THE OPENING TIP: The University of Minnesota Duluth will face off against Minnesota State University and Concordia University, St. Paul this weekend. The Bulldogs, who embark on the start of a five-game home stretch at Romano Gymnasium, will get the Mavericks on Friday, Feb. 2 at 8:00 p.m. The Golden Bears will be the last Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division foe of the 2017-18 regular season for UMD when they square off Saturday, Feb. 3 at 6:00 p.m.

IT'S A SLAM DUNK -- DON'T DRIVE DRUNK: The NSIC along with its institutions host the sixth-annual "It's a Slam Dunk - Don't Drive Drunk" Campaign initiative at its home basketball games throughout January and February.
The NSIC and its school partners started the campaign in 2013 to commemorate Drake Bigler, the five-month-old son of Southwest Minnesota State University's men's basketball coach Brad Bigler, who was killed by a drunk driver. During designated basketball weekends, NSIC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) members will be collecting signatures from fans pledging not to drive drunk. NSIC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) members will be collecting signatures from fans pledging not to drive drunk. 
Over the past five years, the NSIC has collected nearly 50,000 signatures from fans pledging not to drive drunk.

SCOUTING REPORT ON MINNESOTA STATE: The Mavericks have won the last six games and come into Friday's game as the best team in the NSIC. Minnesota State received votes in both the NABC poll and the D2SIDA media poll. Matt Margenthaler, who is in his 17th season as head coach, has the Mavericks at 18-4 and 14-2 in the conference. 
Minnesota State has the conference's No 1 scoring offense along with the nation's third best three-point percentage (44 percent). Not many shots from the outside are attempted as it ranks 12th in the NSIC. The Mavericks attack the glass on both ends effectively. They rank second in the league in pounding the offensive glass (10.2) and second overall (36.5).
As the league's highest scoring team, Minnesota State spreads the ball around among five main players. Those five hit at least 48 percent from the floor. Kevin Krieger and Charlie Brown head the attack, scoring 16.2 and 15.2 points, respectively. Brown averages a team-high 4.0 assists. Chris Kendrix, who led the team in scoring two of the last five, pulls down 6.7 rebounds.

SCOUTING REPORT ON CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL: The Golden Bears are 4-18 and 3-13 in the NSIC. Concordia-St. Paul dispatched its five-game losing streak with a 74-68 win over Minnesota Crookston last Saturday.
Joey James is in his fourth season of guiding the Golden Bears.
Concordia-St. Paul ranks near the bottom of the NSIC in most categories. CSP is last in scoring, three-point shooting, and free-throw shooting. The Golden Bears are third in the NSIC in offensive rebounds, totaling 10.1 per game. 
Bryndan Matthews led the team the last two games. Matthews averaged 28.5 points per game last weekend and is leading the team with 17.2 points. He is also leading the team in rebounding (7.2). Avan Ward, 14.2 points a game, is the marksman of the squad. His 50 three-pointers are the most among the team.

THE SERIES: Minnesota State leads the series 44-33 and has won the four of the last five battles. The latest victory by UMD was the 2015-16 meeting at Romano 91-84. The Mavericks escaped with a 56-51 victory in the only meeting last season in the Taylor Center.
With each team having 13 wins to their credit, Saturday will split the tie in the UMD-Concordia-St. Paul rivalry. Like the Mavericks, the Golden Bears have won four of the last five over the Bulldogs. The last time UMD was at home (2015-16 season), it was triumphant 85-83. Concordia-St. Paul did win last year 95-85 in the Gangelhoff Center.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and its opponents stack up in the NSIC standings and in the National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC) and the D2SIDA media polls.
TEAM        NSIC        NABC        D2SIDA
UMD           12th           NR              NR
MSU          T-1st            RV              RV
CSP            16th           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: The Bulldogs were dumped twice this past weekend to Augustana University and Wayne State College. UMD was made of quick of by the Vikings getting tossed around 85-65. The Wildcats had to go to overtime (88-86) to finally put the Bulldogs to bed. 
Augustana run-n-gun offense was too much for UMD to overcome. The Vikings had 52 points in the paint, 17 points off turnovers and 18 fast break points. Brandon Myer led UMD with 22 points, five rebounds and a pair of steals. Logan Rohrscheib, behind three three-pointers compiled 12 points.
The Bulldogs came back from a 76-70 deficit with 75 seconds to send the game into overtime Saturday. Rohrscheib hit a three and moments later Trevor Entwisle launched a 30-footer with seconds remaining. UMD had a chance to win it or force a second overtime but the shot went long. Four players recorded double figures. Myer did the heavy lifting again, tallying 20 points. Sean Burns posted 18 points and eight boards. Rohrscheib had 17 and Entwisle registered 14 points to along with his six dimes.

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH: Coach Bowen for the second straight season is directing 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. Their outburst has accounted for 1,043 points on the season or 68.6 percent of the team's total points. That percentage was up around 72 percent before the loss of Luke Harris, who averaged 9.4 points, due to a season-ending injury.

THE VICIOUS NORTHERN SUN: With the youth, UMD is getting valuable experience in one of the most difficult conferences in the nation. The NSIC might only have one team ranked in the NABC poll (another receiving votes) but the overall strength of schedule is taunting.  According to the Massey Ratings' SOS, 13 of the 16 NSIC teams rank in the top-30. HERO Sports' SOS system has 10 NSIC teams in it. Both systems have the Bulldogs with the 18th-best strength of schedule. 

CLOSING TIME: UMD has made quite the turn around when it comes to dealing with close games. The Bulldogs are 7-1 this year with games decided by two possessions or less in regulation and 7-0 when tied or ahead with five minutes remaining. In 2016-17, UMD was 1-6 in close games and 3-5 in crunch time (five minutes left).

