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This Week: The Southwest Minnesota State men's basketball team opens the 2008-09 regular season and its 42nd season of collegiate basketball this week with three games at the 2008 Division II Disney's West Coast Tip-Off Classic in Anaheim, Calif. 
     SMSU will open the season facing Alaska-Anchorage on Friday, Nov. 7 at 2 p.m. PST.  SMSU will then face Humboldt State (Calif.) on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 5 p.m. PST, before concluding the classic on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 11 a.m. PST?versus Ft. Lewis (Colo.).  All three games will take place at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Internet Radio, Video & Stats: All SMSU?men's basketball games during the 2008-09 season can be seen and heard on the Internet.  A video Webcast is available free of charge at www.northernsun.tv while the radio broadcast is available at www.SMSUmustangs.com.  Fans can also follow the game on the Internet with live in-game statistics for all home games at www.SMSUmustangs.com and clicking on the “live stats”?link on the right side of the men's basketball page.

Radio Broadcasts:?SMSU?men's basketball will once again be heard all season long on KARL 105.1 FM, Marshall.  Sports director Aaron Ziemer will handle the play-by-play for a sixth straight season.

Disney Tip-Off Classic Schedule: Six games will be played over three days at the Disney Tip-Off Classic.  Here is a look at the six-game schedule (all games PST):
Friday, Nov. 7
Game 1 - SMSU vs. Alaska-Anchorage; 12 p.m.
Game 2 - Fort Lewis vs. Humboldt State; 2:30 p.m.  
Saturday, Nov. 8
Game 3 - Humboldt State vs. SMSU; 5 p.m.
Game 4 - Alaska-Anchorage vs. Fort Lewis; 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 9
Game 5 - Fort Lewis vs. SMSU; 11 a.m.
Game 6 - Humboldt State vs. Alaska-Anchorage; 1:30 p.m.

SMSU at the Disney:?This will be SMSU's second appearance in a Disney Tip-Off Classic but the first in the state of California.  SMSU appeared in the 2000 Disney Tip-Off Classic in Orlando, Fla., finishing 1-2 in the three-day tournament, beating St. Joseph's (Ind.) in the first round?before losing to Rollins (Fla.) in the semifinals and Bentley (Mass.) in the third place game.

About the Teams:?All three teams SMSU will face this weekend advanced to the NCAA?tournament in 2007-08. 
     Alaska Anchorage captured the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) title and reached the NCAA Division II semifinals and concluded the season with a program-best 29-6 overall record.  UAA?was picked to finish third in the preseason conference poll.
     Humboldt State grabbed a share of the 2008 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) title after posting a 22-8 overall record, including a 15-5 mark in conference play.  The Lumberjacks suffered a first round loss in the NCAA regional tournament.  Humboldt State was picked to finish fourth in the CCAA preseason coaches' poll. 
     Fort Lewis also enjoyed a program-high in wins after posting a 24-6 overall record, capturing the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) before suffering a first round loss in the NCAA regional tournament.  Ft. Lewis was picked to win the RMAC?West Division and overall championship this winter.

The Series Match-Up:?SMSU has never faced either Alaska-Anchorage or Humboldt State, but has played against current teams from its respective conferences.  The Mustangs are 1-2 versus teams from the GNAC, splitting two games with MSU-Billings (win 1996, loss in 1997) and losing to Western Washington in 2002.  SMSU is 2-1 versus schools from the CCAA, splitting two games with Chico State in the early 1970s and beating Cal. State-San Bernardino in 1996.  SMSU and Ft. Lewis meet for the second time with SMSU winning the previous match-up 106-74 at the CSU-Pueblo Tournament in 1996.

