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WHAT'S AHEAD
MOORHEAD, Minn.--The No. 6 Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team (24-1, 15-1 NSIC) will head back on the road this week for two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference contests. The Dragons will travel to Wayne, Neb. to face Wayne State on Friday night before heading to Sioux Falls, S.D. for a top-10 matchup against No. 4 Augustana on Saturday night.
For the second week in a row, the Dragons moved up one spot in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Coaches poll. The Dragons moved up to No. 6 in the poll after hard-fought victories over Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State Mankato. MSUM holds a three-game lead over Northern State (12-4) in the NSIC north and is tied with Augustana (15-1) for the best record in the conference.
Live video and audio of both games can be streamed at msumdragons.com.
First off, the Dragons will face Wayne State (5-17, 2-14 NSIC) on Friday night at 8 p.m. following the completion of the women's game. Friday's game will be the 21st meeting between the two schools with Wayne State holding a 17-3 advantage. The Dragons and Wildcats have split the last four matchups dating back to Dec. 2011. Last season, in the only matchup between the two programs, the Dragons defeated Wayne State 95-84 on Feb. 15, 2014. Tarell Clark led the Dragons with 27 points and 13 rebounds, while then-sophomore forward Isaac Sevlie had 17 points.
This season, the Wildcats have struggled so far this season, posting a 5-17 record overall and a 2-14 record in the NSIC. The Wildcats routinely start three or four freshmen in their starting lineup. Wayne State has won two of their last three games however, defeating Winona State and Mary. Senior center Patrick Kurth leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 12.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
Next up, MSUM will travel back north to Sioux Falls, S.D. for a top-10 match up against No. 4 Augustana (22-1, 15-1 NSIC). Since joining the NSIC in 2008, the Vikings and Dragons have split 10 contests between the two programs. MSUM has won five of the last seven contests dating back to Dec. 2010. Last season, the Dragons dropped a close contest in Sioux Falls, 92-88 on Feb. 14, 2014. Then-sophomore Tyler Vaughan had 21 points in the game.Â
This season, Augustana is ranked No. 4 in the NABC Division II Coaches poll and has only dropped one game this season. The Vikings lost to Minnesota State Mankato in Mankato on Dec. 15, but have won the rest of their games by a margin of 19.0 points per game. Since their lone loss, the Vikings have won 14 straight games. Senior forward Daniel Jansen leads the NSIC in scoring with 19.5 points per game and is sixth in rebounding with 6.9 per game.Â
A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
The Dragons played in two close contests last weekend, but still prevailed, coming away with another two victories, increasing its winning streak to 12 games with victories over Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State Mankato.Â
On Friday night, senior guard Jordan Riewer had a career night as he led MSUM to a 94-82 victory over Concordia-St. Paul. The senior guard was on fire in the first half, as he hit eight three pointers, including seven straight in the final 11 minutes of the half to surpass his previous career high (26) by scoring 28 points in the half. Riewer ended the night with 37 points as he tied a single game school record with nine three-pointers in the game. Junior forward Isaac Sevlie scored 23 points in the game and had 10 rebounds as he notched his first double-double of his career.
On Saturday night, the Dragons snuck away with a slim 76-72 victory over Minnesota State Mankato. Four Dragons scored in double digits, led by sophomore forward Aaron Lien, who had 19 points. Lien scored four points in the final two minutes, including a jumper from just beyond the left elbow to give the Dragons the lead for good with 1:16 left.
The Dragons led throughout the game, with one tie occurring in the second half. The Mavericks cut MSUM's lead to one point on five different occasions in the second half, but could never gain the lead.
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RIEWER, THREE-TIME NSIC NORTH DIVISION PLAYER OF THE WEEK
•After a record-setting performance on Saturday, senior guard Jordan Riewer was named the NSIC North Division Player of the Week. This is the third time this year Riewer has won the award.
•Riewer averaged 26.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game for the week. The senior point guard shot 45.7 percent (16-of-35) from the field and 56.5 percent (13-of-23) from the three-point line over the weekend, while hitting 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.
