This Week's Men's Basketball Storylines:
HOME COOKING: After a pair of crucial home victories last weekend, the Warriors will enjoy another weekend at home when it welcomes the University of Mary and Minot State into McCown Gym on Friday and Saturday. The Warriors, who were away from home for nearly a month before last weekend's games, have seen all seven of their wins this season come at home.
U-MARY SERIES HISTORY: WSU and U-Mary will play for the 16th time Friday night, with the Warriors enjoying a 14-1 series lead in series history dating back to Dec. 2, 2006. The Warriors won the first seven matchups before an 87-85 overtime Marauder victory on Jan. 3, 2010. Since then, the Warriors have put together yet another seven-game win streak over the blue and orange.
MINOT STATE SERIES HISTORY: WSU and Minot State will meet for just the fifth time on Saturday, with the Warriors winning all four matchups in a series dating back only to Nov. 19, 2011. WSU played Minot State twice last season, beating the squad 78-64 in Minot in the regular season before downing the Beavers 67-56 in the opening round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament in Winona. WSU has beaten MISU by double digits in all four affairs.
SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS: U-Mary comes into McCown Gym with a record of 4-10 overall, with a 2-8 mark in NSIC play. The Marauders split a pair of home games last weekend, falling to MSU Moorhead 81-52 before upsetting Northern State 80-76. U-Mary is led by four players who average more than 11 points per game – Marquealis Edwards (13.1), Chris Mason (12.1), Damonta Henry (11.4) and Bryan Jefferson (11.4) – to create a balanced attack. U-Mary ranks second to last in the conference in both field goal percentage defense (.473) and 3-point percentage defense (.393), but ranks fifth in steals (6.4 per game). Edwards proves to be a handy distributor for the Marauders, ranking fifth in the NSIC in assists per game at 4.3 and is second in the league in steals (1.9).
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS: Minot State enters the weekend with a record of 9-7 overall, with a 4-6 record in league play. The Beavers have lost three of their past four games, including a winless weekend last week against Northern State (79-78) and MSU Moorhead (71-56). MISU currently has three players scoring in double figures, led by Thomas Korf's 12.7 points per game, Everett Robinson's 12.4 and Dominique McDonald's 10.5. Korf leads the league in 3-point field goals made, with an average of 2.9 per game. Robinson is an efficient scorer for the Beavers, ranking fifth in the NSIC in field goal percentage (.600).
REVENGE IS SWEET: The Warriors were able to turn the tables on last week's opponents – Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State. After coming up empty against the two squads on the road in December, WSU came up with strong performances in both games last weekend to post a 79-64 win over the Cougars and a 73-68 victory over the Mustangs.
AWESOME AUSSIE: Friday night was kind to redshirt freshman Corey Jeffs. The Australian native – whose previous career-high was 12 points – exploded for seven-three pointers on just eight attempts from long range while scoring 29 points to lead the Warriors to a 79-64 victory over Sioux Falls. Jeffs led an incredible second-half spurt, scoring 17 straight WSU points and 20 of 22 in a five and a half minute stretch. Only one other Warrior in history has hit seven 3-pointers in as few as eight attempts, while just five players in WSU history have hit more than seven triples in a game period.
STRAIGHTENING OUT THE SLUMP: The Warriors rectified a number of issues last weekend when it turned a four-game losing streak into a two-game winning streak. The Warriors, who had just 20 assists in their past three games prior to last weekend, dished out 32 assists in last weekend's two wins. In the win over Sioux Falls, the Warriors shot better than 50 percent (58.5) for the first time since beating Wisconsin-Superior on Nov. 25 behind a 60.3 percent effort.
