What's Up: The eighth-ranked Minnesota State men's basketball team (24-4, 19-3 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) earned the right to host the 2011 NCAA Division II Central Region tournament for the second consecutive season. The Mavericks – who are the #1 seed in the event – hosts eighth-seeded Winona State Saturday evening at 6 p.m.

The Rest of the Field: The NCAA central region is made up of institutions from the NSIC and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Joining Minnesota State (NSIC) and Winona State (NSIC) in the tournament is: second-seeded Fort Lewis (RMAC), third-seeded Colorado School of Mines (RMAC), fourth-seeded University of Mary (NSIC), fifth-seeded Metro State (RMAC), sixth-seeded Adams State (RMAC) and seventh-seeded Mesa State (RMAC).

To view the complete bracket, click HERE

Getting the Call:  This year's national tournament appearance marks the seventh straight for Minnesota State and the ninth in program history.  The Mavericks are 8-8 in their previous eight appearances.

Ticket Info: Tickets for the regional are $15 for reserved seats, $10 for adult general admission seats and $5 for youth/senior/student (K-thru-college with valid ID) tickets. Tickets can be purchased online at www.msumavericktickets.com. Tickets will not be mailed but fans have the option of printing their own tickets online or they will be available for pick-up at the MSU Athletics Office between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Tickets that are not picked up can be claimed at Will Call on the day of the game. Online ticket availability closes at 9 p.m., the day prior to each session.

One for the Thumb: By virtue of MSU's 61-60 victory over Southwest Minnesota State last month, the Mavericks clinched 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.

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 regional play this weekend...A win Saturday would give MSU its 25th victory of the year, which would tie it with the 2009-10 team for third on the school's all-time single season wins list...A win would move MSU to 7-6 in the NCAA regional tournament under head coach Matt Margenthaler and 9-8 all-time in NCAA postseason play...Overall in the postseason, a win would move Margenthaler to 15-15 in postseason games (conference and NCAA tournaments)...Senior wing Jefferson Mason is five points shy of 1,000 for his career...Should Mason achieve the milestone he and senior guard Marcus Hill will become the first active Mavericks to be members of the 1,000-point club since Luke Anderson and Tony Thomason did so in 2007.

All-Conference: Minnesota State was well represented on the NSIC All-Conference team which was released last week. Head coach Matt Margenthaler was named the league's Coach of the Year. This marks the second straight year he has earned the award and the tenth time he has done so in his career.

Senior guard Marcus Hill and senior wing Jefferson Mason were each First-Team All-NSIC picks while senior guard Cameron Hodges was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year and was a Second-Team All-NSIC. Hodges is the fourth Maverick to earn Defensive Player of the Year under Margenthaler.

Scouting The Warriors: Winona State enters the regional tournament with a 20-9 record and are coming off a run through the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament which saw them claim the title as the fifth-seed.

As a team, Winona State is averaging 79.9 points per game while giving up 70.8. WSU is shooting 46.4 percent from the floor and 37.9 percent from downtown while hitting on 70 percent of its free throw opportunities. As a unit, the Warriors own a +3.9 margin on the glass, outrebounding opponents 36.2-32.3

Sophomore center Clayton Vette leads the active Warriors in scoring and rebounding, averaging 13.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while shooting 54.4 percent from the field. Senior guard Ben Fischer rounds out the Warriors in double-figures as he averages 10.6 points and 5.1 assists per game. Mike Leaf is in his 13th season with the program and owns a 290-116 record.

Inside the Series: Minnesota State head coach Matt Margenthaler is 8-9 all-time against the Warriors...MSU leads the all-time series, 80-36 and have won four of the last five games in the series...MSU swept the regular-season series this year winning 80-74 at Winona State and 84-65 in a wire-to-wire win in Mankato before WSU earned an 82-74 victory over the Mavericks in the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament...Senior wing Jefferson Mason leads MSU in scoring averaging 17.4 points per game against Winona State to go with 6.4 rebounds...Senior guard Marcus Hill averages 12.4 points in eight career games against WSU, including a 28-point effort in last Saturday's game.

To view the complete release, click HERE