Last year, in a Patrick Murphy-esque move to get Grant Nelson a game in front of his family and friends, the No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide traveled to Bismarck to face the lightly regarded North Dakota Fighting Hawks (“Sioux” was always a better mascot, but unlike many tribes and states who collaborated to borrow tribal names, UND had no desire to negotiate, and thus neither did the Sioux tribes of a state whose race relations may somehow be even worse than South Dakota. If the “Fighting Hawks” strikes
you as unfamiliar, that’s why).
That night, local hero Treysen Eaglestaff absolutely lit the Tide up, going for 40 and igniting a team-wide hot shooting night. The Tide clung on to the win, 97-90, but it was a matter of out-talenting the Hawks; they hardly outplayed them. Later that season, Eaglestaff would go off for 51 and bounce SD State from the Summit semifinals, and then cash a huge payday with West Virginia in the portal. So, it is a dangerous team, if not a good one. The Hawks finished just 12-21, and not much is expected of them this season either with Eaglestaff’s departure, but they do play their best against the best. And that’s to their credit.
What will the new-look Hawks bring to Tuscaloosa in their return trip? Let’s find out. (All analytics this week are projected, BTW).
Tale of the Tape:
No. 15 Alabama (0-0, 0-0) UND (0-0, 0-0)
Spread: Alabama -31.5 / OU 168.5
Opponent KenPom: 314 (253 offense, 349 defense, 110 tempo)
Opponent Evan Miya: 306 (253 offense, 77 defense, 77 tempo)
Opponent Bart Torvik: 334 (306 offense, 334 defense, 68 tempo)
Opponent NET: N/A (Projected Q4)
Opponent RPI: N/A
Opponent Best Win: N/A
Opponent Worst Loss: N/A
UA Ken Pom: 23 (16 Off, 36 Defense, 1 Tempo)
UA Evan Miya: 16th (12 Off, 21 Defense, 1 Tempo)
UA Bart Torvik: 19 (18 Off, 22 Defense, 1 Tempo)
UA NET Ranking: N/A
UA RPI: N/A
UA Best Win: N/A
UA Worst Loss: N/A
Last season, we wrote of UND:
It’s a bad team, and a particularly bad offensive one. If you want to say something nice about UND, it’s that they have occasionally punched well outside of their weight class, scoring nice upset wins over Utah Valley, Loyola Marymount, and Weber State — all between 180 and 210 in KenPom. If they can get you playing their patient basketball, and keep things in the 70s, they’ve bought themselves a punchers chance at home.
And that should tell you what the strength of this group is, grading on a curve: a defense that has occasionally outpaced their expected performance (sitting at 161st based on adjusted schedule). In their four wins, the Hawks have won the battle for the paint, and in three of those, UND had more free throws than their opponents.
The Hawks have gotten a bit bigger on the interior, adding a pair of 6’10” centers, and two 6’9” guys at power forward. The guards also have pretty good size as well. The shortest guy in the backcourt goes 6’1”, with everyone else hitting 6’3” to 6’6””. The Tide will have the length advantage at some positions, of course, but it’s not as overwhelming as you’d expect vs. a Q4 soupcan from the Summit league. Nor are the Hawks singularly diminutive at any starting spot. It’s a very good look for the longer teams ‘Bama will face this season.
But, for the most part, this is a new team — just three players saw action last year in Bismarck vs. the Tide.
Sr. PG Eli King returns, as does SG Zach Kraft. Alongside Eaglestaff’s 40, they were part of a backcourt that hit 17 threes that night, with King and Kraft going 5 of 10 from the perimeter. Without Eaglestaff, however, expectthe scoring to be much more balanced, with the Hawks feeding the post instead of relying on a perimeter first approach. Last year, North Dakota was without an established post presence. The Portal and recruiting have filled that gap this year though, and expect the Hawks to resemble much more of what we’ve seen from SDSU in the past: occasional breakouts, mid-paced conventional motion offense.
But, like the Hawks length, that’s a good thing for the Tide to see. ‘Bama will have to guard all five spots on the floor, particularly given the Hawks anticipated slower tempo and half-court offense.
You don’t want to go full Lou Holtz here and puff up bad opposition, but I suspect UND’s defense will be aided somewhat this season by UND’s increased size in the front court, and their established length on the perimeter. They were a very small team for a D1 squad last season. But filling passing lanes and having size to clean up the glass is going to do them a world of good, both offensively for easy put-backs, and defensively, where they were getting screen-and-rolled to death all of 2024. Again, that is good for the Tide: With nine new players, many freshmen and from the low-majors, there is a lot of the roster that needs to be able to learn how to fight on the glass and make smart passes around longer defenders.
How To Watch
ESPN+, 7 PM Central
Prediction
Nate Oats has tended to blow out low majors at home. And more than usual, this game has more riding on it than the final score. ‘Bama’s very next contest is in Madison Square Garden, vs. the No. 5 St. John’s Red Storm. There simply is not time to get their feet under them. Alabama has to be ready to play now. They have to be ready to show defensive intensity, make their minutes off the bench count, play smart with the basketball, make the extra pass for an open look, fight for boards, get to the rim and then make their free throws.
There is a lot of learning to be had in just one night. So, I don’t think the foot ever comes off the gas; Alabama is going to run away with this, simply because there are 11 players who have to learn what is expected of them, everyone fighting for minutes, and everyone trying to prove what 40 minutes of effort looks like to them.
I assure you, Nate Oats is watching the latter more this year than usual. This team has national title goals, and players must be ready to execute today. Babying some guys, while letting others play grab-ass, is over.
Alabama 111
North Dakota 74
Hope for the best #BOG
Roll Tide.
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