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WHAT'S AHEAD
MOORHEAD, Minn.--The No. 5 Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team (29-2, 20-2 NSIC) will host Wayne State in the first round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament on Wednesday night. This will be the fourth consecutive season that MSUM has hosted a game in the first round of the tournament. Tip off is scheduled for 8 p.m. following the conclusion of the women's game.
The Dragons moved up to No. 5 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II poll after defeating Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston on the road over the weekend. MSUM was ranked No. 8 in the previous poll. With the Dragons two wins and a loss from Augustana, the two schools shared the NSIC regular season championship with identical conference records of 20-2. In addition, MSUM is ranked No. 3 in the latest Bennett Rankings.Â
Both games will be televised live on WDAY'Z Xtra, which is channel 6.3 over the air. The channel can be found on Midcontinent Communications cable channel 596 and Cable One Channel 29. Live stats, live online video stream, and audio can be found at msumdragons.com. Dragon broadcaster Steve d'Eustachio will have the call for both games. A live episode of Dragons Live will begin at 5:30 p.m. with Jon Wepking and d'Eustachio previewing the NSIC tournament.
Wayne State has had the upper hand in the all-time series between the two schools, leading 17-4. The Dragons have won three of the last five match ups dating back to Dec. 2011. MSUM defeated Wayne State 86-65 earlier this season on Feb. 6. Senior guard Jordan Riewer led the team in scoring in the game with 18 points as the Dragons won their 25th game of the season.Â
This season, the Wildcats have struggled in conference play, winning just four conference games and seven games overall. WSC enters the tournament with an overall record of 7-21 and a conference record of 4-18. The Wildcats lost their first 13 conference games before ending the conference season 4-5. Senior Patrick Kurth leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 12.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
MSUM picked up road victories over Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston last weekend to conclude its regular season schedule. The Dragons became co-NSIC regular season champions after Augustana lost to Winona State on the final day of the regular season.Â
On Friday, all 10 Dragons who saw action in the game scored as MSUM bested Bemidji State 99-61. The Dragons shot the ball extremely well in the game, converting 61.9 percent (39-of-63) from the field and 51.7 percent (15-of-29) from beyond the three-point arc. The Dragons dished out 23 assists in the game while only turning the ball over five times.Â
Four Dragons scored in double figures in the game, led by junior guard Tyler Vaughan with 20 points. Senior guard Jordan Riewer had 18 points and seven assists while senior forward Urbane Bingham had 14 points and sophomore forward Aaron Lien had 12 points. Â
The Dragons opened up the scoring with three straight three-pointers, jumping out to a 9-5 lead four minutes into the game. Lien hit the first three-pointer, followed by Riewer, then Lien again. The Dragons utilized a 15-7 run between the 8:05 and 3:48 marks of the half to extend its lead from nine to 17 at 38-21 after a layup from Bingham. The 17-point lead was the largest lead of half for the Dragons as the MSUM took a 50-34 heading into the half. The Dragons kept the pedal to the floor in the second half, increasing their lead to 83-54 with 6:33 left in the game after a dunk from sophomore forward Matt Nelson. MSUM ended the game on a 12-3 run to cap the scoring at 99-61.
On Saturday, the Dragons defeated Minnesota Crookston 66-44 on the final day of the regular season. The 22-point victory was the 15th time this season the Dragons won by 20 or more points and the 26th time they have won by 11 or more. Junior forward Isaac Sevlie led the team with 14 points while Nelson had a career high 12 rebounds and three blocks in the game.
The Dragons came out firing on all cylinders in the second half, extending their lead the 18 three minutes into the half after three-pointers from sophomore forward Lien and Riewer. The Dragons pushed their lead to as much as 23 after a three-pointer from Songolo made the score 54-31.
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SENIOR LEADERSHIP
•Senior guard Jordan Riewer has put together an impressive senior season so far. This week, Riewer was named the NSIC North Division Player of the Week for the fifth time this season after averaging 15.5 points and 6.0 assists per game in wins over Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston. The Dragon point guard has also reached four milestones this season that has cemented his place in Dragon history. Riewer reached 1,000 career points and is now the school's all-time assist and three-pointers made leader, as well as the single season assists record holder.
•The Dragon point guard surpassed 1,000 points in his career on Jan. 2 in the win over Upper Iowa. Riewer is the 27th player in Dragon history to reach the 1,000-point club and the first since Alex Novak entered the exclusive club in 2013 with 1,219 points. Through Saturday, Riewer now has 1,277 career points.
•The 6-2 guard passed Ralph Western's school record of 339 assists on Jan. 3 in the win over Winona State. Riewer has dished out nine assists on three different occasions this season, the most recent time occurring in the Saturday win over St. Cloud State. Riewer now has 420 career assists.
•Riewer became the school's record holder for most three-pointers made in the win over Minnesota Duluth on Feb. 13, surpassing Jake Driscoll's mark of 205 in 110 games between 2008 and 2012. Riewer has now made 217 threes in his career.
•The Staples, Minn. native became the school's single season leader during Saturday's win over Minnesota Crookston. Riewer now has 171 assists this season.
•Riewer scored a career-high 37 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the three-point line in a win over Concordia-St. Paul on Jan. 30. Riewer hit seven straight three-pointers in the final 11 minutes of the first half as he bested his previous career high (26) with 28 points in the first half. The nine three-pointers in the game tied a school record for most three-pointers in a single game.
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TOP 10 IN 12
•The Dragons rank in the top-10 in the nation as a team in 12 different categories:
•1st in Turnovers per game: 8.0. The Dragons have turned the ball over eight or fewer times 16 times this season.
•1st in Assist to Turnover Ratio: 2.0. Jordan Riewer ranks second in the nation with a mark of 4.07.
