THIS WEEK: Minot State will look to parley some of its home win streak magic into a road winning streak as the Beavers travel to Minnesota Duluth Friday (8 p.m.) and St. Cloud State Saturday (6 p.m.)

RECORDS: The Beavers enter the weekend with a 9-9 overall record and 4-8 in NSIC play. MSU is seventh overall in the NSIC North Division but is within a game of both Bemidji State and St. Cloud State. UMD is second in the North with a 9-3 record and is 13-5 overall. SCSU comes into the weekend at 8-10 and 5-7.

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 84-75 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. Matt Bowen  is in his fourth season with Minnesota Duluth. Prior to his appointment as head coach for the Bulldogs, Bowen served as the head coach at Bemidji State for six seasons. Bowenalso coached under Bob Knight at his alma mater Indiana University. Matt Reimer is in his second season as the head coach for St. Cloud State and is 26-22 overall. He was a long-time assistant of the program beginning his time at St. Cloud State in 1997.

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.

RANKINGS: None of the three teams were ranked in the latest NABC Division II Top 25 Poll, but Minnesota Duluth was third in the D2SIDA Central Region Poll.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State pushed its home win streak to five games and its NSIC home win streak to four with a pair of wins last week against Upper Iowa and Winona State. MSU had not beaten either team since joining the league. The Beavers built a big lead in both games, but almost lost it against UIU. Minot State held on thanks to another huge nigh by Tyler Rudolph (So., F, Bismarck, N.D.), who scored 27 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Nathan Mertens (Jr., G, Devils Lake, N.D.) added 15 points, five rebounds and four assists in the win. Rudolph had help Saturday in the team's 63-46 win over WSU as MSU held the Warriors to just four points in the final seven minutes of the game. Michael Pelo (Sr., G, Charleston, Utah) came off the bench to scored 22 points on five 3-pointers and Dominique McDonald (Sr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) added 10 to Rudolph's "quiet" 11 and 9. UMD had a tough road trip as they fell 93-85 at Wayne State College and 95-66 at No. 2 ranked Augustana University. Brendon Pineda had a fantastic offensive night at WSC with 35 points in the loss. SCSU didn't handle the Vikings much better, calling 102-63 at Augie, but rebounded with a 108-74 win over WSC. Gage Davis hit for at least 30 for the second time in five games, scoring 36 at Wayne.

ALL-TIME AT A GLANCE: Minot State has battled both teams since joining the league winning five of the 12 games played. MSU trails UMD 4-3 and SCSU 4-2 all time.

LAST TIME OUT: The Beavers couldn't get a couple key plays in either game on the road to end the regular season last year. SCSU held off the Beavers 93-85 at Halenbeck Hall despite a then-career-high 22 points from Tyler Rudolph (So., F, Bismarck, N.D.). Jordan Poydras finished with 30 in the win for SCSU. It was even tighter the next night as MSU fell 83-80 in overtime at UMD Saturday. All eight player who saw minutes for MSU scored at least six points, with Michael Pelo (Sr., G, Charleston, Utah) leading the way with 17. Brett Irvin scored 22 points and Pierre Newton added 19 points and 10 rebounds in the win for UMD.

NOTING THE BULLDOGS: Minnesota Duluth ran into some trouble last week on the road as the Bulldogs had their season high six-game win streak snapped at Wayne State College. UMD then had to try to rebound against the No. 2 team in DII Augustana University the following night… The Bulldogs have scored points in bunches this season, averaging 81.5 points per game… Pierre Newton, Taylor Lavery and Brendon Pineda have combined to score 934 points with Newton leading the way with a 19.3 average… Junior Coleman has 61 assists and just 39 turnovers on the season… Brendon Pineda leads the team with 21 blocked shorts. Newton has done a little bit of everything for UMD, leading the team in scoring and rebounding (7.4 per game), hitting 122 of 146 free throws… The Bulldogs are averaging just 475 fans at home games, but have played in front of 13,227 in 10 away games for a 1,323 average.

