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MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team takes its unbeaten record into a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference home games this week. The Dragons play host to Bemidji State at 8 p.m. on Friday and wraps up the weekend against Minnesota Crookston at 8 p.m. on Saturday.

Saturday's games against Minnesota Crookston will be preceded by a pair of Moorhead High School basketball games against St. Michael-Albertville at Nemzek Fieldhouse. The Moorhead girls will face STMA at 2 p.m. followed by the Moorhead boys taking on STMA at 4 p.m. Fans can buy a ticket to one of the games and that will allow them access to all four games that day.

The Dragons are 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

MSUM will meet Bemidji State for a 176th time with the Dragons holding a 92-83 series lead. The teams split two games a year ago. MSUM holds a 28-9 lead in the all-time series with Minnesota Crookston, having swept both meetings in 2012-13.

About MSUM
The Dragons maintained their unbeaten mark with a pair of road wins last week. MSUM beat Mary, 83-73 on Friday, thanks to 21 points from sophomore guard Tyler Vaughan and then followed with a 78-67 win at Minot State thanks to a career-high 15 points from junior guard Prescott Williams.

Vaughan leads the Dragons at 11.3 points per game while junior forward Urbane Bingham averages 10.1. Junior guard Jordan Riewer is also in double figures at 10.0 points per game and leads MSUM with 25 assists.  Senior Tarell Clark leads at 5.7 rebounds per game and also has a team-best 10 steals.

MSUM scores an NSIC-best 88.7 points per game and is shooting 50.9 percent from the field, including 44.4 percent from three-point range. The Dragons outrebound their foes 42.0-30.0 and are allowing 61.3 points per contest.

Chad Walthall is in his fourth season as MSUM's head coach with a record of 62-33 at the school.

About Bemidji State
Bemidji State is 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the NSIC. The Beavers went 2-0 at home last week. Bemidji State beat St. Cloud State, 70-65, thanks to 21 points and 24 rebounds from senior Maxie Rosenbloom. A day later, the Beavers beat Minnesota Duluth, 90-79 thanks to 30 points from junior Brock Lutes.

Lutes leads Bemidji State at 19.6 points per game, while senior Zach Noreen is at 17.1 points per game and Rosenbloom is at 13.1. Rosenbloom is at 11.4 rebounds per game while DJ Hervy leads with 26 assists. Michael Farrington has 17 steals.

Bemidji State is averaging 84.4 points per game and shooting 47.2 percent from the field. The Beavers are outrebounding their opposition 41.7-30.6. On defense, Bemidji State allows 66.3 points per game and teams are shooting 40.2 percent against the Beavers this season.

Mike Boschee is in his second year at Bemidji State with a record of 24-13 at the school.

About Minnesota Crookston
Minnesota Crookston is 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the NSIC after splitting two games at home last weekend.  The Golden Eagles beat Minnesota Duluth, 87-85 on Friday thanks to 34 points from Ashton Harrell, and then fell to St. Cloud State, 87-50 on Saturday.

Harrell leads the Golden Eagles at 15.7 points per game while Brandon Burns is averaging 11.7. Tyler West averages 9.6 points per game for the Golden Eagles, who are averaging 70.3 as a team. West leads at 4.7 rebounds while Kevin Larson leads with 31 assists.

UMC is shooting 45.5 percent from the field. The Golden Eagles are being outrebounded by a slight 34.4-34.6 margin. On defense, UMC allows 74.7 points per game and teams are shooting 43.4 percent against them.

Jeff Oseth is in his 12th year as Minnesota Crookston's head coach with a record of 59-243 at the school.

Statistical Rankings/National
MSUM ranks high in the nation (out of 290 teams in Division II) in several areas:
--scoring margin, fifth (+27.4)
--three-point field goal percentage, ninth (45.4 percent).
--scoring defense, 10th (61.3)
--field goal percentage defense, 11th (35.9 percent)
--rebound margin,12th (12.0)
--assist turnover ratio, 16th (1.64)

Statistical Rankings/NSIC
Through five games, MSUM leads the NSIC in the several categories:
--scoring offense (88.7)
--scoring defense (61.3)
--scoring margin (+27.4)
--3-point field goal percentage (44.4 percent)
--rebounding margin (+12.0)

Balancing act
A key to MSUM's unbeaten start has been balance. Three Dragons -- sophomore guard Tyler Vaughan (11.3), junior forward Urbane Bingham (10.1) and junior guard Jordan Riewer (10.0) all are averaging in double figures. . However, a total of eight MSUM players are averaging at least seven points a game or more. Nine players have scored in double figures at least once, and six different players have led the team in scoring through five games.