THIS WEEK: Minot State finishes off the 2015 calendar season with an Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference clash with rival University of Mary Friday (6 p.m., Bismarck, N.D.) and a nonconference game with Crossroads College Saturday (3 p.m., MSU Dome).

RECORDS: The Beavers enter the weekend with a 4-6 record and are 0-5 in the Northern Sun. U-Mary is 9-2 overall and is 4-1 in conference play. Crossroads sports a 4-9 mark and has not played a conference game to date.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's Matt Murken is in his fourth season as head coach of the Beavers. He's compiled a 36-57 record during his first two seasons with Minot State and is 82-73 throughout his six 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. Joe Kittell starts his first season as the head coach at the University of Mary following a solid stint as the top man at Lake Region State. He is 9-2 in his first season and 51-22 as a head coach. Richard Westerlund is in his third season with Crossroads, helping the team to the ACCA II National Championship in his first season in 2013-14 by defeating St. Louis Christian for the title. It was the team's first title in 12 season. He is 63-85 overall in his career and 21-46 at CC.

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 – with Leif Bakken serving as the play-by-play announcer – and live stats as well as links to the live audio at msubeavers.com. Minot State Athletics also is active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and You Tube with all feeds accessible at msubeavers.com/stayconnected.

SOME Me-TV TIME: The Minot State at U-Mary game will be televised live on the NBC North Dakota Sports Network MeTV channel. MeTV is available on channel 595 on Midcontinent and 109 on SRT along with 10.3 Minot and 5.3 Bismarck.

RANKINGS: Neither Minot State or the University of Mary were ranked in the latest NABC Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll but the Marauders received votes in the D2SIDA MBB DII Media Regional Poll.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State couldn't quite close out either game last week, falling 66-65 in overtime at the University of Sioux Falls as the Cougars hit a 3-pointer in overtime with .9 seconds to win and dropped an 86-84 result at Southwest Minnesota State Saturday. In that contest, the Mustangs scored to break the tie with 4.4 seconds to play. Tyler Rudolph (So., F, Bismarck, N.D.) just missed his fifth double-double of the season as he had 14 points and nine rebounds to go along with three assists at USF, while Chris Davis (Sr., G, Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Winston Williams (Sr., F, Plainfield, Ill.) added 12 and 11 respectively. Six MSU players reached double figures in the loss at SMSU as Williams scored 17 and Luis Ricci Maia (So., G, Frana, Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Dominique McDonald (Sr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) added 13 each. U-Mary blew out two overmatched nonconference games, topping Presentation College 100-76 and Oglala Lakota 144-60, setting a school record for scoring. Crossroads had a two-game win streak snapped at St. Scholastica 62-60 in its final game.

ALL-TIME AT A GLANCE: MSU leads the all-time with U-Mary 35-31 dating back to the 1976-77 season when both were members of the NAIA. Since moving to NCAA Division II, MSU is 6-2 against the Marauders. This is the first meeting between Minot State and Crossroads College.

LAST TIME OUT: The Beavers were outscored 49-38 in the second half as U-Mary hit 6 of 9 3-pointers after the break in a 78-66 UM win at the Minot State Dome Nov. 28. MSU's Tyler Rudolph (So., F, Bismarck, N.D.) finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds to place the Beavers, while Dominique McDonald (Sr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) scored 14 points and added five rebounds for the Beavers. Marquealis Edwards led four U-Mary players in double figures with 22 points and pulled down seven boards in the win.

