The University of Minnesota Duluth improved to the .500 mark last weekend, securing a season sweeps over a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division foes, and will welcome a pair of NSIC South Division opponents this week as their homestand continues on Friday and Saturday evenings.

UMD (8-8, 5-5 NSIC) knocked off Bemidji State University in overtime, 84-80 on Friday evening, before pulling away in the second half for a dominant 71-47 victory over the University of Minnesota, Crookston on Saturday. This week, the Bulldogs play host to Wayne State (Neb.) College and the No. 9-ranked Augustana (S.D.) College, to conclude a four-game homestand.

FREE THROWS
• Senior center Brett Ervin averaged 24.0 points and 3.5 rebounds on the weekend, shooting 55.6 percent while making 16-of-20 shots at the free throw line. He netted a season-high 30 points on Friday night against the Beavers, including 9-of-14 from the floor and 11-of-14 at the charity stripe. On Saturday, he knocked back a pair of blocks against Crookston, hauling in six rebounds and scoring 18 points.
• Junior guard Taylor Lavery averaged 19 points on the weekend, second among Bulldogs, while hauling in 5.0 rebounds per game, and gave UMD the lift it needed to pull away in the second half against the Eagles, scoring a trio of three-pointers as part of a 25-3 run in the second half. He finished 6-of-6 from beyond the arc against UMC, with eight of his ten makes on the weekend coming from range.
• Ervin currently leads the NSIC averaging 2.6 points per league game this season and ranks 15th among conference opponents at 51.9 percent shooting on the year. Junior guard Pierre Newton is fifth in the league, hauling in 6.3 rebounds per game with Ervin not far behind at 5.1. Lavery's 46.7 percent mark from long distance ranks 12th in conference games.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS (Friday, Jan. 16, 8:00 p.m.) - Live Stats/Video
• Wayne State (3-13, 0-10 NSIC) has lost five in a row, winning just one of their last 11 since Nov. 29, 2014, a 93-52 win over Mount Marty College on Dec. 18.
• Senior center Patrick Kurthe ranks 25th in the NSIC, averaging 12.4 points while also hauling in 5.2 rebounds per game. His 64.6 percent shooting average ranks second in the NSIC.
• Sophomore guard Joel Heesch ranks ninth in the NSIC, dishing 3.1 assists per outing, and 13th in cofnerence play with 1.3 steals per game.
• UMD is 13-6 all-time against the Wildcats, including a 76-53 victory at Romano  Gym last season on Feb. 1, 2014.

SCOUTING THE VIKINGS (Saturday, Jan. 17, 6:00 p.m.) - Live Stats/Video
• No. 9 Augustana (15-1, 9-1 NSIC) has won eight straight dating back to Dec. 5, 2014 earlier this season, falling to then-No. 13 Minnesota State University Mankato.
• Four Vikings, including junior forward Casey Schilling, rank in the top 22 in scoring in conference play this year. Schilling earned NSIC South Division Player of the Week honors, averaging 25 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.5 blocks, and two steals while shooting 64 percent from the field on the weekend.
• Daniel Jansen leads Augustana, scoring 20.1 points per game on the year, while also averaging 5.7 boards, just behind Schilling's 7.6 per-game average. Freshman guard Jordan Spencer and junior forward Alex Richter each average 12.9 points per game on the year, rounding out the quartet.
• Augie owns an 11-11 mark all-time against the Bulldogs, bringing the series even last season with an 82-62 victory over UMD on Jan. 31, 2014.

The Bulldogs and Vikings will take the court at Romano Gym on Friday night at 8:00 p.m., following the women's contest.