MINOT, N.D. -- The Minot State University men's basketball team continues its road trip with a visit to St. Cloud State University to face the 1-3 Huskies. The Beavers are fresh off a series split and open this two-game road swing on Saturday, Jan. 16 at 2 p.m. inside Halenbeck Hall. 

Beavers men's basketball head coach Matt Murken joined us for his weekly press conference to talk about the last two games at Southwest Minnesota State and preview the matchup against St. Cloud State University. Watch the video by clicking the play icon located in the photo above. 

GAME NOTES

WEEKEND MATCHUP
Minot State men's basketball heads to St. Cloud State University to face the Huskies for a 2 p.m. tip-off on Saturday, Jan. 16, and a 2 p.m. tip-off on Sunday, Jan. 17 to open conference play. St. Cloud started the year 1-3 after dropping its first two games of the season at Upper Iowa by the final scores of 107-84 and 110-106. The Huskies got in the win column with an 83-76 victory at UMary on Jan. 8 but dropped the final game on their road trip in Bismarck (85-79).

The game can be watched live on the NSIC Network.

EYES ON THE PRIZE 
The NSIC / Sanford Health Men's & Women's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Championships are set to take place Thursday-Sunday, February 25-28 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  The top teams from each division will make up the eight-team field for the 2021 tournament.

ABOUT LAST WEEKEND
MSU earned a season split with SMSU after taking the series capping matchup 82-65 on Jan. 9 in Marshall, Minn. The Beavers had two players in double-digits with Max Cody and Melvin Newbern surpassing the 20-point mark for the first time this season. MSU forced 17 turnovers in the loss on Friday (1/8) and 16 turnovers in the win on Saturday (1/9) and have forced SMSU into 62 turnovers over four games. The Beavers had a season-high 12 steals in the victory on Saturday.

AGAINST THE HUSKIES
The Beavers are 4-12 all-time against St. Cloud State including two losses a season ago. MSU dropped the first end of the matchup 78-73 on the road and fell 82-65 at the MSU Dome. The largest margin of victory goes to Minot State with a 97-89 victory on Feb. 19, 2016. The Beavers have lost five straight to the Huskies to mark the longest streak in the series.

MAX POWER
Senior guard Max Cody has scored 975 career-points and is knocking on the door of 1,000 points for his career. Cody led the team in 2019-20 with 186 assists, he currently sits second all-time with 418 career-assists, looking to surpass Ryan Johnson (1993-03) who holds the school record with 549 career-assists. Cody scored 24 points in the second game at SMSU, which was three points shy of his career-high 27 recorded on Jan. 11, 2020, against Minnesota Duluth. The 24-point performance marked his third time in double-digits so far this season.
 
FEEL THE BERN
Melvin Newbern's production rose over the weekend at SMSU, as he scored 33 total points including a career-high 23 points (8-12 FG) at the Mustangs. His ability to run the floor and rebound the basketball has made him a prominent player early on in the season for the Beavers. Newbern has grabbed a team-high 37 rebounds over four games played.

GETTING IT TO GO
The Beavers have shot .457 (105-230) from the field as a team so far this season including a shooting percentage of .588 (30-51) on Jan. 9 at SMSU, marking a season-high for the team in field-goal percentage that resulted in the largest offensive output of the season 82 points. The 30 field goals made were a season-high for the Beavers.

About Minot State
Minot State University is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and NCAA Division II offering 14 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletics programs. The NSIC is a premier NCAA DII, 16-member conference featuring teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Iowa. The Beavers are the only public NCAA Division II institution in the state of North Dakota.