THE OPENING TIP: Saturday will mark the 96th installment of the rivalry between the University of Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State University. The Bulldogs will hope to tally their first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference win and break their four-game losing skid.

SCOUTING REPORT ON ST. CLOUD STATE: The Huskies are 6-3 overall and 3-1 in the NSIC. SCSU is coached by Matt Reimer who is in his fourth season at the helm of Husky basketball. SCSU lost its only NSIC game last Saturday to Southwest Minnesota State last time out.
The Huskies are much like the Bulldog as they don't commit many fouls or turnovers. SCSU is second in the NSIC in fewest fouls and fourth in fewest turnovers. The huskies are second in the conference in turnover forced. They are 47th in the nation in turnover margin at 3.1.
SCSU has three players averaging at least 10 points. Jon Averkamp leads the squad with 19.3 points a game. Averkamp is also second on with 7.4 rebounds per game. Sean Smith is the team's leading board collector at 9.3 is almost averaging a double-double for the season with 1.2 points per game as well. Smith also is the main disrupter on defense with 21 blocks and 14 steals.

THE SERIES: UMD trails in the all-time series 52-33 to SCSU. The Huskies defeated the Bulldogs twice in 2016-17. UMD swept SCSU the season before that.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and their opponents this weekend stack up in the NSIC standings and in the National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC) and the D2SIDA media polls.
TEAM        NSIC        NABC        D2SIDA
UMD         T-14th          NR               NR
SCSU          6th            NR                NR

THE BROADCAST: Both games this weekend will be carried live through a video stream and is available at:
portal.stretchinternet.com/umd/

LAST TIME OUT: UMD dropped both games in its home opening weekend. SMSU escaped Romano Gymnasium with a 68-65 victory on Friday. USF walked out Saturday with a 91-66 win over the Bulldogs.
Logan Rohrscheib had 19 points versus the Mustangs. UMD got off it an early lead over SMSU before they pulled ahead at halftime. The Bulldogs outscored the Mustangs 41-38 in the final 20 minutes. SMSU was able to fore a few Bulldog mistakes in the final moments to seal the victory.
Brandon Myer had 21 points against the Cougars while Luke Harris registered 19. Sioux Falls went on runs of 13-0, 17,2 and 13-3 to build a comfortable lead over UMD. The Bulldogs trailed by double-digits heading into the second half and cut the lead down to nine.

LOCKED IN AT THE CHARITY STRIPE: The Bulldogs have been doing an excellence job at drawing contact and getting to the line. They have been to the foul line 20 more times and 32 times in the second half. UMD is hitting 83.4 percent of its free throws, which is the best percentage in the division II landscape. More importantly, they are 110-126 (87.9) in the second half.
The Bulldogs have relied on three players to take the majority of its free throws. Brandon Myer is knocking down 87.5 percent (28-of-32). Trevor Entwisle is 33-of-38 and Logan Rohrscheib has the most makes and attempts (37-of-43) while hitting 86 percent from the line.

SECOND HALF WOES: No mix has provided a cure to the second half struggles. For the first half, the Bulldogs have only been outscored by 13 points and they are shooting 46 percent in the half. The final 20 minutes have been problematic. They have only outscored teams twice (Michigan Tech and SMSU) and they have shot 35 percent compared to the opponents' 49 percent.

SHOOT OUT OF THE SLUMP: Entering on a four-game losing streak to Saturday's contest, the Bulldogs have to get back to making a higher share of baskets. UMD was knocking down over 50 percent of its looks before it hit a cold stretch during the four-game skid. The Bulldogs, since then, have only drained a tad under 38 percent of those shots.

GETTIN' IT EVERY DAY FROM MYER: Double figures in six games and six or more rebounds in five of those outings to start the season, Brandon Myer has given UMD everything he has got. He has led the team in scoring twice with career-bests 21 points against Lindenwood and Sioux Falls. The Superior, Wis. native has posted UMD's only double-double this season. Myer has at least 15 points in five of the last six games and led the team in rebounding in four of the last five.

THE DISTRIBUTOR: No one last year for UMD averaged at least three assists per game but Trevor Entwisle is doing so this season. The Neenah, Wis., native had a season-high six assists versus the Cougars. Entwisle is dishing out 3.3 assists per contest and has a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio. 

GETTING PRODUCTION FROM THE BENCH: The Bulldog bench has scored 24 percent of the team's points this season. The bench has outscored the opposition's bench 146-105. Luke Harris is leading the UMD bench with 9.1 points per game. The junior forward has posted double-digits four times including a season-high 19 points in the last contest.