•2nd in Total Three-Point Field Goals Made: 320. Jordan Riewer leads the team with 92 while Tyler Vaughan has 59.
•3rd in Total Rebounds: 1,127. Jordan Riewer leads the team with 151 rebounds, Prescott Williams has 145.
•3rd in Total Assists: 498. Jordan Riewer has 171 assists this season, ranked ninth in the nation.
•3rd in Win-Loss Percentage: .935. The Dragons have the most wins among any team in Division-II at 29.
•4th in Scoring Margin: +19.0. MSUM has won 26 games by 11 or more points and 15 by 20 or more points.
•4th in Fewest Turnovers: 249. No Dragon has committed more than 42 turnovers this season.
•6th in Total Three-Point Field Goal Attempts: 757. On average, the Dragons shoot 24.4 three-pointers per game.
•6th in Three-Point Field Goal Percentage: .423. Jordan Riewer is ranked first in the nation at 52.6 percent (92-of-175).
•9th in Field Goal Percentage: .505. All 10 Dragon players who have seen action this season are shooting over 40 percent from the field.
•10th in Three-Point Field Goals per Game: 10.3. MSUM has already set the single season record for most three-pointers in a season with 320.
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FIRST IN EIGHT NSIC CATEGORIES
•Scoring defense: 65.1. MSUM has held its opponents to 70 points or under in 19 games this season.Â
•Three-point field goals made per game: 10.3. Three Dragons players have hit at least 55 three-pointers. Jordan Riewer leads the way with 92, followed by Tyler Vaughan (59) and Aaron Lien (55).
•Free-throw percentage: .762. Three players are better than .800 and seven players are better than .700 from the line, highlighted by Jordan Riewer at .943 (100-of-106) and Isaac Sevlie at .815 (119-of-146).
•Assists to turnover ratio: 2.00. The Dragons have recorded 498 assists this season compared to only 249 turnovers. Jordan Riewer leads the NSIC with an assist to turnover ratio of 4.07 (171:42).Â
•Field Goal Percentage: .505. Three Dragons are shooting over 50 percent from the field this season: Isaac Sevlie at .586 (139-of-237), Jordan Riewer at .525 (168-of-320), and Aaron Lien at .511 (138-of-270).
•Defensive Rebounds per game: 26.6. Jordan Riewer (131) and Aaron Lien (104) have cleaned the glass of the defensive end for MSUM.
•Scoring margin: +19.4. Highlighted by a 71-point victory over Presentation College on Dec. 2.
•Three-point field goal percentage: .423. Jordan Riewer leads the conference, making 52.6 percent of three-pointers shot this year.
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NSIC CO-CHAMPIONS
•With a 66-44 win over Minnesota Crookston and an Augustana loss to Winona State on Saturday, the Dragons claimed a share of the NSIC regular season championship. Both MSUM and Augustana ended the regular season with identical conference records of 20-2.
•With every win, the Dragons will set a new season-high win total. The previous record of 24 wins happened twice, in 1970-71 and 1981-82.Â
•In '70-71, head coach Marv Skaar led the Dragons to 24-2 record, falling in the first round of the NAIA playoffs to Augsburg. In '81-82, head coach Dave Schellhase led the Dragons to a 24-7 record.
•The Dragons reached 20 wins for the ninth time in school history and the third time in the last four seasons. Head Coach Chad Walthall has guided MSUM to three 20-win seasons during his tenure at the helm of MSUM, trailing only Dave Schellhase for most 20-win seasons in school history with four. In 2011-12, Walthall led the Dragons to a 21-10 record on the way to an appearance in the NCAA Regional. Last season, the Dragons went 21-8 and won the NSIC North Division, the first conference title since 1981-82.
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NELSON SETS CAREER HIGHS
•Sophomore forward Matt Nelson played one of his better games as a Dragon in the 66-44 win over Minnesota Crookston. The Dragon forward set a career high in rebounds with 12 and tied a career high in blocks with three. Nelson also had seven points in the game.
•The Rosemount, Minn. native has played in all 31 games this season and is averaging 14.7 minutes per game. Nelson is averaging 3.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks per game. Nelson is also shooting 63.2 percent (48-of-76) from the field.
•Nelson scored a season high 14 points and grabbed four rebounds in the win over Minnesota Duluth on Feb. 13. Nelson shot 6-of-8 from the field in that game.
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A LOOK AT THE OPPONENT... WAYNE STATE
Record: 7-21, 4-18 NSIC
Last Game: Lost to Upper Iowa 92-86
Notes: After averaging 12 wins a season for the past seven seasons, the Wayne State men's basketball team has only managed to pick up seven wins this season. The Wildcats enter the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament with a record of 7-21 and 4-18 in conference play. Wayne State began its conference schedule with 13 straight losses before upending Winona State 81-79 on Jan. 24. Including that win over Winona State, the Wildcats ended the season winning four of its final nine conference games, including two win over Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State in their final home stand of the season. Last weekend, Wayne State fell to Winona State and Upper Iowa on the road to conclude the regular season.
•As a team, Wayne State ranks in the bottom half of most statistical categories. The Wildcats are ranked fifth in the NSIC in offensive rebounds, averaging 10.2 per game.
Wayne State has played with an extremely young rotation this season, routinely starting three or four freshman. Six freshman have played at least 19 gamesÂ
•Senior center Patrick Kurth leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 12.8 points (21st in the NSIC) and 5.6 rebounds per game (11th in the NSIC). Kurth ranks second in the NSIC in field goal percentage (.621) and seventh in blocks per game at 1.1.
•Freshman guard Trae VandeBerg averages 10.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game while freshman forward Jordan Cornelius averages 8.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.
