After starting the 2015 calendar year with a pair of defeats on the road, the University of Minnesota Duluth returns to its home court at Romano Gymnasium with a chance to complete season sweeps over a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North division rivals.

UMD (6-8, 3-5 NSIC) ran into a team hot from beyond the arc as Concordia-St. Paul hit eight three-pointers to down the Bulldogs 65-56 on Friday evening before No. 16 Minnesota State turned a sloppy first half into a lead and held UMD off the rest of the way. The Bulldogs will look for a chance to return to the .500 mark this weekend when they play host to Bemidji State University and the University of Minnesota, Crookston. UMD picked up a pair of wins against the Beavers and Eagles earlier this season on Dec. 5-6. The Bulldogs are 89-40 all-time against Bemidji, and 25-4 all-time against Crookston.

FREE THROWS
• Senior center Brett Ervin continued to lead the Bulldogs offensively, impressive in defeat, scoring over one-third of UMD's points over the weekend as the remainder of the UMD offense struggled last weekend.  Ervin averaged 22 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 42.9 percent (15-of-35) and went 11-of-12 from the free-throw line, added three assists, and one steal.
• Ervin ranks no. 23 in the nation in total points scored with 261 so far this season, ten back from the conference leader and third overall in the NSIC.
• Through half of the season, the Bulldogs rank no. 65 of 294 NCAA II teams for scoring defense, allowing 67.1 points per game on average this season. That ranks fourth in the NSIC, behind Concordia-St. Paul who has allowed 63.0 points per game this year. Gannon (Pa.) University (56.6 PPG) leads the nation in defensive average.
• UMD also ranks in the upper echelon at no. 34 for free throw percentage at 74.5 percent this season, second behind MSU-Moorhead (77.7 percent) in the NSIC. UMD has the fifth-fewest turnovers per game (10.9) in league play which puts them at no. 18 in the nation.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS (Friday, Jan. 2, 8:00 p.m.) - Live Stats/Video
• Bemidji State (7-5, 3-5 NSIC) has split its last four games after losing three in a row early in conference play including a 79-66 defeat at the hands of the Bulldogs in Bemidji on Dec. 6, 2014 earlier this season.
• Sophomore forward Ben Best just missed a double-double against UMD with 16 points and nine rebounds while going 6-of-10 from the floor. Senior forward Dillon Floyd added 12 points off the bench as four players got into foul trouble for the Beavers.
• Senior Brock Lutes missed the first game against UMD but has averaged 18.0 points per game, fourth best in the league behind Ervin. Lutes also ranks T-10th in the conference averaging 3.4 assists per outing. BSU's Best is fourth in the league shooting 63.1 percent this year.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES (Saturday, Jan. 10, 6:00 p.m.) - Live Stats/Video
• Minnesota-Crookston (6-6, 4-4 NSIC) has won four of six since falling 66-50 to UMD on Dec. 5, 2014 earlier this season and will take on St. Cloud State University before coming to UMD on Saturday evening.
• Senior guard Tyler West, Jr. nearly missed a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds, all on the defensive end while going 7-of-18 from the floor. Six-foot-seven-inch freshman center Jim Warmack added eight points off the bench for the Eagles.
• Junior guard Derrick Redd, Jr. missed the first game with UMD but has averaged 13.0 points per game on the year, 19th best in the NSIC. West, averaging 11.8 points and 7.6 rebounds, ranks 28th in scoring and fourth in boards. Senior guard Kevin Larson has shot 45.2 percent from beyond the arc so far this season.

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