THIS WEEK: Minot State travels to Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State looking to move up in the NSIC standings. Games are set for 8 p.m. Friday at UMC and 6 p.m. Saturday at BSU.

RECORDS: The Beavers are 11-13 overall and 6-12 in NSIC North play, sitting in seventh place overall. MSU trails BSU by just a game entering the final two weeks of NSIC play. UMC is last in the NSIC North at 1-17 and is 3-19 overall. BSU is 7-11 in conference play and is 10-12 overall.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's Matt Murken is in his fourth season as head coach of the Beavers. He's compiled a 44-63 record during his first four seasons with Minot State and is 91-79 throughout his six 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. UMC's head coach is Dan Weisse, who is in his second season with the Golden Eagles. A former MSU Moorhead assistant coach, Weisse is 10-39 overall as a head coach all at UMC. Mike Boschee is the head coach at Bemidji State and is 54-52 with the Beavers. He spent nine seasons at Central College in Iowa before taking the job at BSU.

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 – with Leif Bakken serving as the play-by-play announcer – and live stats as well as links to the live audio at msubeavers.com. Minot State Athletics also is active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and You Tube with all feeds accessible at msubeavers.com/stayconnected.

RANKINGS: None of the three teams on competing this week earned votes in either NABC Division II Top 25 Poll or the D2SIDA Central Region Poll.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State rolled to an 81-67 win over Concordia-St. Paul Friday night to extend the Beavers home winning streak to six games, but the Beavers couldn't extend it further as Minnesota State held off Minot 73-63 Saturday. Winston Williams (Sr., F, Plainfield, Ill.) had the hot hand Friday with 18 points, while Tyler Rudolph (So., F, Bismarck, N.D.) finished with a pair of double-doubles, including 14 and 12 against the Mavs. UMD struggled on the road last week, falling 73-60 at the University of Sioux Falls and then gave up 100 points in a 100-68 loss at Southwest Minnesota State. Derrick Redd finished with 16 Friday, while C.J. Polk led the Golden Eagles with 15 Saturday. BSU also struggled in a pair of road losses as the Beavers fell 97-91 at SMSU and 90-62 at USF. William Harvey and DJ Anderson both hit for 20 in the loss Friday, while Jordan Rhodes had 17 points and five rebounds Saturday for BSU.

ALL-TIME AT A GLANCE: MSU has a substantial edge in the all-time series with Minnesota Crookston, leading 17-5 overall and has a perfect 7-0 record against UMC in NSIC play. Minot State is also riding an eight-game winning streak overall dating back to its NAIA days. The Beavers closed the gap with a win over BSU in January, but trail the Minnesota Beavers 8-6 all time.

LAST TIME OUT: The Beavers started the New Year off right with a pair of home wins over BSU and UMC in early January. Minot State finished the game on a 16-7 run to top Bemidji 77-73, starting a five-game NSIC home winning streak. Tyler Rudolph (So., F, Bismarck, N.D.) scored 17 points and Winston Williams (Sr., F, Plainfield, Ill.) added 16 for MSU. Ben Best scored a game-high 24 points for BSU. The Beavers finished off a weekend sweep with a 78-55 win over UMC Saturday. Rudolph and Chris Davis (Sr., G, Colorado Springs, Colo.) paced MSU with 17 points apiece. Minot State outscored UMC 27-9 on 3-pointers as Davis hit five. Kobe Critchley finished with 13 points to lead UMC.

NOTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES: Minnesota Crookston has struggled to score points much of the season, but it has been especially difficult for the Golden Eagles during their current 14-game losing streak. UMC has failed to reach 70 points in 10 of the 14 games since defeating Wayne State 70-68 Dec. 11… UMC has hit a respectable 41 percent from the field, but has been outscored by 100 points at the free throw line, taking just 339 all season… C.J. Polk and Derreick Redd have been solid on offense, pacing the team with a 13.3 and 11.3 scoring average respectively… Gable Smith's 4.3 rebounds per game lead the team as the Golden Eagles are pulling down just 30.8 rebounds per game… Kobe Critchley has dished out 62 assists and has a 9.8 scoring average… Smith leads the team with 43 blocks, nine more than the rest of the team combined.

