THIS WEEK: Minot State travels to St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth after a week off for the holiday break. MSU takes on SCSU Friday at 8 p.m. and finishes the weekend with UMD Saturday starting at 6 p.m.

RECORDS: The Beavers are 6-6 overall and 2-4 in NSIC play. SCSU is second in the NSIC North with a 4-1 conference record and is 8-6 overall. UMD is 1-9 overall and 1-4 in NSIC games.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's Matt Murken is in his fifth season as head coach of the Beavers. He's compiled a 53-71 record during his first five seasons with Minot State and is 99-87 throughout his six-year head coaching career. SCSU's head coach is Matt Reimer, who is 39-34 in his third season at the helm. Matt Bowen is the head coach at UMD. Bowen is in his fifth season with the Bulldogs after six seasons at Bemidji State. He is 52-66 with UMD.

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 or the D2SIDA Central Region Media Poll.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State built a big lead and then held off a late charge to defeat rival University of Mary 82-75 Dec. 17 at the Dome. Russ Davis had the hot hand for Minot State as he hit 8 of 10 3-pointers for 25 points. Stevan Jovanovic added 16 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. Scottie Stone poured in 30 points to lead four players in double figures as SCSU powered past NAIA University of Jamestown in nonconference play Dec. 19. UMD fell for the fourth straight game as they dug a hole they couldn't get out of against Wisconsin-Parkside also on the 19th. Trenton Krueger scored 16 points and Jake Wilson added 11 off the bench.

ALL-TIME AT A GLANCE: The Beavers have played both teams tight since moving to the Northern Sun. MSU trails the all-time series with SCSU 5-3 and is tied with UMD 4-4, winning both contests last season with the Bulldogs.

LAST TIME OUT: Minot State used big first halves in both games to sweep St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth at the Dome last season in the NSIC regular-season finale. In a 97-89 win over St. Cloud State, the Beavers had five players in double figures as Nathan Mertens scored 24 points on 9 of 10 shooting to help MSU's cause. Minot State shot 59.3 percent in the game. Gage Davis paced SCSU with 24 points. The Beavers were just as good from the field the second night, hitting 53.6 percent from the field in a 90-82 win over UMD. Chris Davis and Tyler Rudolph both reached 20-plus points as Davis led MSU with 24 and Rudolph finished with 21 and 11 rebounds. Taylor Lavery led all scorers with 33 points for the Bulldogs.

NOTING THE HUSKIES: St. Cloud State has been an offensive machine after a slow start, scoring 90 or more points in six of its last 10 games, winning eight of 10… Gage Davis and Scottie Stone have been two of the best scorers in the league as Davis has a 19.5 per game average, while Stone has hit for 17.8 per game… Stone was brilliant in two wins before the break, scoring 30  in wins over Minnesota Duluth and the University of Jamestown to earn NSIC North Division Player of the Week… Davis has done a little bit of everything for the Huskies as he is the team leader in rebounds (122) and assists (51) to go along with his scoring.

NOTING THE BULLDOGS: Minnesota Duluth has struggled to score all season, averaging just 69.5 points per game with a high of 76 on the season… Luke Harris paces the team with a 10.9 scoring average, mainly coming off the bench… Nine different Bulldog players have earned at least one start with only Kyle Schalow starting all 10 games… UMD hits 74.2 percent of its free throws, going 95 for 128, but has been outscored 171-95 from the line as opponents have taken 223 free throws on the season.

RUDY WATCH: MSU junior Tyler Rudolph needs just one rebound to reach 500 in his career and is within striking distance of 1,000 career points. He needs 12 points to reach 1,000 as he has 988 in his career – a 14.1 per game average. After reaching both milestones, he would become just the third men's basketball player in school history to reach both levels, joining Kent Bloms (1,600 pts. / 614 rebs.) and Kevin Bohl (1,347 pts. / 570 rebs.).

SHOOTER'S TOUCH: Minot State is second to just MSU Moorhead in the NSIC in shooting percentage as a team, hitting 51.7 percent from the field. The Beavers are ranked 13th in all of NCAA Division II in shooting percentage.

DAVIS DANGEROUS FROM DEEP: Russ Davis has quickly established himself as a sharpshooter through the first half of the season. Davis is third in the NSIC in 3-point field goal percentage, knocking down 54.4 percent from distance and is ranked seventh nationally.

MURKEN MILESTONE: Minot State head coach Matt Murken is one win away from 100 in his career. Murken has a 99-87 overall mark in seven season as a head coach and is 53-71 at MSU. During a stellar two-year stint at the University of Jamestown, he was 46-16. Murken is ninth in school history with 53 wins.

SEEING DOUBLE: Both Stevan Jovanovic and Tyler Rudolph earned double-doubles in the win over the University of Mary. Jovanovic had an outstanding game with 16 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double, while Tyler Rudolph noticed his 16th of his career with 12 points and 11 boards.

BY THE NUMBERS

4: Players with more assists than turnovers for the Beavers, paced by Luis Ricci Maia's 50-to-21 ratio.

6: Players shooting 50 percent or better from the field for Minot State, including five who have taken at least 40 shots on the year.

17: With the win over U-Mary Dec. 17, MSU has gone 17-5 at home over the past two seasons.