THIS WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State University men's basketball team (1-3) will host its first two home games of the 2019-20 season facing NAIA Division II opponent Mayville State University (N.D.) (5-2) on Thursday, Nov. 21, before taking on NCAA Division III University of Minnesota Morris (1-3) on Friday, Nov. 22.
•Both games will start at 7 p.m. inside the R/A Facility and are the first two of 13 regular season home games this season.
•Both match-ups are regular season games for SMSU, but will count as an exhibition for both Mavyille State and Minnesota Morris. UMM will host Presentation College on Tuesday before taking on SMSU.
 
    BROADCAST INFO
•Both games will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL with Anthony Rohlik providing play-by-play.
•Live stats, radio broadcast and video can be found at SMSUmustangs. com.

    SERIES HISTORY VERSUS MAYVILLE STATE
•SMSU and Mayville State meet for the 12th time on Thursday with Mavyille State leading 6-5 dating back to the 1968-69 season.
•The two teams played last season for the first time since the 1993-94 season with SMSU earning an 83-70 home victory on Nov. 14, 2018.
•The series is tied 4-4 in games played in Marshall.
•SMSU head coach Brad Bigler is 1-0 all-time versus Mayville State.
•A complete listing of each game is located on page 19.

    SERIES HISTORY VERSUS MINNESOTA MORRIS
•SMSU and Minnesota Morris meet for the 79th time Friday with SMSU leading 41-37. The two schools were both members of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference from 1969-2003.   
•SMSU has won the previous 18 games with UMM's last victory coming during the 1996-97 season.
•The teams last played on Nov. 20, 2010, in Marshall with SMSU earning an 87-65 victory. SMSU is 25-15 all-time in games played in Marshall.
•SMSU head coach Brad Bigler is 2-0 all-time versus Minnesota Morris.
•A complete listing of each game is located on page 20.

    MUSTANG TIP-OFF TIDBITS
•SMSU set a team record last season shooting 81.3 percent from the free throw line, but is shooting just 49 percent following four games this season.
•Junior Kenny Byers has recorded three double-doubles this season.  
•Sophomore Grant Kramer scored a career-high 14 points with three 3-pointers in last Saturday's loss to Northern Michigan. He also scored 13 points in Friday's loss to Stonehill.
•SMSU has outrebounded its opponents twice through four games this season. Last season, SMSU outrebounded its opponent just twice in its last 21 games and finished last in the NSIC in rebound margin (-8.5).  
•Redshirt freshman Brian Dayman made his first two career starts last weekend in Duluth. He grabbed a career-high nine rebounds in the loss to Stonehill.  
•Junior Nick Dufault ranks fourth in team history in 3-point field goal pct. (43.2).
•SMSU is shooting 43 percent from the field, 39 percent from 3-point range, 50 percent from the free throw line and is plus-4.0 in rebound margin.
•SMSU is averaging 59 points per game, while opponents are averaging 64 points per game.

    SMSU HEAD COACH BRAD BIGLER
•Brad Bigler, the all-time wins leader in program history, is in his 11th season as head coach with an overall record of 180-127, including 122-96 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.
•The 2012-13 and 2016-17 NSIC Coach of the Year, Bigler has led SMSU to seven winning seasons, including one 28-win season, one 25-win season and two 19-win seasons.
•SMSU won NSIC Tournament titles in 2012 and 2017 and also won NSIC South Division championships in both 2016-17 and 2017-18.  
•SMSU has played in five NSIC Tournament championship games during his tenure (2010, 2012, 2017, 2018, 2019).
•SMSU's 11th head coach, Bigler spent six seasons (2003-09) as an assistant coach at SMSU, including the last three as associate head coach.
•Bigler's complete bio is found on page 18.

    SMSU VICTORIES OVER THE LAST THREE-PLUS SEASONS
•Southwest Minnesota State has posted a combined record of 72-32 the past three-plus seasons (start of 2016-17 to current) which includes two NSIC South Division titles and three appearances in the NSIC Tournament championship game.
•The 71 victories entering this season is the best three-year run in program history.

