THIS WEEK - Southwest Minnesota State University (7-7, 4-3 NSIC) plays at home for the first time in 2013 for a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference games at the R/A Facility.  SMSU will face St. Cloud State University (9-2, 5-2 NSIC) on Friday, Jan. 11, with tip-off set for 8 p.m.  SCSU was ranked No. 19 in the Dec. 18 NABC national poll, but  dropped out of this week's poll following a loss to Minot State last Saturday.  The Mustangs then face the University of Minnesota Duluth (4-7, 2-5 NSIC) on Saturday, Jan. 12, with game time set for 7 p.m.  Following this weekend's games, SMSU will hit the road for a mid-week NSIC match-up at the University of Sioux Falls on Tuesday, Jan. 15. 

LAST TIME OUT - Southwest Minnesota State split a pair of road games last weekend, falling 91-83 in overtime to Winona State, before bouncing back with a 74-69 victory at Upper Iowa.  In the loss to WSU, SMSU built a 15-point first half lead and held a 10-point halftime lead, but WSU rallied in the final seconds of regulation to send the game into overtime.  SMSU held a 75-71 lead with 20 seconds remaining in the regulation, but WSU tied the game on a field goal with 13 seconds left and following a missed SMSU free throw, the Warriors tied the game with two free throws with six seconds remaining.  WSU then scored the final eight points in overtime, snapping an 81-81 game with 1:10 on the clock.  SMSU had six players score in double figures with Nick Smith leading the way with 14 points on 6 of 7 shooting.  In the victory over UIU, Jordan Miller poured in a game-high 23 points, his third 20-point game of the season, and grabbed nine rebounds to lead SMSU to the victory.  Smith added 14 points and six rebounds.  SMSU shot 62 percent from the field in the second half to secure the victory.

TOUGH SCHEDULE - Southwest Minnesota State has opened the season with 14 tough games - playing 13 NCAA Division II opponents and one NCAA Division I opponent - while only playing four games in Marshall.  The seven opponents SMSU has lost to this season have a combined record of 69-22 (as of Jan. 7). 

RANKED OPPONENTS - Southwest Minnesota State is 0-2 this season versus Top 25 teams, following losses to then-No. 21 Minnesota State, Mankato on Dec. 14 and to then-No. 24 Northwest Missouri State on Nov. 25.  SMSU's last win over a Top 25 team was on Feb. 11, 2012, at No. 24 St. Cloud State 85-69.

NCAA STATS - Southwest Minnesota State ranks among the top 100 nationally in three categories in the NCAA statistics report through Sunday, Jan. 6, including 28th in free throw pct. and 33rd in field goal pct.  Individually, Jordan Miller ranks 57th in free throw pct., while Nick Smith ranks 49th in field goal pct. and 75th in blocked shots.  See chart on page 2 for all NSIC and NCAA statistics.

> SMSU Release

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