About SMSU in 2008-09: Southwest Minnesota State welcomes back nine letterwinners and three redshirt players from the 2007-08 squad.  SMSU returns three starters including senior guard Ryan Krome, senior forward Ross DeMasi and junior forward Kevin Andrews. 
     DeMasi is the team's leading returning scorer with 9.6 points per game while leading the team in rebounding with 6.8 per game.  He also shot a team-high 56.4 percent from the field. 
    Krome is the team's top returning three-pointer shooter after ranking third on the squad a season ago with 17 three-point field goals.  Andrews ranked fourth on the team with 15 three-pointers while senior Andy Beilke connected on 10 three-pointers.
     Junior Andrew Peschong is also back after dishing out a team-high 71 assists last season while Krome led the team with 45 steals. 
     SMSU averaged 70.4 points per game last season with opponents averaging 66.1 points.  The Mustangs shot 45 percent (709 of 1577) from the field including 38.7 percent (210 of 543) from three-point range.  Opponents finished the season shooting 46.7 percent (701 of 1500) from the field and 38.2 percent (172 of 450) from three-point range.?

SMSU in Exhibition Action: Southwest Minnesota State has won both its exhibition games this season.  SMSU beat NCAA?Division III St. Olaf 97-70 on Oct. 31 in Marshall, and downed NCAA?Division I?South Dakota State 70-65 on Nov. 3 in Brookings, S.D.
     In the St. Olaf victory, no SMSU player played over 19 minutes and no one scored more than 10 points in the blowout victory.  Junior center Nick Dale and sophomore Taylor Huseby each scored 10 points to lead all SMSU scorers. 
     In the win over SDSU, junior guard Andrew Peschong scored a team-high 15 points on 5 of 6 shooting in just 15 minutes while senior guard Andy Beilke added 13 points including drilling home a team-high two three-pointers.  SMSU outrebounded SDSU 45-38, with senior forward Ross DeMasi grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds.
     SMSU will return home next week for one more exhibition game on Nov. 14 versus Northwestern College (Minn.) before returning to regular season action on Nov. 18 at the University of North Dakota.

Welcome to the Show: SMSU is expected to have four new players see their first regular season game action this upcoming season.  Junior guard Jon DeRock, redshirt freshman guard Trent Carlson and redshirt freshman forward Kevin Smith all sat out last year as redshirts and will see minutes this season, while  junior guard DeAnthony Zanders transferred to SMSU this summer after two seasons of junior college at Iowa Western CC. 

Season Openers: Southwest Minnesota State is 23-18 all-time in season openers which includes winning 10 of its past 12 season lid-lifters.  SMSU lost to Western Washington in 2002 and North Dakota in 2006 for its only two losses since 1996. 

The 2008-09 Schedule: Southwest Minnesota State will play one of its most challenging schedules in school history this season.  SMSU is scheduled to play 30 regular season games including playing in the Disney West Coast Classic.  The team will play 13?games against teams that played in last year's NCAA?tournament or are in transition to NCAA Division I.  SMSU will also play one game versus NAIA?national tournament qualifier Northwestern College (Iowa).

SMSU Begins Season on the Road:?SMSU will begin this season with its first six games away from home marking the longest stretch of road or neutral site games to begin a season in school history.  In fact the six games away from home is the longest stretch of road or neutral site games since the end of the 2000-01 season when SMSU?finished the year playing six straight neutral site games in the NSIC?and NCAA?tournament.

Remembering AW: Southwest Minnesota State will be wearing the initials “AW” on the back of its uniforms this season following the death of former men's basketball player Andy Wiersma. Wiersma died in a car accident south of Marshall on July 27.  Wiersma played at SMSU from 2001-06 and following his senior season the men's basketball program honored Wiersma by renaming its “Mustang Award” the “Andy Wiersma Mustang Award”.  The award is given each year to an SMSU men's basketball player who exemplifies the qualities of being a Mustang men's basketball student-athlete.

New Three-Point Shooting Line: The NCAA?has made a major rule change for men's basketball in 2008-09 as the three-point line has moved to 20-feet 9-inches.  The new line is back one foot from the previous 19-feet 9-inches.  It's the first time the line has been moved since the three-point line was introduced in 1986-87.

