THIS WEEKEND - The Southwest Minnesota State University men's basketball team (12-14, 8-12 NSIC) concludes the regular season this Friday and Saturday with a pair of home games versus Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division teams at the R/A Facility. SMSU will take on Concordia-St. Paul (16-10, 12-8 NSIC) on Friday, Feb. 20, with tip-off slated for 8 p.m. On Saturday, Feb. 21, SMSU will face Minnesota State University (20-6, 15-5 NSIC) with tip-off slated for 7 p.m.
    Saturday's game will be "Senior Night" for the SMSU basketball program. A pair of Mustangs seniors, Cole Martin and Travis Meinders will be honored prior to the game. A third senior, Shaun Condon, was injured during the offseason and will redshirt this season.
    SMSU begins the weekend in sixth place in the NSIC South Division standings and 11th overall. Concordia-St. Paul is third in the NSIC South and tied for fifth overall, while MSU is second in the NSIC South and third overall.

    NSIC / SANFORD HEALTH TOURNAMENT - The 16-team NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament will open with first round games on Wednesday, Feb. 25, at the top four seeds in each division. SMSU, which will be either the No. 5 or No. 6 seed in the NSIC South, will play on the road in the opening round. The complete bracket will be announced on Saturday night following the conclusion of the regular season.  

    RADIO - Both games will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL with Ryan Rohlik handling play-by-play and Anthony Rohlik serving as analyst.

    SERIES HISTORY - Southwest Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul meet for the 33rd time in a series dating back to 1980-81 with SMSU leading 24-8. CU's win earlier this season in St. Paul, Minn., snapped a seven-game losing streak in the series dating back to Dec. 12, 2010. SMSU holds a 14-2 advantage in games played in Marshall, including winning the last four games. CU's last victory in Marshall was on Jan. 16, 2010 (75-71). SMSU head coach Brad Bigler is 7-4 versus CU.
    Southwest Minnesota State and Minnesota State meet for the 52nd time in a series that started during the 1969-70 season. MSU leads the overall series 38-13 and has won the last six meetings in the series, including earlier this season in Mankato. SMSU's last win in the series came on Feb. 25, 2012, in Mankato (79-71). MSU leads 20-7 in games played in Marshall, including winning the last two. SMSU's last win at home was on Jan. 7, 2012. MSU holds an 11-5 series lead since joining the NSIC in 2008-09. SMSU head coach Brad Bigler is 3-10 versus MSU.  
     A game-by-game listing of both series is located on page 17-18.

    LAST TIME SMSU VS. CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL - Concordia-St. Paul held off a late charge by Southwest Minnesota State to earn a 74-67 victory on Jan. 24 in St. Paul. Joey Bartlett led SMSU with a game-high 22 points on 9 of 18 shooting, while Mitch Weg recorded his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Cole Martin also reached double figures with 13 points with four 3-pointers. SMSU finished the night shooting 42 percent (24 of 57) from the field, but just 39 percent in the second half. CU shot 47 percent (27 of 57) from the field and held a 35-30 rebound advantage. CU held a 63-47 lead with 5:30 left in the game only to see SMSU rallied to within 71-67 with 28 seconds remaining. Keith Crockett led the Golden Bears with 16 points and made 10 of 11 free throws. Nuni Omot added 15 points and nine rebounds. The box score from this game is located on page 19.

    LAST TIME SMSU VS. MINNESOTA STATE -  No. 20 Minnesota State pulled away in the final eight minutes of the second half to earn a 95-78 victory on Jan. 23, in Mankato. MSU held a 79-70 advantage with seven minutes, 49 second left in the game, then used a quick 7-0 run to extend the lead to 86-70 and never looked back in earning its sixth straight win over SMSU. MSU finished the game connecting on 13 of 24 3-point field attempts. SMSU which suffered its sixth straight loss, was led by Joey Bartlett's 21 points on 8 of 14 shooting, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range. Mitch Weg added 12 points and six rebounds, while Cole Martin, Travis Meinders and Turner Moen all added 11 points. SMSU finished the night shooting 48 percent (34 of 71) from the field, including 7 of 24 from 3-point range. Connor Miller paced the Mavericks with 24 points and six rebounds. MSU closed the game shooting 54 percent (32 of 59). The box score from this game is located on page 20.

    SENIOR NIGHT FOR SMSU - SMSU will honor a pair of seniors prior to Saturday night's game versus Minnesota State. Guard Cole Martin has spent three seasons with the program, including a redshirt season in 2012-13. A transfer from Des Moines Area Community College, Martin begins the weekend having played in 41 career games with 26 starts. He has scored 393 points with 61 3-pointers and has grabbed 148 rebounds. Guard Travis Meinders enters the weekend having played in 45 games during his career at SMSU after transferring from Minnesota State following the 2011-12 season. He has scored 229 points while at SMSU with 39 3-pointers. In his four-year career at MSU and SMSU he has scored 402 points with 64 3-pointers in 82 games.