What's Up:  The ninth-ranked Minnesota State men's basketball team, 19-2, 15-2 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, wraps up the home portion of its schedule this weekend with an 8 p.m., contest Friday against St. Cloud State and a 6 p.m., game Saturday against Concorida.

Lemme Say this About That:  Minnesota State sits with 19 wins entering this weekend.  MSU's next win would mark the seventh consecutive 20-win season for the Mavericks.  Over the past six-plus seasons, MSU has played to a 168-43 (.796) record.  Additionally, MSU is undefeated at home entering this weekend and a weekend sweep would give MSU a 13-0 record in the Taylor Center and mark only the second time since MSU began tracking the statistic that MSU finished the home season undefeated, joining the 2006-07 squad.

Scouting The Huskies: St. Cloud State enters the weekend owners of a 12-9 record, including an 11-6 mark in the NSIC, which is good for a fourth-place tie with Winona State.  Last weekend, the Huskies split a pair of NSIC games falling at Winona State, 88-67, before upending Upper Iowa, 79-67.
    
The Huskies are led in scoring by senior guard Taylor Witt.  Witt, whose older brother Zach played football and basketball at MSU from 1996-99, is averaging 20.8 points per game and has led the Huskies in scoring in all but seven games this year.  Joining Witt in double figures is junior guard Brett Putz (13.2 ppg) and senior forward Andrew Bernstetter (13.1 ppg).  Bernstetter also leads the team in rebounding at 8.1.

The Huskies are averaging 75.5 points per game while allowing 73.2.  As a squad, SCSU  is shooting 45.1 percent from the floor and 79 percent from the line while outrebounding its opponents by a +1.2 margin.  Kevin Schlagel is in his 14th season with the program and owns a 278-127 career record.

Inside The Series: St. Cloud State leads the all-time series, 86-78...In NSIC play, SCSU leads the series, 3-2, with each  team winning games on their home court...Minnesota State head coach Matt Margenthaler is 9-12 all-time against the Huskies and is 6-5 in the Taylor Center against the Huskies...Earlier this season, St. Cloud State earned an 85-83 win over the Mavericks despite 22 points from seniors Marcus Hill and Jefferson Mason...Mason leads all active Mavericks in scoring against the Huskies with a 20.0 point per game average to go with a team-best 10.0 rebounds per game clip...Mason is shooting 67.5 percent against the Huskies...Senior Joe Drapcho joins Hill in the most games played against SCSU at nine...Hill is averaging 9.1 points per game against the Huskies while passing out 21 assists while Drapcho is averaging 4.9 points per game.

Scouting The Golden Bears: Concordia enters the weekend owners of a 13-8 record and are 10-7 in the NSIC, good for sixth-place.  Last weekend, CU swept its roadtrip, earning wins at Upper Iowa (69-59) and Winona State (81-79).  The Golden Bears travel to Southwest Minnesota State Friday evening before making the trip to Mankato.

Junior Peter Olafeso leads the Golden Bears in scoring, averaging 16.2 points per game while junior forward Brent Barz is second at 12.9.  Junior Kenny Olafeso is third in scoring at 12.5 points per game – to go with a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game – while senior guard Courtney Tyler rounds out the players in double figures with 10.7 points per game.    

As a squad, the Golden Bears are averaging 72.7 points per game while giving up 72.6.  They are shooting 46.8 percent from the floor and 60.7 percent from the free throw line while owning a +1.1 rebounding edge.  Kelly Boe is in his sixth season and owns a 81-58 record.

Inside the Series: The Mavericks are 12-3 all-time against Concordia...Minnesota State head coach Matt Margenthaler is 10-1 all-time against the Golden Bears and 5-0 in the Taylor Center...Concordia head coach Kelly Boe was an assistant coach for Margenthaler from 2001-03 before he joined the Golden Bears as an assistant coach...During his time as a head coach at CU, Boe owns a 1-6 record against the Mavericks...Earlier this season MSU earned a 95-82 win at Concorida behind a career-high 28 points by senior guard Marcus Hill...Hill finished the night shooting 8-of-13 from the floor and 6-of-8 from downtown...Three Mavericks are averaging double-figures against the Golden Bears for their career led by senior wing Jefferson Mason...Mason is averaging 18.3 points per game and 10.0 rebounds per contest against CU while redshirt freshman Connor O'Brien is averaging 13 points and 13 rebounds against the Golden Bears...Rounding out the Mavericks in double figures is senior guard Marcus Hill who is averaging 11.8 points per game in six career games against CU.

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