THIS WEEKEND - The Southwest Minnesota State University men's basketball team (8-3, 2-1 NSIC) closes out the 2014 calendar year with a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference road game versus the University of Sioux Falls (4-6, 2-3 NSIC) on Saturday, Dec. 20. Game time is set for 4 p.m. at the Stewart Center on the campus of USF. It will be the second meeting between the two teams this season. SMSU won 72-68 in the NSIC opener in Marshall on Dec. 2. USF will host Mt. Marty College on Tuesday before taking on SMSU on Saturday. Following Saturday's game, SMSU will have nearly two weeks off before returning to play on Jan. 2-3 hosting Wayne State and Augustana.
RADIO - Saturday's game will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL with Ryan Rohlik handling play-by-play and Anthony Rohlik serving as analyst.
SERIES HISTORY - Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls meet for the 24th time with SMSU leading 15-8 in a series that started during the 1968-69 season. SMSU leads the series 3-2--with each team winning on its home floor--since USF joined the NSIC for the 2012-13 season. USF leads 8-3 in games played in Sioux Falls, including winning the past two games. SMSU's last win in Sioux Falls was on Dec. 30, 2008. SMSU head coach
Brad Bigler is 3-2 versus Sioux Falls. A game-by-game listing of the series is located on page 18.
SMSU VS. USF THIS SEASON - Southwest Minnesota State defeated Sioux Falls 72-68 in the NSIC opener for both teams on Dec. 2 in Marshall.
Mitch Weg recorded his first double-double of the season, scoring a team-high 15 points and grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds to lead the Mustangs. SMSU led 40-24 at halftime and held a 19-point lead with less than nine minutes left in the game, only to see USF rally in the final minute to pull with three points in the final 10 seconds. Both teams shot poorly during the game with SMSU shooting 39 percent (22 of 57) from the field, including 6 of 20 from 3-point range. USF shot 39 percent from the field and made 5 of 16 3-pointers. Charles Ward led the Cougars with a game-high 21 points, including 19 in the second half. USF finished with a 44-38 rebound advantage and held a 19-6 advantage on second chance points.
Drew Osmundson scored a career-high 13 points for SMSU, while
Carter Kirk and
Joey Bartlett each finished with 10 points.
Cole Martin added nine points and a career-high nine rebounds. The box score from this game is located on page 17.
GAMEDAY STORYLINES -•SMSU's 8-3 start is its best start to a season after 11 games since the 2009-10 team also was 8-3. The 2009-10 team lost its 12th game.
•SMSU has featured a balanced scoring attack this season with eight players averaging 6.9 points or more.
•Head coach
Brad Bigler is two wins shy of tying Pierre duCharme (1981-90) for second on the career victories list at SMSU with 93.
•SMSU has made 10 or more 3-pointers in five games this season. The Mustangs made 10 or more 3-pointers twice all of last season.
•SMSU shot a season-high 64.6 percent (31 of 48) at the University of Mary last Friday.
•SMSU has shot 50 percent or higher from the field six games.
•SMSU has held a lead or has been tied at halftime in nine of 11 games.
•SMSU has shot 50 percent or higher from the field in 11 of the 22 halves this season.
•SMSU has held a rebound advantage in seven of 11 games.
•SMSU's 100 points in the win over Jamestown was its first 100-point game since losing to Concordia-St. Paul 109-104 in triple overtime on Feb. 13, 2010. It was SMSU's first 100-point game in regulation since beating Humboldt State (Calif.) 103-52 on Nov. 8, 2008.
•The SMSU 2014-15 roster features three seniors, three sophomores, two redshirt freshmen and seven true freshmen.