NOTING THE BSU BEAVERS: Bemidji State has been up and down all season as the Beavers have put together just three winning streaks and none greater than three games in a row, but have not lost more than three in a row in 2015-16… Ben Best has been a tough player to handle as he leads the team in scoring (12.8), is tied for the lead in rebounding (5.5) and paces the Beavers in blocked shots (21)… DJ Anderson, second on the team in scoring at 11.2 per game, needs just one assist to reach 100 for the season… Calvin Harrington, Irvin Womack and Jordan Rhodes all have split time as starters and all average about the same on offense. Harrington is fourth on the team at 9.6 per game, while Womack (9.0) and Rhodes (8.3) are right behind… Christian Pekarek doesn't score a lot of points (120 through 22 games), but has 51 assists compared to just 17 turnovers.

FORMULA 409: Tyler Rudolph (So., F, Bismarck, N.D.) went over the 400 point mark for the season this weekend, sitting at 409 in 2015-16. He has 646 points over his first 53 games in his career. His 17.0 scoring average so far this season is seventh best since 1997 and is on pace to score over 1,300 points in his career. Since 1997, MSU's Conan Moore (620 points) and Jeff Brandt (613) have reached three 600-point mark in a single season, while Aaron Patterson (575), Courtney Haley (535) and Matt Whitwer (527) have scored 500 in one year.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB: MSU senior guard Dominique McDonald (Raleigh, N.C.) became just the 15 th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. McDonald is now chasing Aaron Patterson's total of 1,041 to move into 14 th overall. He is the first player in the NCAA Division II era to reach 1,000 career points exclusively as a DII member. Paul Harrell has an impressive 1,826 points to lead the all-time list.

EXCLUSIVE MEMBERSHIP    

Player	Total	Seasons
Paul Harrell	1,826	1977-80
Henry Milkey	1,792	1953-57
Rick Hedberg	1,652	1984-88
Kent Bloms	1,600	2000-04
Ed Baker	1,388	1964-68
Chris Lamoureux	1382	1985-89
Brian Buhr	1348	1990-93
Kevin Bohl	1347	1985-89
Dick Limke	1285	1959-63
Bart Manson	1197	1993-95
Gene Groniger	1185	1950-54
Dale Brown	1140	1953-57
Thomas Korf	1,072	2011-15
Aaron Patterson	1,041	2007-09
Dominique McDonald	1,013	2012-Present

    
MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME: After sitting out for the first half of the season due to the NCAA 10 semester rule, senior Michael Pelo (G, Charleston, Utah) has quickly added 3-pointers to his career total. Pelo knocked down 61 triples last year in 29 games. This season, through just 13 games, he has 35. It isn't like he is just chucking the rock up either. Pelo is 35 for 78 on 3s for a 44.9 percent clip, which would put him in third in the league if he had played enough games to meet the league minimum.

THREE OR BETTER: Minot State has three players averaging three or more assists per game. Dominique McDonald (Sr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) leads the team with 75 assists on the season, while Luis Ricci Maia (So., G, Franca, Sao Paulo, Brazil) is second with 74, both holding a 3.1 average. Right behind with 71 is Nathan Mertens (Jr., G, Devils Lake, N.D.), good for a 3.0 average. All three are in the top 15 in the conference, the only team in the league with more than two in the top 15.

BY THE NUMBERS

6: Rank of Minot State's 3-point shooting percentage defense in the NSIC. MSU is allowing just 36.6 percent from beyond the arc.

17: Blocked shots for senior Brandon Pines (F, Jessup, Md.) to lead the team and move into the top 15 in the league. Pines' average of 0.7 is good for 13th overall.

73.4: Free throw percentage for MSU. Minot State is fourth in the league from the line, making 367 of 500 overall. Tyler Rudolph (So., F, Bismarck, N.D.) leads the Beavers and is 10th overall at 82.9.