THIS WEEK: Minot State begins a four-game homestand with two games against NSIC South Division teams Friday and Saturday at the MSU Dome. Minot State plays host to Southwest Minnesota State Friday (8 p.m.) and the University of Sioux Falls Saturday (6 p.m.).

RECORDS: The Beavers dropped below .500 at 10-12 overall and are 6-10 in NSIC play, sitting in a three-way tie for fourth place in the NSIC North Division. SMSU is second in the NSIC South Division with a 12-4 conference record and is 17-4 overall. USF is fifth in the South with a 9-7 record and is 13-11 overall.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's Matt Murken is in his fifth season as head coach of the Beavers. He's compiled a 57-77 record during his first five seasons with Minot State and is 103-93 throughout his six-year head coaching career. Brad Bigler is SMSU's head coach and is 125-99 in his eighth season at the school. USF's head coach is Chris Johnson, who is 137-103 with the Cougars in eight seasons. He is 153-118 overall 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: Southwest Minnesota State received votes in the latest NABC Division II Top 25 poll and is the third ranked team in the latest D2SIDA Central Region Media Poll. Minot State and Sioux Falls were not ranked in either poll.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State lost a heartbreaker Friday falling 84-82 in overtime at Winona State and couldn't rebound, losing at Upper Iowa 82-67 Saturday. In Friday's game, MSU's Nathan Mertens tied the game with four second to play, but the Beavers were outscored 13-11 in OT. Tyler Rudolph finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Nathaniel Moore added 17 for the Beavers. Saturday, MSU ran out of gas in the second half, getting outscored 50-30 after taking a 37-32 lead into the halftime locker room. Luis Ricci Maia finished with 19 points for the Beavers. SMSU also went to overtime, outlasting nationally ranked MSU Moorhead 113-105 Friday, but couldn't hold the momentum falling 96-86 Saturday to Northern State. Ryan Bruggeman paced the Mustangs both nights with 19 and 27 points respectively. Sioux Falls dropped a pair of games to NSU and MSUM on the weekend. Northern State clipped the Cougars 86-84 Friday with MSUM rolling over USF Saturday 84-59… Zach Wessels and Mack Johnson had 18 each Friday, while Wessels, Drew Guebert and Daniel Hurtt scored 11 apiece Saturday.

ALL-TIME AT A GLANCE: The Beavers have struggled with both NSIC South foes as they trail SMSU 5-0 all during its time in the NSIC and trail USF 7-1 in games where both teams were NAIA, transitioning to NCAA DII and in conference play.

LAST TIME OUT: Minot State played nearly perfect on a road trip to USF and SMSU in December last season, but came home empty. MSU fell 66-65 in overtime on a buzzer beater by Mack Johnson at USF Friday and then was turned away 86-84 by a Ryan Bruggeman layup with five seconds to play Saturday. Against USF, Tyler Rudolph's 14 points paced three in double figures. He also had nine rebounds. Jordan Stotts scored 17 in the win for USF. In the SMSU game, Winston Williams' 17 points led six Beavers in double figures including all five starters. Carter Kirk countered with 19 points for SMSU.

NOTING THE MUSTANGS: Southwest Minnesota State had a great start to the season, going 6-0 and 14-2 over the first two months of the season… The Mustangs have 156 steals on the season, averaging 7.4 per game… Six different SMSU players average at least 10.1 points per game… Ryan Bruggeman leads the way with a 13.6 scoring average and has 92 assists on the season… Carter Kirk also averages double figures scoring (10.7) and leads the team with an 8.1 rebounding average. Taylor Schafer has hit 21 of 23 free throws.

NOTING THE COUGARS: University of Sioux Falls has struggled a bit as of late, losing three of their last four… Head coach Chris Johnson is a former Minot State assistant, coaching under former head coach Mike Hultz. He was at MSU from 2001-2004. Johnson comes into the weekend tied as the all-time wins leader at USF… The Cougars are hitting 46.5 percent from the field and if you take away average 3-point shooting (37.9 percent), USF is over 51 percent from the field… Drew Guebert leads the team with a 15.8 scoring average and has a team-leading 133 rebounds.

CAREFUL DELIVERY: MSU continues to be one of the top teams in the NSIC when it comes to turnovers, averaging just 10.8 per game. A big part of that is the ball handling skills of guards Luis Ricci Maia, Nathaniel Moore, Nathan Mertens and Russ Davis. The foursome has just 131 turnovers on the season and average just 5.95 between them.  

SHARPSHOOTERS: MSU trio of Trevor Rothstein, Russ Davis and Tyler Rudolph have continued to knock down 3-pointers at a high rate. All three are shooting 40 percent or better and have combined for 113 triples. Rothstein, despite battling injuries, leads MSU in percentage, hitting 20 of 35 for 57.1 percent. Davis is one of the top shooters in the country, hitting exactly half of this triples and has a team-leading 59 on the year. Rudolph is third in makes with 34 and third in percentage at 40.5.

KEEP THEM OFF THE LINE: MSU has been outscored 376-271 at the free throw line this season for two big reasons. First, MSU has put opponents at the line 488 times, 111 more than the Beavers have taken. Second, teams have hit their free ones, shooting an impressive 77.0 against MSU.

BY THE NUMBERS

10: Place on the all-time scoring list at Minot State for Tyler Rudolph. Rudolph tied Bart Manson for 10th all-time after the weekend with 1,197 points. He will now set his sights on ninth, MSU great Dick Limke who scored 1,285 from 1959-63.

22: Steals for Luis Ricci Maia, tops on the team in the category.

801: Points in the first half for MSU, which is outscoring its opponents 801-760 before the break.