After a dominant opening round victory over Minnesota Crookston, the Winona State University men's basketball team will head to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for the second round of the NSIC Playoffs. There they will face the Bulldogs of Minnesota Duluth, the second seed in the North Division. The two teams have already met once this year, with Winona State taking the win in McCown Gymnasium by a score of 85-57. This will be the Warriors third straight year playing UMD in the playoffs. The Warriors fell in overtime in Winona two years ago and upset the Bulldogs in Duluth last year. Game time for Saturday is set for 8 p.m.

Notes

Scouting Minnesota Duluth: The Bulldogs (21-8, 15-7 NSIC) are coming off a tough double-overtime victory over Concordia St. Paul in the NSIC First Round on Wednesday night. The Bulldogs come into Saturday's matchup as the highest scoring team in the NSIC (83.4) and shoots the ball at a 47% clip. UMD is one team you don't want to put at the line, as they hit 79.8% of their shots from the charity stripe. The Bulldogs are led by NSIC Player of the Year Brandon Myer who is averaging 23.9 points/game on the season and is averaging 41 points/game over his last four. In their only meeting this year, Winona State was able to hold Myer to just seven points on just eight shots, his second lowest output in both categories all season. If Myer doesn't have things going, Drew Blair (16.0 ppg) and Alex Illikainen (13.5 ppg/6.9 rpg) are two All-Conference honorees who can carry the team when need be.

Statement victory: In the first round against Minnesota Crookston, the Warriors started the game hot and never looked back, coasting to an 88-57 victory in McCown. The Warriors had four players in double figures and held the nation's second leading scorer, Harrison Cleary, to just 14 points on 5-17 shooting. Winona State shot 53% and hit a season high 16 threes in the win.

Coming in hot: Winona State comes into Saturday's matchup on fire, riding a four game winning streak and winning 10 of their last 13. The three losses were by a combined 11 points and two went into overtime.

Keeping the career going: The Warriors lone senior, Caleb Wagner, doesn't want to end his Winona State career anytime soon, and it shows with his play. He was just named the NSIC South Division Player of the Week for the second time this season and just picked up an All-NSIC First Team honor. Wagner has come up big for the Warriors this season, scoring 20 or more points 15 times this year, including a career high 47 against Sioux Falls. Wagner has also shown his prowess on the defensive end, picking up a career high 40 steals this season.

From downtown: The Warriors are a three-point shooting team, there is no doubt about it. They lead the NSIC with 11.4 threes/game and are seventh in DII with 331 makes on the year. Kevion Taylor has become the Warriors' main threat from behind the arc, as he set a new school and conference record this season with 107 three pointers made. Alec Rosner shoots the ball at a 39.2% clip from behind the arc while Andrea Lo Biondo has seven games with three or more threes made.

No freebies: The Warriors know how to protect the rock, turning it over at a rate of just 8.7 times per game, which is good for number one in the nation. On the flipside, the Warriors force their opponents to cough it up at a rate of 12.5 times per game. Once again, Winona State is led by Devin Whitelow, who has 100 assists to go along with just 21 turnovers on the year, giving him a 4.76 assist/turnover ratio that is ranked second in the nation.