A New Look Northern Sun Conference: The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference will have a new look this season as the conference has expanded to 14 schools in the five-state area.  Because of the expansion the 14-team schools will now play an unbalanced conference schedule.  Teams will now play seven conference teams twice and the six other teams just once for a 20-game NSIC?schedule.  SMSU will play Augustana, Bemidji State, Mary, Minnesota Duluth, Upper Iowa and Winona State just once in conference play.  The NSIC?tournament, which determines the league's automatic bid to the NCAA?tournament, will still be an eight-team tournament and will the semifinals and finals being held at the highest remaining seed.

NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll:?Southwest Minnesota State was picked to finish seventh in the 2008-09 NSIC?preseason coaches' poll.  NSIC?newcomer, Minnesota State, Mankato was chosen as the preseason favorite pick earning 176 points including seven first place votes.  Northern State was picked to finish second receiving 169 points and five first place votes, while Winona State, last year's NCAA?national champion, was selected third with 159 points and two first place votes.
2008-09 NSIC?Preseason Coaches' Poll
      1.     Minnesota State (7)       176  
      2.     Northern State (5)       169  
      3.     Winona State (2)       159  
      4.     Augustana     139  
      5.     St. Cloud State       131  
      6.     Minnesota Duluth      118  
      7.     SMSU       116  
      8.     Concordia-St. Paul       103  
      9.     Wayne State       76  
      10.     MSU Moorhead       69  
      11.     Upper Iowa       68  
      12.     University of Mary       55  
      13.     Bemidji State       51  
      14.     Minnesota, Crookston       26  
          ( ) First Place Votes 

Mustangs Finish High in NSIC Standings Again:?Southwest Minnesota State's third place finish in the NSIC?last season was its fifth top half finish in Greg Stemen's seven seasons as head coach.  SMSU has finished second twice, third twice and fourth once during his tenure.  SMSU has finished among the top four in the conference 11 times in the last 13 seasons.

Victory Total Sixth Best in History:?SMSU's 17 victories in 2007-08 is tied for the sixth most in one season in the school's history.  SMSU has now recorded seven seasons with 17 or more victories in the 41-year history of the program with four of them coming under the direction of head coach Greg Stemen.

SMSU in the Regional Poll:?Southwest Minnesota State was ranked in the NCAA North Central region rankings all six weeks during the 2007-08 season.  SMSU was ranked 10th, 10th, 10th, 9th, 9th and 8th in the six polls before the regional tournament was announced.

Academic All-NSIC Honors:?Three SMSU players earned Academic All-NSIC?honors last season.  Junior Kevin Andrews, senior Andy Beilke and junior Andrew Peschong earned the award.  It's the second time in Beilke's career he's been named to the team.

Andrews Earns Academic All-District Honors: Junior Kevin Andrew was named to the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V College Division third team last season.  The College Division District V team consists of student-athletes from NCAA Division II, Division III and NAIA schools from the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana.  Sports information directors in the district select the all-academic team.  Andrews has compiled a 3.86 GPA while majoring in accounting. 

A Look Back at SMSU in 2007-08: Southwest Minnesota State finished last season 17-12 overall, 11-7 NSIC and won nine of its last 14 games after a three-game losing streak in early January.  Of the five games SMSU lost after Jan. 12, four came against the top three teams in the regional tournament.  SMSU lost twice to No. 2 Northern State and once each to No. 1 Winona State and No. 3 Minnesota State, Mankato.

Senior Matt Fletcher lead the team in scoring with 13.6 points per game and also lead the team with 82 three-pointers.  Senior Travis Krenske ranked second in scoring with a 13.3 points per game average and was also second in three-pointers with 77.  Krenske also finished second on the team in both assists (70) and steals (37).  Junior Ross DeMasi averaged 9.6 ppg to finished third on the squad while leading the team with 6.8 rebounds per game.  DeMasi also shot a team-high 56.4 percent (101 of 179) from the field.  Sophomore Kevin Andrews ranked fourth in scoring with 8.7 ppg.  The Mustangs outrebounded its opponents in 23 of 29 games by an average of 4.6 per game. 

