THIS WEEK - The Southwest Minnesota State University (15-9, 12-6 NSIC) men's basketball team plays its final regular season road games of the season this weekend with two games in the state of North Dakota. SMSU will battle the University of Mary (6-17, 4-14 NSIC) on Friday, Feb. 14, with tip-off set for 8 p.m. at the McDowell Activity Center in Bismarck. SMSU will close the weekend taking on Minot State University (8-14, 4-14 NSIC) on Saturday, Feb. 15, with tip-off slated for 6 p.m. at the MSU Dome in Minot. SMSU begins the weekend in third place in the NSIC South Division standings and tied for fourth overall. U-Mary is tied for sixth in the NSIC North and tied for 13th overall, while MISU is tied for sixth in the NSIC North and tied for 13th overall. This weekend's games closes a four-game road trip for SMSU, which split two games last weekend at Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul. Following this weekend, SMSU will play host to Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State to close the regular season on Feb. 21-22 in Marshall.
MUSTANG QUICK HITTERS -
•SMSU ranks 21st in Division II in field goal pct. (49.7), 49th in steals (167) and 54th in rebound margin (+4.7).
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Matt Zager scored a season-high 23 points (the most by an SMSU player this season) on a career-high 10 field goals last Friday in the loss at Minnesota State. Zager currently ranks fourth in the NSIC n 3-point field goal pct., ninth in field goal pct. and 10th in steals. He ranks 15th on the SMSU all-time scoring list with 1,043 points, becoming the 19th player in school history to reach 1,000 points versus Bemidji State on Jan. 31. He also ranks sixth in school history with 122 steals.
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Vinard Birch - the program's all-time assists leader with 373 in 109 career games - ranks third in the NSIC in assists, fifth in assist/turnover ratio, ninth in steals and 15th in field goal pct. Birch ranks 51st in Division II in assists with 104 and also ranks 10th in school history in free throws made with 224.
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Nick Smith ranks 11th on the SMSU all-time scoring list with 1,139 points. He became the 18th player in school history to reach 1,000 points during SMSU's win over MSU Moorhead on Jan. 4. He currently ranks 55th in Division II with 35 blocked shots and is ranked seventh among active Division II players with 159 career blocked shots. Smith currently ranks third in the NSIC in blocked shots and sixth in rebounding.
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Shaun Condon ranks 15th in the NSIC in 3-point field goal pct.
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William Giddings ranks third in school history in 3-point field goal pct. (41.5).
•SMSU has held a lead at halftime in 14 of 24 games.
•SMSU has held a rebound advantage in 19 of 24 games.
•SMSU has shot 50 percent or better from the field in 15 of 24 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 eight times in 24 games. Only four teams shot 50 percent or better from the field all of last season.
GIDDINGS FINALIST FOR DARK HORSE DUNKER - SMSU forward
William Giddings is one of 16 candidates for the 2014 "State Farm Dark Horse Dunker" competition, announced on Feb. 10 by Intersport, producers of the State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships. The "State Farm Dark Horse Dunker" is a bracket-style elimination competition. Round one voting is open for two weeks and features eight head-to-head matchups with Giddings paired against Brison White from Northwestern State University (La.). Winners will be announced Feb. 24 when round two opens. Voting for round two, the semi-finals and the finals will be open one week each. The champion will be announced March 17 and compete in Dallas on April 3. Fans can view a video of each dunker and cast their vote at http://bit.ly/1iRTWBR.
NSIC SOUTH VS. NORTH - SMSU concludes play versus teams from the NSIC North Division this weekend and is 4-2 versus team from the North this season. SMSU finished the regular season 6-2 last season versus teams from the North Division. The NSIC South is a combined 32-16 versus teams from the NSIC North this season and is a combined 79-33 versus North teams in regular games since divisions were formed last season.
TOUGH SCHEDULE - Southwest Minnesota State has played one of the toughest schedules in Division II this season according to the latest NCAA stats released on Monday. SMSU's Division II opponents have a record of 178-142 (.556) in Division II games, ranking as the 35th highest in the country - and the highest among all NSIC schools. Northern State (.514) - at 116th - is the next highest ranking NSIC team.