•Riewer scored a career-high 37 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the three-point line in the win over CU. Riewer hit seven straight three-pointers in the final 11 minutes of the first half. The nine three-pointers in the game tied a school record for most three-pointers in a single game.
•The 6-foot-2 guard followed up his phenomenal performance with 16 points, seven rebounds, and six assists in MSUM's 76-72 win over Minnesota State Mankato on Saturday evening.Â
•For the season, Riewer is averaging 17.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game and is shooting 51.5 percent from the field, 52.4 percent from the three-point line, and 95.3 percent from the free throw line. Riewer ranks seventh in the NSIC in points per game (17.0), third in assists per game (5.6), first in free throw percentage (95.3), fourth in three-point percentage (52.4), first in three-pointers made per game (3.0), and first in assist to turnover ratio (4.0).
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100 WINS FOR WALTHALL
•With the win over Minnesota State Mankato, Head Coach Chad Walthall earned his 100th victory at the helm of MSUM.
•Walthall is 60-12 in Moorhead, 33-28 on the road and 7-2 on a neutral floor.
•Walthall is 68-36 in the NSIC, 26-1 in non-conference games, 5-4 in the NSIC tournament and led the Dragons to their first NCAA appearance with a win over Southwest Minn. St. on Mar. 10, 2012 in Golden, Colo.
•Walthall led the Dragons to their first title of any sort (NSIC North; 15-7) last year since the 1981/1982 season.
•Walthall is only the second coach to have led his team to back-to-back-to-back 20 win seasons (Dave Schellhase 1979-1982).
•Walthall's 100-42 record (.705 winning percentage) is currently the second highest in school history behind Marv Skaar (.713, 1967-1972).
•Walthall became the fifth Dragon head coach to win 100 games at MSUM (Dave Schellhase 298, Larry MacLeod 136, Sliv Nemzek 106, Stu Engen 102).
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MOST WINS IN THE NCAA
•The Dragons' 24 wins are the most wins among any team in the NCAA (D-I, D-II, or D-III).Â
•Gonzaga leads Division-I with 22 wins and has a record of 22-1. Marietta leads Division-III with 19 wins and a record of 19-0.
•The 24-1 start to the season matches the best start in school history. The 1970-71 team, led by Head Coach Marv Skaar also began the season 24-1 before dropping its final game to finish the season 24-2. The Dragons fell to Augsburg 85-84 in the first round of the NAIA Playoffs that season.
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DRAGONS RANK FIRST IN SIX NSIC CATEGORIES
•Scoring defense: 64.3. MSUM has held its opponents to 60 points or under in 11 games. The Dragons held Presenatation to 40 points on Dec. 2 and Minnesota Crookston to 42 points on Jan. 23.
•Scoring margin: +19.4. Highlighted by a 71-point victory over Presentation College on Dec. 2 where the Dragons won 111-40. MSUM has won 21 games by 11+ points and 11 by 20+ points.
•Three-point field goal percentage: .425. Five Dragons have shot over 40 percent from beyond the arc this season, led by Jordan Riewer at 52.4 percent (76-of-145) and Ngijol Songolo at 43.5 percent (37-of-85).
•Three-point field goals made per game: 10.5. Four Dragons players (Jordan Riewer, Aaron Lien, Tyler Vaughan, and Ngijol Songolo) have hit at least 37 three-pointers. Riewer leads the way with 76.
•Free-throw percentage: .774. Five players are better than .800 and seven players are better than .600 from the line, highlighted by Jordan Riewer at .953 (82-of-86).
•Assists to turnover ratio: 2.1. The Dragons have recorded 404 assists this season compared to only 197 turnovers.
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DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR SEVLIE
•Junior forward Isaac Sevlie recorded the first double-double of his career in MSUM's 94-82 win over Concordia-St. Paul. Sevlie scored 23 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and was 9-of-9 from the free throw line in the game.
•Sevlie scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half, as he picked up the slack on the offensive end after the Golden Bears decided to key on senior guard Jordan Riewer in the second half.
