THIS WEEK: Minot State finishes out the regular season looking to continue strong play in 2016 as the Beavers play host to St. Cloud State Friday (8 p.m.) and Minnesota Duluth Saturday (6 p.m.) at the Minot State Dome.

RECORDS: The Beavers are 13-13 overall and 8-12 in NSIC North play, sitting in sixth place overall. SCSU is is just a game ahead of Minot State with two games to play with a 9-11 record in NSIC play and is 12-14 overall. UMD is 11-9 and currently tied with U-Mary and Northern State for second in the North. The Bulldogs are 15-11 overall.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's Matt Murken is in his fourth season as head coach of the Beavers. He's compiled a 45-64 record during his first four seasons with Minot State and is 91-80 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 Reimer is in his second season as the head coach for St. Cloud State and is 30-26 overall. He was a long-time assistant of the program beginning his time at St. Cloud State in 1997. Matt Bowen is in his fourth season with Minnesota Duluth going 51-59 at UMD. Prior to his appointment as head coach for the Bulldogs, Bowen served as the head coach at Bemidji State for six seasons. Bowen also coached under Bob Knight at his alma mater Indiana University. He is 115-161 in his career as a head coach.

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 on competing this week earned votes in either NABC Division II Top 25 Poll or the D2SIDA Central Region Poll. The first NCAA Central Region Rankings were announced this week and three NSIC teams are in the top 5 including the top two spots with Augustana University and MSU Moorhead No. 1 and No. 2. Minnesota State checks in at No. 5. The top 8 teams advance to the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball National Tournament.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State climbed back to .500 on the season with a pair of road NSIC wins over Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State, sweeping the season series from its US Highway 2 rivals. Sophomore sensation Tyler Rudolph (F, Bismarck, N.D.) was superb all weekend, earning his league-leading 10th double-double Friday with 20 points and 11 rebounds in a 71-63 win and setting a career high in scoring with 28 points and seven assists Saturday in an 81-79 win at BSU. SCSU had one of its biggest wins of the season in a 102-82 thrashing of Northern State Friday as Gage Davis drilled 25 points. Saturday, the Huskies played No. 10 ranked MSU Moorhead tough before falling 90-82. Scottie Stone finished with 23 points in the loss. UMD didn't have as much luck as they dropped their fourth straight game losing 75-71 against MSU Moorhead and 78-72 against NSU. Taylor Lavery led the Bulldogs both nights with 22 and 21 points respectively.

ALL-TIME AT A GLANCE: MSU has been solid against both NSIC North Division rivals during its short time in the NSIC, trailing St. Cloud State 5-2 overall and is tied with UMD 4-4.

LAST TIME OUT: The Beavers split a pair of road games in January, hammering Minnesota Duluth for its second largest margin of victory in NSIC game history in a 94-64 win. The Beavers couldn't complete the road sweep, however, falling to St. Cloud State 80-72 in a tight contest throughout. Winston Williams (Sr., F, Plainfield, Ill.) poured in 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds at UMD, while Duluth's Brendon Pineda scored 22 in the loss. Saturday found Tyler Rudolph (So., F, Bismarck, N.D.) up to his usual self with 24 points and 12 rebounds, but Scottie Stone led a trio of Huskies in double figures with 18 in the win.

NOTING THE HUSKIES: St. Cloud State snapped a three-game skid with an important win over Northern State Friday. The three-game losing streak tied for the team high this season and came on the heels of a season best four-game winning streak… Scottie Stone and Gage Davis provide SCSU with a fantastic 1-2 scoring punch, boasting a 19.7 and a 19.1 points per game average respectively. Stone has 513 points this season… Stone, Davis and Mark Hall have combined for 231 assists with Davis leading the way with 81… The Huskies have outscored their opponents by 83 points in the first half, but are being outscored by a bucket in the second (1146-1144)… Scoring has not been an issue for SCSU with an 84.1 scoring average, but the Huskies are giving up 81.0 per game… SCSU has taken 607 3-pointers in 2015-16, but have given up 599.

