Men's Basketball | January 08, 2015

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Teams: Minot State vs Northern State | Series: NSU leads 30-7
Date: Friday, Jan. 9, 2015 | Time: 8 p.m. | Site: Minot State Dome
Teams: Minot State vs Minnesota State Moorhead | Series: MSU-M leads 21-9
Date: Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015 | Time: 6 p.m. | Site: Minot State Dome

THIS WEEK: A Minot State plays host to its first home games of the 2015 calendar year when it squares-off against two more Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponents. On Friday, Jan. 9, the Beavers welcome Northern State to the Minot State Dome for an 8 p.m. tipoff. The following day, Saturday, Jan. 10, Minot State will try to pull off the upset when No. 13 ranked MSU Moorhead comes to town.

RECORDS: Minot State comes into the week of Jan. 5 with an overall record of 9-5 and a NSIC record of 4-4 after they split their first games of 2015 on the road with Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston. Northern State begins the week with an overall record of 12-2 and a 6-2 record in the Northern Sun. MSU Moorhead comes into the weekend with the most impressive record as the Dragons sit at 16-1 overall and 7-1 in the conference.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's Matt Murken is in his third season as head coach of the Beavers. He's compiled a 22-37 record during his first two seasons 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. Paul Sather is also in his fifth year with the Northern State basketball program. Sather has compiled a 63-49 overall record in his time with the program. MSU-Moorhead is led by Chad Walthall who is in his fifth season with the Dragon program. Walthall has had great success with the Dragons as he recorded the program's best three-year stretch recording 61 wins the last three seasons.

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: MSU Moorhead is ranked No. 13 in the nation in the latest top 25 poll released by in the NCAA on Jan. 6. Northern State recorded two votes for the top 25 poll but did not find itself ranked this week. Minot State did not receive any votes.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State ended 2014 with two straight wins at home, but the Beavers were unable to carry that momentum with them in their first game back after the holiday break. On Jan. 2, Minot State fell to Bemidji State by a score of 84-76. MSU dug itself a 17-point hole at one point in the second and were never able to fully recover despite cutting the lead to 75-71 late in the game. Thomas Korf (Sr., F, St. Cloud, Minn.) the way for Minot State in the game as he dropped 19 points on 78 percent shooting. The following day, Jan. 3, Minot State took on Minnesota Crookston and came out focused right from the start. The Beavers took a 28-14 lead with them into the break and never looked back in the second half. Everett Robinson (Sr., G, Grand Junction, Colo.) and Lamont Prosser (Sr., F, Fort Wayne, Ind.) both scored 14 points in the Beavers' victory.

FIRST TIME AROUND: Back on Dec. 5 and 6 the Beavers took a road trip stopping at both MSU Moorhead and Northern State, but Minot State will be looking for more success when they host both of the teams at home this weekend. Minot State started their road trip on Dec. 5 at MSU Moorhead where the Beavers fell by 35 points to the then ranked No. 19 Dragons. While Minot State shot just over 47 percent from the field, they allowed Moorhead to shoot 58.6 percent from the field and just over 50 percent from behind the three-point line resulting in the 99-64 defeat. Minot State was more successful the following day against Northern State when they got out to a 37-31 lead at the half but the Wolves shot 66.7 percent in the second half and 60 percent from the three point line to take the game 83-72.

NOTING THE WOLVES: Northern State has won seven of their last eight games with their only defeat coming to MSU Moorhead as they prepare to take on the Beavers this weekend. The Wolves started 2015 on a positive note when they played host to Winona State and Upper Iowa this past weekend and came away with two wins. In the 74-51 win over Winona, Northern State held the Warriors to 3-20 shooting from behind the arc and the Warriors only managed to shoot 35.8 percent for the game. The following day proved to be more of the same for the Wolves when they defeated Upper Iowa 80-67.

NOTING THE DRAGONS: If not for a two point loss to Minnesota Duluth back on Dec. 13 the Dragons would be undefeated heading into their match-up with Minot State this Saturday. Moorhead is currently in the middle of a four-game winning streak but their next four games will comes away from their home arena. This past weekend the Dragons handed losses to Upper Iowa and Winona State. Friday, the Dragons began with a 106-81 win against Upper Iowa marking their third game of the season they touched the century mark. Issac Sevlie led the way for the Dragons with 18 points and six rebounds in the contest. The following day Moorhead dropped Winona State in a closer game, 71-65. The Dragons shot just 32.9 percent in the game but managed the squeak out their 16th win of the season.

ONE MILESTONE TO ANOTHER: With 926 career points heading into the weekend, Thomas Korf (Sr., F, St. Cloud, Minn.) is looking to become the 14th member of the 1,000 point club in Minot State men's basketball history. Korf needs to average 6.8 points per game to reach the milestone before his senior night on Feb. 14. Currently, Korf is Minot State's leading scorer, averaging 12.6 points per game. This past weekend, Korf became the Beavers' all-time leader in made three-point field goals.

LENDING A HAND: Dominique McDonald (Jr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) is averaging 10.9 points per game for the Beavers this year but it's not his scoring that's turning heads. Coming into this weekend, McDonald has the sixth-most assists in Minot State history and he's just six assists away from breaking into the top five. McDonald is currently averaging 4.2 assists per game and has a total of 59 assists this season, 24 more than the next closest Beaver.

DOUBLE FIGURES TENFOLD: Minot State's Everett Robinson (Sr., G, Grand Junction, Colo.) has been one of the Beavers most consistent players so far this season and his stats back it up. Robinson has scored in double figures in 10 of MSU's 14 games so far this season. He's scored 15+ points on five different occasions this season as well.

Robinson's top scoring performances    
Date    Opponent                                  Points
12/12    vs. University of Sioux Falls          20
11/29    at University of Mary                    19
12/19    vs. University of Mary                  18
12/13    vs. Southwest Minnesota State    16

EQUALING LAST YEAR: With the Beavers win against Minnesota Crookston this past Saturday, Minot State has reached its conference win total of the 2013-14 season. Last season the Beavers went 4-18 in the conference and 8-19 overall. The Beavers have already surpassed their overall wins from last season and one more conference win will give them their best win total since joining the NSIC

BY THE NUMBERS
0.93: While Minot State is having success this year, the Beavers continue to have trouble turning the ball over. Their assist-to-turnover ratio of 0.93 is the third-worst in the NSIC.

20.0: Minot State will have their hands full this weekend against MSU Moorhead who is outscoring their opponents by an average of 20 points per game. The Beavers lost by 35 earlier this season at Moorhead.

30.0: The Beavers continue to rebound the basketball well this season as they allow their opponents to bring in just 30 per game, the fewest rebounds allowed in the NSIC.