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THIS WEEK: Minot State heads back out on the road after a 20-day break between games, taking on Minnesota Duluth Friday (8 p.m.) and No. 19 ranked St. Cloud State Saturday (6 p.m.). It is the fourth straight road game for the Beavers and their seventh and eighth road game this season.

RECORDS: MISU is 2-7 overall and 1-4 in the NSIC. UMD is 3-6 overall and 1-4 in conference play. SCSU enters the weekend at 8-1 overall and 4-1 in the NSIC. The Huskies are one of seven teams currently at 4-1 in Northern Sun action.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's Matt Murken begins his first season at the helm of the Beavers. He is 2-7 with Minot State and is 48-23 overall. Matt Bowen is also in his first season at UMD, going 3-6 over his first nine games. He is 67-108 in five seasons as a head coach. Kevin Schlagel is in his 15th season as head coach at SCSU, compiling an impressive 309-142 record.

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.

RANKINGS: St. Cloud State comes into the weekend as the No. 19 ranked team in the latest NABC Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll. Minot State and Minnesota Duluth were not ranked.

RECENT HISTORY: The Beavers split a pair of Northern Sun games, earning their first ever NSIC win in a 55-47 defensive battle at Minnesota Crookston Dec. 14. The Beavers were upended by Bemidji State Dec. 15 73-63. The Bulldogs lost twice in NSIC play, falling on the road at MSU-Moorhead, 79-76 on Dec. 14, and Northern State, 95-75 on Dec. 15. The Huskies blasted Ashford (Iowa) University 90-59 in nonconference play Dec. 29.

OVERALL SERIES: Minot State is playing both teams for the first time since becoming a member of the NSIC and NCAA Division II. It is the first game since the 1950s between MISU and UMD and the first ever matchup against SCSU.

NOTING THE BULLDOGS: Minnesota Duluth had dropped three straight games and five of six games after a 2-1 start… One of head coach Matt Bowen's assistant coach is his father Rick Bowen, who is listed as a volunteer assistant coach. Rick Bowen was the head coach at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls from 1986-2005 and is currently the all-time winningest coach in Falcon history with 259 victories… The Bulldogs are the Northern Sun's top free throw shooting team at 76.2, but are last in field goal percentage at just 40.7 percent… Jake Hottenstine leads the team in scoring at 17.5 points per game and has knocked down an impressive 17 of 41 3-pointers for a 41.5 percent clip. He also leads the team in assists (19), steals (11) and blocked shots (7)… UMD doesn't have a player who averaged more than 4.3 rebounds per game (Brett Ervin and Reece Zoelle), but has five players with at least 30 rebounds on the season.

NOTING THE HUSKIES: St. Cloud State handled themselves very well in a 62-49 exhibition loss to NCAA Division I powerhouse Michigan State in East Lansing to begin the season… SCSU is at the top or near it in nearly every statistical category in the Northern Sun, leading the league scoring margin (plus-16.3), 3-point field goal percentage (41.2) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (25.0). The Huskies are second in scoring offense (78.9), field goal percentage (49.7) and field goal percentage defense (38.4)… Shawn Jensen is a returning first team All-NSIC selection from last season and has picked up where he left off in 2011-12. Jensen leads the league in assists (6.0 per game) and is second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.25), while averaging 14.1 points per game, 3.9 rebounds and 1.7 steals… SCSU has three players who have 10 or more blocks on the season, paced by an NSIC-leading 1.78 average per game by Chris Larson… Theo Rothstein leads or is in second on the team in seven categories. He is the team's leading scorer at 17.8 points per game, is tops in field goal percentage (58.7) and steals (16).

NOBODY SAID IT WOULD BE EASY: Saturday's matchup with St. Cloud State will be the Beavers third ranked opponent in the 2012-13 season and just the beginning of a tough stretch. The Beavers played two ranked opponents, Metro (Colo.) State and Colorado School of Mines, during the preseason. After this weekend, MISU plays host to Winona State (receiving votes) Jan. 12, travels to Augustana College (receiving votes) Jan. 19, plays host to No. 19 SCSU Jan. 25 and No. 21 Minnesota State Feb. 2, before finishing with Minnesota State Moorhead (receiving votes) Feb. 23.

LOOKING TO SWAT 100: Minot State senior forward Kelvin Fraser (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was shut out of the block category in the final two games of 2012 to sit at 95 career blocks entering this weekend. Fraser is already the Beavers career block leader with those 95 and is the single season blocks leader with 80 in 2010-11. He set both the career mark and the single-season number in the same year. Fraser is currently No. 3 in blocks per game in the Northern Sun with a 1.67 average.

BACK TO STREAKING: Minot State's E.J. Williams (Jr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) had a 12-straight made free throw streak snapped in a the Northern State game Dec. 8, but has strung another 12-straight makes together over his last two games. Williams has hit 27 of 30 free throws for a 90 percent average and is ranked fifth in the NSIC. He was a perfect 8 for 8 from the line in the Beavers win over Minnesota Crookston Dec. 14.

STINGY FROM THE FLOOR: Minot State has been tough to score on this season as the Beavers have held opponents under 40 percent shooting on the season. Their 39.9 field goal percent defense is good for third in the conference. In nearly 500 shots taken by opponents, MISU has held them to just 198 makes. Minot State is one of three teams hold opponents under 40 percent. The Beavers are ranked 58th in the country in the category.

ANTHONY HEATING UP: Beavers senior guard Anthony Enriquez (Tacoma, Wash.) has scored in double figures in five straight games including 11 in the past three contests. Despite only averaging 17.9 minutes per game, Enriquez is the team's leading scorer with a 9.9 average, scoring 89 points so far this season. His minutes are up as well as he played 26 minutes in each of his past two games.

ON OR OFF: Minot State has shot over 70 percent from the free throw line in six of its nine games this season. Yet, MISU is hitting just 68.8 percent from the line. The culprit is two games this season. MISU hit just 9 of 20 against MSU Moorhead Dec. 7 and went 8 for 18 from the line in a loss to Jamestown College Dec. 11. Since the JC game, the Beavers have hit 37 of 50 for a 74 percent rate.