The University of Minnesota Duluth will look to represent the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference this weekend as it battles a pair of Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) teams.

UMD and Bemidji State University are the two NSIC teams involved and will square off against the MIAA's University of Central Missouri and Lindenwood University. The MIAA/NSIC Classic is set to take place at the JustAgame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells, Wis. The Bulldogs finished last season with a 15-14, 11-11 NSIC record and will bring a young roster into the 2016 season. Junior guard Kyle Schalow is the lone returning starter for UMD, while forward Charles Benson is the only senior on the roster. The Bulldogs took on the University of Wisconsin-River Falls last weekend for an exhibition bout - falling 97-93 in double overtime.

SCOUTING THE MULES | 2015-16: 14-15 (8-14 MIAA)

Central Missouri was picked ninth in this year's MIAA Preseason Coaches' Poll after being picked second prior to the 2014-15 campaign ... UCM holds claim to the 2013-14 National Title as one of its four championships in school history ... the Mules are third all-time in NCAA Division II basketball with 1,654 wins ... UCM returns one All-MIAA Honorable Mention from last season - junior guard Spencer Reaves, who averaged 12.3 points and 2.5 rebounds per game ... senior forward Marquiez Lawrence returns for the Mules from a season where he racked up six double-doubles ... Central Missouri is coached by Doug Karleskint, holding a 39-22 record in his two seasons ... UMD and UCM met for the first time in program history last season, with the Mules defeating the Bulldogs 78-60 ... tipoff is schedule for 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

SCOUTING THE LIONS | 2015-16: 16-14 (11-11 MIAA)

Lindenwood was picked to finish just behind Central Missouri - at 10^th place in the MIAA Preseason Coaches' Poll ... the Lions fell to NCAA Division I University of Alabama at Birmingham 92-69 in their lone exhibition game ... senior guard LJ McIntosh returns for the Lions after netting 6.4 points and 1.7 rebounds per game in 2015-16 ... much like the Bulldogs, LU has plenty of youth on its team - seven of 10 players are freshman or sophomore ... head coach Lance Randall returns for his second season with the Lions, holding a 137-93 record all-time as an NCAA coach ... UMD and Lindenwood have never met in program history ... the Lions and Bulldogs will square off at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

FAST BREAKS
- 13 of 17 players on UMD's roster are freshman or sophomores
- Sophomore forward Sean Burns scored a team-leading 20 points for the Bulldogs in their exhibition loss to UW-RF
- Four freshman saw their first collegiate action last weekend - forward Brandon Myer, forward Luke Harris, guard Josh Washburn, and guard Logan Rohrscheib
- The Bulldogs shot 50% from the field against River Falls, an early improvement from last season's 45.1%
- Three UMD seniors ended the 2015-16 season in the top 15 for scoring in the NSIC - Pierre Newton, Taylor Lavery, and Brendan Pineda

LINKS TO WATCH
The MIAA/NSIC Classic will be available to stream here.