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This Week's Storylines

1. The Winona State men's basketball team opens its season Saturday with a 6 p.m. matchup with the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse at 6 p.m. in McCown Gym. It continues its season-opening homestand Tuesdaywith a 7 p.m. tipoff against Clarke University.

2. The Warriors got their first look at the 2014-15 squad last week with a pair of exhibition contests. WSU beat UW-Eau Claire 83-73 and Gustavus Adolphus 65-51. Mark Blacklock scored 14 points against the Blugolds as WSU shot 65 percent, while Riley Bambenek and newcomer Tim Wagner combined to score 34 points against the Gusties.

3. The Warriors enjoyed another fine season last season, finishing with a 26-8 record, an appearance in the NSIC's championship game and the program's ninth trip to the NCAA Tournament in 10 years.

4. WSU has not squared off against the Eagles in a regular season game since the 1999 season, a game the Warriors won 85-78. The Warriors last beat Clarke 74-57 during the 2012 season.

5. WSU is a seniorless squad in 2014-15, but returns a lot of firepower and experience, led by redshirt sophomore Riley Bambenek. Bambenek led WSU in scoring last year as a freshman with 14.2 ppg -and earned the NSIC's freshman of the year honor for his efforts. The Warriors also have a lot of experience in returning juniors Nick Arenz, Mark Blacklock and Conrad Masberg, while Isaiah Gray, Josh Mongan and Kyle Bauman each saw significant minutes last year as first-year players.

6. WSU will look to a pair of newcomers to contribute immediately. Redshirt freshman Tim Wagner is a sharpshooting guard who spent a year redshirting at Division I Nebraska before joining high school
teammate Riley Bambenek in purple and white. WSU also adds junior big man Mohamed Ali Ben Ammar, an athletic center who should be an impactful defensive presence.

7. A trio of talented true freshmen join the squad for 2014-15. Charlie Koontz, Nick Shanks and Zack Melbostad were all top high school players in Minnesota and are sure to make impacts with the Warriors.

8. The Warriors were the number one team in the NSIC last season when it came to blocked shots per game, field-goal percentage defense and scoring defense. WSU blocked an average of 4.5 shots per game while holding defenses to just 39.8 percent from the floor and giving up only 66.6 points per game.

9. A pair of new, but very familiar faces, can be found on the WSU bench this year. It takes a full hand to count the number of NCAA championship rings between head coach Mike Leaf and new assistants Zach Malvik and John Smith, who each won titles as players for Leaf (Malvik - 1 in 2006, Smith - 2 in '06 and '08).

10. Mike Leaf continues to prove that he's one of the top coaches in the game, compiling a 368-139 record over 16 seasons, while holding a winning percentage of a phenomenal .726 - the eighth best among active Division II coaches of at least 10 years. No current coach in Division II has as many wins with as high of a winning percentage as Leaf.