THIS WEEK - The Southwest Minnesota State University men's basketball team (1-1) opens its 12-home schedule this Thursday, Nov. 19, taking on Northern State University (1-1) in a non-conference game starting at 8 p.m. at the R/A Facility in Marshall. This will be the second straight season the two teams have played a regular season non-conference game. The teams will play only once during conference play, which is scheduled for Jan. 16, 2016, in Aberdeen, S.D. Both teams opened the season last weekend splitting two games versus Central Region opponents.

    BROADCAST INFO - Thursday's game can be heard on 105.1 FM KARL. Live stats and webcast  can be found at SMSUmustangs.com.

    GAME DAY STORYLINES -
•SMSU is 4-2 in home openers under head coach Brad Bigler. Last season SMSU defeated Jamestown (N.D.), 100-71.
•SMSU head coach Brad Bigler is second on the career victories list at SMSU with 96. Greg Stemen (2001-09) is the all-time leader with 141 victories.
•Bigler announced on Monday that Nate Huot, who has led the SMSU football team in receiving the last two seasons, has chosen not to play basketball this season.
•SMSU three redshirt freshmen and one true freshman made their Mustang debuts last weekend.
•Junior Joey Bartlett scored 27 points--the second highest of his career--in the loss to Fort Hays State.
•SMSU outrebounded both of its opponents last weekend.
•SMSU shot 51 percent or higher in both games last weekend and shot 50 percent or higher in three of four halves.
•In 2014-15, SMSU shot 50 percent or higher from the field in 14 of 29 games last season.
•In 2014-15, SMSU shot 50 percent or higher from the field in 27 of the 58 halves played last season.
•SMSU made 10 or more 3-pointers in 11 games in 2014-15 after reaching double figures just twice during the 2013-14 season.

    SERIES HISTORY - Southwest Minnesota State and Northern State meet for the 87th time on Thursday with NSU leading 58-28. NSU leads 23-18 all-time in games played in Marshall. The Wolves won both meetings last season, 93-88 in overtime on Nov. 19 and then earning a 98-90 win in Marshall on Jan. 16. It was the first time NSU defeated SMSU twice in the same season since 2008-09. Prior to last season, the last time the two teams played a non-conference game, outside either an NSIC tournament or NCAA tournament game, occurred during the 1990-91 season, when Wolves earned a 93-63 victory during the NSU Holiday Tournament. Last year's win in Marshall snapped a four-game losing streak for NSU in Marshall since 2009. SMSU head coach Brad Bigler is 5-3 all-time versus Northern State.