The Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team (10-2, 5-1 NSIC) continues the 2016-17 regular season this week with a pair of home games against NSIC opponents Minnesota State Mankato (7-4, 2-3 NSIC) on Friday, Dec. 30 at 8 p.m. and Concordia-St. Paul (4-8, 1-4 NSIC) on Saturday, Dec. 31 at 6 p.m.

MSUM is 3-1 at home in Nemzek Fieldhouse this season. The Dragons only loss came at the hands of Northern State, 118-117, in double overtime on Dec. 17.

MSUM split a pair of games before the holiday break. The Dragons fell to Northern State, 118-17, before beating Mayville State, 81-59. The Dragons currently sit atop the NSIC North Divisional Standings at 5-1.

Senior guard Aaron Lien is scoring a team-high 18.3 points per game while averaging .570 from the field. Senior guard Jon Doss is first on the team in rebounding averaging 4.9 per game with 11.3 points. Senior forward Ayob Ayob is shooting .544 from beyond the arc and is averaging 16.9 points per game. Junior guard Tanner Kretchman leads the NSIC in assist-to-turnover ratio (6.1) and is averaging 16.5 points per game. Kretchman and Lien set career-highs in the loss to Northern State, with 41 and 36 points respectively.

The Dragons are first in the NSIC averaging 92.8 points per game, and are out rebounding their opponents 35.7-33.2. MSUM's opponents are averaging 81.7 points per game.

Head coach Chad Walthall is in his 7th season with an overall record of 151-54.

How to Follow...
Game 13: (Watch) https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msum/index.htm
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Game 14: (Watch) https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msum/index.htm
(Listen) https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msum/index.htm

Scouting the Opposition...
Minnesota State
Minnesota State enters the matchup with MSUM riding a two-game win streak. The Mavericks defeated Concordia-St. Paul and Waldorf in their last outings, winning by an average score of 24.5 points per game. Minnesota State is 2-3 in conference play, currently in fourth place in the south division.

Jon Fuqua is scoring a team-high 15.5 points per game, slightly better than Joey Witthus who averages 15.4. Arias Austin (13.5) and Charlie Brown (13.1) are the other Mavericks to average in double figures. Fuqua also leads the team in rebounding (6.5) and steals (12). Austin has a team-high 35 assists.

Minnesota State is third in the NSIC in scoring, averaging 85.1 points per game, while holding its opponents to 79.8 points per game.

Concordia-St. Paul
The Golden Bears dropped a set of games before the holiday break to Bethel (87-69) and Minnesota State (86-82). Concordia-St. Paul is 1-5 in its last six games for a squad that is 4-8 overall and 1-4 in the NSIC.

Bryndan Matthews leads CSP in scoring and rebounding, averaging 14.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Diallo Powell is averaging 12.6 points per game, while Matt Ambry averages 10.7.

Ahmad Newsome has a team-high 49 assists, while Matthews leads the team with 15 steals.

As a team the Golden Bears are averaging 72.3 points per game, while its opponents average 80.3.

Division II Central Region Poll Sponsored by D2SIDA (Dec. 19)
MSUM remains ranked in this week's Division II Central Region Men's Basketball Poll, sponsored by D2SIDA.

Rank    School                                    W-L    Pts.    Prev.
1.        Northwest Missouri St. (6)        11-0    60    1
2.        Augustana                                9-2    33    3
3.        Southwest Minnesota State     10-1    48    4
4.        MSU-Moorhead                        10-2    39    2
5.        Arkansas-Monticello                  7-0    36    5
6.        Missouri Southern                     8-2    34    6
7.        Harding                                      6-2    19    8
8.        Washburn                                  9-2    17    7
9.        Nebraska-Kearney                    9-3    12    T9
10.        Central Missouri                      7-2    8    RV


NSIC Player of the Week 3X
A player for MSUM has been awarded the NSIC North Men's Basketball Player of the week three times out of the six weeks the award has been given out during this season. Senior forward Ayob Ayob has won the award twice (Nov. 22, Dec. 12), while senior guard Aaron Lien has won once (Nov. 28).    

Climbing the All-Time Ladder
Senior guard Aaron Lien and junior guard Tanner Kretchman continue to move up MSUM men's basketball ranks. Lien moved into 10th place on the all-time scorers list with 1,355 points. He is 42 points behind former All-American Isaac Sevlie (1,397). Ralph Western is MSUM's all-time leading scorer with 2,015 points.

Kretchman is averaging 6.6 assists per game this season, and has found himself alone in second place on the all-time assist leaderboard. Kretchman's 346 assists put him 92 assists behind Jordan Riewer (438).

NSIC's Best
MSUM currently ranks first in the NSIC in five categories:
Scoring offense (11th NCAA) - 92.8 ppg
Field Goal Pct. (9th NCAA) - 52.5 percent
3-Pt. Field Goal Pct. (3rd NCAA) - 45.4 percent
3-Pt. FGs Made (5th NCAA) - 11.9
Assist/Turnover Ratio (2nd NCAA) - 1.85

Pass Me the Rock
Junior guard Tanner Kretchman's 6.4 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks first in the NSIC, and second in the NCAA. He has had six assists or more seven times this season, including 10 assists with no turnovers in an 82-66 win over the University of Mary.

Park's Hot Hand
Since Dec. 2 sophomore forward Addison Park has missed just four field goal attempts. Park has shot 25-of-29 (86.2 percent) from the field, including a 10-for-10 performance against Minnesota Crookston on Dec. 9.

Up Next
MSUM continues its home stand after the holiday break with games against Minot State (Jan. 6) and U-Mary (Jan. 7).