    SMSU DROPS TO GAMES IN DULUTH LAST WEEKEND
•SMSU lost a pair of games at the Minnesota Duluth Classic last Friday and Saturday. On Friday, SMSU lost 84-78 to Stonehill (Mass.), before losing, 72-63, to Northern Michigan on Saturday afternoon.
•Stonehill and Northern Michigan combined to make 23 3-pointers.
•SMSU made 11 3-pointers versus Stonehill, but were just 3 of 9 from the foul line.
•The Mustangs had five players in double figures with Grant Kramer and Nick Dufault each scoring 13 points, while Kenny Byers (12), Cliff McCray (11) and Weston Baker Magrath (10) also reached the double figure mark.
•Byers led the Mustangs with 11 rebounds and recorded his third straight double-double to open the season. Braedan Hanson pulled down nine rebounds, while Brian Dayman added eight points and nine rebounds.
•Baker Magrath finished the game with five blocked shots.
•In the loss to NMU, SMSU finished the game shooting 40 percent (25 of 62) with five 3-pointers in 18 attempts.
•Dufault led the Mustangs with 15 points on 7 of 14 shooting, while Kramer scored a career-high 14 points on 5 of 9 from the field with three 3-pointers.
•Byers led the Mustangs in rebounding with nine, while also scoring eight points.
•SMSU committed a season-low seven turnover and were outrebounded by just one, 34-33, but the Wildcats made 19 of 23 free throws, with SMSU making 8 of 14 from the foul stripe.

    SCOUTING MAYVILLE STATE
•Mayville State is 5-2 and last played on Saturday earning a 119-56 victory over Oak Hills Christian College.
•The Comets have also played two exhibition games this season, losing 93-53 at North Dakota State, while also losing at Bemidji State, 100-60, last Friday.  
•Mayville State, which finished 20-9 last season, was picked to finish fourth in the preseason North Star Athletic Association coaches' poll.
•Mayville State won the NSAA Tournament last season and advanced to the NAIA Division II National Tournament for the second straight season.
•The Comets have five players averaging double figures in scoring.
•Junior guard Simon Ramirez is averaging 15.3 ppg and has connected on a team-high 25 3-pointers.
•Senior guard Rene Melendez is averaging 13.3 ppg with 15 3-pointers.
•Junior guard Jalen Valverde has dished out a team-high 29 assists and is scoring 10 ppg.
•Mayville State head coach Darren Tighe is in his third season with a record of 43-22.   
•Mayville State is shooting 51 percent from the field, 38 percent from 3-point range, 68 percent from the free throw line and is plus-13.7 in rebound margin.
•Mayville State is averaging 95 points per game, while opponents average 71 points per game.

    SCOUTING MINNESOTA MORRIS
•UMM is 1-3 on the season and will play host to Presentation College on Tuesday night.
•The Cougars lost two games last weekend at the Wartburg College Tournament, losing to Cornell (Iowa) 94-90 and Iowa Wesleyan (84-83).  
•UMM was picked to finish sixth in the nine team Upper Midwest Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll. The Cougars are coming off a 10-16 season in 2018-19.
•Junior guard James Pendleton is one of five Cougars scoring in double figures with 16 ppg.
•Freshman forward Jaret Johnson is scoring 12.5 ppg with seven 3-pointers.   
•Head coach Paul Grove is in his 18th season at UMM with a record of 219-236. He was head coach at Mayville State from 1997-2002.
•UMM is shooting 46 percent from the field, 35 percent from 3-point range, 78 percent from the free throw line and is minus-5.5 in rebound margin.
•UMM is averaging 85 points per game, while opponents average 87 points per game.  

    SMSU PICKED 12TH IN NSIC PRESEASON POLL
•SMSU was picked to finish 12th overall and sixth in the South Division in the 16-team NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
•Minnesota State was chosen as the South Division and overall favorite, while Minnesota Duluth was picked to win the North Division.
•SMSU junior guard Kenny Byers was named a "Player to Watch".

    SMSU IN THE 2019-20 NCAA STATISTICS
•The current 2019-20 NCAA statistics are located on page 17.
•In 2018-29, the Mustangs ranked second in free throw pct., fourth in 3-point field goal pct and fifth in turnovers per game.

    MUSTANG 20-POINT GAMES  
•Two current SMSU players, juniors Nick Dufault and Kenny Byers  have scored 20 or more points in a game during their careers.
•Byers has reached 20 points one this season and twice last season, while Dufault had one 20-point game last season and also had another during the 2017-18 season.
20 or More Point Games in Career
    23    Nick Dufault    Crown, 11/21/17
    22    Nick Dufualt    Crown, 11/24/18
    20    Kenny Byers    Central Missouri, 11/9/19
    20    Kenny Byers    Concordia-St. Paul, 12/8/18
    20    Kenny Byers    Crown, 11/24/18
Bold indicates 2019-20 season

    A LOOK BACK AT SMSU IN 2018-19
•SMSU concluded the 2018-19 season with an 18-14 overall record, placed fifth in the NSIC South Division with a 10-12 mark and finished ninth in the overall standings.
•SMSU won three straight games in the NSIC Tournament to advance to the championship game for the third straight season before losing to Northern State, 72-68.
•SMSU finished the season shooting 48 percent from the field, 41 percent from 3-point range, 81 percent from the free throw line and was minus-5.4 in rebound margin.
•SMSU averaged 80 points per game, while opponents averaged 78 points per game.

