THIS WEEK - The Southwest Minnesota State University (16-10, 13-7 NSIC) men's basketball team concludes the regular season this weekend with a pair of home games at the R/A Facility. SMSU will battle the Concordia-St. Paul (8-16, 5-15 NSIC) on Friday, Feb. 21, with tip-off set for 8 p.m., before closing the weekend taking on No. 17 Minnesota State University (23-4, 17-3 NSIC) on Saturday, Feb. 22, with tip-off slated for 7 p.m. SMSU begins the weekend in third place in the NSIC South Division standings and in a three-way for fourth overall. CU is tied for sixth in the NSIC South and tied for 12th overall, while MSU is tied for first place in both the NSIC South and overall standings. Following this weekend, SMSU will open play in the NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament at home on Wednesday, Feb. 26, starting at 7 p.m. versus either Minnesota Duluth, U-Mary or Minot State. SMSU will secure the No. 3 seed in the South Division and will host the No. 6 seed in the North with one victory this weekend.
RANKED OPPONENTS - Southwest Minnesota State is 1-1 versus Top 25 teams this season after beating No. 16 Winona State 73-71 in Marshall on Jan. 17 and losing to No. 22 Minnesota State, 77-68 on Feb. 7. A season ago, SMSU finished 0-4 versus nationally ranked teams.
SENIOR NIGHT - Saturday night will be the final regular season home game for four Mustang senior players. The four players,
Vinard Birch,
William Giddings,
Nick Smith and
Matt Zager will be honored prior to tip-off on Saturday night. The four players have combined to play in 437 career games and score 3,870 points during their careers.
MUSTANG QUICK HITTERS -
•SMSU ranks 26th in Division II in field goal pct. (49.4), 53rd in steals (175) and 52nd in rebound margin (+4.7).
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Matt Zager currently ranks eighth in the NSIC in 3-point field goal pct., 13th in steals and 14th in field goal pct. He ranks 15th on the SMSU all-time scoring list with 1,054 points and became the 19th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points earlier this season 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 381 in 111 career games - ranks third in the NSIC in assists, eighth in assist/turnover ratio and eighth in steals. Birch ranks 53rd in Division II in assists with 112 and also ranks 10th in school history in free throws made with 229.
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Nick Smith ranks 10th on the SMSU all-time scoring list with 1,157 points. He became the 18th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points during SMSU's win over MSU Moorhead on Jan. 4. He currently ranks 64th in Division II with 38 blocked shots and is ranked eighth among active Division II players with 159 career blocked shots. Smith currently ranks fifth in the NSIC in blocked shots and sixth in rebounding.
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Shaun Condon ranks 13th in the NSIC in 3-point field goal pct.
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William Giddings ranks 10th in the NSIC in 3-point field goal pct. and ranks second in school history in 3-point field goal pct. (43.1).
•SMSU has held a lead at halftime in 15 of 26 games.
•SMSU has held a rebound advantage in 20 of 26 games.
•SMSU has shot 50 percent or better from the field in 16 of 26 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 26 games. Only four teams shot 50 percent or better from the field all of last season.