•The Red Wing, Minn. native set a career high in rebounds with 10 in the game, six of which came on the offensive glass.
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10 IN 10
•The Dragons rank in the top-10 in the nation as a team in 10 different categories:
•1st in Turnovers per game: 7.9. The Dragons have turned the ball over eight or fewer times 12 times this season.
•1st in Assist to Turnover Ratio: 2.05. Jordan Riewer ranks second in the nation with a mark of 3.97.
•2nd in Total Three-Point Field Goals Made: 263. Jordan Riewer leads the team with 76 while Tyler Vaughan has 48.
•2nd in Total Rebounds: 911. Jordan Riewer leads the team with 123 rebounds, Isaac Sevlie has 106.
•3rd in Total Assists: 404. Jordan Riewer has 139 assists this season.
•4th in Scoring Margin: 19.4. MSUM has won 21 games by 11 or more points and 11 by 20 or more points.
•5th in Three-Point Field Goal Percentage: .425. Jordan Riewer is ranked second in the nation at 52.4 percent (76-of-145).
•6th in Total Three-Point Field Goal Attempts: 619. On average, the Dragons shoot 24.7 three-pointers per game.
•6th in Fewest Turnovers: 197. No Dragon has committed more than 35 turnovers this season.
•7th in Free Throw Percentage: .774. The Dragons have shot better than 70 percent from the free throw line in 19 of 25 games this season.
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A LOOK AT THE OPPONENT... WAYNE STATE
Record: 5-17, 2-14 NSIC
Last Game: Defeated Mary 77-75
Notes: The Wayne State men's basketball team has experienced some growing pains in Head Coach Brian Dolan's second season at the helm of the Wildcats. Dolan routinely starts four freshmen, so it comes as no surprise that Wayne State has struggled during the 2014-15 campaign. To date, the Wildcats are 5-17 and 2-14 in the NSIC. Wayne State has won two of their last three games however, defeating Winona State on Jan. 24 and Mary on Jan. 31. Between Nov. 29 and Jan. 23, the Wildcats lost 14 of 15 games including an eight game losing streak between Dec. 20 and Jan. 23.
•Senior center Patrick Kurth has been a senior leader for the Wildcats, leading the team in scoring and rebounding with 12.9 points (24th in NSIC) and 5.6 rebounds per game (13th in NSIC). Kurth ranks third in the NSIC in field goal percentage at .637 and eighth in blocked shots at 1.0 per game.
• Freshman guard Trae VandeBerg is second on the team in scoring with 11.2 points per game while averaging 3.0 rebounds per game. VandeBerg has hit the most three-pointers this season for the Wildcats with 45.
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A LOOK AT THE OPPONENT... AUGUSTANA
Record: 21-1, 15-1 NSIC
Last Game: Defeated Minot State 87-58
Notes: The Augustana men's basketball team has enjoyed much success this season, vaulting all the way to No. 4 in the NABC Division II Coaches poll. The Vikings head into the weekend with a record of 21-1 and 15-1 in the NSIC. Augie's lone loss came on Dec. 5 when the Vikings fell to then-No. 13 Minnesota State Mankato 81-67 in Mankato. Since that point, the Vikings have won 14 straight games by an average of 19.7 points per game. Head Coach Tom Billeter is in his 12th season at the helm of Augustana and just recently won his 300th game at Augustana with an 87-58 win over Minot State on Jan. 31.
•Junior forward Daniel Jansen leads the NSIC in scoring with 19.5 points per game and is sixth in the NSIC in rebounding with 6.9 per game.
•Junior forward Casey Schilling ranks fifth in the NSIC in scoring at 18.4 points per game and is third in the NSIC in rebounding at 7.8 per game.
•Augustana is first in the NSIC in scoring offense at 87.2, third in scoring defense at 68.2, second in scoring margin at 19.0, third in free throw percentage at .746, first in field goal percentage at .505, third in three-point field goal percentage at .409, first in rebounding at 38.9, and first in assists per game at 17.0.
