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RECORDS: Minot State is 5-2 overall and 1-2 in Northern Sun play this season. St. Cloud State has a 6-1 overall record and a 2-1 mark in NSIC while University of Minnesota Duluth has a 2-5 overall record and a winless 0-3 record in conference play.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's Matt Murken is in his second season as head coach of the Beavers. He is 15-19 with Minot State and is 61-35 throughout his coaching career. In his first season with the MISU, Murken increased the Beavers' win total by six from the previous year including the program's first ever win against a NCAA Division II ranked opponent (68-62, No. 19 St. Cloud State, Jan. 5, 2012). The Huskies are coached by Kevin Schlagel. Schlagel is in his 17th season and final season at the helm of the SCSU program, as he announced his retirement plans on Sept. 16, 2013. Over his 16 years as head coach the Huskies have averaged 20 wins a season. In addition, Schlagel's teams have won 17 or more games in season 15 times. His teams have posted nine 20-win seasons. The Bulldogs are coached by Matt Bowen. Bowen is in his second season as head coach at UMD and has posted a record of 10-24 in two years with the Bulldogs. Prior to being hired at UMD, Bowen was the head coach at NSIC foe Bemidji State University where he led BSU to a 22-9 mark in 2011-12, including a NSIC regular season championship and the schools second ever NCAA Division II Tournament berth.

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: Minot State and University of Minnesota Duluth did not receive any votes in the Dec. 10 NABC Division II Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll. St. Cloud State received votes in the poll but couldn't crack the Top 25.

RECENT HISTORY: The Beavers suffered their first two losses of the season as they fell Friday to Northern State 88-84 and then Saturday MISU lost another close game to MSU Moorhead, 78-67. The 166 points given up by Minot State is the most points given up in two consecutive losses since the Beavers allowed 168 points in back-to-back losses to Upper Iowa and Winona State last season. The Huskies also suffered their first loss of the season this past weekend as they fell on the road Friday night to Bemidji State, 70-65. SCSU then rebounded with a trouncing of University of Minnesota Crookston, 87-50. The Bulldogs dropped both their matchups over the weekend, pushing their overall losing streak to four games. UMD fell Friday night to UMC, 87-85 and then lost to Bemidji State 90-79 to close out the weekend.

OVERALL SERIES: Minot State does not have significant history with their St. Cloud State or Minnesota Duluth, but for what history there is, it is in MISU's favor. The Beavers are 1-1 against St. Cloud State all-time, but the big blow came last season on Jan. 4 when unranked Minot State knocked off No. 19 SCSU 68-62 on their home court. Minot State holds a 3-0 all-time advantage over the Bulldogs, including a season sweep last year, the Beavers' first season in the Northern Sun.

NOTING THE HUSKIES: St. Cloud State is seeking their third consecutive 20-plus win season and they are off to a solid start. The Huskies are outscoring their opponents by an average of 15.3 points per game while sporting the second best scoring defense in the NSIC, giving up just 64.3 points per game. Jordan Poydras leads St. Cloud State in scoring with 13.7 points per game. He scored a season-high 32 points in a win against University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Matt Craggs is the second leading scorer on the team with 10.9 points per game and leads SCSU with 7.0 rebounds per game. A big key to the Huskies' success has been their ability to take of the basketball. SCSU averages the fewest turnovers in the NSIC with just 8.7 turnovers per game while forcing their opponents into 15.0 turnovers per game, a margin of plus 6.3.

NOTING THE BULLDOGS: University of Minnesota Duluth hasn't seen their 2013-14 season get started the way they imagined. The Bulldogs are winless in the NSIC with an 0-3 record and are averaging a league worst 70.1 points per game. NSIC North Preseason Player of the Year, Brett Irvin, torn his meniscus on Nov. 7, days before the Bulldogs opened their season, leaving UMD without their top scoring option. In the loss of Irvin, Jordan Reetz has stepped up to the table and has averaged 17.3 points per game to lead the Bulldogs. Reece Zoelle and Peter Crawford also average 15.1 and 13.1 points per game, respectively. Minnesota Duluth must improve their three-point shooting if they want to get a win. The Buklldogs are shooting an NSIC low 31.2 percent from beyond the arc this season.

HOMESTAND ATTENDANCE: Minot State opened their 2013-14 season with seven straight home games, the most home games played thus far by any team in the NSIC. MISU currently ranks fifth in the conference in average attendance with 1,160 fans attending each game for a total of 8,121 fans coming into the Minot State Dome to watch the Beavers play. Northern State leads the NSIC in attendance with an average of 2,728 fans per game. The Wolves have led all of NCAA Division II in attendance in each of the past six seasons.

KORF HEADS HOME: When the Beavers visit Halenbeck Hall on the campus of St. Cloud State, it will be a homecoming celebration for Thomas Korf (Jr., G, St. Cloud, Minn.). Korf grew up near St. Cloud State and attended St. Cloud Technical High School where he led his team to take second place in the AAAA State Tournament. Another tie to SCSU for Korf was his neighbor growing up; SCSU head coach Kevin Schlagel. Last season when Korf returned home for the first time, he had a stellar first half scoring 11 points and three 3-point shots as he helped the Beavers upset his hometown Huskies 68-62.

WILLIAMS NEAR THE TOP: E.J. Williams (Sr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) is having himself a great start to his senior season and ranks close to the top of the Northern Sun in a few statistical categories. Williams is third in the NSIC in scoring, averaging 18.7 points per game. He ranks fourth in the conference with 4.0 assists per game, eighth in free throw percentage with a 86.7 percentage from the line and first in free throws made as he has made 52 free throws in just seven games this season. Williams also ranks eighth in the NSIC in minutes played, averaging 30.3 minutes per game.

MORE FREE THROW ATTEMPTS: In the NSIC opening win against University of Mary, Minot State used 46 free throw attempts (40 free throw makes) to pull out the overtime win over the Marauders. In their very next game the Beavers attempted even more free throws. Against Northern State MISU hit 41-of-49 free throws. The 95 combined between the two games is one of the highest numbers in school history for most free attempts in back-to-back games.

SUPER SAMUEL: Transfer Samuel Johnson (Sr., F, Las Vegas, Nev.) has made an immediate impact for the Beavers this season. Johnson ranks No.11 in the NSIC in scoring with 14.1 points per game and he also ranks No. 4 in the conference in rebounding with 8.1 rebounds per game. He is just one of two plays in the entire NSIC to averaged 14.0 plus points per game and 8.0 plus points per game, the other being Augustana's Casey Schilling.

CLEANING THE BOARDS: The calling card for the success of the Minot State men's basketball team this year has been rebounding the basketball. The Beavers rank second in the NSIC with 42.6 rebounds per game and have only been outrebounded once in seven games. Minot State has been able to do this thanks in large to their effort on the defensive glass, pulling down a league leading 29.6 defensive rebounds per game.   

BY THE NUMBERS
16: Minot State ranks No. 16 in rebounding margin through all of NCAA Division II men's basketball. The Beavers have outrebounded their opponents by an average of 10.9 rebounds per game.

74.2: The Beavers have shot expceptionally well from the free throw line, hitting 74.6 percent of their free attempts during the 2013-14 season. That ranks them second in the NSIC behind Southwest Minnesota State University (74.6 percent).

485: Chris East (Sr., F, Toronto, Ontario) needs just 15 points this weekend to surpass 500 career points. East has 485 career points in just over two seasons. He has also collected 438 career rebounds and is on pace to crack the top five all-time rebound list at Minot State.