SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – North Dakota State and St. Thomas are the only two unbeatens in Summit League men’s basketball entering the week but that won’t be the case for sure after the two go head-to-head Saturday in Fargo. And, it might not be the case even sooner if South Dakota State and North Dakota have anything to say about it.

The Jackrabbits (2-1) travel to Fargo to face the Bison (4-0) Wednesday, while the Fighting Hawks (3-1) play host to the Tommies (3-0), who have won their last two in Grand Forks. 

Those four teams make up the top half of the standings just two weeks into Summit action and their fast starts make the week-three matchups even more intriguing.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
• For the first time since the 2020-21 season, North Dakota State is 4-0 in Summit play and their fourth straight triumph was of the dramatic variety.
• The Bison erased a 14-point deficit in a road tilt at Omaha with Damari Wheeler-Thomas delivering the game-winning basket at the buzzer on a driving coast-to-coast layup.
• Sophomore Treyson Anderson scored 14 of his team-high 22 points in the second half of that contest and backed up a career-high 23-point effort in a road win at Kansas City earlier to net his first career Kwik Star Peak Performer of the Week award. The Bison ousted the Roos behind a season-high 97 points in the road win.
• NDSU returns home to face South Dakota State (2-1) and St. Thomas (3-0) who each reside in the top half of the standings two weeks into Summit play.
• After back-to-back home wins to open its league slate, St. Thomas improved to 3-0 with an 82-71 win at Oral Roberts. Ben Oosterbaan broke a 62-62 tie with just over seven minutes to play with a dunk as the Tommies closed things out with a 20-9 spurt.
• Redshirt freshman Nick Janowski is pacing all league scorers early on in Summit play, scoring at a 21.7 ppg clip after tallying 23 against the Golden Eagles.
• ORU’s Connor Dow scored a career-high 23 points and now has three 20-point games during his first season as a Golden Eagle. Dow and ORU will look to break into the win column with a road game at Denver on Wednesday and home game Saturday vs. Omaha on the slate this week.
• The Pioneers will be back home after dropping three straight league tilts on the road. DU’s Gabe Oldham shined in the finale of that stretch, going 9-for-9 from the field -- the most makes without a miss by a Summit player in a game this season -- to score a career-high 24 points. Oldham also added a career-high 13 rebounds to register his third double-double of the season.
• South Dakota State rebounded from the overtime loss at North Dakota with an 87-79 home win over Denver that saw the Jacks score 54 second-half points. Damon Wilkinson led a quartet of Jackrabbits in double figures with 19 points, while Joe Sayler added 18.
• Wilkinson is averaging a double-double in Summit action (18.0 ppg/12.0 rpg), while Sayler is third among Summit scorers in conference play in scoring (19.7 ppg) and is shooting 50 percent from 3-point range (9-for-18) against league foes.
• South Dakota’s Cameron Fens scored a career-high 23 points and added 11 rebounds to register his league-leading fourth double-double of the season in an 82-72 home win over Denver.
• After dropping back-to-back road games to open their league slate, the Coyotes got in the Summit win column by outscoring the Pioneers 45-35 after the break.
• Isaac Bruns took over the overall scoring lead among Summit players with his 10th 20-point game of the season. Nine of those have come in the Coyotes’ last 11 games as he upped his scoring average to 20.7 ppg.
• Omaha’s Tony Osburn became the second Summit League player to eclipse the 1,000-career point milestone since conference play began joining Bruns with that distinction.
• The preseason all-league selection did so during a 15-point first half scoring outburst in the Mavericks’ 90-79 victory over North Dakota on Jan. 8. Osburn finished with a season-high equaling 27 in what was Omaha’s initial Summit win of the campaign.
• The Fighting Hawks regrouped from the setback in Omaha to improve to 3-1 in league play with an 81-79 win over the Roos in a game they trailed by seven at the half.
• Garrett Anderson paced UND with a season-high 22 points as he reached double figures for the fourth time in the past five outings after hitting that mark five times in the opening 15 games.
• The Fighting Hawks will look to knock St. Thomas from the unbeaten ranks Thursday. The Tommies have won back-to-back games in Grand Forks.
• C.J. Evans scored a career-high 24 points for the Roos against UND, going 9-for-15 from the field and 2-for-3 from deep. Evans has 13 double-digit scoring games in his first campaign at KC.
• KC athletics director Brandon Martin announced on Monday that his men’s basketball program will undergo a leadership change following the season, which fourth-year head coach Marvin Menzies will finish out for the Roos. 

UPCOMING
Game | Stream/TV | Local Time
Wednesday, Jan. 14
SDSU at NDSU | SLN/WDAYX | 7 p.m. CT
Oral Roberts at Denver | SLN/ALT2 | 7 p.m. MT
 
Thursday, Jan. 15
St. Thomas at North Dakota | SLN/MS | 7 p.m. CT
Kansas City at South Dakota | SLN/MS2 | 7 p.m. CT
 
Saturday, Jan. 17
South Dakota at North Dakota | SLN/MS | 1 p.m. CT
St. Thomas at NDSU | SLN/WDAYX | 1 p.m. CT
Kansas City at SDSU | SLN/MS2 | 4:15 p.m. CT
Omaha at Oral Roberts | SLN | 7 p.m. CT

Wednesday, Jan. 21
South Dakota at Omaha | SLN | 7 p.m. CT

Thursday, Jan. 22
North Dakota at Oral Roberts | SLN | 7 p.m. CT
NDSU at Denver | SLN/ALT2 | 7 p.m. MT
SDSU at St. Thomas | SLN/FOX9+ | 8 p.m. CT
 
Saturday, Jan. 24
St. Thomas at South Dakota | SLN/MS | 1 p.m. CT
North Dakota at Denver | SLN | 2 p.m. MT
NDSU at Oral Roberts | SLN | 7 p.m. CT
Omaha at Kansas City | SLN | 7 p.m. CT
 
Key: ALT2 (Altitude); CBSSN (CBS Sports Network); FOX9+ (FOX9 Plus Minneapolis); MS (Midco Sports); MS2 (Midco Sports 2); SLN (Summit League Network).

Polls: AP/Coaches

RESULTS
Wednesday, Jan. 7
St. Thomas 99, South Dakota 86*
 
Thursday, Jan. 8
Omaha 90, North Dakota 79*
NDSU 97, Kansas City 73*
SDSU 87, Denver 79*
 
Saturday, Jan. 10
North Dakota 81, Kansas City 79*
NDSU 78, Omaha 76*
South Dakota 82, Denver 72*
St. Thomas 82, Oral Roberts 71*
 
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