NOTING THE BULLDOGS: Minnesota Duluth was 13-3 after topping Minnesota Crookston on Jan. 10, but are just 2-8 since… While the Bulldogs have a solid 1-2 punch as well with Pierre Newton averaging 20.3 points per game and Taylor Lavery 17.8, they also have a No. 3 option with Brendon Pineda's 15.2 per game average. If you add in Junior Coleman's 235 points, the four have scored 1,621 of the team's 2,098 total points… Coleman has 86 assists on the season to lead the team… Newton leads  the team with 187 rebounds, 145 coming on the defensive end… UMD has scored 2,098 points and have given up 2,097 as their offensive and defensive numbers are nearly identical throughout the major statistics.

PLAYOFF PUSH: Minot State has been one of the hottest men's teams in the NSIC since the calendar turned to 2016. The Beavers are 8-6 overall during the 2016 calendar year and have won all but one game at home to move into sixth in the NSIC North. MSU can move up with a pair of wins this weekend and a SCSU loss. The Beavers can fall back to seventh as well. MSU could face any of four teams still vying for the top three spots after powerhouse Augustana University. Minnesota State is in the driver's seat at 13-7, while Winona is 12-8 and in third. The University of Sioux Falls is fourth at 11-9 and Upper Iowa is fifth at 10-10. MSU beat Upper Iowa and Winona at home earlier in the season and fell in overtime at Sioux Falls on a buzzer-beater.

PUSH FOR 500: MSU sophomore Tyler Rudolph (F, Bismarck, N.D.) scored 48 points last weekend including hitting his career high with 28 points at Bemidji State Saturday. Those points puts him within range of 500 points on the season. Rudolph has 457 points with a minimum of three games remaining. If he were to reach 500 in 2015-16, he would join some good company. Since 1997, MSU has five players reach 500 in a season. Conan Moore scored an impressive 620 points in 29 games in 1999-2000, finishing with a 21.1 average, while Jeff Brandt hit 112 3-pointers – a school record – en route to 613 points and a 21.1 average in 29 games in 2003-04. Rudolph is currently hitting at a 17.6 points per game average.

IN GOOD COMPANY  

Player	Total	Season
Conan Moore	620	1999-2000
Jeff Brandt	613	2003-04
Aaron Patterson	575	2008-09
Courtney Haley	535	2005-06
Matt Witwer	527	2007-08
Tyler Rulolph	457	2015-16

DOING THE DIRTY WORK: MSU senior Brandon Pines' (F, Jessup, Md.) numbers won't jump out at you. He is averaging 13.2 minutes per game and has a 3.4 scoring and a 2.5 rebound average. But Pines leads the team with 18 blocked shots and has 81 fouls, consistently drawing the opponents top post player. He has fouled out of just three games despite having 14 more fouls than the next closest Beaver.

CHANGING PLACES: MSU three-headed assist monster of Nathan Mertens (Jr., G, Devils Lake, N.D.) Dominique McDonald (Sr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) and Luis Ricci Maia (So., G, Franca, Sao Paulo, Brazil) had taken turns leading the team in assists all season. After last weekend, it is Mertens' turn. The junior guard has 80 assists on the season, one more than McDonald and two better than Maia as the trio has combined for 237 assits.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

9: Wins in 2015-16 for MSU at the Minot State Dome. The Beavers are 9-4 overall at the Dome and have won seven of their last eight in the Magic City.

10: Points in only 17 total minutes for junior Channing Reed (F, Belcourt, N.D.). Reed has played in just six games this season and hasn't had many minutes in those games, but has hit all four free throws, scored 10 total points and has seven rebounds.

51: Three-pointers hit by senior Chris Davis (G, Colorado Springs, Colo.). Davis leads the team with 51 3s and has hit 39.5 percent of his triples for a 9.5 scoring average.