The University of Minnesota Duluth will look to stop a three-game losing skid on Saturday when the Bulldogs open Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play at St. Cloud State University before closing out the exhibition season on Monday against the Green Bay Phoenix of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

UMD (3-3) fell to .500 on Tuesday night with their second defeat at the buzzer in three games at the hands of Northern Michigan. The Bulldogs will get a chance Saturday against St. Cloud State to improve their standing overall and get off on the right step in conference play before facing another tough Division I exhibition foe on Monday.

FREE THROWS
• The difference between UMD's victories and defeats so far in 2014-15 has been its shooting. The Bulldogs have shot 51.3 percent in three victories and just 37.6 percent in defeats. They've gotten to the line 26.0 times on average in wins and 18.3 times in losses, but UMD has actually fouled more in victories than defeats, sending opponents to the line just 11 times per game in losses compared to 15 in victories.
• Junior forward Brendon Pineda has led the Bulldogs with 12.7 points per game in the past three games, on average with his season numbers while leading UMD with 7.0 rebounds in the past three defeats. Pineda has shot 61.2 percent on the season, best among Bulldogs. Senior center Brett Ervin still leads UMD in scoring with 13.8 points per game but the Bulldogs now have four players reaching double-digits with junior guards Pierre Newton (13.3) and Taylor Lavery (10.0) joining Ervin & Pineda. Senior guard Reece Zoelle (9.2 PPG) sits just on the outside.
• Ervin, Pineda, and Newton all average five-plus rebounds per game for the Bulldogs with Newton hauling in 5.8 to lead UMD despite a marginally lower number of minutes per game.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES (Saturday, Nov. 29, 4:00 p.m.) - Live Stats/Video
• St. Cloud State (2-2, 0-0 NSIC), like the Bulldogs, opened its season with a pair of wins before falling back to .500 after a loss to Division III St. John's University on the road Tuesday night in Collegeville, Minn. UMD split a pair of games against the Huskies last season, but SCSU owns a 49-31 all-time record against the Bulldogs.
• Junior guard Jordan Poydras leads the Huskies with 14.0 points per game, getting most of his points at the free-throw line, 23-of-30 on the season. Senior center James Fort has also scored 14.0 points per game while leading the Huskies with 6.0 rebounds per game but also leads the Huskies in collecting 4.0 personal fouls per game.
•  Senior guard Kevin Levondoski has averaged 13.5 points per game while also dishing 3.3 assists in St. Cloud's four games. Junior forward Donnell Cegers has shot 61.5 percent on the season and averaged 13.0 points per game.

SCOUTING THE PHOENIX (Monday, Dec. 1, 7:00 p.m.) - Live Stats | TV: ESPN3
• Green Bay (3-1, 0-0 Horizon League) will take on Florida Gulf Coast University at the Gulf Coast Showcase before the Bulldogs come to town next week.. The Phoenix knocked off UMD in an exhibition game last season and own a 5-0 record against the Bulldogs all-time.
• Senior guard Keifer Sykes leads UWGB with 18.0 points per game on the young season, shooting 57.9 percent on the year. Junior big man Jordan Fouse averages 8.0 points and 8.3 rebounds on the season through three starts.
• Green Bay has gotten off to strong starts all season with a +25 scoring margin in the first half, while being outscored 104-103 in the second halves of games in 2014-15. As a team, the Phoenix have shot 45.2 percent.

UMD and SCSU will tip-off conference play on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. in St. Cloud.