THIS WEEK - The Southwest Minnesota State University (14-8, 11-5 NSIC) men's basketball team starts a four-game road trip - that will span over the next two weekends - this Friday, Feb. 7, taking on No. 21 Minnesota State (19-4, 13-3 NSIC) with tip-off set for 8 p.m. at the Taylor Center in Mankato. SMSU will close the weekend taking on Concordia-St. Paul (7-13, 4-12 NSIC) on Saturday, Feb. 8, with tip-off slated for 6 p.m. at the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul. SMSU begins the weekend in third place in the NSIC South Division standings and tied for fourth overall. MSU is tied for first in both the NSIC South and overall standings, while CU is eighth in the NSIC South and 13th overall. Following this weekend, SMSU will play at U-Mary and Minot State on Feb. 14-15. SMSU will face both MSU and CU in rematches to close the regular season on Feb. 21-22 in Marshall.
MUSTANG QUICK HITTERS -
•SMSU ranks 14th in Division II in field goal pct. (50.3), 53rd in rebound margin (+4.8) and 49th in steals (154).
•SMSU held UMC to 30 percent shooting from the field, the lowest by an SMSU opponent this season.
•SMSU made a season-high 35 field goals in the loss to Bemidji State last Friday, while the team's 34 field goals made on Saturday versus UMC ties for the second most this season.
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Shaun Condon scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed a career-high six rebounds in SMSU's win over Minnesota Crookston last Saturday.
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Matt Zager became the 19th player in program history to score 1,000 career points in SMSU's loss to Bemidji State last Friday. Zager currently ranks seventh in the NSIC in 3-point field goal pct., 10th in steals and 15th in field goal pct. Zager also ranks seventh in school history with 120 steals.
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Vinard Birch - the program's all-time assists leader with 365 in 107 career games - ranks third in the NSIC in assists, fifth in assist/turnover ratio, seventh in field goal pct and ninth in steals. He also ranks 48th in Division II in assists with 96.
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Nick Smith ranks 11th on the SMSU all-time scoring list with 1,119 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 53rd in Division II with 35 blocked shots and is ranked seventh among active Division II players with 156 career blocked shots. Smith currently ranks fourth in the NSIC in blocked shots, sixth in rebounding and 14th in field goal pct.
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Shaun Condon ranks 12th in the NSIC in 3-point field goal pct.
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William Giddings ranks sixth in school history in 3-point field goal pct. (.407).
•SMSU has held a lead at halftime in 13 of 22 games.
•SMSU has held a rebound advantage in 18 of 22 games.
•SMSU has shot 50 percent or better from the field in 15 of 22 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 22 games. Only four teams shot 50 percent or better from the field all of last season.
RANKED OPPONENTS - Southwest Minnesota State is 1-0 versus Top 25 teams this season after beating No. 16 Winona State 73-71 in Marshall on Jan. 17. A season ago, SMSU finished 0-4 versus nationally ranked teams. Prior to this season, SMSU's last win over a Top 25 team was on Feb. 11, 2012, at No. 24 St. Cloud State 85-69.
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 116-80 (.592) in Division II games, ranking as the 11th highest in the country - and the highest among all NSIC schools. Minnesota State (.552) - at 50th - is the next highest ranking NSIC team.
