit League Network.
ORU, the defending champs, brings the program's 18-game League winning streak into a road game at Kansas City. Oakland (2009-11) and South Dakota State (2020-22) own the record for most consecutive League wins at 20.
The Pioneers, who are led the nation's leading scorer Tommy Bruner (24.2 ppg), will play at Omaha, who is unbeaten at 5-0 on its home floor this season. DU returns to the Mile High City Sunday to take on the Golden Eagles in a New Year's Eve contest.
South Dakota and North Dakota State square off in Fargo in a rematch of a 2023 Summit League Tournament quarterfinal that was decided by two points. Those two split their regular season matchups a season ago.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Friday, Dec. 29
Denver at Omaha* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Oral Roberts at Kansas City* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
St. Thomas at North Dakota* (CBSSN) | 7 p.m. CT
South Dakota at NDSU* (WDAYX/SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Sunday, Dec. 31
Omaha at South Dakota* (CBSSN) | 2 p.m. CT
Kansas City at St. Thomas* (SLN) | 2 p.m. CT
North Dakota at SDSU* (MS/SLN) | 2 p.m. CT
Oral Roberts at Denver* (SLN) | 3 p.m. MT
Wednesday, Jan. 3
Kansas City at Sacramento State# (ESPN+) | 6 p.m. PT
St. Thomas at Idaho# (ESPN+) | 6 p.m. MT
SDSU at Weber State# (ESPN+) | 7 p.m. MT
Montana at NDSU# (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Northern Arizona at Omaha# (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Eastern Washington at South Dakota# (MS/SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Northern Colorado at North Dakota# (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Oral Roberts at Montana State# (ESPN+) | 7:30 p.m. MT
Idaho State at Denver# (SLN) | 7:30 p.m. MT
Saturday, Jan. 6
North Dakota at Northern Arizona# (ESPN+) | 1 p.m. MT
NDSU at Eastern Washington# (ESPN+) | 2 p.m. PT
Montana State at SDSU# (SLN) | 4:15 p.m. CT
Denver at Northern Colorado# (ESPN+) | 6 p.m. MT
Omaha at Idaho State# (ESPN+) | 6 p.m. MT
South Dakota at Montana# (ESPN+) | 7 p.m. MT
Portland State at Kansas City# (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Weber State at Oral Roberts# (CBSSN) | 7 p.m. CT
Sacramento State at St. Thomas# (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Rankings: (AP/Coaches)
All times local to site
* Summit League game
# Big Sky-Summit Challenge
Key: MS (Midco Sports), CBSSN (CBS Sports Network), ESPN+ (ESPN Plus), MWC (Mountain West Conference Live), SLN (Summit League Network), YT (YouTube)
TEAM TRACKER
DENVER PIONEERS (8-5; 0-0 SL) | @DU_MensHoops
Next Up: at Omaha* (12/29; 7 p.m. CT); Oral Roberts* (12/31; 3 p.m. MT)
Previous Game: at (18/17) BYU (L, 90-74); Adams State (W, 89-83); Northern New Mexico (W, 90-57)
The Pioneers picked up back-to-back home wins over Adams State and Northern New Mexico to wrap up their pre-Christmas slate with an 8-5 record ... Senior guard Tommy Bruner averaged 31.5 ppg in those two victories as he pushed his scoring clip to the top of the Division I charts at 24.2 ppg ... Bruner had a career-high 37 in the win over Adams State - only four DI players have scored more in a game this season ... Bruner has the Pioneers averaging 83.5 ppg, which is tops among Summit League teams ... Bruner and teammate Touko Tainamo are accounting for half of those points ... Tainamo ranks third among Summit League players with a 17.6 ppg clip and also ranks second in rebounding at 8.2 rpg ... DU, who went 6-12 in Summit action a year ago, will open this year’s slate against an Omaha team that the Pios traded double-digit victories with last season ... The Pioneers will open their home slate on New Year’s Eve by hosting Oral Roberts.
