WINONA, Minn. - The Winona State men's basketball kicks off the NSIC Tournament with a road matchup against the Minnesota State University, Mankato Mavericks.
The Warriors head back to Minnesota State on Wednesday, February 25 with tip-off slated for 6:00pm. WSU is 64-97 all-time against the Mavericks, including winning an 83-75 home contest earlier this season on December 4, 2025, and dropping 77-66 to the Mavericks last week. WSU earned the 12th seed while MSU grabbed the fifth seed in the 12-team tournament.
Winona State Notes:
- Winona State enters the week 9-18 (8-14 NSIC) after falling to the Mavericks and losing 62-50 against the St. Cloud Huskies on Senior Day.
- The Warriors enter the 2025-26 season ranked ninth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
- Head Coach Todd Eisner is in his 11th season at the helm of the program. He is 167-136 during his tenure with the Warriors.
- Winona State enters the week averaging 67.8 ppg and giving up 75.0 ppg.
- WSU is 43.8% (673-of-1538) from the field and 30.9% (184-of-595) from three-point range on the season.
- Winona State shoots at a clip of 74.3% (301-of-405) from the charity stripe, good for fifth in the NSIC.
- Tyler Mason checks in at a team-best 14.0 points per game on 42.0% (131-of-312) shooting. Mason leads the team in FT percentage at 87.5% (56-of-64).
- Ryan Heise looks to continue his strong season averaging 13.9 ppg and 5.9 rpg. Heise has reached double figures in his last six contests.
- Alessandro Tonelli averages 8.3 ppg while Aidan Bardic puts up a team-high 3.1 apg.
Minnesota State University, Mankato Notes:
- MSU hosts Winona State after going 1-1 last week with their win over the Warriors and an 87-69 defeat at Concordia-St. Paul.
- Minnesota State is 19-11 (13-9 NSIC) during the 2025-26 campaign.
- The Mavericks enter the 2025-26 season ranked third in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
- Head Coach Matt Margenthaler enters his 25th season at the helm of the MSU program. He has compiled a career record of 527-234 in his experienced coaching career at SMSU.
- The Mavericks average 78.4 ppg while allowing 74.2 ppg to opponents, good for fourth best in the NSIC.
- Traijan Sain leads MSU in points per game at 13.4 with Malcolm Jones recording 12.7 ppg and a team-best 7.6 rebounds per contest, good for third in the NSIC.
- Arhman Lewis also posts 12.0 ppg with 5.9 assists per game, good for second-best in the NSIC.
The winner of Wednesday's game will advance to the NSIC Tournament Quarterfinals on Sunday, March 1st at 4:30pm in Sioux Falls, held at the Sanford Pentagon.
