MOORHEAD, Minn. -- MSU Moorhead men's basketball eyes a bounce back weekend on the road in NSIC play. The Dragons take on Southwest Minnesota State on Friday beginning at 7:30 p.m. before battling Sioux Falls on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. 

Live video and stats will be available at msumdragons.com. Fans can listen to the game against the Cougars on AM 1100/FM 92.3 with 'Big Game' James McCarty on the call. 

Matchup History...Heading into Friday, MSUM holds a four-game winning streak over the Mustangs. However, the average margin of victory in those four games is just five points with three of the four games coming down to one possession. Since 2009-10, MSUM has won 11 of 15 matchups with the Mustangs. The Dragons have claimed three of the last four meetings against the Coo with the lone loss coming last season on January 13. On that day, former USF guard (and current Dragon graduate assistant coach) Jack Thompson lit the top-ranked Dragons up for 34 points. 

Last Time Out...MSUM suffered a pair of NSIC losses to Concordia, St. Paul and Minnesota Duluth last weekend. Carson Johnson led the Dragons with 23 points against the Golden Bears. Against the Bulldogs, Shaun Wysocki paced MSUM with 14 points. 

What The Pollsters Say...The Dragons slid out of the NABC Top-25 this week, but still found themselves in the 'receiving votes' category. MSUM earned 13 votes in this week's rankings.  It is the first time MSUM is outside the NABC Top-25 since the week of December 26, 2022.

Frosh Got Game...Freshman guard Carson Johnson continued his high-octane scoring in his second career game against Concordia, St. Paul on Friday. Johnson poured in 23 points on 50 percent shooting against the Golden Bears. The Ankeny, Iowa, product is the first Dragon to score 20 or more point in the first two games of an MSUM career since Anthony Tucker in 2012-13. Tucker, a senior transfer from Division I Iowa, scored 23 points in his debut against Lincoln on November 9, 2012, only to follow that up with 24 points against Southwest Baptist the following day.

Jenny Trending...Junior big man Jacob Jennissen saw two strong showings last weekend. Jennissen scored 16 points to go along with 11 rebounds and three blocks against Concordia, St. Paul. Against Minnesota Duluth, Jennissen scored 13 points with seven rebounds on 75 percent shooting. Jennissen has three double-doubles this season heading into the weekend. 

Frosh Got Game Pt. 2...Freshman Shaun Wysocki had another pair of strong showings last weekend for the Dragons. Wysocki matched his career high, scoring 14 points on 55.5 percent shooting against Minnesota Duluth on Saturday. On Friday against the Golden Bears, Wysocki scored 10 points with eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Since entering the starting lineup on December 5, Wysocki is averaging 10.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks all while shooting 54.1 percent from the floor (26-48). 

Make It Count...MSUM holds the second-best scoring defense in the NSIC (66.4) heading into the weekend. The mark also sits in the top-30 in the country overall.

Quick Scout...SMSU offers up three double figure scorers led by the bruising post Aeron Stevens with 15.9 points per game, a mark that is seventh-best in the NSIC. Sioux Falls has one of the league's most underrated posts in Creighton Morisch, who averages 11.5 points, 9.2 rebounds and an NSIC-best 1.6 blocks per game.

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