THIS WEEK - The Southwest Minnesota State University (11-7, 8-4 NSIC) men's basketball team hits the road for a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division games this Friday and Saturday. SMSU will take on Wayne State College (8-8, 5-7 NSIC) on Friday, Jan. 24, with game time set for 8 p.m. at Rice Auditorium, before closing the weekend in Sioux Falls, S.D., versus Augustana College (11-7, 8-4 NSIC) on Saturday, Jan. 25, with tip-off slated for 6 p.m. at the Elmen Center. SMSU and Augustana begin the weekend tied for third place in the NSIC South Division standings and in a five-way tie for fourth in the overall standings. SMSU will look to extend a five-game winning streak over WSC and will also look to snap a five-game losing streak at Augustana. SMSU's last win at Augustana occurred on Dec. 11, 2004. SMSU will be playing six of its next eight games on the road.
MUSTANG QUICK HITTERS -
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William Giddings scored a career-high 21 points in last Saturday's loss to Upper Iowa.
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Vinard Birch became the program's all-time assists leader during SMSU's win over Winona State on Jan. 17. He now has 347 assists in 103 career games.
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Nick Smith became the 18th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points during SMSU's win over MSU Moorhead on Jan. 4.
•Smith ranks 54th in Division II with 28 blocked shots and is ranked seventh among active Division II players with 149 career blocked shots. Smith currently ranks sixth in the NSIC in blocked shots and seventh in rebounding.
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Vinard Birch ranks third in the NSIC in assists, fourth in assist/turnover ratio and sixth in field goal pct. He also ranks 48th in Division II in assists.
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Matt Zager ranks 10th in the NSIC in field goal pct., 10th in 3-point field goal pct. and 11th in steals. He ranks 20th in school history with 961 career points.
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Shaun Condon ranks third in the NSIC in 3-point field goal pct.
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Joey Bartlett ranks 11th in the NSIC in 3-point field goals made.
•SMSU ranks 17th in Division II in field goal pct. (50.2), 52nd in rebound margin (+5.2) and 54th in steals (125).
•SMSU opponents have shot 40 percent or lower from the field in five of the last eight games.
•SMSU has held a lead at halftime in 12 of 18 games.
•SMSU has held a rebound advantage in 15 of 18 games.
•SMSU has shot 50 percent or better from the field in 12 of 18 games.
•SMSU has shot 60 percent or higher in a half eight times this season.
•SMSU has shot 70 percent or higher in the second half four times this season.
•Opponents have shot 50 percent or higher from the field seven times in 18 games. Only four teams shot 50 percent or better from the field all of last season.