KANSAS CITY ROOS (5-8; 0-0 SL) | @KCRoosMBB
Next Up: Oral Roberts* (12/29; 7 p.m. CT); at St. Thomas* (12/31; 2 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: at Bowling Green (L, 79-69); at East Tennessee State (L, 70-57)
The Roos return home to open Summit play against Oral Roberts after dropping back-to-back road games to close out their pre-Christmas slate ... Jamar Brown and Cameron Faas each went for 12 in a 70-57 loss at ETSU ... Those two have emerged as KC’s top scoring duo with Anderson Kopp being sidelined for the last three games ... Brown is averaging a team-high 14.0 ppg in his first season with the Roos as him and Faas, who is chipping in 11.1 ppg, are the only two to start all 13 games for head coach Marvin Menzies ... Khristion Courseault has started the last five for the Roos and averaged 12.8 ppg in those contests ... Courseault matched his season-high with 18 in the 79-69 loss at Bowling Green ... KC went 7-11 in League play a season ago, earning the No. 7 seed at the Summit League Tournament ... The Roos will play at St. Thomas on NYE.
NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS (8-5; 0-0 SL) | @UNDMBasketball
Next Up: St. Thomas* (12/29; 7 p.m. CT); at South Dakota State* (12/31; 2 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Utah Tech (W, 79-62); at Nebraska (L, 83-75)
The Fighting Hawks had Big Ten-foe Nebraska on the ropes, holding as much as a 14-point lead early in the second half before the Cornhuskers stormed back to post an eight-point win ... Sophomore B.J. Omot scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds to register his fifth 20-plus point scoring game of the season ... Omot ranks fifth among Summit League scorers at 16.5 ppg, while classmate Treysen Eaglestaff ranks seventh at 15.3 ppg ... Senior Tyree Ihenacho, who became eligible to play in the road win at Utah Tech on Dec. 16, scored 22 off the bench against the Cornhuskers ... Ihenacho had nine off the bench against the Trailblazers ... The 2021 Summit League Player of the Year is back with the Fighting Hawks after spending 2021-2023 at James Madison ... UND will open League play with a home game against St. Thomas on Dec. 29, which is set to air on CBS Sports Network ... The Fighting Hawks then head to preseason favorite SDSU on New Year’s Eve.
NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON (7-6; 0-0 SL) | @NDSUMBB
Next Up: South Dakota* (12/29; 7 p.m. CT); Montana (1/3; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: at Illinois State (L, 75-65); at Southern Illinois (L, 76-63)
The Bison dropped back-to-back road games at Missouri Valley Conference members Illinois State and Southern Illinois to close out their pre-Christmas schedule with a 7-6 mark ... Senior Boden Skunberg bounced back from a season-low four points against the Redbirds to pace the Bison with 19 against the Salukis ... Tajavis Miller led the way against ISU with a season-high 18 points, marking the first time he has led NDSU in scoring this season ... Skunberg, Damari Wheeler-Thomas (12.8), and Andrew Morgan (10.0) are the three Bison averaging double figures and the trio has also started all 13 games for head coach David Richman ... NDSU will open Summit action against long-time rival South Dakota, who they own a 105-83 record against all-time ... The Bison will then have a rematch against Montana in Fargo ... This one is part of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge as the two will tangle on Jan. 3 ... NDSU beat the Grizzlies in Missoula, 78-69, on Nov. 16.
OMAHA MAVERICKS (6-7; 0-0 SL) | @OmahaMBB
Next Up: Denver* (12/29; 7 p.m. CT); at South Dakota* (12/31; 2 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: Stetson (W, 88-80); at Cal Poly (L, 66-53)
The Mavericks dropped a 66-53 road tilt at Cal Poly to close out their pre-Summit slate with a 6-7 record ... Junior Frankie Fidler ranks sixth among Summit League scorers with a 15.4 ppg clip and led Omaha with 18 in the loss to the Mustangs ... Fidler has reeled off seven straight games in double figures and is shooting 85 percent from the foul stripe ... JUCO-transfer Biko Johnson enters Summit action coming off the first two double-digit scoring games of his Maverick career ... Johnson tallied a season-high 15 in the home win over Stetson, then added 14 off the bench against Cal Poly ... Johnson had scored a total of 11 points in his first six games of the season ... Omaha will open League play against Denver at Baxter Arena where the Mavericks are 5-0 on the season ... The Mavericks are yielding just 63.8 ppg on their home court this season ... Omaha will close out the calendar year at South Dakota in a New Year’s Eve tilt at 2 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network.
ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (5-6; 0-0 SL) | @ORUMBB
Next Up: at Kansas City* (12/29; 7 p.m. CT); at Denver* (12/31; 3 p.m. MT)
Previous Game: at Texas Tech (L, 82-76); at Oklahoma State (L, 81-60); John Brown (W, 71-59)
The Golden Eagles got back in the win column before Christmas with a 71-59 victory over John Brown ... After suffering back-to-back losses against Big 12-foes, ORU got 19 points from Issac McBride and 16 more from Jailen Bedford to move to 5-6 on the season ... McBride ranks second among Summit League scorers at 18.4 ppg, while Bedford is chipping in 14.5 ppg, which has him leading all newcomers in points per game ... The Golden Eagles are the only League team averaging more than 10 makes per game from 3-point range, having buried 112 in 11 contests (10.2/g) ... Senior Kareem Thompson is leading that charge with 2.5 triples per game, which is tied for third among League players ... ORU, who is coming off an 18-0 regular season run last year, opens its title defense with back-to-back road games at Kansas City and Denver.
ST. THOMAS TOMMIES (8-5; 0-0 SL) | @TommieMBBall
Next Up: at North Dakota* (12/29; 7 p.m. CT); Kansas City* (12/31; 2 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: Crown College (W, 85-66); Wisconsin-River Falls (W, 104-51)
The Tommies are sitting at 8-5 after posting back-to-back home wins over Crown College and Wisconsin-River Falls ... UST went 14-for-28 from distance in the latter victory as seven different players made at least one with Parker Bjorklund going 3-for-4 to lead the way ... Bjorklund, who had a season-high 25 in the win over Crown, is the Tommies’ leading scorer and only one averaging in double figures at 14.2 ppg ... Graduate transfer Raheem Anthony is scoring at a 9.8 ppg clip and shooting 39.1 percent from 3-point land in his first season with the Tommies ... Liberty transfer Drake Dobbs has six double-digit scoring efforts so far and is chipping in 9.2 ppg ... UST is opening its third season as a League member at North Dakota in a game set for a 7 p.m. CT tip on CBS Sports Network ... The Tommies went 9-9 a season ago and advanced to the Summit League Tournament semifinals in their first appearance at the event.
SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES (7-6; 0-0 SL) | @SDCoyotesMBB
Next Up: at North Dakota State* (12/29; 7 p.m. CT); Omaha* (12/31; 2 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: at UC Irvine (L, 121-78); at CSU Bakersfield (L, 96-76); at San Diego (L, 69-66)
The Coyotes went 0-3 on an eight-day swing through California, falling at UC Irvine, CSU Bakersfield and San Diego ... USD will look to get back in the win column in its Summit-opener at NDSU Friday ... Redshirt freshman Jevon Hill made the most of his 10 minutes against the Anteaters, scoring a season-high 13 points off the bench ... Hill had tallied 14 total points in his first four collegiate appearances ... Kaleb Stewart returned to the lineup on the trip to California after missing the three previous games ... Stewart scored six off the bench vs. UCI, then started the final two games on the road swing ... He scored 16 in the rematch with Bakersfield and added 12 in a 69-66 loss at San Diego ... Paul Bruns scored a season-high 26 against the Torreros, going 6-for-13 from distance ... The Coyotes’ Summit-home opener is slated for New Year’s Eve against Omaha at 2 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS (6-7; 0-0 SL) | @GoJacksMBB
Next Up: North Dakota* (12/31; 2 p.m. CT); at Weber State (1/3; 7 p.m. MT)
Previous Games: vs. Wyoming (L, 78-65); vs. Norfolk State (L, 84-65)
The Jackrabbits dropped both of their tilts at the WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational in El Paso, falling to Wyoming 78-65 and Norfolk State 84-65 ... Charlie Easley topped SDSU in scoring against the Cowboys with 17 while Kalen Garry matched that total to pace the squad against the Spartans ... Easley’s scoring has seen a steady uptick this season as he is averaging a career-best 11.8 ppg and has eight double-digit scoring efforts - he had six all of last season when he averaged 8.1 ppg ... Garry has reached double figures is six of the last seven games and chipping in 9.8 ppg overall ... In those last seven games, the redshirt freshman is averaging 12.4 ppg ... Garry is shooting 38.4 percent from distance and leads SDSU with 28 triples made ... Sophomore William Kyle III continues to be one of the top scoring reserves, posting 11.2 ppg off the bench ... Junior Zeke Mayo averaged just 9.0 ppg at the two-game event in the Lone Star State but is still among the top scorers in the League, ranking fourth with a 17.0 ppg ... SDSU will have to wait until New Year’s Eve to open Summit play as North Dakota pays a visit to frost on the final day of the calendar year.
#SUMMITMBB