THIS WEEKEND
•The Southwest Minnesota State University men's basketball team (13-9, 10-6 NSIC), currently fifth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings, returns to road action this weekend with a pair of games on Friday and Saturday. The two games are the first of four straight away from Marshall for the Mustangs, who return home to close the regular season with two games on Feb. 23-24.  
•SMSU begins the weekend on Friday facing the University of Minnesota Duluth (18-5, 13-4 NSIC) with tip-off slated for 7:30 p.m. inside Romano Gymnasium. UMD, which won the NCAA region championship last season and earlier this season was ranked in the Top 15 nationally, enters Friday's game in fourth place in the NSIC standings. SMSU defeated UMD earlier this season in Marshall, 85-72.
•On Saturday, SMSU wraps-up the weekend with a 5:30 p.m. match-up versus Concordia University-St. Paul inside the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul. SMSU will look to avenge an 88-68 CSP victory in Marshall earlier this season.
•As of Feb. 5, SMSU, which has played five opponents ranked among the top 12 nationally, including three teams ranked No. 1, has the fifth toughest schedule in Division II with its 22 opponents combining for a winning pct. of .622.
•A preview for both UMD and CSP can be found on page 4.

    BROADCAST INFO
•Both games will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL with Ryan Rohlik providing play-by-play.
•Live stats, radio and video broadcasts of all games can be found at SMSUmustangs.com.

    SERIES HISTORY VERSUS MINNESOTA DULUTH
•SMSU and UMD meet for the 90th time with UMD leading 52-37 in a series that began in 1972-73.
•SMSU won, 85-72, earlier this season on Dec. 9 in Marshall.
•SMSU has seven of the last eight and 19 of the last 22 since the 2005-06 season.
•UMD leads 34-10 in games played in Duluth, including winning the previous meeting inside Romano Gym, 91-62, on Jan. 28, 2022. SMSU won the two previous games in Duluth during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.
•SMSU head coach Brad Bigler is 15-3 all-time versus UMD.
•Game-by-game results of the series and this season's previous game box score is located on pages 17-20.
 
    SERIES HISTORY VERSUS CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL
•SMSU and CSP meet for the 49th time with SMSU leading 32-16 in a series that began during the 1980-81 season.
•CSP earned an 88-68 victory earlier this season in Marshall on Dec. 8.
•SMSU has won 15 of the last 24 games since Feb. 11, 2011, but CSP has won six of the last eight games.
•SMSU is 13-10 all-time in games played in St. Paul, but CSP has won three of the last four inside Gangelhoff Center.
•SMSU head coach Brad Bigler is 15-12 all-time versus CSP.
•Game-by-game results of the series and this season's previous game box score is located on pages 17-20.
 
    SMSU HEAD COACH BRAD BIGLER
•Brad Bigler, the all-time wins leader in program history, is in his 15th season as head coach and has an overall record of 234-186, including 160-145 in NSIC play.  
•The 2012-13 and 2016-17 NSIC Coach of the Year, Bigler has led SMSU to eight 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 won back-to-back NSIC South Division championships in 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 in team history, Bigler spent six seasons (2003-09) as an assistant coach at SMSU, including the last three as associate head coach.
•SMSU's 71 combined victories from 2016-19 was the best three-year stretch in program history.
•Bigler's complete bio is found on page 16.

    MUSTANG TIP-OFF TIDBITS   
•SMSU split two home games last weekend losing to No. 1/2 Minnesota State, 68-58 on Friday, before earning a 72-62 win over Winona State on Saturday night. The 58 points scored versus MSU was SMSU's second lowest output this season. Freshman Aeron Stevens scored a career-high 27 points with a career-high five 3-pointers in the win over WSU.
•SMSU's 10 3-pointers made vs. Winona State last Saturday was the first time SMSU reached double figures in 3-pointers made since Jan. 5 and just the second time since Dec. 1.
•Junior Dunwa Omot enters the weekend having scored 993 points in 78 career games.
•Omot was named the NSIC Player of the Week on Jan. 8 after averaging 21.5 points, while shooting 64 percent (14 of 22) from the field, including 8 of 14 from 3-point range in victories over Bemidji State and St. Cloud State.
•Freshman Aeron Stevens has made 93 of 127 free throw attempts this season. The freshman school record for free throws made (97) and attempted (129) was set by Bob Throngard during the program's first season in 1967-68.
•SMSU has two victories over Top 12 teams this season, including defeating No. 1 ranked Northwest Missouri State on Nov. 11. It was the program's first-ever over a No. 1 ranked team. SMSU also defeated No. 12 Minnesota Duluth on Dec. 9.
•Senior Cliff Cofield became the 27th player in team history to reach 1,000 career points in the win over SCSU on Jan. 6. Cofield's career-high 31 points with a career-high 10 field goals and a career-high five 3-pointers in a win over Truman State on Nov. 26 was the most points scored by a Mustang player since Kenny Byers scored 33 at Minnesota Crookston on Jan. 31, 2020.
•SMSU scored a season-high 89 points and shot a season high 61.5 percent (32 of 52) from the field in a Dec. 2 loss at Minnesota State.
•SMSU's plus-28 rebound margin versus UMary on Jan. 26 was the program's largest margin since holding a plus-25 advantage versus Minnesota Crookston on Feb. 6, 2016.

