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THIS WEEK: Minot State welcomes the St. Cloud State University Huskies(Friday, 8 p.m.) and University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (Saturday, 6 p.m.) into the MSU Dome for two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference games.

RECORDS: MISU is 6-10 overall and 5-7 in the NSIC. The Huskies are 13-3 overall and 9-3 in the NSIC. The Bulldogs are 4-12 overall and 2-10 in the NSIC.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's Matt Murken begins his first season at the helm of the Beavers. He is 6-10 with Minot State and is 52-26 overall. Kevin Schlagel is in his 15th season as head coach at SCSU, compiling an impressive 314-144 record. Matt Bowen is also in his first season at UMD, going 4-12 over his first sixteen games. He is 68-114 in five seasons as a collegiate 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. Friday's contest will be broadcast live on KMSU Channel 19 in Minot with MISU student Kyle Patterson providing play-by-play.

RANKINGS: The Beavers were not ranked in the latest NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Coaches Poll. SCSU received votes in the poll, but could not break in to the top 25. UMD did not receive any votes in the poll.

RECENT HISTORY: MISU is coming off a road trip where they split two games. Minot State played at Wayne State College, defeating the Wildcats in a tight game, 64-61. The victory was special for coach Murken, as he spent six seasons as an assistant coach for WSC. MISU nearly completed a second half comeback at Augustana College on Saturday, but fell short as they were defeated by the Vikings 72-70. The Huskies are also coming off a split weekend in the NSIC. SCSU hosted No. 7 Minnesota State,  losing a tightly contested ball game 81-75. The following night, the Huskies rolled, as they beat Concordia St. Paul 97-60 in front of 1,909 fans at Halenbeck Hall. University of Minnesota Duluth was beat twice last weekend, pushing their losing streak to five games. Both games were close,as UMD couldn't get by Concordia-St. Paul as they fell 76-73 and lost to tough No. 7 Minnesota State team 73-65.

OVERALL SERIES: Minot State is 1-0 all-time against both SCSU and UMD. The Beavers beat both teams on the road earlier in the 2012-13 season.

NOTING THE HUSKIES: St. Cloud State came in to the 2012-13 season picked fourth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll. With a 9-3 conference record, the hype was rightfully given. The Huskies started their NSIC season with four straight wins, giving them an early advantage over the competition. In SCSU's three losses, the average loss has been by only four points, meaning they have been in every game so far this season. Theo Rothstein leads the Huskies' high powered offense, averaging 16.4 points per game as well as 5.5 rebounds per game. As a team, St. Cloud State leads the conference in points per game (79.4) and scoring margin (+14.2).

NOTING THE BULLDOGS: After a 14-13 2011-12 season, University of Minnesota Duluth expected a core group to lead the Bulldogs into another winning year. It hasn't been the case thus far, as UMD has only mustered four wins so far in 2012-13. As a team, the Bulldogs are ranked No. 15 in the conference in scoring defense, allowing 74.4 points per game. UMD is also at the bottom of the NSIC in opponent field goal percentage allowing foes to shoot nearly 48 percent from the field. Minnesota Duluth is led by Brett Irvin, averaging 16.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.

SOCRING DOESN'T EQUAL WINNING: Minot State scored in the 70s for the first time in Saturday's 72-70 loss at Augustana College, marking the third best scoring outburst of the season for the Beavers. But it also marked the third loss in the Beavers top five scoring games. Minot State hit for 86 in a rout of Northland College during the nonconference in November, but has losses when scoring 83 (double overtime at Colorado Mines), 70 at Augie and 65 (at the University of Mary Dec. 1). The other Minot State win is at 68 points in an upset of St. Cloud State Jan. 5.

JOHNSON MAKING MOST OF COMEBACK: Minot State senior Josh Johnson (F, Lufkin, Texas) missed the first two games of the New Year, a pair of wins over UMD and SCSU on the road, due to team disciplinary reasons. Since the two-game suspension and two more where Johnson dressed but did not play, he has made the most of his time. Johnson scored 33 points and pulled down 18 rebounds in three games, helping MISU to a 2-1 record. On the season, he is second on the team in scoring at 8.9 per game and averages 4.3 rebounds. He hit four 3-pointers during the past three games and went 9-for-14 from the free-throw line.

TIME TO MAKE A RUN: The Beavers had played well in first-year head coach Matt Murken's first season, surpassing last year's win total with 10 games remaining. The six wins are also against many of the top teams in the conference. The Beavers have played every one of the top seven teams sans Minnesota State. The combined record of the Beavers conference foes heading into the weekend is 112-76. The remaining 10 teams have a combined record of 91-97.

6-FOOT-3 CENTER: Minot State sophomore guard Adam Randall (Steele, N.D.) has played much bigger than is 6-foot-3 listing would indicate. Randall has pushed his rebounding average to 4.8, second best on the team and is averaging 5.8 points per game after scoring a season-high 14 points in the win over the University of Mary. Incidentally, Randall's season high last year was against the Marauders. While he is routinely outsized, Randall has done much of his damage in the paint over the past month.

BUILD ON HOME MOMENTUM: Minot State is just 2-5 at the Minot State Dome after the 49-48 win over the University of Mary a week ago Tuesday. The Beavers are 4-5 on the road. Minot State will play four straight at the Dome over the next weeks. Fan support has been solid during that stretch, as Minot State is seventh in the conference in attendance with an average of 1,122 fans per seven home games. The Beavers are one of eight teams to average more than 1,000 per game.

EAST CONTINUES TO PULL DOWN BOARDS: Minot State junior guard Chris East (Toronto, Ontario) has rebounded the ball since first arriving at Minot State. He led Minot State last season with a 7.4 per game average and is right there again, pulling down 7.3 this season. His consistency is evident in his 7.3 average despite only hitting double figures in boards twice this year. East has 40 of his 116 rebounds on the offensive glass.