WINONA, Minn. - The Winona State University men's basketball team is set to host Viterbo University in their home opener of the 2021-22 season. Coming of a 2-0 road trip to start the campaign, Winona State will look to keep things rolling tonight in McCown Gymnasium, home of WNB Financial Court, with start time set for 7pm against the V-Hawks.
Read on for a rundown of tonight's regular season home opener - and always - Go Warriors!
Who: The Winona State Warriors play their first regular season home games against local rival, Viterbo University. The Warriors will take on the V-Hawks, a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), was the first head coaching home of current Winona State head coach Todd Eisner.
What: Winona State Warriors (2-0, 0-0 NSIC) vs. Viterbo University (2-2, 0-0 NSAA)
When: 7pm start at McCown Gymnasium, home of WNB Financial Court. HBC 25 Sports / NSIC Network broadcast scheduled to start at 6:50pm.
Where: McCown Gymnasium, home of WNB Financial Court on the beautiful campus of Winona State University
Warrior Notables:
Familiar Foes: Winona State and Viterbo are separated by just 30 miles and have faced each other 14 times since 1980. WSU owns a 12-2 advantage over that time frame.
Road Woes & Road Whoas!: Viterbo is 3-0 at home this year, 0-2 on away games. The V-Hawks were almost doubled-up by Dordt in their most recent outing, a 100-51 loss to DU. Winona State is 2-0 on the road.
Hawks Fly Together: Viterbo has three players averaging double-digits; WSU has two, Alec Rosner (21.0) and Devin Whitelow (11.0), but from a much smaller sample size. WSU has two games under their best, VU has played five times this fall.
Helpers and Handles: As a team, Winona State is almost at a 2-to-1 ratio in terms of assists and turnover on the season; 30 assists, compared to 18 turnovers. They have forced their opponents into 17 turnovers across two games.
Foot off the gas: In their two wins so far, Winona State has enjoyed largest leads of 27 points and 25 points, respectively. The final winning margin in both games was under 20 points at the final buzzer.
Keep up if you can: Winona State men's basketball has never trailed in a game so far this season.
That's a stat!: Viterbo is one of only two schools WSU has ever faced in men's basketball that starts with the letter "V". The other: Virginia Union, who WSU beat in the 2006 NCAA Division II championship game.
That's a stat, too!: Viterbo has 23 players listed on their 2021-22 roster; all but four are from the state of Wisconsin.
We're not in Kansas (or Missouri) any more: Winona State was one of four NSIC schools to go 2-0 at the Central Region Challenge; WSU, Augustana, MSU-Mankato & Upper Iowa all were unbeaten in Kansas City.
'Rico Suave?: Winona State's 2-0 start is their best since 2016 when the Warriors also started out 2-0. It is the first time since 2013-14 that WSU had two away wins to start a season. That year, WSU played (and won) three games in San Juan, Puerto Rico. With a win against Viterbo, the Warriors would match the 3-0 start to the 2013-14 squad.
Rosner Rockin' It: Alec Rosner was almost unstoppable on Friday, going 9-for-14 overall, and 6-of-9 from behind the arc against Pittsburg State. He made all four free throws he was awarded.
Rosner Rockin' It, Too: On Saturday vs. Henderson State, Rosner had a repeat performance - albeit a lower total point mark - in leading WSU in scoring against Henderson State with 14 points. As with Friday, Rosner was perfect at the charity stripe, 3-for-3.
Mirror Image: WSU scored 79 points in both wins at the CRC; the last time they had back-to-back same scores in wins? 2016-17, when Winona State beat CSP 90-56 and MSU-Mankato 90-78 on successive nights.
Minute Made: Seven Warriors have eclipsed the 50 minute mark this year already; Rosner (70), Martens (55), Whitelow (53) and King (51) have seen the most of the Warrior floor so far this season.
Make 'em Count: Carson Arenz is 4-for-6 from the floor and 2-for-3 from behind the arc in just 25 minutes of action.
Put 'em back Luke: Luke Martens has five offensive rebounds already on the year, and 13 total boards. He also leads the team in steals with two.
It all started here: Todd Eisner will face the first college he ever served as a head coach when the Warriors host the V-Hawks on Wednesday. Eisner was 79-55 at Viterbo between 1995 and 1999.
V-Hawk Notables:
The V-Hawks are 3-2 so far this season and are coming off of two losses a weekend ago.
Viterbo is averaging 75.4 points/game and shooting 43% from the field and 32% from beyond the arc. They give up an average of 83.2 points per game to their opponents.
Brady Polk is leading the team with 16.4 points per game and 33.8 minutes played per game. Polk also leads the team in rebounds (5.2/game), assists (2.6/game), and steals (1.6/game).
Robert Cunitz (13.8) and Noah Fredrickson (13.6) are Viterbo's other double-figure scorers. Jack Monis is the V-Hawks second-best rebounder, averaging 5 boards per game.
Wayne Wagner is in his 23rd season as the head coach for the V-Hawks and has 315 wins coming into the season.
For the most up to date news in Warrior Athletics, please visit: www.WINONASTATEWARRIORS.com and @WinonaStateATH.
About Winona State University Athletics:
The Winona State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, as an integral part of the educational mission of the institution, is committed to offering opportunities to experience academic and athletic excellence for our student-athletes through two simple words: Graduate Champions.
Fourteen Warrior programs compete at the NCAA Division II level within the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). Winona State University competes as an affiliate member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in the sport of women's gymnastics.
