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WHAT'S AHEAD
MOORHEAD, Minn.--The No. 5 Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team (30-2, 20-2 NSIC) will play Upper Iowa in the quarterfinals of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/Sanford Health Tournament on Sunday at 12 p.m. The quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship game will all be played at The Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
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 last week. 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.
The Dragons hold a 9-7 advantage over Upper Iowa in the all-time series between the two schools; however, the Peacocks have won six of the past 10 match ups dating back to Jan. 2009.
This season, Upper Iowa has stayed near .500 the entire season, never winning more than three consecutive games and never losing more than two consecutive games. The Peacocks are 17-12 on the season and 12-10 in conference play. Upper Iowa lost all four games against Augustana and Minnesota State Mankato this season, but defeated Concordia-St. Paul twice.
As a team, Upper Iowa ranks third in the NSIC in scoring offense (84.0 points per game), fourth in assists (14.7 per game), and first in steals (7.7 per game).
Senior guard Bo Pagel leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.0 points per game (19th in NSIC), while grabbing 3.8 rebounds per game. Pagel is fifth in the NSIC in free throw percentage with a mark of .821.
FIRST MEETING: JAN. 2
MSUM shot a season-high 69 percent (40-of-58) from the field in a 106-81 victory over Upper Iowa in Moorhead on Jan. 2. Senior guard Jordan Riewer surpassed 1,000 career points in the game and matched a career high nine assists in the victory.
Junior forward Isaac Sevlie led the team in scoring with 18 points in the game. Freshman guard Tanner Kretchman tied a career high with 15 points as well.
MSUM led the entire first half but Upper Iowa closed the gap to 35-34 with 5:22 left. The Dragons scored five points in a row -- three coming on a three-point play from senior forward Urbane Bingham and two coming from Kretchman -- to push the lead back to six.
MSUM scored nine consecutive points to increase its lead from 60-50 to 69-50 early in the second half. Sevlie had the final four points in the run to give the Dragons a 19 point lead with 15:05 left to play. Kretchman hit three straight shots, including two three-pointers for the Dragons to cap a 10-1 run to give MSUM its largest lead of the night at 90-65 with 6:20 to play in the game.
A LOOK BACK
MSUM defeated Wayne State 89-60 on Wednesday in the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament. The home game for the Dragons marked the fourth consecutive season MSUM has hosted a first round tournament game.
MSUM utilized 19 steals and scored 24 points off Wayne State turnovers as six Dragons scored in double digits in the game. Junior forward Isaac Sevlie led the team in scoring with 17 points while senior guard led the team in rebounding with seven. Senior guard Jordan Riewer and junior guard Tyler Vaughan each had six steals in the game.
The Dragons opened the game on a 12-4 run over the first four minutes, keyed by sophomore guard Aaron Lien with four points while Riewer and senior guard Prescott Williams added three apiece.
The Wildcats answered with a 14-4 run of their own to take an 18-16 lead. The Dragons, whose biggest first-half lead was nine, led 42-38 at one point but scored the final five points of the half to take a 47-38 lead into halftime.
The Dragons methodically pulled away in the second half, outscoring the Wildcats 32-13 over the first 14 minutes to take a commanding 79-51 lead.
NSIC CO-PLAYER OF THE YEAR
•Senior guard Jordan Riewer's magical season reached a new high point on Thursday, after Riewer was named NSIC Co-Player of the Year. The Staples, Minn. native has reached four statistical milestones in his final year as a Dragon, and took home the NSIC North Division player of the week honor five times this season.
•Riewer leads the team in scoring (16.9 ppg), rebounding (4.8 rpg), assists (5.5 apg), three-point field goal percentage (.522), and free throw percentage (.944). The senior guard is first in the NSIC in free throw percentage (.944), three-point field goals made per game (2.9), and assist to turnover ratio (3.9). Riewer is also second in the NSIC in three-point field goal percentage (.522), third in assists per game (5.5), and sixth in scoring (16.9 ppg).
•Nationally, Riewer is ranked first in Division-II in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.93), free throw percentage (.944), three-point field goal percentage (.522), sixth in total three-pointers made (94), and ninth in total assists (177).
•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 Wednesday, Riewer now has 1,291 career points.
•The 6-foot-2 guard passed Ralph Western's school record of 339 assists on Jan. 3 in the win over Winona State when he posted eight assists. Riewer has dished out nine assists on three different occasions this season, the most recent time occurring in the win over St. Cloud State on Feb. 14. Riewer now has 426 career assists.
•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.
•The senior leader of the Dragons became the school's record holder for career 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 219 threes in his career.
•Riewer became the school's single season assist leader during the win over Bemidji State on Feb. 20. Riewer surpassed Darryl Greene's record of 163 assists in 1992-93 with seven assists in the game. He now has 177 assists this season.
TOP 10 IN 11 NCAA D-II CATEGORIES
•The Dragons rank in the top-10 in the nation as a team in 11 different categories:
•1st in Turnovers per game: 8.1. The Dragons have turned the ball over eight or fewer times 16 times this season.
•1st in Assist to Turnover Ratio: 2.01. Jordan Riewer ranks second in the nation with a mark of 3.93.
•2nd in Total Three-Point Field Goals Made: 325. Jordan Riewer leads the team with 94 while Tyler Vaughan has 60.
•2nd in Total Assists: 520. Jordan Riewer has 177 assists this season, ranked eighth in the nation.
•3rd in Total Rebounds: 1,159. Jordan Riewer leads the team with 154 rebounds, Prescott Williams has 152.
•3rd in Win-Loss Percentage: .938. The Dragons have the most wins among any team in Division-II at 30.