    MUSTANGS BY THE NUMBERS
•For the season, SMSU has four players averaging double figures in scoring with senior Jake Phipps scoring a team-high 15.5 ppg and is also the leader in rebounding at 6.5 rpg. He is shooting a team-high 55 percent from the field.
•Freshman Aeron Stevens ranks second on the team with 12.7 ppg, has made a team-high 93 free throws and is tied for second in rebounding (5.0).
•Senior Cliff Cofield is averaging 11.6 ppg with a team-high 87 assists and team-high 42 steals.  
•Junior Dunwa Omot is scoring 10.7 ppg while connecting on a team-high 37 3-pointers.
•Sophomore Mason Lund is averaging 7.0 ppg and is tied for second in rebounding (5.0).  
•SMSU is shooting 47 percent from the field, 36 percent from 3-point range, 78 percent from the free throw line and is plus-0.8 in rebound margin. The Mustangs are averaging 74 points per game, while opponents are averaging 69 ppg.

    MUSTANGS IN THE NSIC STATS   
•In NSIC games only (Feb. 5), Phipps ranks first in the league in field goal pct. (56.5), seventh in free throw pct. (84.3), fourth in blocked shots (1.4), 11th scoring (16.3) and 11th in rebounding (6.6). Senior Cliff Cofield is third in the NSIC in assists (4.1), second in steals (1.6) and ninth in assist/turnover ratio (1.9), while sophomore Jakob Braaten is third in assist/turnover ratio (2.3) and 15th in assists (3.1).
•SMSU ranks second in the NSIC in field goal pct. defense (41.3), second in field goal pct. (48.7), second in free throw pct. (78.6), fourth in defense (70.1) and fifth in 3-point field goal pct. (34.3).

    SMSU IN THE NCAA STATS   
•In the latest Division II national statistics (Feb. 5), SMSU ranks 22nd in free throw pct. (77.6), 25th in turnovers per game (10.2), 35th in assist/turnover ratio (1.3), 43rd in field goal pct. defense (42.0), 57th in scoring defense and 61st in field goal pct. (47.2),  (69.3).
•Aeron Stevens ranks 41st in free throw attempts (127) and 51st in free throws made (93).
•Cliff Cofield ranks 39th in free throw pct. (88.1), 31st in steals (42) and 65th in total assists (87), while Jake Phipps ranks 46th in field goal pct. (55.3) and 52nd in field goals made (136).
•SMSU in the latest NCAA stats can be found on page 15.

    PHIPPS MOVING UP IN THE SMSU RECORD BOOKS
•Senior Jake Phipps ranks tied for eighth in team history with 1,398 points in 117 games. He is one point shy of tying Scott Koenen (1998-2001) for seventh all-time and 73 points away from tying Chad Koenen (1997-2002) for sixth all-time.
•He is also second all-time in blocked shots (142), fifth in field goal pct. (55.9, 568 of 1,016), fifth in field goals made (568) and ninth in rebounds (674).

    COFIELD IN THE SMSU RECORD BOOK
•Senior Cliff Cofield, who earlier this season became the 27th player in team history to score 1,000 career points, ranks second in program history in steals (169), third in assists (365) and 23rd in scoring (1, 057).