Stemen Records Career Victory 100:?SMSU head coach Greg Stemen, the all-time winningest coach in school history, recorded his 100th career victory at SMSU on Dec. 1, 2007, versus Minnesota, Crookston.  Stemen, now with 113 wins, is one of seven current NSIC?coaches that have recorded at least 100 wins at their current school.

SMSU Versus Nationally Ranked Opponents:? SMSU finished the 2007-08 season 1-5 versus top 25 teams.  The Mustangs lost to No. 10 Southern Indiana, beat No. 14 St. Cloud State, lost to No. 5 Winona State, No. 8 Northern State, No. 3 Winona State and to No. 4 Northern State.  During head coach Greg Stemen's tenure as head coach SMSU is 2-22 versus nationally ranked teams.

Consecutive Three-Point Games:?Southwest Minnesota State has connected on at least one three-point field goal in 281 straight games.  The last time SMSU failed to score a three-pointer was on Dec. 11, 1998 versus MSU?Moorhead.

Mustangs Home and Away:?SMSU?finished 12-2 at home last season after setting a school record with 13 victories in 2006-07.  The road was less friendly for the Mustangs as the team finished 5-10 in road/neutral games after finishing 7-8 in 2006-07.  Here is a statistical comparison of the Mustang averages home and away/neutral in 2007-08:
    W-L    FG%    3-FG%    FT%    REB    PTS    TO   
Home    12-2    .460    .378    .679    35.4    72.4    12.6   
Away    5-10    .440    .394    .715    32.0    69.7    12.2

SMSU Late in the Game:?Making plays down the stretch on both ends of the floor is a major key for teams in earning victories.  The following was SMSU's and its opponents' offensive and defensive statistical averages in the final five minutes of its games last season:
<5 min.         FG%    3-FG%    FT%    REB    PTS    TO   
SMSU        .430    .281    .719    4.8    11.0    1.3
Opp.        .432    .342    .806    4.1    10.5    1.8

Mustangs Earn Home Victory No. 12:?Southwest Minnesota State finished its 2007-08 home season with a 12-2 record tying for the second most home wins in one season in school history (done four previous times).  SMSU also recorded 12 home wins during the 1986-87, 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2001-02 seasons.  The record is 13 set during the 2006-07 season in 15 games.

SMSU From Downtown...Yes!:?SMSU connected on 210 three-pointers last season compared to 172 by its opponents.  SMSU made the same or more three-pointers than its opponents in 19 of its 29 games in 2007-08 season.

Krome and Peschong Free Throw Pct.:?Senior Ryan Krome (6th) and junior Andrew Peschong (9th) both begin the 2008-09 season ranking in the top 10 in school history for career free throw percentage:
Krome, Free throw percentage: 6th (.817)
Peschong, Free throw percentage: 9th (.805)

DeMasi Close to All-Time Leader: Senior Ross DeMasi will begin the 2008-09 season just 15 made field goals away from qualifying for the school field goal percentage record book.  DeMasi is shooting 56.6 percent from the field in his career (185 of 327), ranking third all-time in school history, but a minimum of 200 field goals must be made to qualify.

Mustangs On the Boards:?SMSU recorded the same or had more rebounds than its opponents in 25 of 29 games last season and finished with a plus 4.6 rebound advantage per game.  After outrebounding opponents in the first 12 games of the season, SMSU was outrebounded in three straight games before earning the advantage or the same in 13 of its last 14 contests to end the season.  In 2006-07, SMSU led the NSIC in rebound margin with a 5.5 advantage per game in 18 conference games. 

Rebounding Key for SMSU Victories:?SMSU is 33-10 when even or outrebounding its opponents in the last two seasons including 17-8 in 2007-08.  During head coach Greg Stemen's tenure, SMSU?is 92-34 when outrebounding its opponent but just 21-56 when being outrebounded.

Keepin' the Opponent Under 70:?Defense has been a trademark for Mustang basketball under head coach Greg Stemen.  During Stemen's seven-plus year tenure on the Mustang sideline, SMSU is 82-18 overall, including 15-1 last season, when limiting opponents to 69 points or less.

