WINONA, Minn. -- The Winona State men's basketball team travels to Upper Iowa Saturday to take on the Peacocks at 6 p.m. in the NSIC opener. Hear the call live on 89.5 FM KQAL and kqal.org with broadcasters TJ Leverentz and John Wojcik.

NSIC OPENER: NSIC play begins Saturday for the Warriors, who finished 11-11 in league play last season.

ABOUT THE PEACOCKS: UIU is in its third year under head coach Brooks McKowen, who holds a 36-31 record at the institution. The Peacocks are led by junior forward Josh Weeber, who's averagin 14.1 points per game. Joining him in double figures is forward Jimmy Roth (12.0) and guard Carson Parker (10.1).

TOUGH TRIP: WSU returned home from its California road trip without a win, falling to UC San Diego (77-60), CSU San Bernardino (74-70) and Cal Poly Pomona (77-50).

MONGAN'S RETURN: The Warriors have enjoyed the return of point guard Josh Mongan. After missing all but two games last season due to injury, the junior has been a great distributor of the ball, ranking fifth in the NSIC with 4.8 assists per game and setting a career high of 8 in the game against CSU San Bernardino.

BAMBENEK'S CAREER HIGH: Another bright spot that came on  WSU's California road trip was the play of junior guard Riley Bambenek, who scored 23 points while hitting a career-high five 3-pointers against CSU San Bernardino. It marked the most 3s he's hit in more than a year, dating back to when he hit four on 11/15/14 against UW-La Crosse.

ROAD WOES: The Warriors will look to turn around its recent streak of road woes. The Warriors have just one victory away from McCown Gym in its past fifteen attempts dating back to last season. On the flip side, the Warriors are 14-2 in their past 16 home games. 

LAST SEASON: The Winona State men's basketball team finished last season with a 14-13 record and an 11-11 mark in the NSIC  to earn its 12th straight winning season. WSU was led by all-conference performer Isaiah Gray, who averaged 14.4 points per game and 2.9 assists to lead the team. Riley Bambenek added 12 points per game while Mark Blacklock led WSU with 5.1 rebounds per game.

NEW ERA: The WSU men's basketball program is under new leadership this year in first-year head coach Todd Eisner. Eisner takes over a program that has been one of the nation's best the past decade, with the Warriors winning two national championships ('06 & '08), and making four Elite Eight appearances ('06, '07, '08 & '13).

THE EISNER FILE: In Eisner's 17 seasons as an NAIA coach at four different institutions, he compiled a phenomenal 417-165 record (a .716 winning percentage) and can boast the claim of being the only coach in NAIA Division II history to take three different programs to the "Elite Eight" national tournament and the only coach to take two programs to the championship game.

2015-16 OUTLOOK: The Warriors were picked fourth in the 16-team league in the NSIC Preseason Poll, behind Augustana, MSU Moorhead and Minnesota State. Riley Bambenek was named WSU's player to watch. WSU is an experienced team this year, returning all but one player, with third-leading scorer Tim Wagner being its lone departure.

NO REDSHIRTS: Head coach Todd Eisner will rely on his newcomers to play right away, choosing not to redshirt Mason Domask, Connor Flack and Tommy Gathje. 

BAUMAN AT HIS BEST: Junior big man Kyle Bauman appears primed for a big season. In WSU's two exhibition games, Bauman averaged 19.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in just 39 total minutes. In the season-opening win over Wisconsin Lutheran, Bauman tied a career high with 21 points while setting a new career mark with 12 rebounds.