WINONA, Minn. - The Winona State University men's basketball team is back in action hosting Southwest Minnesota State University on Saturday, Feb. 12 and are looking for their second NSIC win in 48 hours.
The matchup against the Mustangs comes on the heels of an amazing Winona State comeback the night before, as
Devin Whitelow scored a buzzer-beating layup for a Warrior win against the University of Sioux Falls, 76-75. The senior from Peoria, Ill. put an exclamation mark on a WSU comeback story that saw head coach
Todd Eisner's squad overcome a 17-0 Cougar run to start the game. Saturday's game offers Winona State the chance to further solidify their NSIC postseason plans, while SMSU is looking to stop a two-game skid. The Mustangs fell to Upper Iowa University last night, 67-56.
Read on for more regarding Saturday's showdown which will tip-off at 5:30pm in McCown Gymnasium, home of WNB Financial Court.
Who: Winona State University vs Southwest Minnesota State University
What: The Warriors (14-8, 10-7 NSIC) will face the Mustangs (12-10, 8-9 NSIC)
When: Saturday, February 12 with a 5:30 pm CST start.
Where: McCown Gymnasium, home of WNB Financial Court
Winona State - SMSU 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 988 career points, just 12 shy of the 1,000 point club. Head coach Todd Eisner is currently at 99 wins during his Winona State tenure and needs one more to capture his 100th victory as the head coach of the Warriors.
What's up with Winona State:
Winona State holds a 14-8 overall record and a 10-7 conference record. Heading into the weekend, WSU was fourth in the NSIC South and rose to third with Friday's victory over Sioux Falls.
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.
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 Mustang markers:
The Mustangs are 12-9 overall and 8-8 in the NSIC. Last weekend, SMSU defeated Minnesota State 81-71 on Friday, and dropped a close contest to Concordia-St. Paul (60-61) on Saturday.
Southwest Minnesota State has the fourth-best defense in the NSIC, allowing just 70.0 points to their opponents each game. On offensive, they score 71.8 points/game for a scoring margin of 1.8.
SMSU averages 6.57 steals each game, which is fourth in the conference. Cliff McCray leads the way individually with 1.9 steals/game, which is second in the NSIC.
Kenny Byers leads the Mustangs in scoring, averaging 15.0 points/game on 46.1% shooting from the field.
Jake Phipps (13.4 ppg) and Dunwa Omot (11.0 ppg) also lead SMSU's offensive attack that features six players who averaging six or more points.
Phipps hauls in a team-high 6.9 rebounds/game and is third in the NSIC with 1.8 blocks per game.
Southwest Minnesota State travels to Upper Iowa on Friday night, before coming to Winona to take on the Warriors on Saturday at 5:30pm.
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
