Bison host Roadrunners a week after a 91-80 Bakersfield win

Cal State Bakersfield beat North Dakota State 91-80 on November 8, and the teams meet again a week later, this time at Scheels Center in Fargo. The Bison are favored by 4. The central question is whether home court is enough to reverse a result that is only seven days old, and whether the scoring that has marked both teams carries over.

The head-to-head record is thin and mixed. Bakersfield won last week at home. North Dakota State won the December 12, 2025 meeting 80-69, also in Bakersfield. Both games were on the Roadrunners' floor, so tonight is the first meeting in this series at the Bison's building in the recent record. Two games is a small sample, and the venue change matters more than either score.

The personnel picture favors Bakersfield's top-end scoring and the Bison's balance. Over the last 3 games, Jaden Alexander has averaged 22 points in 35.7 minutes and Kjay Bradley Jr. has averaged 20 points in 30.7 minutes. Tom Koppens logs 31.7 minutes but scores 7.7 points per game, so the offense runs through the guards. North Dakota State spreads it around: Max Iversen averages 15.7 points, Riley Massey 14.3 and Rob Diaz III 14 over the same window. These are three-game snapshots early in the season and should be read as such. Neither team has an injury reported, so these rotations should be what takes the floor.

The streaks line up with those scoring profiles. Bakersfield has gone over the total in 9 straight games, including 4 straight on the road. North Dakota State has gone over in 5 straight. The Bison have also won 6 straight at home. These runs describe what has happened and do not predict tonight, but the over streaks and the 91-80 first meeting both point toward a game with plenty of points, while the home winning run supports the Bison's role as the favorite.

The market is quiet on the side. The spread is North Dakota State -4, exactly where it opened, with the Bison at -113 and Bakersfield at -103. The total is 157, down from an opening 158, a small move toward the Under. The prices on the total are Over -104 and Under -114, so the Under carries a little more juice, which fits with that slight drop. A one-point change is too small to treat as meaningful.

Overall, the evidence is thin and partly conflicting. Recent results favor Bakersfield, since it won the first meeting. The home venue, the Bison's home streak and the posted spread favor North Dakota State. On scoring, the streaks and last week's output point up while the number has edged down slightly. No single factor dominates, and the game looks closer to an even matchup than to one with a clear story.