WINONA, Minn. – Winners of two straight, the Winona State University men's basketball team faces Upper Iowa University on Saturday inside McCown Gymnasium prior to break. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. inside McCown Gymnasium.
The Warriors will look to avenge an 84-79 loss at Upper Iowa to begin conference play last month and match their season high with a three-game winning streak. WSU won three non-conference games in a row before having their streak snapped at UIU as NSIC action began in late November.
Following the weekend tilt, the Warriors will be off until the New Year when they travel to MSU Moorhead and Northern State on Jan. 3-4.
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SCOUTING UIU: Like Winona State, the Peacocks (6-5, 3-2 NSIC) swept CSP and Mankato at home last weekend. UIU outlasted CSP in a high-scoring 104-91 affair before topping Mankato in overtime, 92-88. The Peacocks shot 50% from the field against CSP including a 16-34 effort from three-point range. Upper Iowa also shot the lights out last time out against WSU, owning a 52% clip from the field and going 12-25 from downtown. Those performances appear to be outliers, as the Peacocks rank 11th in the NSIC in field goal percentage (44.3%) and are seventh in three-point shooting (36.2%). Overall, UIU ranks sixth in the league in scoring offense (77.6 ppg) while ranking last in scoring defense (78.4). Jareese Williams is the most accurate three-point shooter in the league (49.3%) and is leading the team in scoring (14.3 ppg). Joe Smoldt (11.6) and Jake Hilmer (10.2) round out the scoring leaders. Upper Iowa's balanced attack features six players averaging at least 8.0 ppg. Winona State has committed the fewest turnovers in the NSIC (103), but will need to be cautious of Lucas Duax, who leads the league in steals (21).
1,000-POINT CLUB: Senior Caleb Wagner joined an exclusive group last Saturday when he eclipsed the 1,000-point milestone in a Warrior uniform. Wagner became just the 38th player in Winona State's storied 105-year history to score at least 1,000 career points. The 2017-18 Second Team All-NSIC recipient is averaging a career-best 17.4 ppg this season. Wagner scored a career-high 35 points earlier this year against Bethany Lutheran. Wagner was named the NSIC South Men's Basketball Player of the Week for his efforts last weekend when he shot 51.5% (50% downtown) while averaging 24 points, five assists, five rebounds and three steals in a pair of victories.
HEAVY LIFTING: The veteran duo of Wagner and Kevion Taylor have carried the Winona State offense through the first half of the season. Taylor is averaging career highs in scoring (17.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.6). A 2018-19 Second Team All-NSIC honoree, Taylor ranks eighth in the league in scoring average and 12th in rebounding. The pair have started in all 11 games for WSU this season and are both averaging over 33 minutes per contest. Taylor is just 14 points away from joining Wagner as a member of the Warriors' 1,000-point club.
BREAKOUT GAME: Junior transfer Andrea Lo Biondo poured in a season-high 15 points in Winona State's win over CSP last weekend, including a pair of fastbreak highlight-reel dunks. Lo Biondo has started at center in all 11 games this year and is averaging 7.3 ppg to go along with a team-best 6.7 rebounds/game. The Legnano, Italy native ranks 10th in the NSIC in rebounding average which includes a season-high 15 boards versus Viterbo.
HOT DISH: After setting a new NCAA record across all three divisions last season, junior Devin Whitelow once again leads the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (5.1). He has dished out a team-best 41 assists and ranks eight in the NSIC in assists/game (3.7). Whitelow's current mark of 5.1 ranks fourth in the country after he set the NCAA record with a 5.96 assist-to-turnover ratio in 2018-19. Whitelow has committed just eight turnovers as Winona State collectively leads the NSIC in the ratio (1.51). The Warriors have committed a league-low 103 turnovers while forcing 135 opponent miscues for a +2.91 margin (third in the NSIC).
