THIS WEEK: Minot State travels west once again to take on two tough Montana squads as they play Carroll College Friday (7 p.m. MT) and Montana Western Saturday (7 p.m. MT).

RECORDS: The Beavers are 4-6 overall and 0-2 in Dakota Athletic Conference play. The Saints come into Friday's game with a 7-3 mark. The Bulldogs are 9-3 overall. 

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's head coach is Peter Stewart, who is in his first season with MSU. Stewart's record is 4 wins and 6 losses overall with the Beavers. CC's head coach is Brandon Veltri, who is 20-19 in his second season with the Saints. Steve Keller is the Bulldogs head coach and is 49-57 overall in his fourth season at Western.

RANKINGS: MSU was not ranked in the latest NAIA Division II Coaches' Top 25 Poll. Carroll College and Montana Western were not ranked at the NAIA Division I level.

RECENT HISTORY: The Beavers had solid balance in an 83-67 win over Montana Tech last week in MSU's only game.  Carroll fell 68-57 in its only game last week to NCAA Division II Dixie State. Western picked up an 84-61 win over College of Idaho on Dec. 11, after winning an exhibition game over Northwest Nazarene a night earlier.

OVERALL SERIES: Minot State holds a slight 4-3 edge against the Saints in the all-time series dating back to 1977. MSU and CC haven't played since the 1987 season where the Beavers defeated the Saints 89-82 in Minot. Western's 70-51 win over the Beavers last month in Minot gave the Bulldogs a 4-3 edge in the all-time series.

NOTING THE SAINTS: Carroll College's loss to Dixie State last week snapped a four-game winning streak overall and a modest two-game streak at home…  Junior Andy Garland is a two-time First Team All-Frontier Conference player including the league's MVP last season… Garland averages a team-high 18.2 points per game and is pulling down 7.8 rebounds. He is also third on the team in assists and second in steals… Chase Godecke is also averaging double figures in points at 11.5 ppg., and leads the Saints with a 9.6 rebounds-per-game average… The Saints are playing at home for just the fourth time this season.

NOTING THE BULLDOGS:  Montana Western is playing at home for the first time in over a month. The Bulldogs last game in Dillon, Mont., was a 74-65 win over Dickinson State in the Finny Memorial Tournament Oct. 30… Western started the season going 5-0, but is 4-3 since… Leading scorer Brandon Brown is one of the top guards in the region averaging 19.3 points per game and 5.8 assists. His assists total (64) ranks him sixth in the country in NAIA Division I… The Bulldogs are the No. 3 ranked team in NAIA Division I in 3-pointers made, knocking down 112… After going 25-34 in his first two seasons, head coach Steve Keller is 34-13 in his last season and a half. Last year, Keller's Bulldogs won a school-record tying 25 games.

MODEST RUN: The Beavers won back-to-back games following an 83-67 win over Montana Tech last week, the first winning streak for MSU since Feb. 5-6, 2010 in which MSU swept Dakota Athletic Conference foes Mayville State and Dakota State at the MSU Dome.

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK: MSU hasn't coughed up the ball more than 18 times in one game so far this season with the Beavers high of 18 coming against Brandon University (Manitoba). MSU is No. 21 in the NAIA Division II in Turnover Margin at plus-3.3 per game.

TOUGH TO GUARD: Minot State guards have continued to be the go-to guys on offense as MSU's top five players in scoring average are guards. Anthony Enriquez and Kal Bay lead the way as the only two players to average in double figures. Enriquez is scoring 14.4 ppg., while Bay chips in with 13.6 per contest.

INCREASE IN PRODUCTION: Minot State scored 179 points combined in wins over Montana Tech and Brandon University, the exact same number scored in the previous three games, all losses.

EFFICIENT ON OFFENSE: MSU junior forward Shawn Storseth  scored only four baskets over the first seven games of the season. Since then, Storseth is 9 of 11 from the floor and 8 for 10 from the free-throw line, scoring 26 of his 41 points in a three-game span.