WINONA, Minn. - The Winona State University men's basketball team returns to home soil on Friday, Feb. 11, as they host the University of Sioux Falls to start a three game home stand. The matchup against the Cougars is one of two NSIC tilts set for the weekend and will begin a key stretch of Warrior contests that will significantly impact the postseason scenarios for the teams.
Winona State, Wayne State, SMSU, Minnesota State and USF find themselves in the hardwood floor version of musical chairs, as the top two teams - #9 Augustana and #19 Upper Iowa - are above the fray and Concordia - St. Paul is at the bottom of the standings with a 2-15 NSIC mark. Four spots are up for grabs with five teams in the mix; and a first round tournament hosting opportunity sits within those games as well.
Read on for more regarding Friday's showdown which will tip-off at 7:30pm in McCown Gymnasium, home of WNB Financial Court.
Who: Winona State University vs University of Sioux Falls
What: The Warriors (13-8, 9-7 NSIC) will face the Cougars (11-10, 7-8 NSIC)
When: Friday, February 11 with a 7:30 pm CST start.
Where: McCown Gymnasium, home of WNB Financial Court
Winona State - USF MBB Notables:
Heading into the Warrior weekend:
Senior weekend ... Friday and Saturday , Feb. 11-12 represent the last home weekend of the regular season for the Warriors. On Saturday, WSU will honor their lone senior, Devin Whitelow. Whitelow has been a key part of Winona State men's basketball the past five seasons, starting 111 of 120 games, including 97 consecutive starts dating back to his freshman season.
Streak busters... Winona State and Sioux Falls faced off in Sioux Falls, S.D. on Dec. 11, where the Cougars used a big second half to defeat WSU, 71-57. Luke Martens recorded a double-double in the contest with 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Warriors. WSU will look to snap a four-game losing skid to USF on Friday night.
Warriors - Mustangs round two ... The Warriors traveled to Marshall, Minn. on Dec. 10 to take on the Mustangs earlier this season. WSU led by 11 at the half, but cold shooting held the Warriors to just 10 points in the second half where they eventually fell in the final minute, 49-50.
The final stretch... Winona State has four games left in the regular season, three of which are home. They are currently fourth in the NSIC South, and just a half game out of third. The top six teams from each division will reach the NSIC Tournament.
Milestone marker ahead ... Devin Whitelow currently sits at 972 career points, just 28 shy of the 1,000 point club. Head coach Todd Eisner is currently at 98 wins during his Winona State tenure and needs to more two capture his 100th victory as the Warriors head coach.
What's up with Winona State:
Winona State holds a 13-8 overall record and a 9-7 conference record. Heading into the weekend, WSU is fourth in the NSIC South.
Last weekend, WSU dropped road contests to #11 Augustana (60-64) and Wayne State (55-76). In the loss at Wayne State, the Warriors went 16-16 from the free-throw line which is the fourth-best output from the charity stripe across all of NCAA DII men's basketball this season.
The Warriors are just one of three teams in the NSIC to hold their opponents to under 70 points/game, as WSU allows just 69.4 points per outing. On offense, the Warriors have scored 72.7 points/game for a 3.2 scoring margin.
Winona State averages the second-most 3-pointers made each game in the NSIC, knocking down 8.9 shots from deep on average.
Alec Rosner is eighth in the NSIC in scoring, averaging 17.5 points/game to lead the Warriors. Rosner also holds the second and fourth highest single-game scoring outputs in the NSIC, as he scored 36 points against UMary and 34 points against St. Cloud State.
Devin Whitelow averages 10.7 points/game and is top-10 within the NSIC for assists (4.3/game), assist/turnover ratio (2.3), and steals (1.4/game).
Luke Martens scores 10.8 points per game and leads WSU with 7.7 rebounds/game, good for fifth in the conference.
Winona State will look to get back in the win column this weekend with home games against Sioux Falls and SMSU.
More Cougars considerations:
The Cougars are 11-10 overall and 7-8 in the NSIC. Last weekend, USF defeated Concordia-St. Paul (66-64) and then fell to Minnesota State (69-77).
Sioux Falls is scoring an average of 72.2 points each game this season, while allowing 73.1 points/game for a scoring margin of -0.9
USF has the third-best turnover margin in the league. They force an average of 13.4 turnovers each game, and only commit 9.6 turnovers/game for a 2.14 turnover margin.
Matt Cartwright leads the scoring for the Cougars and is second in the league averaging 19.3 points/game.
Jack Thompson (13.3 ppg) and Chase Grinde (11.0 ppg) also score in the double figures for USF.
Wesley Oba is the main man in the paint for Sioux Falls, where he grabs 8.3 boards and collects 1.2 blocks each game.
Cartwright is the league-leader for 3-point field goal makes as he connects for 3.1 makes from downtown each game.
Sioux Falls will play at Winona State on Friday, Feb. 11 at 7:30pm and then will travel to Upper Iowa Saturday evening.
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
