What's Up:  The tenth-ranked Minnesota State men's basketball team, 12-1, 8-1 NSIC, takes to the road this weekend for its only road games during the month of January.  The Mavericks open their roadtrip Friday against Northern State before traveling to U-Mary Saturday to take on the Marauders, also at 8 p.m.

Television Time:  Friday's game against Northern State will be televised live on the Midco Sports Network.  Midco Sports Network delivers sporting events of colleges, universities and high schools in North Dakota, South Dakota and western Minnesota and is a subsidiary of the Midcontinent Communications.  Friday's game features former KEYC sports reporter – Jay Elsen – on play-by-play and Al Bahe adding color commentary.
   
Saturday, MSU's contest against U-Mary, will air live on KFYR in Bismarck and on the North Dakota Sports Network., which includes KNOT in Minot, KQCD in Dickinson and KUMV in Williston.  Lee Timmerman and Scott Westerburg will handle the announcing duties for the contest.

What To Watch For:  Minnesota State senior guard Marcus Hill enters the weekend 17 points shy of becoming the 34th player in school history to score 1,000 career points and the first to do so since Jake Morrow did so in 2009.

Scouting Wolves: Northern State enters this weekend with a 6-8 record and are 2-8 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, which is 13th in the league.  Last weekend, the Wolves split a pair of games earning a 75-65 victory at Minnesota, Crookston before dropping a 72-71 decision at MSU Moorhead Sunday afternoon.
   
The Wolves are led in scoring and rebounding by sophomore forward Collin Pryor who is averaging 16.4 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Pryor is shooting 57.1 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free throw line.  Sophomore forward Dustin Tetzlaff is averaging 12.4 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per contest while junior guard David Lane is averaging 12.0 points per game and has passed out a team-high 82 assists.
   
NSU is averaging 77.6 points per game while giving up 77.4.  The Wolves are shooting 45.4 percent from the floor and 29.2 percent from the three-point line while hitting on 71.4 percent of their free throw attempts.  Northern State owns a +3.1 edge on the glass this season.  NSU is coached by Paul Sather who is in his first season with the program.

Inside the Series: Minnesota State leads the all-time series, 11-5, and swept the regular-season series last year...MSU and NSU met in the NSIC Holiday HoopsFest for a nonconference decision with MSU taking a 78-58 win before defeating the Wolves, 91-75, in conference action in the Taylor Center...In NSIC play, MSU is 1-1 against the Wolves with each team winning on its own home floor...Minnesota State head coach Matt Margenthaler is 4-3 all-time against the Wolves and 0-2 in Aberdeen...Senior wing Jefferson Mason leads all active Mavericks in scoring against the Wolves averaging 14.0 points per game while shooting 54.5 percent from the floor.

Scouting The Marauders:  The University of Mary enters the weekend owners of a 10-4 record, including a 6-4 mark in the NSIC, good for a tie with Augustana for third-place in the league.  

U-Mary is led in scoring by senior guard Anthony Moody who is averaging 19.8 points per game – a tally which leads all scorers in the NSIC.  Senior forward Eric Erdmann is second on the team in scoring at 14.8 while senior guard Jordan Wilhelm is third at 11.0 points per game.

As a squad, U-Mary is averaging 70.1 points per game while allowing 62.4.  The Marauders are shooting .465 from the floor and .421 from the three-point line while hitting on 67.1 percent of their free throw opportunities.  U-Mary is being outrebounded by a -1.3 margin per game.
   
Randall Herbst is in his second season with the program and owns a 25-17 with the Marauders.

Inside the Series:  MSU is 3-0 all-time against the University of Mary and 2-0 in games played in the city of Bismarck...All three wins have come under head coach Matt Margenthaler...U-Mary head coach Randall Herbst owns a Master's Degree from Minnesota State while assistant coach Jevon Budde played two seasons at Minnesota State under Margenthaler and owns a degree in elementary education from MSU...Seniors Marcus Hill and Jefferson Mason lead all active Mavericks in scoring against U-Mary as they both average 14 points per game.

Minnesota State History: The 2010-11 season marks the 89th campaign as a varsity sport for Minnesota State men’s basketball. The Mavericks are 1,165-818 (.590) in 1,973 games since the program’s inception in the 1920-21 season. MSU capped its 33rd and final season as a member of the NCC in 2008 and owned a 283-267 (.515) record in 550 league games played. In the NSIC, MSU owns a 37-10  record (.787).  The Mavericks have also made seven previous appearances in the NCAA Tournament, going 8-8 (.500) in those trips.

Nationally Speaking:  The Minnesota State men's basketball team is ranked in the top-10 in several national statistical categories. The Mavericks are #1 in the nation in turnovers per game (10.6), #10 in both won-loss percentage (.923) and turnover margin (+55.2), 11th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.36) and 15th in scoring margin (+15.8).
   
Individually, seniorMarcus Hill is ranked 34th in free throw percentage (.886) and senior Jefferson Mason is 22nd in field goal percentage (.612) and 50th in points per game (19.0).

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