NOTING THE HUSKIES: St. Cloud State is fourth overall in the league in scoring with an 82.6 scoring average… The Huskies feature one of the top 1-2 scoring punches in NCAA Division II as Gage Davis and Scottie Stone average 19.9 and 19.2 points respectively. Stone has hit 51 3-pointers on the season and is a 86.5 percent free throw shooter…Davis is the team's leader in rebounding (7.4), assists (55) and steals (23) and is second in blocked shots (17) to go along with his points… SCSU has not been too up or down all season as the Huskies have yet to earn a three-game winning streak on the year, but haven't lost more than three games in a row… Mark Hall is third in scoring at 8.8 ppg., and second in assists at 54 total… SCSU and its opponents are shooting at about the same clip, 47.7 percent compared to 46.2, but the Huskies have taken 139 more shots.

DOME COOKING: Minot State has won its past five home games including winning four straight Northern Sun games at the MSU Dome. In all, MSU is 8-3 at the Dome in 2015. The Beavers started the run with a 101-66 nonconference win over Crossroads College. MSU topped NSIC foes Bemidji State (77-73) and UMC (78-55) just after the break and then handed Upper Iowa and Winona State, two teams the Beavers had previously never beaten, a pair of losses last weekend. MSU topped Upper Iowa 88-83 in front of a 1,149 fans Friday and stifled Winona State 63-46 Saturday. The Beavers are 29-24 at home during the Murken era and are 17-8 in the Magic City over the past two seasons.

HOME STRETCH FOR DOM: MSU senior Dominique McDonald (G, Raleigh, N.C.) hasn't scored at the same pace this season compared to his first three, but McDonald, who will play in his 100th game for MSU Friday, has positioned himself to become the 15 th member of the 1,000 point club at MSU. He is at 969, needing just 31 points to reach the milestone. His lower scoring average hasn't affected his rebounding, assists or steals as he is at or above his career average in all three. He will reach 300 career rebounds most likely this year, sitting at 284, and is poised to reach 100 steals as well with 94 in his career. McDonald is second all-time in assists with 368.

McDonald serving up delicious numbers      

Season	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Steals
2012-13	259	68	89	32
2013-14	284	76	81	22
2014-15	283	82	136	25
2015-16	143	58	62	15
Total	969	284	368	94

 
HEATING UP BEYOND THE ARC: Since the return of senior Michael Pelo (G, Charleston, Utah), the Beavers have heated up from beyond the arc. MSU has hit at least eight 3s five out of the past seven games and hit 13 in a game twice. Chris Davis (Sr., G, Colorado Springs, Colo.), who started his surge on 3-pointers even a bit before Pelo's return in late December, has hit 20 3s in his past seven games, while Pelo has knocked down 18. In all, MSU has hit 44 percent of its triples since the Pelo's return against Crossroads College Dec. 19.

NATHAN'S FAMOUS… ALL-AROUND PLAY: Junior Nathan Mertens (G, Devils Lake, N.D.) continues his all-around solid play as he leads MSU in steals (17) and free throws made (56), second in minutes (30.0), third in assists (53), fourth in rebounding (64) and fifth in scoring (165). During the season, he owns a solid 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio, eighth best in the league.

BY THE NUMBERS

1-2: Rank for Tyler Rudolph (So., F, Bismarck, N.D.) in the NSIC in offensive rebounds and total rebounds. Rudolph leads the league with 64 offensive boards and is second to Augustana University's Casey Schilling with a 8.7 overall average.

3: MSU players in the top 20 in assists in the NSIC. Senior Dominique McDonald (G, Raleigh, N.C.) leads the team with a 3.4 average good for ninth in the NSIC. Sophomore Luis Ricci Maia (G, Franca, Sao Paulo, Brazil) is right behind at 3.3 and 13th overall and just a couple helpers behind that is junior Nathan Mertens (G, Devils Lake, N.D.) at 2.9 per game and 18th overall.

46: Points allowed by MSU against Winona State Saturday. The 46 points ties Sioux Falls for the lowest output allowed in the league, but MSU accomplished the feat against a conference opponent.