The University of Minnesota Duluth will look to expand its season-opening winning streak as the Bulldogs return home to Romano Gymnasium for three games this week, including the annual border battle against the University of Wisconsin-Superior.

UMD (3-0) picked up a pair of victories at the Southwest Baptist University Classic this past weekend, a dominant 89-58 drubbing on Friday night before edging out a 68-67 win against the host Bearcats on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs then returned home to take down UWS 80-70 at Romano Gym on Tuesday night.

FREE THROWS
• Junior guard Brendon Pineda averaged 11.0 points per game while shooting 61.5 percent in a pair of Bulldog victories over Lincoln (Mo.) and Southwest Baptist. He scored 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting against Lincoln, hauling down five rebounds, and netted a buzzer-beating lay-in to finish with nine points against Southwest Baptist.
• Another junior transfer, Taylor Lavery averaged a team-high 17.0 points per game while shooting 50.0 percent from the field, and went 14-for-15 from the charity stripe with 26 points and six rebounds against Southwest Baptist on Saturday afternoon.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES (Saturday, Nov. 22, 3:00 p.m.) - Live Stats/Video
• Michigan Tech (0-0) will open its season Saturday when they visit Duluth, but did knock off Finlandia 88-49 in Houghton last week in an exhibition.
• Sophomore forward Jason Hawke dropped 27 points and 11 rebounds against the Lions, nine on the defensive end. Another junior big man, Mike Fisher, added 14 points off the bench as the Huskies utilized their size against Finlandia.
• UMD is 42-27 all-time against Tech but fell to the Huskies 78-58 in Houghton last season.


SCOUTING THE RANGERS (Sunday, Nov. 23, 3:00 p.m.) - Live Stats/Video
• Wisconsin-Parkside (2-0) opened its season with a pair of victories in Puerto Rico over the University of PR-Bayamon and PR-Rio Piedras, winning by almost identical scores, 73-53 and 75-55.  The Rangers will take on NSIC rival St. Cloud State on Friday night before heading up to UMD on Sunday.
• Senior big man Zygimantaus Riauka leads the way, averaging 20 points and 11.5 rebounds per game in a pair of wins on the island.
• Junior Jimmy Gavin has facilitated the offense with eight assists so far this season while also shooting 52.1 percent with 15.0 points per game.
• UMD is 6-5 all-time against Parkside but the Rangers knocked off the Bulldogs 83-70 in Kenosha last season.

UMD and Michigan Tech will get the weekend started Saturday at 3:00 p.m.