    MUSTANG CAREER 20-POINT GAMES
•Four current SMSU players, senior Cliff Cofield, senior Jake Phipps, junior Dunwa Omot and freshman Aeron Stevens have scored 20 or more points in a game during their careers.
•Phipps has reached 20 points five times this season and 16 times in his career; Omot has reached the 20-point mark twice this season and 15 times in his career, including one 30-point game; while Stevens has reached the mark three times this season.
•Cofield recorded his first career 20-point game earlier this season versus No. 1 NW Missouri State and later scored a career-high 31 versus Truman State.
20 or More Point Games This Season
    31    Cliff Cofield    Truman State, 11/26/23
    27    Aeron Stevens    Winona State, 2/3/24
    26    Aeron Stevens    UMary, 1/26/24
    24    Jake Phipps    St. Cloud State, 1/6/24
    23    Jake Phipps    Minnesota State, 2/2/24
    23    Dunwa Omot    Bemidji State, 1/5/24
    22    Jake Phipps    Minnesota Duluth, 12/9/23
    21    Jake Phipps    MSU Moorhead, 1/12/24
    21    Aeron Stevens    Concordia-St. Paul, 12/8/23
    20    Jake Phipps    Upper Iowa, 11/25/23
    20    Cliff Cofield    NW Missouri State, 11/11/23
    20    Dunwa Omot    St. Cloud State, 1/6/24

    JAKOB BRAATEN NOTES
•Has played in 20 games with 10 starts and is averaging 6.0 ppg and 4.4 rpg. Missed two games with an injury.  
•Grabbed career-high nine rebounds vs. Winona State (2/3/24).
•Dished out career-high six assists vs. Northern State (1/27/24).
•Scored a career-high 16 points with three 3-pointers vs. Upper Iowa (11/25/23).
•Played in 25 games with 17 starts last season and averaged 5.9 ppg and 3.6 rpg.  
•Sat out the 2021-22 season as a redshirt.

    MASON LUND NOTES
•Has started all 22 games and is scoring 7.0 ppg and is tied for second on the team averaging 5.0 rpg.
•Tied career-high with 10 rebounds vs. St. Cloud State (1/6/24).
•Connected on three 3-pointers and tied season-high with 15 points vs. Northern State (1/27/24).
•Played in the first 13 games in 2022-23 with six starts and averaged 7.7 ppg and 3.7 rpg.
•Missed the last 15 games a season ago due to injury.
•Scored career-high 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting with two 3-pointers vs. Mt. Marty (11/26/22).

    CLIFF COFIELD NOTES
•Changed last name from McCray to Cofield this past summer.
•Has started all 22 games and is averaging 11.6 ppg with a team-high 87 assists.
•Scored career-high 31 points on 10 of 14 shooting with five 3-pointers vs. Truman State (11/26/23).
•Scored 20 points in win vs. No. 1 NW Missouri State (11/11/23).
•Started all 28 games last season and averaged 8.0 ppg, while leading the team with 87 assists.
•Season-high 10 rebounds and scored 11 points for second career double-double at Minot State (1/7/23).
•Tied career-high with eight assists vs. Newman (11/12/22).
•Started all 27 games, while averaging 9.5 ppg and dishing out a team-high 92 assists in 2021-22.
•Played and started nine games in 2021, while averaging 7.7 ppg and a team-high 6.0 rpg.
•Led the team in 2021 with 41 assists.
 
    KYLE LUEDTKE NOTES  
•Transfer from Division I Omaha, where he played in 81 games over four seasons and scored 287 points.
•Has played in all 20 games with 16 starts and is averaging 6.8 ppg with 33 3-pointers.
•Poured in 16 points with four 3-pointers at Minnesota State (12/2/23).
•Scored season-high 19 points with five 3-pointers at Winona State (12/1/23).

    LANCE MOSLEY NOTES
•Has not appeared in a game this season.
•Played in two games last season scoring two points and grabbing two rebounds vs. Northland (12/19/22).
•Played in two games with one rebound last season.
•Played in three games in 2021 scoring two points vs. Minnesota State (1/23/21).

    DUNWA OMOT NOTES
•Has played in 19 games with 16 starts and is averaging 10.7 ppg with a team high 37 3-pointers. Missed three games and most of a fourth earlier this season with an injury.
•Named NSIC Player of the Week on Jan. 8, 2024.
•Scored season-high 23 points with five 3-pointers vs. Bemidji State (1/5/24).
•Named All-NSIC second team in 2022-23 after starting all 28 games and averaging a team-high 16.6 ppg with a team-high 52 3-pointers.
•Scored 20 or more points eight times with one 30-point game.
•Scored career-high 30 points on 12 of 19 shooting with 12 rebounds vs. Minot State (2/21/23).  
•Named NSIC South Division Player of the Week on Jan. 23, 2023, after scoring 28 points on 10 of 17 shooting vs. Minnesota Duluth (1/21/23) and scoring 27 points vs. St. Cloud State (1/20/23).
•Played in all 27 games with eight starts in 2021-22 averaging 11.9 ppg and 1.8 rpg, while leading the team with 56 3-pointers.
•Shot 56.6 percent on 3-pointers in 2021-22 ranking first in school history.
•Scored 28 points with six 3-pointers at Minot State (2/23/22)
•Played in four games and averaged 1.3 ppg and 0.8 rpg in 2021.

