THIS WEEK: Minot State travels to Winona State for the second time in three seasons to begin the 2016 NSIC / Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament Wednesday. Tip-off between the North No. 6 seed and South No. 3 seed is set for 8 p.m. at McCown Gymnasium. The winner will move on to the Sanford Pentagon and the quarterfinals of the men's tournament Saturday, taking on the winner of the North No. 2 seed Northern State and the South No. 7 seed Southwest Minnesota State with game time scheduled for 8 p.m.

RECORDS: The Beavers enter the tournament with a 15-13 overall record and a 10-12 mark in the NSIC North Division. WSU is 14-12 overall and finished with a 13-9 South Division record. NSU moved into the No. 2 seed in the North with a 13-9 record and is 17-11 overall, while SMSU is 9-13 in conference and 13-14 overall as the tournament begins.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's Matt Murken is in his fourth season as head coach of the Beavers. He's compiled a 47-64 record during his first four seasons with Minot State and is 93-80 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. WSU's Todd Eisner was named the school's 20th head coach prior to the season. He is 13-9 overall with WSU, but is an impressive 426-178 in 17 seasons with four different NAIA schools. Paul Sather is in his sixth season as the head coach at Northern State. The former Black Hills State head coach, who faced Minot State multiple times as members of the Dakota Athletic Conference, is 103-69 at NSU and 197-131 in his career. SMSU's head coach is Brad Bigler. Bigler, a former player and assistant coach with the Mustangs, is 105-94 in his sixth season as 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 NSIC has three teams in the top 10 in the NCAA Central Region Poll including No. 1 Augustana University and No. 2 Minnesota State University Moorhead. Minnesota State also checks in at No. 5. The top 8 teams in the region will move on to the NCAA Division II National Tournament.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State guaranteed its first winning record since joining NCAA Division II and the team's first overall since going 18-11 in 2009-10 with a pair of wins at home to finish the regular season. MSU was extremely entertaining as it rolled to a 97-89 win Friday over St. Cloud State and 90-82 to finish with a season sweep of Minnesota Duluth Saturday. Nathan Mertens (Jr., G, Devils Lake, N.D.) poured in a career-high 24 Friday, while Chris Davis (Sr., G, Colorado Springs, Colo.) matched it with his career high of 24 Saturday. WSU split two games, falling 66-55 to No. 5 Augustana University Saturday, to lose for just the third time in nine games since dropping an away game at MSU in January. WSU rolled over Wayne State Friday 75-62. Conrad Masberg and Isaiah Gray scored 15 each in the win over WSC, while Mark Blacklock scored 17 and pulled down eight rebounds in the loss to the Vikings. NSU secured second in the NSIC North with two wins, topping Minnesota Crookston 79-50 and edging Bemidji State 71-69. SMSU was swept last weekend to finish the regular season, falling 82-75 at Concordia-St. Paul and 72-69 at Minnesota State.

ALL-TIME AT A GLANCE: MSU earned its first win in six games against WSU in January and trails the series 5-1 including a playoff loss in 2013-14, all during its  time in the NSIC. The Beavers trail NSU 33-7 in games going back to when both teams were NAIA and the Beavers have not defeated the Wolves as members of the NSIC. Minot State hasn't topped SMSU as well, trailing 5-0 all-time.

LAST TIME OUT: The Beavers defense overwhelmed WSU in a game at Minot State in January as MSU won 63-46, holding the Warriors to their season low in points. Michael Pelo (Sr., G, Charleston, Utah) was excellent in the matchup, hitting five 3-pointers en route to 22 points to lead all scorers. Conrad Masberg was one of just five WSU players to score in the game and finished with 14 points. MSU fell – despite 12 offensive rebounds and 15 rebounds and 25 points overall by Tyler Rudolph (So., F, Bismarck, N.D.) – 86-71 at Northern State in January. SMSU edged Minot State 86-84 at Marshall, Minn., in December as Ryan Bruggeman scored with 5 second remaining for the win.