SMSU?in the NSIC?Stats: The following is where SMSU and Mustang individuals ranked last season in the final NSIC statistics for conference games only:
Rebound Margin    2nd    +3.9
Scoring Defense    3rd    64.6
Scoring Offense    3rd    69.3
Scoring Margin    3rd    +4.7
Three-Point FG Made    3rd    122
Free Throw Pct.    4th    70.2
Field Goal Pct.    4th    45.2
Three-Point FG Pct.    4th    39.0
Field Goal Pct. Defense    7th    47.3
Three-Point FG Pct. Defense    9th    41.5

Matt Fletcher, Free Throw Pct.        2nd, 88.9
Ross DeMasi, Field Goal Pct.        2nd, 57.5
Matt Fletcher, Three-Point/game        2nd, 2.61
Kevin Andrews, Field Goal Pct.        3rd, 55.5
Travis Krenske, Three-Point/game        3rd, 2.56
Ryan Krome, Steals/game        4th, 1.72
Ross DeMasi, Rebounding        5th, 6.6
Matt Fletcher, Scoring        7th, 13.8
Travis Krenske, Steals/game        9th, 1.28
Travis Krenske, Scoring        12th, 12.3

SMSU?in the NCAA?Stats: The following is where SMSU and two Mustangs (top 100) ranked in the final NCAA statistics (261 teams) last season:
Turnover/Game    10th    12.4
Rebound Margin    30th    4.6
Three-Point Field Goal Pct.    38th    38.7
Scoring Defense    42nd    66.1
Assist/Turnover Ratio    66th    1.04
Scoring Margin    92nd    4.3
Three-Point Field Goal/Game    97th    7.2
Free Throw Pct.    104th    69.6
Field Goal Pct.    125th    45.0
Steals    125th    7.5
Scoring Offense    165th    70.4
Field Goal Pct. Defense    217th    46.7
Blocked Shots    239th    1.6

Travis Krenske, 3-Point Field Goal Pct.               29th, 42.1
Matt Fletcher, 3-Point Field Goal Pct.                  34th, 41.4
Matt Fletcher, 3-Point Field Goals Per Game       35th, 2.8
Travis Krenske, 3-Point Field Goals Per Game      57th, 2.7

History of the Program:?Southwest Minnesota State is in its 42nd season of men's basketball in 2008-09 and begins the season having played 1,109 games with an all-time record of 464-645.  SMSU has racked up 16 winning seasons all-time with 10 coming in the last 13 years.  The 2000-01 squad won a school record 28 games and captured the program's lone NSIC?championship, while also winning the NCAA?regional championship and advancing to the NCAA?Elite Eight.

SMSU Men's Basketball in NSIC Action:?The 2008-09 season marks the 40th year that SMSU men's basketball has competed in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.  SMSU has compiled an all-time record of 232-298 (.437) in 530 conference games finishing in the top half of the final conference standings 18 times in 39 seasons.  SMSU has had much better success in the conference in recent years, having finished in the top half of the standings in 10 of the last 13 seasons and has recorded a conference record of 125-75 (.625) in 200 games since the 1995-96 season.

Mustangs Make R/A Home Sweet Home:?This season marks the 13th year that the R/A Facility has been the home arena for SMSU basketball and its proven to be a tough place for opponents to play in.  SMSU?has compiled a record of 119-45 (.725) in 164 games and has had just one losing season in the arena.  SMSU has recorded double figure victories in three straight seasons.
Year    Overall    NSIC    Non-Conf.
1996-97    6-4    3-2    3-2     
1997-98    8-5    4-2    4-3     
1998-99    10-3    5-1    5-2     
1999-00    12-3    7-2    5-1     
2000-01    12-1    9-0    3-1     
2001-02    12-2    7-2    5-0     
2002-03    9-5    7-2    2-3
2003-04    9-5    5-3    4-2     
2004-05    6-8    3-4    3-4
2005-06    10-5    3-4    7-1   
2006-07    13-2    8-1    5-1
2007-08    12-2    7-2    5-0
2008-09    -    -    -
Totals    119-45     68-25    51-20