NOTING THE MARAUDERS: The University of Mary has played four games in seven day heading into the final NSIC matchup of the year, winning all four… The Marauders set a school record for points with 144 against Oglala Lakota Monday as 10 of 11 players who got in the game reached double figures… Marquealis Edwards and Bryan Jefferson have been a 1-2 punch all year for UM, as Edwards leads the team with a 14.6 scoring average and is second with a 6.9 rebounding average. Jefferson is second on the team in scoring (13.4) and leads U-Mary with in rebounding (7.1)… Brandon Tyler and Henry Damonta have hit nearly 50 percent of their 3-pointers combined. Henry leads the team in percentage, knocking down 22 of 44 attempts, while Tyler leads the team in makes, going 27 for 60 on the year. The two have combined for 49 of 104 from beyond the arc… U-Mary has a plus 10.4 rebounding average, pulling down 41.2 per game… The Marauders have been solid on defense over the past five games as four of their opponents have failed to reach 80 points. In both of its losses this year, U-Mary has given up 98 points, in an OT loss to MSU Billings in November and to nationally ranked MSU Moorhead three weeks ago.

NOTING THE KNIGHTS: Crossroads College plays in the National Christian College Athletic Association, but played a pair of games against NAIA teams and NCAA Division II schools (MSU Saturday, MSU Moorhead Sunday)… CC has one win over a nationally ranked team, topping Maranatha Baptist University 79-74 at home Dec. 12 and has four losses against nationally ranked teams… Steven Horan and Isaac Bowles have paced the Knights all season offensively averaging 11.9 and 11.5 points per game respectively… Bowles is the team's leading rebounder (8.4) and shot blocker (2.8)… CC has struggled to hold onto the ball, averaging 17.8 turnovers per game, including 38 against Grinnell and at least 20 six times this season… Nine different players have started a game for Crossroads, while only Sean Hughes, the team's third leading scorer at 9.1 per game, making starts in all 13 games… Eight players are averaging 19.7 minutes or more…

WINSTON'S BACK : After a brief time below 10 points per game, senior Winston Williams (F, Plainfield, Ill.) averaged 14 points per game last weekend to get his average up to 10.2. He is third on the team in scoring. Williams has reached double figures five times this season and has one double-double on the year.

MERTENS COMING ON STRONG: Junior guard Nathan Mertens (Devils Lake, N.D.) has had a solid season, but has been especially good during conference play as of late. He finished 25 points and added 11 assists and seven rebounds over his first three conference games, and hit for 20 points with 10 rebounds and two assists on the road last weekend. Over his past three games, he has averaged 13 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists, while turning the ball over just five times.

MERTENS IN NSIC PLAY    

Opponent	PTS	REB	AST	STL	TO
vs. U-Mary	5	1	5	2	1
vs. MSUM	2	6	4	1	0
vs. NSU	18	0	2	0	2
vs. USF	9	4	1	1	2
vs. SMSU	11	6	1	2	1

A HELPING HAND: MSU's point guard rotation of Luis Ricci Maia (So., G, Franca, Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Dominique McDonald (Sr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) has produced 70 assists on the season. Maia and McDonald each have 35 helpers in 10 games. Maia has recorded 22 of those 35 over his past four games.

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR: The Beavers have struggled to a 0-5 record to start the NSIC season, but have been in each game throughout much of the contest. This past weekend, the Beavers inched even closer to their first NSIC win, but were topped on a 3-pointer just before buzzer at Sioux Falls and gave up a basket with 4.4 seconds remaining at Southwest Minnesota State. Over its past three games – all losses – the Beavers have been outscored by just a total of 10 points.

DOM WATCH CONTINUES: MSU's Dominique McDonald (Sr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) scored 22 points last week to put him at 929 points for his career. His 22 points pretty much run in line with his career average of 10.2 per game and his season average of 10.3. He is also just nine assists shy of 350 for his career as he sits in second place in career assists, behind just Ryan Johnson (assist record back to 1999 only).

BY THE NUMBERS

11: Steals for Nathan Mertens (Jr., G, Devils Lake, N.D.) and Dominique McDonald (Sr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) to lead MSU. The Beavers have 48 steals on the season.

36: Offensive rebounds pulled down in 10 games for Tyler Rudolph (So., F, Bismarck, N.D.). Rudolph is second in the league in the category.

81.3: Percent from the free throw line this season for senior Dominique McDonald (G, Raleigh, N.C.). McDonald has hit 39 of 48 from the line. He is a 69.9 percent shooter during his career.