The University of Minnesota Duluth men’s basketball team will host defending NCAA Division II champion and No. 1-ranked Winona State University Friday night at Romano Gymnasium. Tip-off for the highly-anticipated event will go up at 7 p.m.

The Bulldogs return to Romano Gym the next evening when they face the University of Minnesota-Crookston, a former Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference mate. Game time is set for 8 p.m.

THE MATCH-UPS

UMD, 7-3, holds a 60-25 all-time advantage over the Warriors (7-0, 3-0), but Winona State is 2-0 since the Bulldogs left the NSIC in 2004-05. Both wins for the Warriors came last season when both teams met up twice, the first such showdown in Winona on Nov. 19. WSU looked the part of Goliath, dropping the Bulldogs 81-66, dismissing coldly a 20 point output from Sean Seaman. The two tangled once more during the American Family Insurance Classic a week later, and again the Warriors squeaked out a 76-72 win. Seaman again led the Bulldogs with a team-high 24 points.

UMD has kept the Golden Eagles (0-9,0-3) at bay all-time with a 12-2 record. The Bulldogs visited Crookston last season (Dec. 7), pounding their former NSIC counterparts 82-69 behind 17 points each from Jordan Nuness and Bryan Foss.

LAST WEEK

The Bulldogs hosted another NSIC foe in the form of Minnesota State University-Moorhead Tuesday night, beating the Dragons 77-70 in brilliant fashion. John Vaudreuil emerged and scored almost at will, racking up a career-high 24 points, while Jordan Nuness kept MSUM at bay down the stretch adding 24 points of his own.

The Warriors last tune up prior to facing UMD was last Saturday when they traveled to Upper Iowa University to hand the host a 80-62 loss. Three WSU players reached double-figures in the win, including Quincy Henderson, who led all scorers with 15 points.

The Golden Eagles hosted Concordia St. Paul last Saturday, paying dearly for the invite in a 108-82 loss. Jordan Grafsgaard led five Crookston players in double figures with 17 points. The Golden Eagles will host UMD North Central Conference companion Minnesota State-Mankato Friday night.

PRESEASON PICKS/RANKINGS

UMD was picked to finish 4th in the NCC preseason poll of the media, after finishing in a fourth place tie with a 5-7 conference record a season ago.

Winona State is currently the No. 1 team in the nation according to the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches poll. The Warriors were picked to finish first in the NSIC Coaches Media Poll after going 32-4, (13-1 NSIC) last season en route to winning their first national title. WSU was also picked to finish first again in preseason polls by Street & Smith and Division II Bulletin.

Minnesota-Crookston was tabbed to finish tenth out of ten teams in the NSIC Coaches Media Poll. The Golden Eagles went a cool 1-13, 4-22 overall last winter.

THE COACHES

Entering his ninth season as head coach at UMD, Gary Holquist will again lead the way for the Bulldogs. Holquist has produced six winning seasons in seven years and one NSIC title (2001-02), in addition to a pair of NSIC tournament crowns and back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances (2001-02 and 2002-03).

Holquist came to UMD in 1986 as Dale Race’s top assistant coach. During Holquist’s tenure at UMD, the Bulldogs have made 12 national tournament appearances.

Mike Leaf is back for his ninth season at the helm of the Warriors after guiding them to a national championship a year ago. He was named the Molten/Division II Bulletin Coach of the Year for his efforts last season and has led WSU to four NSIC championships, including back-to-back nods in 2004-05 and 2005-06.

Jeff Oseth is currently in his third year behind the bench of Crookston after sigining on as an assistant for seven years prior to getting the top job.

STREAKING WARRIORS

As if title holding wasn't enough, Winona State is currently in the midst of a 29-game winning streak.

CHAMPION OF A CHALLENGE

For only the second time in program history, the Bulldogs will face a team defending a national title, and it will be the first ever time they will host one. UMD hosts Winona State on Dec. 15. The Bulldogs played the Warriors twice last season, falling by only four points (72-76) in a second outing in Romano Gym on 11/26/05. The one and only time UMD had previously suited up against a defending NCAA II champion was during the 1963-1964 season when it ventured out on the road to take on 1962-1963 title holder South Dakota State University (falling 95-77 in the process).

A GRAND ACHIEVEMENT

Bryan Foss became the 31st member of the UMD 1,000 point club on 12/2/06 when he scored 17 points against Regis University. Foss entered his senior season with 863 points, averaging a shade over 10 points per outing in 82 career games (80 starts). Ten games into the 2006-07 schedule, Foss has bumped up his offensive production to the tune of 17.0 points per game, which includes a career-high 26 points versus Michigan Tech University on Nov. 25 at Romano Gymnasium. No stranger to cleaning the glass either, the 6-foot-7, 210 pound guard-forward also leads the Bulldogs in rebounding with 8.0 boards per game.

After Tuesday night's game aginst Moorhead, Foss has now accumulated 1,030 points as a collegian and that places him in sole possession of the No. 28 slot on UMD's all-time scoring list. In front of Foss now lies Kerry LaPine (1967-71) and his 1,056 career points.

THE JACK OF HIS TRADES

Bulldog junior guard Jordan Nuness continues to lead the North Central Conference in 3-pointers made (37) and free throw percentage by converting on 27 of 30 attempts (.900). Nuness, who currently ranks third among NCC combatants in 3-point field goal percentage (.578), is also the Bulldogs' leading scorer to date, averaging 18.0 points per outing.

ON THE AIR

To catch Friday night's action, tune your radio dial to WDSM (710 AM) for play-by-play coverage provided by Ray Schow. A pre-game broadcast gets underway 15 minutes prior to tip-off.