RUNNING AWAY: Three of the last four Bulldog victories have closed with game-ending runs. UMD used back-to-back 12-2 runs in its home weekend sweep over the University of Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State University. Last Friday, the Bulldogs went on a 18-4 with five minutes left to overtake MSU-Moorhead. 

LOCKED IN AT THE CHARITY STRIPE: The Bulldogs have been doing an excellence job at drawing contact and getting to the line. UMD is hitting 76.4 percent of its free throws, which is the 23rd best percentage in the Division II landscape. Colorado Christian University hold the mark with 81.0 percent. They are 17 makes (320) away from tying their opponent's attempts (337). They are hitting 81.5 percent (106-for-130) under five minutes.
The Bulldogs have relied on three players to take the majority of its free throws, and they all have 80-percent marks from the line. Logan Rohrscheib has the best percentage of all Bulldogs with 85.3, which places him sixth in the NSIC and 72nd in all of Division II. Rohrscheib made 43-straight free throws at one point this season, a Bulldog record for a single season.
Among the other two starters, Trevor Entwisle and Brandon Myer are close behind knocking down 84.3 and 83.8 percent, respectively. 
UMD used its strength to the line 45 times against Northern Michigan, almost reaching the program record of 48 set back on Nov. 30, 1998. As a team, it made 35 of those attempts, which was one short of tying the school record also set on that same date against the University of Minnesota Crookston.

THEREFORE, GET TO THE LINE: As one of the better free throw shooting teams, getting to the line more equals a better chance of pulling out the victory. UMD is 9-5 when it attempts more free throws. However, they have yet to pull one out when they don't get to the line more than the opposition.

DON'T GET BEAT BY THE THREE: Opponents this season are 5-1 when they make more three's then the Bulldogs. When the script is flipped or equal, UMD is 10-7.

MYER THE GO-TO MAN: The dominant sophomore breakout performance continues for Brandon Myer. He has led the team in scoring 12 of the last 14 games and has achieved double figures in all but three games this season. The Superior, Wis. native has posted UMD's only three double-doubles this season. 
Myer set a personal collegiate best with 32 points against Northern Michigan. He is the lone Bulldog since the turn of the century to hit at least 20-plus points in seven consecutive games. During that seven-game stretch, Myer has posted 25.6 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.4 blocks and 1.0 assists as he's shot a blazing 55.0 percent from the field and 46.4 from three.

AMONG THE NSIC BESTS: In addition, Brandon Myer top the charts in scoring and rebounding the ball in the NSIC.
On a per game basis, Myer is fifth in the conference in scoring (20.1) and 11th in rebounding (6.8). He has the sixth best field-goal percentage in the NSIC knocking down 49.4 of his attempts.

WEEKLY RAZZLE DAZZLE: The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference bestowed Brandon Myer with NSIC North Division Player of the Week honors for his outstanding contributions the past two of the past three weeks.
In his Dec. 20, 2016 award, the Superior, Wis. native averaged 31.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and a block per game while shooting a robust 75.0 percent on the floor, hitting 21 of his 28 shots. He created new career highs in consecutive outings as his back-to-back 30-point efforts for the Bulldogs since Ryan Rasmussen posted 30 and 32 back on Jan. 20-21, 2012.
His 32 points was the most since Newton put up 42 points when he won weekly award back on Feb. 1, 2016. 
On Monday, he took home his second honor after averaging 24.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists while shooting 47.6 percent on the floor including 40.0 percent from behind the arc. He came through in crunch time as he hit the go-ahead shot with 48 seconds remaining to knock off Minnesota Crookston.
Pierre Newton was the last Bulldog to earn at least two players of the week awards for UMD. He accomplished that feat back in 2015-16.

THE DISTRIBUTOR: No one last year for UMD averaged at least three assists per game but Trevor Entwisle is doing just that this season. The Neenah, Wis., native recorded a Bulldog season-high, as well as a personal collegiate best, 10 assists versus the Dragons. Entwisle is dishing out 4.0 assists per contest and has a 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio. 
His 4.0 assists per game are the most by a Bulldog in a single season since Sean Seaman averaged 5.3 assists in the 2005-06 season. Among the conference, Entwisle checks out as the ninth best player.

CRASH THE GLASS: A pair of Bulldogs rank eighth in the NSIC in rebounding on different ends of the floor. Sean Burns is pulling down 2.1 offensive rebounds per game. Brandon Myer, on the defensive end, is grabbing 5.1 rebounds.

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 best in the NSIC in fewest turnovers per game (9.4), which is third in the Division II landscape. Northwest Missouri State University is first with 8.8 per contest. It has recorded the sixth fewest turnovers on the year, only coughing up the ball 198 times in 21 games. UMD turned the ball over a season-low four times in the victory of MSU-Moorhead on Jan. 19. 

PLAYING SMART: The Bulldogs have committed 330 fouls on the year which is the fourth fewest fouls by any NSIC team. St. Cloud State in first in the conference with 307. Bluefield State is tops in the nation with 229 fouls.

GET IN THERE, ROOK: Two freshman have cracked minutes thus far in the 2017-18 campaign. Xavier Cummings played two games and made his first appearance versus Michigan Tech on Nov. 22. Jake Paper made his collegiate debut against SCSU on Dec. 16. 

CONFERENCE COACHES CORNER: The NSIC 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.

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 continue their stay at Romano with St. Cloud State University making a trip up on Tuesday (Feb. 6) to wrap up the season series. The Huskies will be looking for the season sweep as they took their home matchup 80-68 back on Dec. 16, 2017.