MOORHEAD, Minn. -- MSU Moorhead men's basketball will kick off NSIC action this week with matchups against Northern State and Mary. The Dragons will host the Wolves on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. before traveling to take on the Marauders at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. 

Live video and stats will be available at msumdragons.com. Saturday's contest with the Marauders will be broadcast over the airwaves on AM 1100/FM 92.3 with 'Big Game' James McCarty on the call. 

Matchup History...MSUM will look to create a winning streak against the Wolves on Thursday. The Dragons defeated Northern State in their only meeting last season, 86-76. Prior to the win, Northern State had won the previous three meetings between the schools, including a series sweep in 2022-23. In total, the Wolves have won 12 of the last 17 games with the Dragons. As for the Marauders, MSUM will look to extend their win streak against Mary to six games. The Dragons have swept the season series with the Marauders for the last two years. Mary last bested MSUM on December 2, 2021. 

Last Time Out...MSUM was handed its first loss of the 2024-25 campaign in a 74-70 defeat against Michigan Tech on November 23. MSUM led by double figures in the second half, but fell victim to 40 points by MTU's Marcus Tomashek, who guided the Huskies to a win. 

What The Pollsters Say...The Dragons moved up one spot in the NABC rankings to number seven in the nation behind 279 points. Nova Southeastern remained in the top spot of the poll with 399 points and 15 first-place votes. The Dragons have not been outside the NABC Top-25 since the week of December 26, 2022. 

Kinsey In His Bag...Junior Logan Kinsey was named to the NSIC's 'Shining Five' a week ago after two stellar performances at the St. Louis County Basketball Classic. Kinsey averaged 24.5 points, seven rebounds and a steal across two games. Kinsey scored a career high 27 points against Michigan Tech to go along with nine rebounds. For the weekend, Kinsey connected on 60 percent of his field goal attempts.

Can O' Cob...Senior guard Jacob Beeninga had back-to-back 21-point showings at the St. Louis County Basketball Classic. Beeninga shot an effective 51.7 percent from the floor in two games while also averaging three assists for the Dragons. Through six games, Beeninga is shooting 45.6 percent overall.

Lights Out...Against Northern Michigan on November 22, MSUM had one of its best shooting games in recent memory. The Dragons connected on 56.6 percent of their field goal attempts, including a 67.8 percent clip in the first half. It is the highest single-game field goal percentage since December 2, 2023. On that day, MSUM made 57.6 percent of their attempts against the Mary Marauders. 

Swing It To Sam...Junior Sam Hastreiter had his best performance as a Dragon against Northern Michigan on November 22. Hastreiter scored a season high 15 points, including four made three-pointers. The junior shot 66.7 percent from deep for the game.

Quick Scout...Northern State offers up a defense that surrenders 75.3 points to opponents, the fourth-highest total in the NSIC. The Wolves are led by two junior college transfers in James Glenn and Kwat Abdelkarim. Mary offers up three double digit scoring averages led by Jeremiah Johnson at 13.9 points per game. Ty Rogers averages 12.2 points per game while shooting 57 percent from the floor.

Tim Bergstraser is in his third season as MSUM's head men's basketball coach.