NOTING THE WARRIORS: Winona State finished the regular season with seven wins out of its final nine games, including a big 71-71 overtime win over Minnesota State to keep in the top half of the NSIC South Division… The Warriors struggled at times to score this season, finishing with a 71.3 average on offensive, but was stellar most of the year on defense, giving up just 69.1 ppg. … Kyle Bauman and Riley Bambenek averaged in double figures for WSU as Bauman led the team in scoring (14.2) and rebounding (6.1) and Bambenek was second in scoring at 11.7 per game… The Warriors were solid from the free throw line, hitting 74.6 percent, but didn't get there very often. WSU shot just 397 free throws, nearly 200 less than its opponents.

NOTING THE WOLVES: Northern State liked to shoot the ball and for the most part, scored it in bunches as the Wolves hit 42.3 percent of its 672 3-pointers on the season… One of the main reasons was sharpshooter Skye Warwick, who knocked down 95 of 211 3s for an outstanding 45 percent clip. He led the Wolves with a 15.0 scoring average… NSU nearly has five players averaging double figures as Mack Arvidson is fifth on the team with a 9.8 average.

NOTING THE MUSTANGS: Southwest Minnesota State has been in some fun games to watch – as long as you aren't a defensive coach. The Mustangs are minus-1.3 in scoring average despite being seventh in scoring per game at 80.4 ppg. … SMSU is holding teams to just 29.9 rebounds per game and has outboarded its opponents 960-807 on the season… Mitch Weg has done a little bit of everything for his team, leading the team in scoring at 12.8, rebounds at 7.3 and blocked shots with 14 and is second in assists with 41.

CARRER NUMBERS: MSU senior Dominique McDonald (G, Raleigh, N.C.) has put together quite the resume over his four-year career. McDonald recently became the 15th – and first with all four seasons at NCAA Division II – member of the 1,000 point club at Minot State and sits in 14th overall in school history with 1,049 points. He passed former MSU standout Aaron Patterson last week for 14th and is 23 points behind Thomas Korf, who passed 1,000 career points last year, for 13th all time. Along with his point totals, McDonald is nearly at multiple statistical milestones as he currently is five assists away from 400 and one rebound from 300.

DOM DOES IT ALL    

Season	Games	Points	Rebs.	Assists	Steals
2012-13	27	259	68	89	32
2013-14	25	284	76	81	22
2014-15	29	283	82	136	25
2015-16	28	223	73	89	26
Total	109	1,049	299	395	105

MORE UPS THAN DOWNS: Minot State secured its first winning record since joining NCAA Division II with the win over Minnesota Duluth Saturday. The Beavers have steadily improved during head coach Matt Murken's time with the Beavers as he finished with 10 wins in his first season, inheriting a team that won just four the season before. He finished with eight wins in 2013-14 and nearly reached .500 last year at 14-15.

RUDY, RUDY, RUDY: MSU sophomore forward Tyler Rudolph (Bismarck, N.D.) made a serious push for conference and region recognition putting together one of the best year's in a Beaver uniform. Rudolph led the team and is ninth in the conference in scoring at 17.6 points per game. He is second in rebounding at 8.7 per outing and is the NSIC leader in offensive rebounds with 87 on the year. Rudolph hit 82.5 percent from the free throw line, good for seventh in the NSIC and is 13th in the league in 3-point shooting at 43.6 percent.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

2.2: Assist-to-turnover ratio for Nathan Mertens (Jr., G, Devils Lake, N.D.). Mertens leads the team and is eighth in the NSIC.

2.2: Made 3-pointers per game for senior Chris Davis (G, Colorado Springs, Colo.). Davis knocked down 59 on the season to lead Minot State.

48.9: 3-pointer percentage for senior Michael Pelo (G, Charleston, Utah) to lead the team. Pelo hit 46 of 94 3s so far in just 17 games.