MOORHEAD, Minn. - The No. 21 Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team (17-3, 12-2 NSIC) continues the 2016-17 regular season this week on the road with a set of NSIC games at Southwest Minnesota State (16-3, 11-3 NSIC) on Friday, Jan. 27 at 8 p.m. and at Sioux Falls (13-9, 9-5 NSIC) on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 6 p.m.
 
MSUM is a perfect 7-0 on the road in conference games this season.
 
Last weekend the Dragons returned to Nemzek Fieldhouse for matchups with Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State. The Dragons handled UMD on Friday night 87-68, before taking down St. Cloud State 87-82 the following night. Senior forward Ayob Ayob was the leading scorer both nights dropping 20 points and 31 points respectively.
 
Senior guard Aaron Lien leads the team, and is fifth in the NSIC, in scoring at 18.5 points per game while averaging 57.9 percent from the field. Senior forward Ayob Ayob adds 17.0 points per game for the Dragons to go along with a team-high 5.5 rebounds per game and16 steals. Junior guard Tanner Kretchman leads with 124 assists while averaging 16.1 points per game. Kretchman is first in the NSIC with his 4.3 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
The Dragons are first in the NSIC averaging 88.9 points per game, and are out rebounding their opponents 35.8-33.2. MSUM's opponents are averaging 79.2 points per game with a .455 field goal percentage.
 
Head coach Chad Walthall is in his 7th season with an overall record of 158-54.
 
How to Follow...
Game 20: (Watch) https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msum/index.htm
(Listen) https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msum/index.htm
 
Game 21: (Watch) https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msum/index.htm
(Listen) https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msum/index.htm
 
Scouting the Opposition...
Southwest Minnesota State
SMSU enters the matchup with MSUM having two straight games, and three out of the last four. The Mustangs defeated Minnesota State in their most recent outing 58-56. SMSU is 16-3 overall and 11-3 in NSIC play.
 
Ryan Bruggeman leads the Mustangs at 12.6 points per game. Taylor Schafer (12.0), Joey Bartlett (11.7), Carter Kirk (10.9) and KJ Davis (10.0) round out the double-digit scorers for SMSU. Kirk hauls in a team-best 8.2 rebounds per game, while Bruggeman leads with 79 assists.
 
Southwest Minnesota State is averaging 80.8 points per game, and allowing 73.3 points per game to its opponents.
 
Brad Bigler is in his 8th year as Southwest Minnesota State's head coach with a record of 124-98.
 
Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls currently sits at 13-9 overall and 9-5 in the NSIC. The Cougars beat Concordia-St. Paul 93-70 in their last game, and are the winners of seven out of the last eight games.
 
Drew Guebert scores a team-high 16.0 points per game, with Mack Johnson not far behind at 14.0 points per game. Daniel Hurtt and Clint Thomas average 12.7 and 11.5 points, respectively. Tom Aase and Guebert lead with 5.6 rebounds per game, while Zach Wessels leads in assists with 71.
 
Sioux Falls averages 75.4 points per game shooting 46.5 percent from the field, while giving up 67.5 points per game.
 
Chris Johnson is 137-101 in his eighth season at the helm for Sioux Falls.
 
MSUM Win Streak at Seven Games
MSUM is currently riding a seven-game win streak after sweeping at home last weekend against Minnesota Duluth (87-68) and St. Cloud State (87-82). Senior guard Aaron Lien is averaging 19.0 ppg during that stretch, with senior forward Ayob Ayob and junior guard Tanner Kretchman averaging 17.6 and 16.1 points, respectively. As a team the Dragons are scoring 85.7 points per game, while holding their opponents to 75.6 points.
 
Dragons Back in the Top 25
MSUM moved into the top-25 of the NABC 2016-17 Division II Men's Basketball Rankings following the 2-0 weekend in the NSIC pushing the Dragons win streak to seven games. The Dragons currently sit at 21st with their 17-3 overall record. MSUM was just outside of the NABC Division II Men's Basketball Coaches Top-25 a week ago.
 
Offensive Efficiency
MSUM has found itself as one of the nation's prominent offenses. The Dragons rank 16th nationally in scoring offense averaging 88.9 points per game, first in turnovers per game with 8.8, 9th in field goal percentage shooting 51.3 percent, 24th in free throw percentage at 76.9 percent, 12th in three-point field goals per game with 10.9, and fifth in three-point field goal percentage shooting 42.4 percent and in three-point field goals made with 218.
 
Top Dog
MSUM is alone at the top of the NSIC with a one-game lead over Southwest Minnesota State and Upper Iowa. The Dragons have a two-game lead in the NSIC North Division over Northern State and St. Cloud State. MSUM is also ranked first in the NSIC in six categories:
Scoring Offense - 88.9
Field Goal Percentage - .513
3-pt Field Goal Percentage - .424
3-pt Field Goals Made - 10.9
Free Throw Percentage - .769
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio - 1.56
 
Lien and Kretchman Continue to Climb
Junior guard Tanner Kretchman continues his climb to the top of the assists leaderboard. The junior is just 46 assists behind the all-time leader Jordan Riewer (438). Kretchman is averaging 5.9 assists per game. The junior is also just 22 points away from breaking into the ranks of the 1,000-point scorers at MSUM.
 
Senior guard Aaron Lien has moved himself into the top-10 all-time scorers at MSUM. Lien is in seventh place with 1,505 points, 6 points behind Lee McIntosh in sixth place (1,511). The all-time points leader is Ralph Western with 2,015 points. Lien has also moved up and tied for third all time in three-point field goal makes (205) and fourth in attempts (483). Lien has played in every game since arriving at MSUM with a 103-21 record.
 
National Basketball Powerhouse
The MSUM basketball programs have amassed a 33-5 record between the men's and women's teams this season. Only two Division II schools have a better-combined record. Southern Indiana is 34-4 overall and Cal Baptist has accumulated a 38-3 combined record.
 
Up Next
MSUM has back-to-back weekends at home. The Dragons play Winona State on Feb. 3 before taking on Upper Iowa on Feb. 4.