What's Up: The sixth-ranked Minnesota State men's basketball team (23-3, 19-3 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) opens the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/Sanford Health Tournament as the #1 seed Wednesday evening as it hosts the #8 seed Wayne State at 7 p.m.

One for the Thumb: By virtue of MSU's 77-73 victory over Bemidji State last weekend, the Mavericks clinched a share of their fifth league title in the past six years. As members of the North Central Conference, the Mavericks won titles in 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08. Last season, MSU won the NSIC crown outright and this year they have claimed at least a share of the title.

Seniors Marcus Hill, Taylor Morrow and Joe Drapcho along with juniors Mike Bisenius, Stephen Kirschbaum and Mitch Grundman (all of which who redshirted as freshmen in 2007-08) have all been a part of three championship teams during their time at Minnesota State.

W2W4: There are several things to watch for as the Mavericks enter postseason play this weekend...A win Wednesday would be MSU's first victory on a Wednesday this year...A win Wednesday would give MSU its 24th victory of the year, which would tie it with the 2004-05 and 2005-06 teams for fourth on the school's all-time single season wins list...A win would push MSU to 3-2 in the NSIC tournament under head coach Matt Margenthaler and 5-5 overall in league postseason tournaments...Overall in the postseason, a win would move Margenthaler to 14-14 in postseason games (conference and NCAA tournaments).

Scouting The Wildcats: Wayne State enters this week's NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament as the #8 seed after playing its way into the field. Last weekend, the Wildcats needed to sweep and receive some help from around the league. They held their end of the bargain, beating Minnesota, Crookston, 63-62, and MSU Moorhead, 83-65.

WSC is averaging 67.7 points per game this season while its opponents are averaging 68.3. The Wildcats are shooting .447 from the floor while allowing their opponents to shoot .473 and are connecting on 37.4 percent of their three-point opportunities. As a team, WSC is being outrebounded by a -2.2 margin this year.

Sophomore guard Amry Shelby leads the team in scoring averaging 13.8 points per game while senior forward Bradley Starken is second with 13.4 ppg and leads the team in rebounds, averaging 4.7 per contest. Senior wing Jason Jensen rounds out the Wildcats in double figures averaging 11.5 points per game.

Paul Combs is in his second year with Wayne State and owns a 27-28 record.

Inside the Series: The Mavericks are 11-2 in 13 games against the Wildcats. Since joining the NSIC, Minnesota State owns a 4-0 record against Wayne State and a 2-0 record in the Rice Auditorium...Wednesday's game marks the first-ever postseason meeting between the two teams...Head coach Matt Margenthaler is 7-0 all-time against Wayne State...Earlier this year MSU earned a 74-63 victory over the Wildcats behind a team-high 19 points by senior guard Marcus Hill in Mankato and a 75-62 win behind senior guard Joe Drapcho's career-high 20 points off the bench...This season, senior wing Jefferson Mason leads MSU in scoring against the Wildcats averaging 17 points...Junior guard Anthony Brant is averaging 14 points while Hill is averaging 12.5 and Drapcho is averaging 11.5.

Minnesota State History: The 2010-11 season marks the 89th campaign as a varsity sport for Minnesota State men’s basketball. The Mavericks are 1,176-820 (.592) in 1,996 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 50-12 record (.806). The Mavericks have also made seven previous appearances in the NCAA Tournament, going 8-8 (.500) in those trips.

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