The University of Minnesota Duluth sits on the verge of matching its season win total from last year and could surpass it with a pair of victories this weekend as the Bulldogs hit the road to meet a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division foes in Upper Iowa University and Winona State University. UMD (15-7, 11-5 NSIC) has scored 100 points in two of three games but has also fallen in four of its last six. They'll hope a historic performance by senior guard Pierre Newton last time out put the Bulldogs back on track.

SCOUTING THE PEACOCKS | 12-13, 8-8 NSIC
Upper Iowa split a pair of road games last weekend, stumbling against Bemidji State University last time out, 90-80 on the road ... the Peacocks had won five of six before running into No. 1 Augustana (S.D.) University on Jan. 23, falling 96-87 ... Upper Iowa ranks eighth in the NSIC in scoring offense at 80.7 PPG but 15th in scoring defense at 84.5 points ... the Peacocks have five players averaging 10+ points per game with a sixth at 9.8 on the season ... junior guard Jimmy Roth leads UIU with 12.8 points per game while sophomore guard Carson Parker is grabbing 5.5 boards per game ... head coach Brooks McKowen leads the Peacocks for the third season in 2015-16 ... UMD is 6-7 all-time against Upper Iowa, falling 68-64 last season on Feb. 6, 2015.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS | 10-10, 9-7 NSIC
Winona State has won three straight entering the weekend and will meet St. Cloud State University on Friday night before taking on UMD this Saturday ... the Warriors won a defensive battle against the University of Minnesota Crookston last time out, 53-41 on the road ... Winona State leads the conference allowing just 69.6 points per game but are second to last in scoring output at 70.7 per game ... junior forward Kyle Bauman leads the Warriors averaging 14.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per outing ... junior guard Riley Bambenek is the only other player averaging double digits for WSU at 10.9 PPG ... head coach Todd Eisner is in his first day leading Winona State ... UMD is 63-34 all-time against WSU including a 67-64 victory in the NSIC Tournament last season on Feb. 25, 2015.

FREE THROWS
After stumbling in four of five outings, UMD took a major step towards breaking out of its slump with a 103-88 victory over Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday night ... Newton scored a career-high 42 points, five shy of the Bulldog program record, adding seven assists, five steals, and four rebounds to spark the victory for UMD. He averaged 30.0 points, 6.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds on the week, shooting 54.1 percent including 6-of-10 from three-point range, earning the second NSIC Player of the Week selection of his season ... senior forward Brendon Pineda averaged 20.0 points per outing, knocking back four blocks on the week ... senior forward Kristofer Jackson neared his own program record of six blocks as he knocked back four against Southwest Minnesota State.

FOLLOW LIVE
... vs. Upper Iowa: Stats | Video
... vs. Winona State: Stats | Video | Audio

WHO'S NEXT?
UMD will travel to Fayette, Iowa this Friday night to start the weekend's action against Upper Iowa. Opening tip between the Bulldogs and Peacocks is set for 8:00 p.m. following the women's contest.