•3rd in Scoring Margin: +19.3. MSUM has won 27 games by 11 or more points and 16 by 20 or more points.
•5th in Fewest Turnovers: 259. No Dragon has committed more than 45 turnovers this season.
•6th in Total Three-Point Field Goal Attempts: 776. On average, the Dragons shoot 24.3 three-pointers per game.
•6th in Three-Point Field Goal Percentage: .419. Jordan Riewer is ranked first in the nation at 52.2 percent (94-of-180).
•10th in Field Goal Percentage: .506. All 10 Dragon players who have seen action this season are shooting over 40 percent from the field.
FIRST IN SEVEN NSIC CATEGORIES
•Scoring defense: 64.9. MSUM has held its opponents to 70 points or under in 22 games this season.
•Three-point field goals made per game: 10.2. Three Dragons players have hit at least 55 three-pointers. Jordan Riewer leads the way with 94, followed by Tyler Vaughan (60) and Aaron Lien (56).
•Assists to turnover ratio: 2.00. The Dragons have recorded 520 assists this season compared to only 259 turnovers. Jordan Riewer leads the NSIC with an assist to turnover ratio of 3.9 (177:45).
•Field Goal Percentage: .506. Three Dragons are shooting over 50 percent from the field this season: Isaac Sevlie at .591 (146-of-247), Jordan Riewer at .526 (173-of-329), and Aaron Lien at .512 (144-of-281).
•Defensive Rebounds per game: 26.6. Jordan Riewer (133) and Aaron Lien (108) have cleaned the glass of the defensive end for MSUM.
•Scoring margin: +19.3. Highlighted by a 71-point victory over Presentation College on Dec. 2.
•Three-point field goal percentage: .419. Jordan Riewer leads the conference, making 52.2 (94-of-180) percent of three-pointers shot this year.
NSIC COACH OF THE YEAR
•Head Coach Chad Walthall was honored as NSIC Coach of the Year, announced on Thursday. The Dragons enter the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament as NSIC regular season Co-Champions with a conference record of 20-2 and an overall record of 29-2. MSUM has set single season school records for most wins (30) and most conference wins (20) this season.
•In his fifth season as head coach, Walthall is now 106-43 at MSUM, with a conference record of 73-37 and a winning percentage of 71.1 percent. The only Dragon head coach with a better winning percentage is Marv Skaar, who had a 71.3 percent winning percentage in five seasons between 1967-72.
•With two conference titles already under his belt, Walthall has vaulted the MSUM program to national recognition, earning 20 wins for the third time in his tenure and the ninth time in school history. Walthall trails only Dave Schellhase for most 20-win seasons in school history with four.
•After the Dragons first round win over Wayne State, the Dragons are now 6-4 in the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament under Walthall. In 2011-12, Walthall led the Dragons to a 21-10 record and the school's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1964. Last season, the Dragons went 21-8 and won the NSIC North Division, the first conference title since 1981-82.
•Walthall earned his 200th win of his career in a win over Presentation on Dec. 2 and his 100th victory at MSUM in a win over Minnesota State Mankato on Jan. 31.
SEVLIE ON NSIC FIRST TEAM, LIEN ON NSIC SECOND TEAM
•Junior forward Isaac Sevlie was named to the All Conference First Team and is averaging 12.9 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Sevlie leads the Dragons in blocks with 48 and field goal percentage at .591 (146-of-247). The junior forward is shooting 80.8 percent (122-of-151) from the free throw line this season. The Red Wing, Minn. native is second in the NSIC in blocks per game at 1.5 and fifth in field goal percentage at .591. Sevlie has scored in double digits in 20 of 32 games this season, including 20 or more points in five games since Jan. 3.
•Sevlie won the NSIC North Division player of the week honor on Jan. 5 after leadin the Dragons to two road wins. The Dragon forward scored 18 points in a victory over Upper Iowa on Jan. 2, then had 21 points and eight rebounds in a win over Winona State on Jan 3. Sevlie also made a career high 11 free throws in the game.
•Sophomore guard Aaron Lien earned All Conference Second Team honors after averaging 12.1 points (third on team) and 3.9 rebounds per game. The Moorhead, Minn. native is shooting 51.2 percent (144-of-281) from the field, 40.9 percent (56-of-137) from the three-point line, and 79.6 percent (43-of-54) from the free throw line.
A LOOK AT THE OPPONENT... UPPER IOWA
Record: 17-12, 13-9 NSIC
Last Game: Defeated Minot State 97-85
Notes: The Upper Iowa men's basketball team has settled into the middle of the pack of the ever-challenging Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division. The Peacocks finished the regular season in fourth place in the division with a conference record of 12-10 and an overall record of 16-12. Upper Iowa has hovered around .500 all season, as they have not won more than three straight games or lost more than two. Upper Iowa had a difficult time with the top two teams in their division, Augustana and Minnesota State Mankato. The Peacocks lost all four games they played against the two teams. The Peacocks did defeat Concordia-St. Paul twice this season, once on Dec. 12, in Fayette 86-74 and again in St. Paul on Feb. 13, 86-84. On Wednesday, the Peacocks took care of Minot State 97-85 in the first round of the NSIC tournament.
•As a team, Upper Iowa ranks third in the NSIC in scoring offense (84.0 points per game), fourth in assists (14.7 per game), and first in steals (7.7 per game).
•Senior guard Bo Pagel leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.0 points per game (19th in NSIC), while grabbing 3.8 rebounds per game. Pagel is fifth in the NSIC in free throw percentage with a mark of .821.
•Senior guard Grant Lang leads the team in assists with 3.2 per game and averages 11.4 points per game.