    REPLACING ALL-AMERICAN RYAN BRUGGEMAN
•One of several key players SMSU must replace from last season's team is guard Ryan Bruggeman, who closed his career as one of the most decorated players in program history.
•Bruggeman set the program's all-time scoring record with 2,246 points in 128 games. He is also the all-time leader in field goals made, free throws made, assists, free throw percentage and steals.
•A three-time All-NSIC honoree, Bruggeman was a third team All-American in 2018-19 and was selected to play in the NABC/Reese's All-Star game in March.
•Bruggeman finished the conference season ranking first in scoring (27.0), first in steals (2.4), second in field goals made (217), fourth in free throw pct. (92.0), fourth in assists (5.1) and 13th in assist/turnover ratio (1.8).
•He was the sixth SMSU player and the first since 1990-91 to lead the conference in scoring after averaging 27 per game in 22 league games.
•The 27 ppg is the highest scoring average in the NSIC since MSU Moorhead's Greg Duke also averaged 27 ppg in 1996-97.  

    WESTON BAKER MAGRATH NOTES
•Has started four games and is averaging 5.0 ppg and 2.8 rpg.
•Leads the team with seven blocked shots.
•Season-high 10 points vs. Stonehill (11/15/19).
•Played previous two seasons at Nebraska-Kearney and averaged 6.6 ppg and 3.1 rpg in 2018-19.
•Led UNK in blocked shots last season with 33.
•Scored a 2018-19 season-high 18 points versus Northeastern State.
 
    KENNY BYERS NOTES
•Has started four games and leads team in scoring (14.5) and rebounding (10.5).
•Tied career-high with 20 points and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds at Central Missouri (11/9/19).
•Also pulled down 11 rebounds this season vs. Stonehill (11/15/19).
•Played 32 games with 31 starts last season and averaged 10.2 ppg and 4.0 rpg.
•Named to the 2019 NSIC All-Tournament team.
•Played as a true freshman in 2017-18.

    BRIAN DAYMAN NOTES
•Has played in four games with two starts and is averaging 5.3 ppg and 5.5 rpg.
•Grabbed career-high nine rebounds vs. Stonehill.
•Scored 10 points vs. Arkansas-Monticello.
•Sat out the 2018-19 season as a redshirt.

    NICK DUFAULT NOTES
•Has played in four games and ranks second in scoring (12.0).
•Has made a team-high nine 3-pointers.
•Season-high 16 points with four 3-pointers vs. Central Missouri.
•Ranks fourth in team history in 3-point field goal pct. (43.2).
•Ranked third on the team with 49 3-pointers last season.
•Has made career-high five 3-pointers three times.
•Sat out 2016-17 season as a redshirt.

    KADEN EVANS NOTES
•Missed the first four games with an injury.
•Sat out the 2018-19 season as a redshirt.

    BRAEDAN HANSON NOTES
•Has played in four games with two starts and is averaging 4.0 ppg and 4.3 rpg.
•Career-high nine rebounds vs. Stonehill (11/15/19).
•Played in 32 games with 22 starts last season, averaging 6.5 ppg and 4.3 rpg.
•Scored a career-high 17 points vs. Northland (11/20/18).
•Poured in 16 points with four 3-pointers vs. UMary (1/19/19).
•Sat out 2016-17 season as a redshirt.

    GRANT KRAMER NOTES
•Has started four games this season and is averaging 9.3 ppg and 3.8 rpg.
•Has dished out team-high 12 assists.
•Career-high 14 points vs. Northern Michigan (11/16/19).
•Scored 13 points vs. Stonehill (11/15/19).
•Played in 32 games in 2018-19 and averaged 2.6 ppg and 2.4 rpg.
•Career-high 11 rebounds at Minnesota State (1/12/19).
•Sat out the 2017-18 season as a redshirt.

    CLIFF MCCRAY NOTES
•Has started four games and is averaging 7.5 ppg and 4.8 rpg.
•Scored season-high 11 points vs. Stonehill.
•Grabbed season-high seven rebounds at Central Missouri.
•Only true freshman expected to play in 2019-20.

    JAKE PHIPPS NOTES
•Has appeared in four games and is averaging 7.0 ppg and 4.0 rpg.
•Scored eight points with six rebounds at Central Missouri.
•Also scored eight points vs. Northern Michigan.  
•Sat out the 2018-19 season as a redshirt.

    KEVIN TOTUSEK NOTES
•Has not appeared in a game this season.
•Played in five games in 2018-19 and averaged 1.2 ppg.
•Scored four points vs. Crown (11/24/18).
•Sat out the 2017-18 season as a redshirt.

