Men's Basketball | December 31, 2014

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Teams: Minot State at Bemidji State | Series: BSU leads 6-4
Date: Friday, Jan. 2, 2015 | Time: 8 p.m. | Site: BSU Gymnasium
Teams: Minot State at Minnesota Crookston | Series: MSU leads 14-5
Date: Saturday, Jan. 3, 2015 | Time: 6 p.m. | Site: Lysaker Gymnasium

THIS WEEK: After a week long holiday break, the Minot State men's basketball team is back in action this Friday, Jan. 2 when they travel to Bemidji State for their first conference game since Dec. 20. The following day, the Beavers hit the road again, this time taking on the Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles at 6 p.m. on Jan. 3.

RECORDS: Minot State comes into the week of Dec. 15 with an overall record of 8-4 and a NSIC record of 3-3 after winning their final two games before their week long break on Dec. 19 and 20 against the University of Mary and the University of Jamestown. The Bemidji State Beavers hold a 6-4 overall record but are under .500 in the conference with a 2-4 NSIC record. They dropped their most recent game against Minnesota Crookston on Dec. 19. Minnesota Crookston is 5-5 overall and is 3-3 in the Northern Sun. The Golden Eagles are coming off a win against Bemidji State in their most recent game.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's Matt Murken is in his third season as head coach of the Beavers. He is 22-37 during his time with Minot State and is 67-45 throughout his five year head coaching career. In his first season with the MSU, Murken increased the Beavers' win total by six from the previous year including the program's first ever win against a NCAA Division II ranked opponent (68-62, No. 19 St. Cloud State, Jan. 5, 2012). Before his time at Minot State, Murken was the head coach at the University of Jamestown where he compiled and impressive 46-16 overall record and was named Dakota Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2012. Mike Boschee is in his third season as the head coach of Bemidji State and compiled a 36-21 record in his first two years with the program. Boschee led the Beavers to a 2013-14 NSIC North championship. Minnesota Crookston is led by first year head coach Dan Weisse. Weisse previously was the lead assistant coach at MSU Moorhead for the past three seasons. He helped lead the program to their first NCAA tournament win since 1965.

FOLLOW THE BEAVERS: The game is broadcast locally on KCJB 910-AM with Scott Kittell calling the play-by-play. Live audio can be accessed online at kcjb.com. MSU provides live video and live stats as well as links to the live audio at msubeavers.com. Minot State Athletics also is active on Facebook, Twitter and You Tube with all feeds accessible at msubeavers.com/stayconnected.

RANKINGS: Neither Minot State, Bemidji State nor Minnesota Crookston are ranked in the latest top 25 Division II rankings released by the NCAA.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State headed into the holidays on a high note when they defeated rival U-Mary for the second time this season and followed up the win with a win against in-state rival the University of Jamestown the following day. In the first half against U-Mary, the Beavers shot just 33.3 percent from the field but managed to take a three point lead with them into the locker room at halftime. Minot State's hot shooting in the second half (75 percent) was enough for the Beavers to pull out a win against U-Mary, 93-88. The next day, Minot State handled NAIA opponent Jamestown by a final score of 85-60. Despite getting off to a slow start in the game, the Beavers ended shooting 52.5 percent from the flood and held a plus-6 margin in the rebounding category. In both games, Thomas Korf (Sr., F, St. Cloud, Minn.) led the Beavers in scoring.

PAST MATCHUPS AT A GLANCE: Minot State only managed to win a total of eight games in the 2013-14 season but two of those wins came against Minnesota Crookston. The Beavers matched up with the Golden Eagles twice in three weekends and came away with two convincing 15+ point defeats. Minot State's first win against Crookston broke a six game losing streak on Jan. 24. While Minot State had strong success against Crookston, they had a difficult time with Bemidji State last season. Minot State fell by 16 points in the teams match-up in the MSU Dome and Minot State once again fell at the BSU Gymnasium, this time by 23 points.

NOTING THE BSU BEAVERS: Bemidji State heads into the upcoming weekend with a lot on the line as they sit at 2-4 in the conference right now. In the Beavers final game before the holiday break, Bemidji State fell at the hands of Minnesota Crookston by a score of 73-64. Cody Risseeuw and Brock Lutes were the only starters to score in double figures as the Beavers were held to just 44 percent from the floor. Lutes serves as the team's biggest threat as he's scoring 17.7 ppg this season and also collects 4.7 rpg. Just one other Beavers, Ben Best, is averaging double figures in the score category for Bemidji State.

NOTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES: After getting off to a slow start in the Northern Sun this season dropping their first two games to Bemidji State and Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota Crookston has hit their stride winning three of their last four games and closing 2014 with a win against travel partner Bemidji State. In the Golden Eagles game against Bemidji State on Dec. 19, the team shot an average 45.5 percent from the field but made a significant different at the free throw line where they shot 18-21, good for 85.7 percent. Six players scored eight or more points for Crookston in the win, including four players scoring in double figures.

SPLASH CITY: Who needs Steph Curry when Thomas Korf (Sr., F, St. Cloud, Minn.) is making threes like he is right now. The senior co-captain is shooting 53.5 percent from distance so far this season and has made the second-most (38) three point shots in the entire Northern Sun. Korf shot a combined 62.5 percent from three point range in his final two games of 2014 against U-Mary and Jamestown.

NO AWARD, NO PROBLEM: While Everett Robinson (Sr., G, Grand Junction, Colo.) was unable to pick up his third NSIC North Player of the Week award a couple weeks ago, he still managed to have strong games against U-Mary and Jamestown. Robinson scored 18 and corralled seven rebounds in a winning effort against U-Mary and followed up that performance with 13 points and eight rebounds against the University of Jamestown.

HOLDING DOWN THE FORT: Minot State has won three of their last four games in the 2014-15 season and the Beavers are proving that they're tough to beat in the MSU Dome, boasting a 5-1 record at home so far this season. Minot State has eight games remaining at home and eight games remaining on the road this season. The Beavers are currently 2-2 away from The Dome.

CORRALING THE ROCK: Rebounding continues to be an area of strength for the Beavers so far this season. The team is currently third in the Northern Sun with a rebounding margin of +7.6 and the Beavers are fifth in average rebounds per game with 37.3. Minot State has been outrebounded just twice this season, both times resulting in losses.

NSIC Rebounding Margin        
Team                               Margin
1. Augustana                    11.1
2. Concordia-St. Paul         7.9
3. Minot State                   7.6
4. Sioux Falls                    6.4
5. Winona State                 6.2

BY THE NUMBERS
12.2: Minot State is seeing improvement as the season goes on in the assists category but the Beavers still average one of the lowest amount of assists in the NSIC. Minot State 12.2 assists per game is good for 12th in the conference.

40.4: While the Beavers only make 7.3 three-pointers per game on average, good for eight in the NSIC, the team is shooting the fourth-best percentage in the conference from behind the arc at 40.4 percent.

63.9: Everett Robinson is shooting an impressive 63.9 percent from the floor this season. While the senior is scoring just under five field goals per game, that percentage would make him the second-most efficient scorer in the NSIC.