Men's Basketball | 2/6/2019 2:08:00 PM

Game Notes (pdf)
The Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball (16-8, 10-6 NSIC) team returns home this week as they play host to Southwest Minnesota State University and University of Sioux Falls (S.D.) in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action.

HOW TO FOLLOW…
Stats (Southwest Minn. State): http://web.mnstate.edu/livestats/basketball/xlive.htm
Stats (Sioux Falls): http://web.mnstate. edu/livestats/basketball/xlive.htm
Video/Audio: https://portal. stretchinternet.com/msum/index.htm
Both games will be televised live on WDAY'Z Xtra

THIS WEEK…
MSUM returns to Nemzek Fieldhouse to face Southwest Minnesota State on Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m. and University of Sioux Falls on Feb. 9 at 5:30 p.m.

LOOKING BACK...
The Dragons went 1-1 on the road last week with a narrow 88-87 loss to Minnesota State University, Mankato and a 102-90 win over Concordia-St. Paul.

In the loss to the Mavericks, senior forward Addison Park had 25 points to lead the team. Freshman guard Gavin Baumgartner followed with 20 points and a team-best eight rebounds. Freshman guard Bryce Irsfeld led the team with four assists to go along with eight points. MSUM shot 57.4 percent (35-of-61) from the field compared to 48.5 percent (32-of-66) from Minnesota State.
The following night, Irsfeld posted a career-high 26 points to lead the Dragons to victory. Senior guard Travaun Coad had 19 points and a team-best seven rebounds. Park and Baumgartner each had 13 points, while freshman guard Siman Sem and junior guard Johnny Beeninga each contributed 11 points. Baumgartner led the team with seven assists. MSUM shot 57.8 percent (33-of-65) from the field compared to 50.8 percent (33-of-65) from CSP.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION...
Southwest Minnesota State
The Mustangs are 13-9 overall and 8-8 in the NSIC. Last week, SMSU defeated Minnesota Crookston (100-78) and Bemidji State (84-62) to bring their winning streak to three games. Ryan Bruggeman averaged 34 points per game last week en-route to his fourth NSIC Player of the Week honor this season. Bruggeman recorded 49 points in the win over Minnesota Crookston. Bruggeman leads the NSIC in scoring (25.4 ppg), field goals made (204), and steals (2.1/game). Taylor Schafer and Kenny Byers are averaging 13.0 and 10.1 points per game, respectively. SMSU has played nine of the last 10 games without leading rebounder Steven McNease was has averaged 7.9 rebounds per game over 13 games. SMSU leads the conference in free-throw percentage (81.9) and ranks third in steals per game (6.77).

University of Sioux Falls
The Cougars are 15-7 overall and 10-6 in the NSIC. Last week, USF dropped a 76-73 game to Bemidji State but recovered with an 82-74 win over Minnesota Crookston. Drew Guebert averaged 24.5 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game last week. Trevon Evans ranks third in the NSIC in scoring at 22.3 points per game and leads the team in assists per game
(2.7). Guebert leads the team by averaging 6.0 rebounds per game, while Teathloach Pal and Justin Taylor follow with 5.5 and 5.6 rebounds per game, respectively. The Cougars have outrebounded their opponents 42.2-31.4 and lead the NSIC in rebounds per game. USF shoots 44.9 percent from the field compared to 40.8 percent from their opponents.