MOORHEAD, Minn. - The No. 24 Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team (20-4, 15-3 NSIC) concludes its 2016-17 regular season home schedule this week in Nemzek Fieldhouse with a set of NSIC games against Bemidji State (9-14, 7-11 NSIC) on Friday, Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. and Minnesota Crookston (7-17, 3-15 NSIC) on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 6 p.m.
 
Last weekend the Dragons took on NSIC foes Winona State and Upper Iowa. The Dragons flew past Winona State on Friday night, 85-63, before taking down Upper Iowa, 93-85, the following night.  MSUM leads the NSIC by one game over Southwest Minnesota State and Northern State.
 
Senior guard Aaron Lien leads the team, and is fifth in the NSIC, in scoring at 18.8 points per game while shooting 58.5 percent from the field. Senior forward Ayob Ayob adds 15.8 points per game for the Dragons to go along with a team-high 5.2 rebounds per game and 18 steals. Junior guard Tanner Kretchman leads with 158 assists while averaging 15.7 points per game. Kretchman is first in the NCAA with his 4.51 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
The Dragons average 89.4 points per game, which is best in the NSIC and 12th best in the NCAA, and are outrebounding their opponents 36.0-33.4. MSUM's opponents are averaging 79.3 points per game with a .455 field goal percentage.
 
Head coach Chad Walthall is in his 7th season with an overall record of 161-55.
 
How to Follow...
Game 25: (Watch) https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msum/index.htm
(Listen) https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msum/index.htm
 
Game 26: (Watch) https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msum/index.htm
(Listen) https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msum/index.htm
 
 
Scouting the Opposition...
Bemidji State
Bemidji State enters the matchup with MSUM 9-14 overall and 7-11 in the NSIC. The Beavers lost to Augustana in their most recent outing, 78-60, and are 3-2 in their last five games.
 
Jai'Vionne Green leads the Beavers in scoring at 17.1 points. Sharif Black comes in at 12.7 points and leads the team with 70 assists. Ben Best hauls in a team-best 5.1 rebounds per game and scores 12.7 points. Christian Pekarek leads with 23 steals.
 
Bemidji State is shooting 46.6 percent from the field, while averaging 76.7 points per game. The Beavers are allowing 78.7 points per game to its opponents who average 46.6 percent from the field.
 
Mike Boschee is in his fifth year as Bemidji State's head coach with a record of 63-71.
 
Minnesota Crookston
Minnesota Crookston currently sits at 7-17 overall and 3-15 in NSIC play. The Golden Eagles have dropped eight of their last nine games, including a 79-72 loss at Wayne State on Saturday.
 
Harrison Cleary leads UMC in scoring with 21.3 points per game, a mark that is second in the NSIC. Chase Knickerbocker averages 11.1 points per game. Gable Smith leads with 5.3 rebounds per game, while Kobe Critchley leads with 3.3 assists per game. Smith also has team-highs in steals (24) and blocks (58).
 
Minnesota Crookston averages 73.0 points per game and shoots 45.2 percent from the field, while giving up 77.6 points per game.
 
Dan Weisse is 14-37 in his second season at the helm for Minnesota Crookston.
 
Player of the Week X5
The Dragons have been awarded the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division Player of the Week five times this season. Senior guard Aaron Lien has been awarded three times, including this week for his efforts as the Dragons went 2-0 last weekend. Senior forward Ayob Ayob has earned the award twice this season.
 
Nelson Near Perfect
Senior forward Matt Nelson has been nothing but consistent over the last six games. The Rosemount, Minn. native has shot 84.2 during the six game stretch, shooting 16-of-19 from the field, all while collecting 5.0 rebounds per game.
 
20-Win Season
Following the 93-85 win over Upper Iowa, MSUM improved to 20-4 on the season marking the fifth time under Head Coach Chad Walthall's tenure that MSUM has made it to the 20-win mark. This is the fourth straight year of at least 20 wins.
 
Offensive Efficiency
MSUM has found itself as one of the nation's prominent offenses. The Dragons rank 12th nationally in scoring offense averaging 89.4 points per game, first in turnovers per game with 8.7, seventh in field goal percentage shooting 51.3 percent, 15th in free throw percentage at 77.3 percent, eighth in three-point field goals per game with 11.2, and fifth in three-point field goal percentage shooting 42.6 percent and fourth in three-point field goals made with 268.
 
Top Dog
MSUM is alone at the top of the NSIC and maintains a one-game lead over Southwest Minnesota State and Northern State. The Dragons have a one-game lead in the NSIC North Division over Northern State. MSUM is ranked first in the NSIC in seven categories:
Scoring Offense - 89.4
Field Goal Percentage - .513
3-pt Field Goal Percentage - .426
3-pt Field Goals Made Per Game - 11.2
Free Throw Percentage - .773
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio - 1.74
Defensive Rebounds - 27.8
Turnovers Per Game - 8.7
 
Lien and Kretchman Continue to Climb
Junior guard Tanner Kretchman continues his climb to the top of the all-time assist leaders. Currently in second with 425 assists, the junior is just 13 assists behind the all-time leader Jordan Riewer (438). Kretchman is averaging 6.6 assists per game. With his fourth point of the game at Sioux Falls, Kretchman joined the ranks of those to achieve 1,000 points for their career at MSUM. He was the 31st player to break the 1,000-point mark.
 
Senior guard Aaron Lien moved himself into the top-10 all-time scorers at MSUM this year, and continues to climb. Lien is in sixth place with 1,586 points, 93 points behind Greg Duke in fifth place (1,679). The all-time points leader is Ralph Western with 2,015 points. Lien has also moved up to third all time in three-point field goal makes (216) and attempts (508). Lien has played in every game since arriving at MSUM with a 106-22 record.
 
Taking Care of the Ball
MSUM has taken care of the ball well this season. The Dragons are first in the nation in turnovers per game, turning the ball over just 8.7 times a game. The Dragons are second in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.73. Junior guard Tanner Kretchman is first in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 4.51.
 
NABC Top 25 Poll
MSUM is back in the Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll for the second time this season. The Dragons rank 24th in the most recent poll released on Tuesday, Feb. 7. Northwest Missouri State is the unanimous first place team at 21-0, the lone undefeated Division II men's basketball team.
 
Leaders at the Line
MSUM is 15th in the nation, and first in the NSIC, in free-throw percentage, averaging 77.3 percent from the free throw line. The Dragons have five players shooting at least 80.0 percent from the line: Mackuei Puondak (1.000), Aaron Lien (.889), Jon Doss (.836), Tanner Kretchman (.821) and Ayob Ayob (.806).
 
Up Next
MSUM concludes its regular season on the road for games with St. Cloud State (Feb. 17) and Minnesota Duluth (Feb. 18).