Men's Basketball | December 11, 2014

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Teams: Minot State vs University of Sioux Falls | Series: USF leads 6-0
Date: Friday, Dec. 12, 2014 | Time: 8 p.m. | Site: MSU Dome
Teams: Minot State vs Southwest Minnesota St. | Series: SMSU leads 3-0
Date: Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014 | Time: 6 p.m. | Site: MSU Dome

THIS WEEK: Minot State plays host for the first time during Northern Sun play as they welcome the University of Sioux Falls to the Minot State Dome Friday night for an 8 p.m. game and Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday at 6 p.m.

RECORDS: Minot State comes into the week of Dec. 1 with an overall record of 5-3 and a NSIC record of 1- after falling to MSU-Moorhead and Northern State on the road this past weekend. Sioux Falls comes into the weekend with a 3-5 overall record and a 1-2 record in the NSIC after splitting a pair of games last weekend. Southwest Minnesota State boasts and overall record of 6-3 and is 2-1 in the NSIC. The Mustangs split a pair of games this past weekend as well, both home contests.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's Matt Murken is in his third season as head coach of the Beavers. He is 22-37 during his time with Minot State and is 67-45 throughout his five year head coaching career. In his first season with the MSU, 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). Before his time at Minot State, Murken was the head coach at the University of Jamestown where he compiled and impressive 46-16 overall record and was named Dakota Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2012. Sioux Falls is led by seventh year head coach Chris Johnson. Johnson has compiled an impressive resume while at Sioux Falls including four seasons with 20+ wins. Johnson was also previously an assistant coach at Minot State from 2001-04. Brad Bigler has served as the Southwest Minnesota State head coach since 2009 and has been involved with the program for the past 16 years. Bigler was named the 2012-13 NSIC Coach of the Year

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: Neither Minot State, Sioux Falls nor Southwest Minnesota State find themselves within the top 25 poll released by the NCAA on Dec. 9, 2014.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State began the NSIC season on a high note with a win against the University of Mary on Nov. 29, but the Beavers were unable to keep that success going this past weekend when they took a roadtrip to MSU-Moorhead and Northern State. In the first game of the weekend, the Beavers found themselves overwhelmed early on against the Dragons as Moorhead held a 55-24 lead as the teams headed to the locker rooms at halftime. The Beavers found a rhythm in the second half scoring 40 points, but ultimately dropping the game to the Dragons by a final score of 99-64. Thomas Korf (Sr., F, St. Cloud, Minn.) led the way for the Beavers going 3-of-4 from distance and ending the game with a team-high 12 points. The second game of the weekend proved to be a tail of two halves for Minot State as they led the Northern State Wolves 37-31 at halftime. Minot State was unable to get stops in the second half, though, allowing Northern State to shoot 67 percent from the floor and win the game 83-72.

OVERALL SERIES: Minot State has struggled with the two teams invading the MSU Dome this week as MSU is 0-6 against USF and 0-3 against SMSU. The Beavers fell to both Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State last year at home, but both games in the 2013-14 season were close. On Feb. 14, the first game of a home weekend, the Beavers fell to Sioux Falls by the score of 83-72. Both Korf and Dominique McDonald (Jr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) had strong games for Minot State as McDonald ended the game with 17 points while Korf had 13. The following night, Feb. 15, Minot State lost a heartbreaker to Southwest Minnesota State, 75-72. The Mustangs led by 13 at the half, but 10 second half points from Korf helped lead a comeback that ultimately came up short.

NOTING THE COUGARS: The University of Sioux Falls split a pair of NSIC games this past weekend at home inside the Stewart Center. In the first game of the weekend on Friday, Dec. 5, the Cougars an 88-62 games to Upper Iowa in what was just the Cougars second home game of the year. The following night, Sioux Falls was able to salvage their weekend with a convincing 76-54 win over the visiting Winona State Warriors. Leading the way for the Cougars this year is Charles Ward who is averaging 16.3 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per game on the season.

NOTING THE MUSTANGS: Southwest Minnesota State, like Sioux Falls, traded wins and losses this past weekend. In the first game of the weekend this past Friday, the Mustangs squeaked out a 61-60 victory against Winona State. Mitch Weg hit the game winning shot with 18 seconds left to put the Mustangs ahead for good. Turner Moen recorded a steal with one second left, not allowing the Warriors to get a shot off. In the second game of the weekend, the Mustangs were involved in another close game, this time against Upper Iowa, and this time they were unable to get it done. The Peacocks edged by Southwest Minnesota State with a 78-74 victory.

GOING FULL CIRCLE: Sioux Falls head coach Chris Johnson returns to Minot State this Friday after coaching for the Beavers in the MSU Dome from 2001-04 under head coach Mike Hultz. During Johnson's tenure with the program, Minot State compiled an overall record of 50-38 and had a 35-19 record in the Dakota Athletic Conference.

Chris Johnson at Minot State        
Year        Conference Record    Overall Record
03-04        13-5            19-10
02-03        11-7            17-13
01-02        11-7            14-15

COMING BACK STRONG: After a disappointing game to open NSIC play according to his standards, Thomas Korf (Sr., F, St. Cloud, Minn.) bounced back this past weekend despite the team dropping both games. Korf scored in double figures both games, recording 12 points against MSU-Moorhead and dropping 13 points while bringing in six rebounds against Northern State. His six rebounds against Northern State were a season-high.

CRACKING THE TOP 10: Charles Ward of Sioux Falls is surely a player the Beavers will play close attention to this weekend due to his play so far this season. A 6-2 guard, Ward is in the top ten in the NSIC in both points per game (16.3) and rebounds per game (7.1). Ward's biggest scoring game of the year came against Young Harris when he dropped 23 points. Ward came away with a season-high 12 rebounds in the Cougars' previous game against Winona State.

EVERY SECOND, EVERY MINUTE: Minot State head coach Matt Murken has leaned on three of his players heavily so far this season as Korf, McDonald and Everett Robinson (Sr., G, Grand Junction, Colo.) are all in the top 25 of minutes played in the Northern Sun. Korf comes in playing the most minutes so far this season for the Beavers averaging 31.8 mpg, good for 10th in the conference.

SHOOTERS' DELIGHT: Minot State may have lost their last couple of games, but they remain one of the top shooting teams in the NSIC. Heading into the weekend the Beavers are shooting 47.7 percent, good for sixth in the conference. The Beavers are even better shooting the ball from behind the arc, coming in with the fourth highest percentage in the league at 40.3 percent.

BY THE NUMBERS
4: Friday starts the stretch of four straight home games for Minot State and it's also the first home game for the Beavers in the Northern Sun. The Beavers end their four-game home stand with a game against old DAC rival Jamestown.

13.9: Turnovers are hampering the Beavers so far this season as the team turns the ball over 13.9 times per game, the fourth most in the NSIC. Their assist-to-turnover margin is suffering because of the turnovers as the Beavers margin sits at just 0.80.

60.6: The Beavers have struggled from the charity stripe this year, shooting just 60.6 percent from the line, ranking them last among all NSIC teams. Minot State sits nearly five percent behind U-Mary who's shooting 65.3 percent from the line.