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Teams: Minot State at Minnesota State University-Moorhead | Series: MSU-M leads 20-9
Date: Friday, Dec. 5, 2014 | Time: 8 p.m. | Site: Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse
Teams: Minot State at Northern State | Series: NSU leads 29-7
Date: Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014 | Time: 6 p.m. | Site: Wachs Arena

THIS WEEK: Minot State travels to MSU-Moorhead on Friday, Dec. 5 to begin an NSIC weekend roadtrip with a tip-off set for 8 p.m. and they'll finish their weekend at Northern State on Saturday Dec. 6 with a game scheduled for 6 p.m.
 
RECORDS: Minot State comes into the week of Dec. 1 with an overall record of 5-1 and a NSIC record of 1-0 after defeating rival U-Mary in the conference opener on Saturday, Nov. 29. MSU-Moorhead is a perfect 8-0 in the 2014-15 season thus far. Moorhead is 1-0 in the NSIC with their first win coming over Northern State. Northern State is currently sitting at 6-1 overall in 2014 and 0-1 in the NSIC. Their lone loss on the year came to MSU-Moorhead.
 
COACHES CORNER: Minot State's Matt Murken is in his third season as head coach of the Beavers. He is 23-37 during his time with Minot State and is 69-53 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. MSU-Moorhead is led by Chad Walthall who is in his fifth season with the Dragon program. Walthall has had great success with the Dragons as he recorded the program's best three-year stretch recording 61 wins the last three seasons. Paul Sather is also in his fifth year with the Northern State basketball program. Sather has compiled a 63-49 overall record in his time with the program.
 
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 Northern State received votes in the latest NCAA Division II poll released by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. However, MSU-Moorhead comes in ranked as the No. 19 team in the country in the latest poll.
 
RECENT HISTORY: The Beavers began Northern Sun play on a high note when they traveled to Bismarck, N.D. a weekend ago and handed the University of Mary a loss in the NSIC opener for both teams. Leading the way for Minot State was Everett Robinson (Sr., G, Grand Junction, Colo.) who ended the game with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting and also grabbed seven rebounds in the win. Earlier in the week, Minot State had their final non-conference tune-up when they welcomed longtime Dakota Athletic Conference rival Dickinson State into the Minot State Dome. The Beavers handed the Bluehawks an 83-76 loss due much in part to the strong performances by Thomas Korf (Sr., F, St. Cloud, Minn.) and Robinson once again. Korf ended his night with a career-high 25 points on 9-13 shooting while Robinson did a little bit of everything. Robinson ended the night with 12 points, 14 rebounds and four assists, good for his first double-double of the season.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Last season the Beavers didn't have much success against either of their opponents waiting for them this weekend. The Beavers ended their season 0-4 against the combination of Northern State and MSU-Moorhead and the road losses were not pretty. On the final weekend of the regular season, Minot State fell to MSU-Moorhead by a score of 85-55 and the following day they dropped their game against Northern State by a score of 73-58. Playing at home was a different story for the Beavers, though. Minot State lost by 11 in their game against Moorhead and lost a barn-burner to Northern State, 88-84.
 
NOTING THE DRAGONS: MSU-Moorhead is off to an impressive start this season and the rest of the country is taking notice. The Dragons came in ranked as the No. 19 team in the latest poll released by the NABC due to their 8-0 record. Moorhead has hardly been tested this season as they're defeating their opponents by an average of 24 points per game and they're fresh off a 111-40 win over Presentation College. Leading the way for the Dragons so far this season are Aaron Lien and Jordan Riewer. Lien is averaging 14.0 ppg and 5.1 rpg while Riewer is averaging 13.6 ppg and 4.5 rpg. Riewer also boasts an impressive assist-to-turnover ratio assisting on 47 baskets and only turning the ball over 8 times this season.
 
NOTING THE WOLVES: While Northern State is off to a strong 6-1 start, it hasn't been an easy start to the year by any stretch of the imagination. The Wolves have managed to win two overtime games already this season and the MSU-Moorhead Dragons handled the Wolves in the NSIC opener by a score of 75-55. In the Wolves' most recent game, the team bounced back after their NSIC opener and defeated the University of Jamestown by a score of 88-71. Leading the way for the Northern State this year has been Seth Bachand who's averaging 14.7 ppg and 8.9 rpg, which is good for second in the Northern Sun.
 
OWNING THEIR RIVAL: Since Minot State made the transition to NCAA Division II, Minot State holds a 4-1 advantage over their rival to the south, the University of Mary. This past weekend, the team battled and came home with a hard fought 66-61 victory. Dating back to the team's 2011-2012 season, the Beavers are 5-1 against U-Mary. Within the past four years, the Beavers are a perfect 3-0 against the Marauders inside the MSU Dome.
 
                                Minot State vs U-Mary                         
Year        Home/Away                                           Outcome
14-15       Away                                                       W 66-61
13-14       Away                                                       W 71-49
13-14       Home                                                      W 96-87
12-13       Home                                                      W 49-48
12-13       Away                                                       L 77-65
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Last week may have been a vacation and week of relaxing for most people, but it was far from that for Everett Robinson (Sr., G, Grand Junction, Colo.). Robinson averaged 15.5 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game for the Beavers in their two wins over Dickinson State and U-Mary and earned him the honor of being named NSIC North Player of the Week. This is the first time Robinson is being honored as a player of the week in his short time with the Beaver basketball program.
 
STARTING STRONG: 2014-15 marks the second consecutive year the Minot State basketball team has started the season with a 5-1 record. Last season the Beavers managed to win just three more games throughout the rest of the season and just four games total in the Northern Sun conference.
 
CRASHING THE BOARDS: The Beavers are crashing the boards hard so far this year outrebounding their opponents by an average of 15.7 rebounds per game. Leading the way for the team in the rebounding category is Everett Robinson (Sr., G, Grand Junction, Colo.) who is averaging 7.5 rebounds per game and Lamont Prosser (Sr., F, Fort Wayne, Ind.) who is bringing in 6.3 rebounds per game for the Beavers.
 
TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK: While the Beavers' assist-to-turnover ratio is just 0.8, Dominque McDonald (Jr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) did his best to help improve that ratio in Minot State's previous game against U-Mary. McDonald ended the night with six assists and just one turnover to make up for a difficult night from the floor. McDonald is currently averaging 4.5 assists per game.
 
HIGH EFFICIENCY: Big Man Lamont Prosser (Sr., F, Fort Wayne, Ind.) may only be fourth on the team in scoring but he's scoring at an extremely efficient rate so far this season. Prosser is averaging just 17.0 minutes per game, 9.5 minutes fewer than the next closest starter, yet he's averaging 10.7 points per game.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
19: Minot State will have their hands full Friday evening when the take on the No. 19 ranked MSU-Moorhead Dragons. The Dragons are one of three teams from the NSIC ranked in the top 25.
 
7.5: Everett Robinson's (Sr., G, Grand Junction, Colo.) 7.5 rebounds per game are good for 7th in the NSIC. And he's a guard.
 
32.0: Known for his non-stop work ethic, Thomas Korf (Sr., F, St. Cloud, Minn.) finds himself averaging 32.0 minutes per game for the Beavers which is the 8th highest amount of minutes being played by anyone in the NSIC.