Men's Basketball | December 18, 2014

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Teams: Minot State vs University of Mary | Series: MSU leads 34-30
Date: Friday, Dec. 19, 2014 | Time: 8 p.m. | Site: Minot State Dome
Teams: Minot State vs University of Jamestown | Series: UJ leads 47-34
Date: Saturday, Dec. 20, 2014 | Time: 6 p.m. | Site: Minot State Dome

THIS WEEK: Minot State continues their four-game homestand this weekend and begin with rival U-Mary on Friday, Dec. 19 inside the Minot State Dome. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. The following day the Beavers play their final game of the calendar year against longtime Dakota Athletic Conference rival the University of Jamestown. Game time is 6 p.m.

RECORDS: Minot State comes into the week of Dec. 15 with an overall record of 6-4 and a NSIC record of 2-3 after they split their home opening weekend of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play against Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State. The University of Mary currently holds a 2-7 overall record and a 0-5 record in the NSIC. Jamestown is off to a strong start so far this season with a 8-5 overall record. The Jimmies have yet to play a conference game but play their best at home where they have a 5-1 record.

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. Jevin Budde is currently in his fourth season as the U-Mary Marauders head basketball coach. Budde has an overall record of 19-61 during his time at U-Mary. The four-year head coach compiled his best record with the program back in 2011-12 when the Marauders finished 8-18 overall and 7-15 in the Northern Sun. The Jimmies are led by Alan Magnani who is in his first year with the men's basketball program. Magnani previously coached at Iowa Wesleyan College from 1996 to 2011. He also coached 13 All-Americans during his time at Iowa Wesleyan.

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 nor the University of Mary are ranked in the latest top 25 Division II rankings released by the NCAA. Jamestown is not ranked in the last poll released by the NAIA.

RECENT HISTORY: After beginning the NSIC season with three straight road games, the Beavers were back at home this past weekend and opened up with a win against the University of Sioux Falls on Friday. Minot State found themselves down at the end of the first half, 29-24, but the stellar play from Everett Robinson (Sr., G, Grand Junction, Colo.) got the Beavers back into the game in the second half. Robinson's 20 points and eight rebounds propelled Minot State to a 60-58 last second victory. Despite a subpar game from Dominique McDonald (Jr., G, Raleigh, N.C.), McDonald came up huge for the Beavers in the clutch when his floater with five seconds left cemented the game. In the second game of the weekend, the Beavers played host to Southwest Minnesota State, a team with just one loss in the Northern Sun heading into the game. Despite five different players scoring double figures for Minot State, the Mustangs left MSU's campus with a 91-81 win. Robinson once again led the way for Minot State recording 16 points and 12 rebounds in the loss.

PAST MATCHUPS AT A GLANCE: Since Minot State made the transition to NCAA Division II, the Beavers hold a 5-1 advantage against the University of Mary Marauders. In the 2013-14 season, the Beavers went 2-0 against U-Mary but not without grinding out an overtime win in their first meeting of the season when the Beavers came out on top with a 96-87 win. Later in the season, the Beavers took it to the Marauders, coming away with a convincing 71-49 win that broke a five game losing streak in the middle of the NSIC season. Earlier this season, Minot State took down the Marauders in Bismarck, N.D. by a score of 66-61. Robinson led the way with 19 points and seven rebounds for the Beavers. Minot State has not played the University of Jamestown since the 2012-13 season, but the Beavers dropped their last game against the Jimmies 66-62 in head coach Matt Murken's first year with the program and only matchup with his former program.

NOTING THE MARAUDERS: The University of Mary basketball program is off to a tough start so far in the 2014-15 season. After going 2-2 to start the year against non-conference opponents, the Marauders have dropped all five of their NSIC contests so far this season, including the conference opener at home to Minot State. This past weekend, the Marauders fell to Southwest Minnesota State in the first game of their homestand despite shooting 50 percent from the floor. U-Mary allowed SMSU to shoot an impressive 64.6 percent from the field which ultimately was too much for the Marauders to overcome as they fell 84-72. The second game of the weekend was a much closer affair for U-Mary. After getting down 39-31 at halftime, the Maruaders nearly fought all the way back but ended up losing 75-73 on a layup with two seconds remaining on the game clock.

NOTING THE JIMMIES: Despite already playing 13 games this year and compiling an 8-5 record, the Jimmies have yet to compete in a conference game in the 2014-15 season. Most recently, Jamestown recorded a win against Oglala Lakota College and Trinity Bible College on Dec. 7 and 9, respectively. The Jimmies defeated Oglala Lakota by an impressive 66 points in a 126-60 victory. Six different players scored in double figures for the Jimmies, including a game-high 27 from Brequan Tucker. In the team's most recent game against Trinity Bible, Tucker once again led the Jimmies, this time dropping 23 points as the team went on to win 93-63.

TWICE AS NICE: Everett Robinson (Sr., G, Grand Junction, Colo.) was named the NSIC North Player of the Week for the first time this season back on Dec. 1 but he wasn't done there. This past Monday, Dec. 15, Robinson earn Player of the Week honors once again after a strong couple of games this past weekend against Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State. Robinson averaged a double-double with 18 ppg and 10 rpg on the weekend and shot 57.8 percent from the field.

CLUTCH IN CRUNCH TIME: Dominique McDonald's (Jr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) game against Sioux Falls was far from his best this season as he went 2-for-10 from the field and turned the ball over five times, but McDonald came through when his team needed him the most in the final seconds of the game. With just under five seconds remaining on the clock, the junior guard sunk a floater to give the Beavers a 60-58 lead and it ultimately ended as the final score of the game.

KORF COMMANDS CONSISTENCY: While Robinson may be pulling in the conference awards, Thomas Korf (Sr., F, St. Cloud, Minn.) has been one of the Beavers' most consistent players throughout the season, and in particular, the past four games. Korf has scored in double figures in three of the last four games and is averaging 11.5 ppg over that stretch. For the season as a whole, Korf is averaging 11.3 ppg and 3.5 rpg.

NOT SO FREE THROWS: Minot State's struggles at the free throw line continued this past weekend against Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State. The Beavers shot a combined 61.9 percent from the free throw line in the games on 26-of-42 shooting. Minot State is shooting 60.9 percent from the free throw line this season, which ranks them last in the NSIC
    
Team                                Free Throw Percentage
13. Concordia-St. Paul       66.8%
14. U-Mary                        66.7%
15. Bemidji State               66.3%
16. Minot State                  60.9%

CRASHING THE BOARDS: In the 10 games Minot State has played so far this season, the Beavers have been outrebounded in just two of their games. Minot State holds a +88 advantage on the boards this season. Interestingly enough, the Beavers won against Sioux Falls despite being outrebounded 33-30. In the only other game the Beavers were outrebounded, they fell to Northern State. Minot State was -12 in the rebounding category.

BY THE NUMBERS
8: Minot State may be winning the battle on the glass the majority of games but they're doing the opposite when it comes to turning the ball over. The Beavers have turned the ball over more than their opponents in eight games this season and have the third-lowest turnover margin against their opponents in the conference.

28.7: Going right along with the their +88 rebounding advantage, Minot State is allowing the fewest amount of rebounds by their opponent in the Northern Sun at just 28.7 per game.

40.1: While the Beavers only make 6.7 three-pointers per game on average, the team is shooting the fourth-best percentage in the conference from behind the arc at 40.1 percent.