THIS WEEKEND - The Southwest Minnesota State University men's basketball team (5-2, 1-0 NSIC) concludes its six-game homestand this weekend with a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference games at the R/A Facility. SMSU, which opened NSIC play on Tuesday with a 72-68 victory over Sioux Falls, will take on Winona State University (4-1, 1-0 NSIC) on Friday at 8 p.m., before closing the weekend with a 7 p.m. game versus Upper Iowa University (4-2, 0-1 NSIC) on Saturday.
    Following this weekend's games, SMSU will hit the road for the first time in NSIC play next Friday and Saturday facing U-Mary and Minot State.

    RADIO - Both games this weekend 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 Winona State meet for the 100th time in a series dating back to 1968-69 with WSU leading the series 65-34. WSU holds a 26-20 advantage in games played in Marshall. SMSU snapped a 10-game home losing streak to WSU last season with a 73-71 win on Jan. 17, 2014. Prior to last season, SMSU's last victory in the series in Marshall occurred on Feb. 8, 2002. WSU has won 22 of the last 25 meetings overall with last season's win by SMSU snapping a 19-game regular season winning streak for WSU in the series. SMSU head coach Brad Bigler is 3-8 versus Winona State.
    Southwest Minnesota State and Upper Iowa meet for the 19th time with SMSU leading 15-3 in a series dating back to 1979-80. SMSU leads 8-1 in games played in Marshall, but UIU won last season's game 96-75 on Jan. 18, 2014. SMSU head coach Brad Bigler is 7-2 versus Upper Iowa.  
    A game-by-game listing of both series is located on page 17-18.

    ABOUT WINONA STATE - The Warriors, picked to finish third in the NSIC South and fourth overall, are 4-1 overall, 1-0 NSIC. Winona State defeated Upper Iowa 89-70 last Saturday at home to open NSIC play. Sophomore guard Riley Bambenek is averaging 18.8 ppg and has connected on a team-leading 11 3-pointers and dished out a team-high 15 assists. Sophomore guard Isiah Gray is scoring 13.6 ppg and averaging 5.6 rpg, while junior forward Mark Blacklock is scoring 11.8 ppg. Sophomore forward Kyle Bauman is the team leader in rebounding with 7.8 per game. WSU is averaging 81.8 ppg, shooting 50.2 percent from the field, 39.8 percent from 3-point range and 68.5 percent from the free throw line. WSU opponents are averaging 60.2 ppg and shooting 36.3 percent from the field. Winona State head coach Mike Leaf is in his 17th season with a record of 372-140.

    ABOUT UPPER IOWA - The Peacocks, picked to finish sixth in the NSIC South and 10th overall, enter the weekend 4-2 overall, 0-1 NSIC. UIU plays at Sioux Falls on Friday night before taking on SMSU. Sophomore guard Jimmy Roth and sophomore guard Jace Hanna are both averaging a team-high 12 ppg, with Hanna averaging 6.2 rpg. Senior guard Grant Lang is averaging 11.8 ppg and has a team-leading 13 3-pointers. Junior forward Jordan Hay is coming off the bench to average a team-high 6.7 rebounds per game. UIU is averaging 88.3 ppg, shooting 46.3 percent from the field, 35.2 percent from 3-point range and 70 percent from the free throw line. UIU opponents are averaging 77.2 ppg and shooting 42.2 percent from the field. Upper Iowa head coach Brooks McKowen, who was an assistant at SMSU from 2011-13, is in his second season with a record of 20-16.

    MUSTANGS OPEN NSIC PLAY WITH VICTORY - 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 Southwest Minnesota State to a 72-68 victory over the University of Sioux Falls in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opener for both teams on Tuesday night.
     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 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. 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.