THIS WEEK - The Southwest Minnesota State University (17-11, 14-8 NSIC) men's basketball team opens play in the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 26, hosting the University of Mary (7-20, 5-17 NSIC) with tip-off set for 7 p.m. at the R/A Facility. SMSU enters the tournament as the No. 3 seed in the NSIC South Division, while U-Mary is the No. 6 seed in the NSIC North Division. The winner of Wednesday's game will face the winner of the N2 Bemidji State and S7 Wayne State game on Sunday, March 2, with tip-off set for 8:30 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. The entire 16-team NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament bracket can be found on page 18. This is the second straight year the NSIC Tournament, established in 2000, has been a 16-team format. U-Mary defeated SMSU 74-65 on Feb. 14 in Bismarck, N.D., during the only meeting between the two teams this season. SMSU finished the regular season sixth overall in the NSIC standings, while U-Mary finished tied for 12th overall.
SMSU IN THE NSIC TOURNAMENT - Southwest Minnesota State is 14-12 in the NSIC tournament since the event began in 2000. The Mustangs are 7-2 at home, 1-5 on the road and 6-5 in neutral sites games in the tournament. SMSU has advanced to the semifinals eight times and played in five championship games (2001, 2002, 2007, 2010, 2012), including winning its lone tournament championship in 2012. A complete listing of each of SMSU's NSIC tournament games is listed on page 19.
NCAA REGION RANKINGS - SMSU was ranked ninth in the first NCAA Division II Central Region rankings released last Wednesday by the NCAA national committee. The next region rankings will be announced on Wednesday afternoon. The top eight teams in the 41-team region advance to the NCAA region tournament on Mar. 15-18. Automatic bids are granted to the winners of the NSIC, MIAA and GAC postseason tournaments, with the remaining five spots are awarded on an at-large basis.
FINAL HOME GAME - Wednesday night's game will be the final home game for four Mustang senior players. The four players,
Vinard Birch,
William Giddings,
Nick Smith and
Matt Zager enter the NSIC tournament having combined to play in 445 career games, grab 1,605 rebounds and score 3,952 points during their careers.
MUSTANG QUICK HITTERS -
•SMSU ranks 26th in Division II in field goal pct. (49.3), 60th in rebound margin (+4.1), 69th in steals (185), 80th in scoring defense (71.0) and 88th in total blocks (91).
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Matt Zager ranks 14th on the SMSU all-time scoring list with 1,075 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 and ninth in field goal pct. (51.4). Zager finished the NSIC season ranked ninth in field goal pct., 10th in 3-point field goal pct. and 15th in steals.
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Vinard Birch - the program's all-time assists leader with 391 in 113 career games - ranks sixth in school history in steals (123) and 10th in free throws made (232). He finished third in the NSIC in assists, seventh in assist/turnover ratio and ninth in steals. Birch begins the week ranked 56th in Division II in assists (122).
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Nick Smith ranks 10th on the SMSU all-time scoring list with 1,168 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 59th in Division II with 43 blocked shots and is ranked eighth among active Division II players with 164 career blocked shots. Smith finished ranked fourth in the NSIC in blocked shots, sixth in rebounding and 15th in field goal pct.
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Mitch Weg ranked 11th in the NSIC in rebounding.
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Shaun Condon ranked eighth in the NSIC in 3-point field goal pct.
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William Giddings ranks second in school history in career 3-point field goal pct. (42.0).
•SMSU has held a lead at halftime in 15 of 28 games.
•SMSU has held a rebound advantage in 21 of 28 games.
•SMSU has shot 50 percent or better from the field in 17 of 28 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 nine times in 28 games. Only four teams shot 50 percent or better from the field all of last season versus SMSU.
