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THIS WEEK: Minot State University travels north to Alaska for three games Thursday-Saturday. Minot State plays the University of Alaska Anchorage Thursday (7 p.m. AKST) in a nonconference NCAA Division II men's basketball tilt. The Beavers then take on the University of Alaska Fairbanks Friday (5 p.m. AKST) and Anchorage Saturday (7 p.m. AKST) in the AT&T Jamboree.

TRADITION IN TRANSITION: Minot State is in its third season of a four-year transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II. MSU advanced to Year Three Provisional status in July and is expected to complete the transition in July 2012. Minot State was selected to join the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in 2012-13.

RECORDS: Minot State is 1-6 overall and is 0-0 as an NCAA DII Independent. Anchorage comes into the weekend at 1-2, while Fairbanks is 1-7 on the season.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's head coach is Peter Stewart, who begins his second season with the Beavers. Stewart is 14-23 overall.  Rusty Osborne is in his eighth season as head coach, sporting a 135-79 record. Fairbanks is led by first-year head coach Mick Durham, who is 1-7 in his brief stint with the Nanooks.

FOLLOW THE BEAVERS: MSU provides live video and live stats as well as links to live audio and a MSU photo gallery all at msubeavers.com.

RANKINGS: Anchorage enters the week as the No. 21 ranked team in the country in the latest NABC Division II Coaches' Top 25 poll. Neither Minot State or Alaska-Fairbanks was ranked in the latest poll.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State was defeated twice at the InnKeepers Beaver Classic in Bemidji, Minn., during the holiday break. MSU was topped 74-45 in its opener at the tournament by host Bemidji State and fell 87-76 Saturday to Southwest Minnesota State. Alaska Anchorage went a respectable 1-2 in the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout last week, defeating NCAA Division I UC Irvine 77-63. UA-A lost by two 64-62 to eventual champ Murray State and dropped a 64-52 decision to Dartmouth. Fairbanks lost all three games in Hawaii last week, losing 74-60 to Hawaii Pacific, 66-65 at BYU-Hawaii and 65-61 at Hawaii-Hilo.

OVERALL SERIES: This marks the first time Minot State has played either Alaska Anchorage or Alaska Fairbanks in men's basketball.

NOTING THE SEAWOLVES: The University of Alaska Anchorage won at least one game at the Great Alaska Shootout for the fourth straight season. The Great Alaska Shootout is comprised of seven NCAA Division I teams and the Seawolves… Taylor Rohde had a solid start to the 2011-12 season as the preseason All-American averaged 18.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in three games against NCAA Division I opponents… Senior Steve White is averaging 4.0 assists per game to go along with 7.0 points… The Seawolves begin the season with 11 straight games at home. UA-A doesn't play a road game until traveling to Billings, Mont., Jan. 5, 2012.

NOTING THE NANOOKS: The University of Alaska-Fairbanks opened the season by averaging 77.0 points per game, including an 88-point outburst in a win over San Francisco State in the second game of the season. However, the Nanooks only scored 62.0 points per game in three losses in Hawaii last week… UA-F is coaches by former Montana State head coach Mick Durham, who recorded a Big Sky Conference-record 246 wins with the Bobcats… Stefan Tica scored a season-high 30 points in the win over SFSU Nov. 13 and has led the Nanooks in scoring three times. He is the team's overall leading scorer at 125 points total and is second to Jarrett Miller in points per game with a 15.5 average.

STEALING THE SHOW: Minot State redshirt freshman Thomas Korf (F, St. Cloud, Minn.) leads the team in steals with 11 so far this season. He is the only MSU player in double figures in steals and has nearly one-third of the team's 36 steals on the season. Korf is also the team's fourth leading scorer and is the only Beaver to start in all seven games this season.

SLOW OUT OF THE GATE: Minot State has been outscored 272-188 in the first half through seven games on the season. The Beavers are averaging just 26.9 points in the first half overall. MSU has fared a little better in the second half scoring 229 points in seven games and has been stellar in overtime, outscoring its one opponent 21-17.

DOUBE TROUBLE: Minot State's Josh Johnson (Jr., F, Lufkin, Texas) netted his second double-double of the season in the Beavers loss to Southwest Minnesota State Saturday. Johnson scored 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. He has a double-double in half of the games he has played this season and has two of the three recorded by a Beaver this season, earning his first career NCAA Division II double-double against the University of Mary, scoring 22 points and grabbing 13 boards. Sophomore Chris East (G, Toronto, Ontario) has the other twin bill as he scored 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against Upper Iowa (Nov. 18).

DIRTY WORK: MSU redshirt freshman Adam Randall (G, Steele, N.D.) has been asked to do just about everything for the Beavers. Randall has a respectable 8.0 scoring average as he has hit for 56 total points this season. But, beyond points, Randall is the team's leader in assists with 16, tied for third on the team in steals with four and is second on the team in total rebounds.