    HOME AND AWAY
•SMSU finished the 2018-19 season 12-5 at home.
•SMSU is a combined 122-44 at home since the 2007-08 season.
•SMSU is 1-3 in road/neutral site games this season and are a combined 93-89 in 182 road/neutral site games since 2009-10.
•The following is a statistical comparison of the Mustang team averages for home and away/neutral games in 2018-19:
        W-L    FG%    3-FG%    FT%    REB    PTS    TO    
Home    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    
Away    1-3    42.9    38.6    49.3    37.5    64.5    11.5
    
    NSIC SOUTH VS. NSIC NORTH
•SMSU finished with a 5-3 record versus the NSIC North Division in 2018-19 and are a combined 37-19 versus North teams in conference play since divisions were introduced prior to the 2012-13 season.
•SMSU finished 7-1 in 2017-18; 6-2 in 2016-17; 3-5 in 2015-16; 5-3 in 2014-15; 5-3 in 2013-14; and 6-2 in 2012-13.
•The NSIC South holds a 260-188 advantage over NSIC North teams in conference play since divisions were formed in 2012-13, but last season the North finished 38-26. It's the first time in seven seasons the North finished with a winning record.
•Prior to last season, the South Division held the advantage in every season. In 2017-18, (38-26); in 2016-17 (35-29); in 2015-16 (37-27); in 2014-15 (35-29); in 2013-14 (42-22), while in 2012-13 (47-17).

    HOME SWEET HOME
•The 2019-20 season marks the 24th year the R/A Facility has served as the home arena for SMSU men's basketball.
•SMSU has a record of 229-86 (.727) in 315 games with just two losing seasons.
SMSU in the R/A Facility
    Year    Overall    NSIC    Non
    1996-97    6-4    3-2    3-2    
    1997-98    8-5    4-2    4-3    
    1998-99    10-3    5-1    5-2    
    1999-00    12-3    7-2    5-1    
    2000-01    12-1    9-0    3-1    
    2001-02    12-2    7-2    5-0    
    2002-03    9-5    7-2    2-3
    2003-04    9-5    5-3    4-2    
    2004-05    6-8    3-4    3-4
    2005-06    10-5    3-4    7-1    
    2006-07    13-2    8-1    5-1
    2007-08    12-2    7-2    5-0
    2008-09    13-3    8-2    5-1
    2009-10    12-3    7-3    5-0
    2010-11    10-3    8-3    2-0
    2011-12    10-2    9-2    1-0
    2012-13    7-4    7-4    0-0
    2013-14    11-4    8-3    3-1
    2014-15    6-8    4-7    2-1
    2015-16    8-4    7-4    1-0
    2016-17    9-3    8-3    1-0
    2017-18    12-2    10-1    2-1
    2018-19    12-5    7-4    5-1    
    2019-20    0-0    0-0    0-0
    Totals    229-86    151-61    78-25

    CONSECUTIVE 3-POINT GAMES
•Southwest Minnesota State has connected on at least one 3-point field goal in 625 straight games.
•The last time SMSU failed to connect on a 3-pointer was on Dec. 11, 1998, versus MSU Moorhead (0 for 10) at the North Dakota State Classic.

    MUSTANGS REACH 100 AND THEN SOME
•SMSU scored 100 or more points three times last season, defeating Bethany Lutheran, 101-81, Crown College, 100-81 and Minnesota Crookston, 100-78.
•It was the first time SMSU scored 100 or more three times in a season since 2000-01.
•SMSU is 40-8 all-time when scoring 100 points.

    WORKING OVERTIME
•SMSU is 46-39 all-time in overtime games, including 1-0 last season following an 84-78 win over Wayne State on March 4.
•SMSU is 7-6 in double overtime games and 0-2 in triple overtime games all-time.

    SMSU IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
•SMSU has made five NCAA Tournament appearances (2001, 2009, 2012, 2017, 2018) in program history since moving to Division II in 1995-96.
•SMSU is 9-5 all-time in NCAA Tournament games appearing in three region championship games with region titles and Elite Eight appearances in both 2001 and 2009.  

    SMSU ALL-TIME IN THE NSIC
•The 2019-20 campaign marks the 51st season SMSU has competed in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
•SMSU has an all-time record of 371-397 in 768 conference games, finishing in the top half of the final standings 25 times in 50 seasons.
•SMSU has finished in the top half of the NSIC standings in 17 of the last 23 seasons since 1997-98.

    MUSTANG HISTORY
•Southwest Minnesota State is in its 53rd season of men's basketball in 2019-20.
•SMSU has played 1,451 games compiling an all-time record of 672-779.
•SMSU has won two NSIC regular season championships (2001 & 2009), two NSIC South Division championships (2017 & 2018), two NSIC tournament championships (2012, 2017), two NCAA region championships (2001 & 2009) and has appeared in five NCAA tournaments (2001, 2009, 2012, 2017, 2018).
•SMSU has recorded 24 winning seasons in program history with 17 coming in the last 21 years.