STARK CONTRAST: The Winona State men's basketball team heads back on the road still in search of its first victories outside of McCown Gymnasium this season. The Warriors, who are 11-2 at home but 0-7 on the road, head to St. Cloud State to face the Huskies at 8 p.m. in Halenbeck Hall Friday before traveling to Minnesota Duluth to take on the Bulldogs at 6 p.m. in Romano Gym.
ST. CLOUD STATE SERIES HISTORY: WSU and the Huskies will be meeting for the 147th time in the long-running series history dating back to 1918. SCSU holds 97-49 advantage in the series, but the Warriors have dominated the series in recent years, winning 10 of the past 11 meetings, with the lone defeat being a 79-78 loss in St. Cloud on Feb. 8, 2013.
MINNESOTA DULUTH SERIES HISTORY: WSU and the Bulldogs will be meeting for the 94th time in series history with UMD holding a 60-33 advantage. The Warriors have also had the upper hand in this series as of late, winning 11 of the past 12 meetings, with the lone exception being a 75-72 loss in Duluth on Dec. 11, 2010.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: St. Cloud State currently stands with a record of 13-9, with a 9-7 mark in NSIC play. The Huskies have won four of their past five matchups and six of the past eight. SCSU is led by junior Jordan Poydras, whose 18.5 points per game is good for fourth in the NSIC. Also scoring in double-figures for the Huskies are Scottie Stone (13.0 ppg) and James Fort (11.1). SCSU boasts the fourth-best scoring offense in the league at 81.3 ppg and is third-best in both 3-point field goal percentage (38.6 percent) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (34 percent). SCSU is second in the NSIC with 7.7 steals per game and is tops in the league in offensive rebounds with 12.1 per game.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: Minnesota Duluth enters the weekend with an even record of 11-11 overall and an 8-8 mark in league play. Sticking with that trend, UMD has split its past three weekends. The Bulldogs are led by senior Brett Ervin, who's third in the NSIC in scoring at 18.9 points per game. Also scoring in double figures is Pierre Newton at 13.3 ppg, Brendon Pineda at 11.7 ppg and Taylor Lavery at 11.0 ppg. Despite having four scorers in double figures, UMD is ranked 14th in the league in scoring offense (68.8 ppg), but has the fifth-best scoring defense (69.1 ppg). The Bulldogs are also second-to last in the NSIC in assists with 11.0 per game and steals (4.0 per game).
GRAY-T PERFORMANCES: Sophomore guard Isaiah Gray earned WSU its first NSIC player of the week award of the season thanks to a pair of strong outings last weekend. Gray scored 28 points on a career-best 10-of-15 shooting while scoring 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting the next night. Gray for the weekend shot 64.2 percent from the field and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe on the weekend as well.
BLOCK PARTY FOR ONE: The Warriors lead the league in blocked shots per game with 4.3, a statistic in which the Warriors have a decided advantage over their opponents. While St. Cloud State is fifth in the league blocked shots, they average just 2.8 per game. Minnesota Duluth, meanwhile, is last in the league, swatting shots at just a 1.4 per game clip. WSU's Kyle Bauman is third in the league with 31 blocks on the season (1.6 per game) and Mohamed Ali Ben Ammar is 11th with 16 on the season (0.8 per game).