    JAKE PHIPPS NOTES
•Has started all 22 games and leads the team in rebounding (6.5), scoring (15.5), field goal pct. (55.3) and blocked shots (27).
•Tied season-high 10 field goals with season-high 24 points and vs. St. Cloud State (1/6/24).
•Recorded a double-double at Wayne State (11/21/23) and vs. Minnesota Duluth (12/9/23).
•Named All-NSIC second team in 2022-23 after starting all 28 games and averaging 13.3 ppg and a team-high 7.0 rpg.
•Scored career-high 28 points on 12 of 17 shooting with three 3-pointers vs. Upper Iowa (2/10/23).
•Grabbed career-high 15 rebounds at Wayne State (12/3/22).
•Started all 27 games in 2021-22, averaging 12.7 ppg and a team-high 6.4 rpg.
•Recorded a team-high five double-doubles in 2021-22.
•Twice was named NSIC South Player of the Week in 2021-22.
•Started 10 of 11 games in 2021 and averaged 11.1 ppg and 4.6 rpg.
•Appeared in all 29 games with three starts in 2019-20 and averaged 7.2 ppg and 3.8 rpg.
•Sat out the 2018-19 season as a redshirt.

    CALEB SCHLAAK NOTES
•Transfer from Truman State (Mo.) where he played five games in 2022-23.
•Has played in four games this season and has scored six points.

    MEKHI SHAW NOTES
•Has played in all 22 games and is averaging 5.0 ppg with 32 assists.
•Scored career-high 11 points on 3 of 3 shooting with four rebounds vs. UMary.
•Has scored 10 points in three other games.  
•Redshirted during the 2022-23 season.

    AERON STEVENS NOTES
•Has played in all 22 games and is averaging 12.7 ppg and 5.0 rpg.
•Scored career-high 27 points with five 3-pointers vs. Winona State (2/3/24).
•Recorded first career double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds vs. UMary (1/26/24).  
•Scored 21 points with seven field goals vs. Concordia-St. Paul (12/8/23).
•Only true freshman expected to play this season for SMSU.

    MATT THOMPSON NOTES
•Has played in eight games and has scored six points.
•Connected on 3-pointers vs. Upper Iowa (11/25/23) and Truman State (11/26/23).  
•Redshirted during the 2022-23 season.

    HOME AND AWAY IN 2023-24
•SMSU is 7-2 at home this season and has a home record of 126-66 since head coach Brad Bigler took over in 2009-10.
•SMSU, which is 6-7 in road/neutral site games in 2023-24, is 108-120 in 228 road/neutral site games during the Bigler era.
•The following is a statistical comparison of the Mustang team averages for home and away/neutral games in 2023-24:
        W-L    FG%    3-FG%    FT%    REB    PTS    TO    
Home    7-2    50.2    32.6    77.8    35.3    77.1    9.6    
Away    6-7    45.1    37.4    77.4    32.9    71.8    10.7

    HOME SWEET HOME
•The 2023-24 season marks the 28th year the R/A Facility has served as the home arena for SMSU men's basketball.
•SMSU has an all-time record of 258-113 (.695) in 371 games with 23 winning 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    4-9    2-9    2-0
    2020-21    2-6    1-5    1-1
    2021-22    6-5    5-5    1-0
    2022-23    10-5    8-3    2-2
    2023-24    7-2    7-2    0-0
    Totals    258-113    174-85    84-28

    CONSECUTIVE 3-POINT GAMES
•SMSU has made at least one 3-point field goal in 738 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.

    2022-23 ALL-NSIC RETURNERS   
•SMSU senior center Jake Phipps and junior guard Dunwa Omot both earned All-NSIC second team honors in 2022-23.
•Omot led SMSU in scoring (16.6), 3-point field goals made (52) and free throw percentage (87.0), while ranking second in both assists (63) and steals (38).
•Phipps led SMSU in rebounding (7.0), field goal pct. (55.1) and blocked shots (38), while ranking  second in scoring (13.3) and fourth in 3-point field goals made (25).

