FULL PDF NOTEBOOK  |  LIVE STATS  |  LIVE VIDEO  |  LIVE AUDIO  |  TICKETS

THIS WEEK: Minot State University has a busy week ahead as they play host to intrastate rival University of Mary Tuesday (8 p.m.) at the Minot State Dome before heading out to play at Wayne State College Friday and Augustana College Saturday in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action.

RECORDS: MISU is 4-9 overall and 3-6 in the NSIC. U-Mary comes to Minot with a 3-10 overall record and is 2-7 in NSIC play. Wayne State is one notch above the Beavers in the conference standings at 4-5 and is 10-5 overall. AC enters the week at 10-3 overall and 6-3 in the NSIC.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's Matt Murken begins his first season at the helm of the Beavers. He is 4-9 with Minot State and is 50-25 overall. Jevin Budde is in his second season as the Marauders head coach and is 10-28 overall. Paul Combs is the head coach at Wayne State and is 47-51 with the Wildcats and 209-153 overall in 13 years as a head coach. Tom Billeter is in his 10th season as the head coach at Augustana College, sporting a 154-118 with the Vikings. He is 251-168 overall in 15 years as a head coach.

FOLLOW THE BEAVERS: The game is broadcast locally on KCJB 910-AM with Scott Kittell calling the play-by-play. Live audio can be accessed online at kcjb.com. MSU provides live video and live stats as well as links to the live audio at msubeavers.com. Minot State Athletics also is active on Facebook, Twitter and You Tube with all feeds accessible at msubeavers.com/stayconnected. Tuesday's game against University of Mary will also be available on KMSU Channel 19 in Minot with MISU student Kyle Patterson providing play-by-play.

RANKINGS: Minot State, University of Mary, Wayne State and Augustana were not ranked in the latest NABC Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll.

RECENT HISTORY: The Beavers had lapses in the second half both home losses this past weekend, falling 84-56 to Upper Iowa Friday and 85-55 to Winona State Saturday. The Marauders also lost twice to Upper Iowa and WSU. Wayne State swept Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State on the road, stopping UMC 66-41 and edging BSU 64-62. AC split two games with BSU (L, 69-67) and UMC (W, 70-64).

OVERALL SERIES: Minot State is 1-1 against the University of Mary in games where both teams are NCAA Division II, falling this season to start the NSIC regular season schedule. MISU is taking on Wayne State and Augustana College for the first time as a member of NCAA Division II.

NOTING THE MARAUDERS: University of Mary is second in the conference in free throw percentage, hitting 76.8 percent on the year, but has taken the least free throws (185) and made the second fewest free throws (142) this year… Alex Dorr is a big reason for the high free throw percentage as he has missed just two all season. He is tied with Amry Shelby for  the top spot in free throw percentage at 94.1 percent… Dorr does a little of everything for U-Mary as he is third in the conference in rebounding at 8.5 per game and is eighth in 3-pointers made with 2.23 per game… Josh Turner is also in the top 10 in 3s as he is cashing in on 2.38 per game, good for fifth.

NOTING THE WILDCATS: Wayne State College's Amry Shelby is one of five first-team All-NSIC players returning this season and has lived up to the preseason hype. Shelby is averaging 14.9 points per game and is the conference leader in free throw percentage at 94.1, as well as dishing out 32 assists and swiping 29 steals… The Wildcats are the conference scoring defense leader, giving up just 60.9 points per game, but are ranked 13th overall in field goal percentage allowed (45.3)… Derrell Williams has 37 offensive rebounds in 15 games and is eighth overall in the conference in field goal percentage at 55.2 percent.

NOTING THE VIKINGS: Augustana College's head coach Tom Billeter has an extensive coaching resume that includes stops at Arizona, St. John (N.Y), Texas A&M and head coach at North Dakota State. He has been an assistant coach for Lute Olson at Arizona, Fran Fraschilla at St. John's and Melvin Watkins at A&M… The Vikings have 10 players who are sophomores, redshirt freshman or true freshman and four underclassmen are listed as starters…  The Vikings lone senior starter, Cameron McCaffrey, is the conference's second-leading scorer at 19.8 per game. He has 258 points so far this season, including 83 made free throws.

COMFORTABLE IN HOTEL BEDS: Minot State University has earned three of its four wins this season away from Minot. MISU earned its first ever NSIC road sweep, taking out Minnesota Duluth and then No. 19 ranked St. Cloud State two weeks ago on the road. The Beavers have been competitive in its losses as well away from the Minot State Dome. MISU has a four-point double overtime loss at then No. 13 ranked Colorado School of Mines and fell by 10 points to Bemidji State on the road in December.

NATIONAL RECOGNITION: Minot State has two players who are ranked in the top 30 nationally as E.J. Williams (Jr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) and Kelvin Fraser (Sr., F, Brooklyn, N.Y.) both have maintained spots among the nation's best. Williams is ranked 13th overall in free throw shooting percentage, knocking down 89.8 percent of foul shots. He has missed just five times in 49 attempts. Fraser is tied for 26th overall in blocked shots per game. The school's all-time leader is averaging 1.92 per game, tying him with Jonathan Morse of Metro State.

DISCO IS DEAD: The Beavers have avoided the 70s the entire season. Minot State has scored in the 80s twice during the year, once in a loss and once in a win and has finished in the 60s five times, but has yet to score in the 70s. The Beavers have come close, scoring 68 against St. Cloud State. As noted, MISU is 1-1 when scoring in the 80s and is 2-3 when reaching at least 60.

THE OL' STOMPING GROUNDS: Minot State head coach Matt Murken is returning to Wayne State for the first time as a head coach of a NCAA Division II team since leaving the school in 2009 after six seasons. He was originally hired as a graduate assistant at WSC and was a full-time assistant from 2005-2009. He holds his Masters of Science in Education from Wayne State.

ONE CONSTANT: Minot State has used multiple starting lineups this season as nine players have at least one start, but Dominique McDonald (Fr., G, Raleigh, N.C.), despite being a  true freshman, has paced the team with 12 starts in 13 games. He has also been consistent on the court, scoring 8.8 points per game, while dishing out 2.9 assists and pulling down 2.8 rebounds.

SURE HAND TOM: Beavers' sophomore Thomas Korf (F, St. Cloud, Minn.) is fifth on the team in minutes, averaging 24.7 per game, yet has just six turnovers in 13 games on the season. Korf has played a total of 321 minutes of basketball, averaging a turnover about once in every 54 minutes of playing time.