THIS WEEK: Minot State battles Dakota Athletic Conference foes Dakota State (Friday, 7:30 p.m.) and Mayville State (Saturday, 6 p.m.) in the home DAC opener.
RECORDS: The Beavers are 6-10 overall and 0-2 in Dakota Athletic Conference play. DaSU enters the weekend with a 9-5 overall mark and a 1-0 conference record. MaSU is 5-8 overall and 0-1 in DAC play.
COACHES CORNER: Minot State's head coach is Peter Stewart, who is in his first season with MSU. Stewart's record is 6 wins and 10 losses overall with the Beavers. Dakota State's Gary Garner is 20-23 in his second year with the Trojans and boasts a 347-339 career mark. Former Minot State coach Justin Johnson is in his fourth season at Mayville and has a 38-61 record with the Comets and overall.
ON THE AIR: The game is broadcast locally on KCJB 910-AM with Scott Kittell calling the play-by-play. The game also can be watched via the America One Network, which is accessed through the MSU athletics homepage at (www.msubeavers.com) and clicking on “Multimedia” on the top banner.
RANKINGS: Minot and Mayville were not ranked in the latest NAIA Division II Coaches' Top 25 Poll, which was conducted Dec. 13. Dakota State was one of three DAC teams receiving votes. The next poll is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 10.
RECENT HISTORY: The Beavers defeated Briercrest College (Saskatchewan) 101-69 in nonconference play Tuesday. The Trojans have not played since an impressive 82-78 win over Morningside College (Iowa) on the road Dec. 30. The Comets also have not played since Dec. 30, a 74-59 loss at Dordt College (Iowa).
OVERALL SERIES: Minot State is 17-3 in the series with Dakota State dating back to 2000-01, as the teams split last year, winning on their respective home courts. The Beavers have a 39-32 edge on the Comets dating back to 1976 and have won seven straight.
NOTING THE TROJANS: Dakota State has won 20 games in the past two season, one fewer than the Trojans won the previous four years combined…. With the 9-5 overall record, DaSU is poised to have its first winning record in a decade and with one more win would have back-to-back double-figure wins for the first time since 2004-05… Trojans' Mike Larsen has 40 steals on the season, ranking him 10th in NAIA Division II. He is also ranked No. 38 in 3-point field goal percentage at 43.1… Dakota State's leading scorer and rebounder Spencer Adams is hitting for 17.6 points per game and has 92 rebounds and 30 steals… Larsen and Adams have helped the Trojans rank 11th in the country in steals per game at 10.57.
NOTING THE COMETS: The Comets are the second best team in the nation in turnover margin, averaging 6.1 less miscues than its opponents… One reason for the solid TO margin is a hefty 12.3 steals-per-game average, fifth in NAIA Division II…. Shavontae Samuels and Christian Harris are ranked No. 5 and 6 respectively in the country in steals per game at 3.2 and 3.1…. Samuels has carried much of the load for Mayville State as he is the team's leading scorer (21.8) and tops the Comets in assists (54) and steals (42)…. Former MSU assistant coach and now MaSU head coach Justin Johnson is 0-7 against his alma mater.
HANDFUL FOR THE OPPOSITION: Minot State had received nearly all of its scoring from five main players, as the group of Anthony Enriquez, Kal Bay, Jason West, Jonas Pollard and Nathaniel Packineau have all topped 100 points on the season for MSU. Enriquez is the team's leading scorer at 13.5, while Bay (12.5) and West (10.6) average in double figures.
CAREER NIGHT: Against Briercrest College Tuesday, MSU's Jonas Pollard had his best statistical game in a Beavers jersey. Pollard scored a career-high 25 points and also pulled down career highs in total rebounds (14) and offensive boards (9). Pollard was 11 of 16 from the floor shooting and hit 3 of 4 free throws.
WEST POINTED IN RIGHT DIRECTION: Beavers' Jason West has been very good for MSU since the Beavers lost twice on the road in Montana in the middle of December. West scored just two points on six total shots in losses at Carroll College and Montana-Western. Since then, he has scored 72 points, including a 31-point effort against McMaster University (Ontario) at the Wesmen Classic. He also has 20 steals and 18 assists during the stretch.
EAST COAST BLOCK PARTY: Minot State has its second straight big man from the East Coast wreaking havoc in the paint on defense as the Beavers Kelvin Fraser has 39 blocked shots in 14 games, ranking him fourth in the nation. MSU's Shaun Johnson, from East Orange, N.J., was eighth in the country last season, setting a school record with 46 blocks.
– GO BEAVERS –