    MUSTANG DEFENSE ONE OF THE BEST IN 2022-23
•SMSU limited opponents to 39.9 percent shooting from the field and 30.5 percent from 3-point range last season setting team single-season records in both categories.
•SMSU's 64.5 points per game allowed last season ranks as the third-lowest in team history.
•SMSU led the NSIC last season (league games only) in scoring defense (64.5), opponent field goal pct. (39.8) and 3-point field goal pct. defense (30.6).

    MUSTANGS AND THE CENTURY MARK
•SMSU last scored 100 points in a game on Feb. 1, 2019, versus Minnesota Crookston (100-78).
•SMSU is 40-8 all-time when scoring 100 points, including 8-2 under head coach Brad Bigler.

    WORKING OVERTIME
•SMSU is 0-1 in overtime games this season following an 88-87 road loss to No. 1 MSU Moorhead on Jan. 12.
•SMSU, which has lost three straight overtime games, last earned an overtime victory on Feb. 17, 2022, versus Wayne State.
•SMSU is 51-43 all-time in overtime games.
•SMSU is 8-6 in double overtime and 1-3 in triple overtime games all-time.

    SMSU IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
•SMSU has made five NCAA Tournament appearances (2001, 2009, 2012, 2017, 2018) 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 PICKED 7TH IN NSIC PRESEASON POLL
•SMSU was picked to finish seventh in the 15-team NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
•SMSU senior center Jake Phipps was named a 'Player to Watch'.
•Minnesota Duluth was selected as preseason favorite with UMD senior guard Drew Blair named the preseason Player of the Year.

    NEW LOOK NSIC REGULAR SEASON AND TOURNAMENT
•Due to Upper Iowa University leaving for the Great Lake Valley Conference, the NSIC is a 15-team conference in 2023-24.
•The NSIC regular season championship will be based on the 22-game unbalanced schedule with each team playing eight teams twice and another six teams once.
•The 12-team NSIC Men's Basketball Tournament begins on Feb. 28 with the top four seeds receiving a first round bye. First round games will be played on campus with the quarterfinals, semifinals and championships set to take place March 2-5 at the Sanford Health Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.

    SMSU ALL-TIME IN THE NSIC
•The 2023-24 campaign marks the 55th season SMSU has competed in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
•SMSU has an all-time record of 409-446 in 855 conference games, finishing in the top half of the final standings 26 times in 54 seasons.
•SMSU has captured one regular season championship (2000-01), two NSIC South Division titles (2016-17) and (2017-18) and two tournament championships (2012) and (2017).

    MUSTANG HISTORY
•SMSU is in its 57th season of men's basketball in 2023-24.
•SMSU has played 1,564 games compiling an all-time record of 726-838.
•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 26 winning seasons in program history with 19 coming in the last 26 years.

    SCOUTING MINNESOTA DULUTH
•The Bulldogs, 18-5 overall, 13-4 NSIC, have won six straight games, including defeating No. 1 Minnesota State last week.  
•Senior guard Drew Blair is scoring a team-leading 21.1 ppg with 56 3-pointers.  
•Senior forward Charlie Katona is scoring 13.3 ppg with 17 3-pointers.
•Senior forward Austin Andrews averages 10 ppg and is shooting 60 percent from the field.   
•UMD is shooting 49 percent from the field, 34 percent from 3-point range, 68 percent from the free throw line and is plus-3.4 in rebound margin.
•UMD is averaging 81 points per game, while opponents are averaging 69 points per game.
•Head coach Justin Wieck is in his sixth season with a record of 114-47.  

    SCOUTING CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL
•The Golden Bears are 9-14 overall, 4-13 NSIC, and will host Sioux Falls on Friday. CSP, which has dealt with numerous injuries this season, has lost 11 of its last 13 games since defeating SMSU on Dec. 8. Two of CSP's top three scorers are out for the season with injuries.
•Senior forward Japannah Kellogg is averaging 9.3 ppg and is shooting 62 percent from the field and grabbing 6.2 rpg.
•Junior guard Marcus Skeete is averaging 15.8 ppg and is averaging a team-high 6.9 rpg.
•CSP is shooting 45 percent from the field, 35 percent from 3-point range, 75 percent from the free throw line and is minus-3.1 in rebound margin.
•CSP is averaging 80 points per game, while opponents are averaging 84 points per game.
•Head coach Matt Fletcher is in his fourth season with a record of 21-72. He previously was the head coach at Bethany Lutheran for four seasons (2016-20) with a record of 76-33.
•Fletcher played four seasons at SMSU and closed his career holding the program record for 3-pointers made and free throw percentage.