WELCOME TO THE LINEUP, MAMADOU: The transfer from Anoka-Ramsey C.C. was thrown into the starting five the last two games including his first career start as a Bulldog last Friday. Mamadou Ngom totaled 30 minutes per game and, on a per game basis, compiled 7.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals. 

CHECK YOUR POCKETS: Brandon Myer and Trevor Entwisle are the only two players on the Bulldogs who are averaging a steal per contest. Myer has 11 steals and Entwisle is behind with 10.

NO EXTRA POSSESSIONS: Limiting turnovers has been a specialty in the past under the direction of Matt Bowen. His teams have ranked among the best at not turning the ball over and this year is no exception. UMD is the top dog in the NSIC in fewest turnovers per game (9.4), which is fourth in the Division II landscape. Northwest Missouri State is first with 8.0 per contest. It has recorded the sixth fewest turnovers on the year, only coughing up the ball 75 times in eight games.

PLAYING SMART: The Bulldogs have committed 139 fouls on the year which is the fewest fouls by any NSIC team. Only 40 other teams in Division II have fewer fouls then UMD.

CONFERENCE COACHES CORNER: On Oct. 26, the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference 2017-18 Preseason Coaches' Poll slated UMD to a 13th-place finish. The Bulldogs, which finished eighth in the North Division and a 15th overall a season ago, received 46 points in the poll. The Bulldogs were picked to finish sixth in the North Division ahead of Minnesota Crookston and U-Mary.
Northern State University, who claimed preseason favorites in the North Division, topped out in the overall poll with 213 points slightly edging Southwest Minnesota State University, who was picked to finish first in the south.
St. Cloud State University junior guard Gage Davis was the North Division Preseason Player of the Year. SMSU junior guard Ryan Bruggeman was named the South Division Preseason Player of the Year.

NEW DOGS ON THE BLOCK: The Bulldogs bring in four freshmen (Jimmy Vollbrecht, Xavier Cummings, Adam Smith and Jake Paper) and a junior college transfer (Mamadou Ngom) to join the 2017-18 roster and the 11 returners from a season ago.

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH: Coach Bowen for the second straight season will have to direct a very youthful squad from the sidelines. Only two seniors (Kyle Schalow and Jake Wilson) are on the roster with a combined nine freshmen and sophomores. The five sophomores tallied an average of 19 minutes during their freshmen seasons. Three sophomores pace the Bulldogs in points this season.

BOWEN'S BITS: Entering his sixth season in 2017, head coach Matt Bowen looks to take the next step to bringing the University of Minnesota Duluth to the top of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Armed with a lineup of experienced underclassman and vital leaders, the Bulldogs are set to improve upon the 2016-17 season.
Bowen is no stranger to turning a program around, having taken a perennial Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference underdog in Bemidji State University to a championship level that has not been repeated since he left the program to take over as UMD head coach in the summer of 2012. Bowen, just the third head coach for the Bulldogs since the mid-1980's, succeeded Gary Holquist, who stepped down in April 2012 to take the role of UMD's Athletic Development Director.
Under Bowen, UMD produced its first NABC All-Region selection since 2008-09 in Brett Ervin ('15) during the 2014-15 season as well as NABC Honors Court selection Jake Harder ('16) that season and All-NSIC guard Jordan Reetz ('14) the previous year. Along with an influx of young talent, the future seems bright for the Bulldogs under Bowen's guidance.
Bowen completed his turnaround of Bemidji State in his sixth and most productive year with the program, guiding the Beavers to a school record 22-9 overall mark which included an NSIC regular season championship and the program's second NCAA II playoff berth in the team's 91-year history. In addition to receiving votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II poll for the first-time ever, Bowen also produced the 2011-12 NSIC and NCAA II Player of the Year in James Ellisor. 
Prior to his appointment in Bemidji, Bowen spent 15 years on the staffs of three NCAA I institutions, working under the likes of Homer Drew (Valparaiso University), Gene Bartow (University of Alabama-Birmingham) and Bob Knight (Indiana University). 
A native of River Falls, Wisconsin, Bowen graduated from Indiana University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree in health, physical education and recreation and earned a Master's degree in health education from Alabama-Birmingham four years later. His father, Rick, was the head men's basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls from 1986-2006 and retired as that school's athletic director in 2010.

ON TAP:  The Bulldogs have their final home game of 2017 on Tuesday, Dec. 19 against Northern Michigan University. That game at Romano Gymnasium will begin 2:00 p.m.