THE OPENING TIP: The University of Minnesota Duluth will close out its four game home stand, hosting the No. 1 team in the Northern Division of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in Northern State University (Feb. 14), then taking on the No. 3 seed in the Northern Division in Minnesota State University Moorhead (Feb. 15) in Romano Gymnasium.

SENIOR NIGHT: The Bulldogs will be honoring the teams seniors on Saturday evening before their game with MSUM.

SCOUTING REPORT ON NORTHERN STATE: The Wolves are coming off of a weekend split. NSU first took on the University of Sioux Falls, falling to the Cougars 68-61. The Wolves would come out the next night firing, beating Southwest Minnesota State University 74-66. NSU is 3-2 in their last five games, beating Concordia-St. Paul (88-60), Minnesota State University (96-62) and Southwest Minnesota State University, while falling to Minnesota Duluth (87-79) and the University of Sioux Falls. The Wolves would improve their record to 18-6 on the season while carrying a 14-4 record against NSIC opponents on the year. That 14-4 record is good for a 1st spot in the Northern Division of the NSIC and 2nd spot in the conference overall. Saul Phillips, the 22nd coach in NSU's program history (6th head coach), is 233-167 (.583) overall in his 13 seasons as a head coach. This is his 1st season with the Wolves.
Parker Fox has been pacing NSU this year (who is 3rd in scoring in the NSIC), leading the way in scoring with his 20.1 per game (5th in the NSIC). He is also leading the way in rebounding, grabbing an average of 9.2 rebounds per game (3rd in the NSIC). While playing the most minutes per night for the Wolves, Fox has been hitting 59.3% (194-327) from the floor on the year while hitting 32.4% (11-34) from beyond the arc. He has a team leading 27 steals and has put up 49 blocks. Fox has also dished out 37 assists. Mason Stark and Gabe King are also averaging double digits in scoring, with Stark putting up 15.3 and King putting up 11.2 per game. Both have played in every game and King sits second on the team in rebounding with 4.8 per game.

SCOUTING REPORT ON MINNESOTA STATE MOORHEAD: Last weekend saw the Dragons split as well beating the Southwest Minnesota State University Mustangs (67-52) while falling to the University of Sioux Falls Cougars (79-68). MSUM has gone 4-1 in its last five games, beating St. Cloud State University (80-78), Minnesota State University (88-63), Concordia-St. Paul (85-72) and Southwest Minnesota State University, while falling only to Sioux Falls. The Dragons now sit 15-9 overall on the year while holding an 11-7 record in NSIC play. The 11-7 record is good for a 3rd place spot in the Northern Division and a 6th place spot in the conference overall. Chad Walthall is at the helm for MSUM, currently in his 10th season with the Dragons and 17th season as a head coach overall. While with the Dragons, Walthall holds a 206-100 (.673) record and owns a 322-169 (.656) record as a head coach in his career.
Gavin Baumgartner has been leading the way for MSUM thus far this season, dropping an average of 17.6 points per game in roughly 31.8 minutes a night. He's been a steady rebounder for the Dragons, grabbing 5.4 per game sitting 3rd on the team. Baumgartner has been shooting 51.4% (146-284) from the floor while putting in 41.7% (48-115) of shots beyond the arc. He leads the way in steals with 22 on the season. Bryce Irsfeld is 2nd on the team in scoring, putting up 12.2 per game in 26.1 minutes a night. While playing in every game, Irsfeld has made 47.4% (93-196) of shots from the floor and has a 2.9 rebounds per game average. He leads the team in assists, dishing out 53 on the season.

THE SERIES: The Bulldogs have taken the last two of three when it comes to squaring off against Northern State University. This will be the second meeting of the year between the Wolves and UMD, with the Bulldogs beating NSU 87-79 just a couple of weekends ago. Senior forward Alex Illikainen and redshirt freshman guard Drew Blair combined for 52 points in the contest. In the past five games, NSU has had the upper hand going 3-2 against the Bulldogs. The Dragons haven't done as well when it comes to UMD, with the Bulldogs going 3-2 in the last five games. UMD took the last game against the Dragons as well by a score of 77-70. The Bulldogs are currently riding a two game win streak against MSUM.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and its two opponents stack up with their records, rank in the NSIC overall and the NABC DII Poll.
 

SCHOOL	OVERALL	NSIC CONF.	NABC
UMD	18-6	3RD	NR
NSU	18-6	2ND	NR
MSUM	15-9	6TH	NR

THE BROADCAST: The match will be carried through a live broadcast with live stats capabilities.

Broadcast: UMDBulldogs.com/watch

Live Stats: UMDBulldogs.com/watch and follow the live stats button

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior forward Brandon Myer snagged the NSIC Northern Division Player of the Week for the 3rd time this season, with it being UMD's 5th Player of the Week nomination. Myer averaged nine rebounds in two contests, while scoring 23.5 points per night. Senior forward Alex Illikainen has also won the nomination twice this season.

BREAKING RECORDS: Senior forward Brandon Myer has been a star player in his past three seasons for UMD and has continued that throughout is fourth season with the Bulldogs. Myer is on pace to become the 2nd all-time scoring leader at UMD. Myer currently has 1,807 points in his career while Mike Patterson finished his career with 1,808 (2nd at UMD) in his career. Myer also sits 4th all time in rebounds at UMD (789) and is looking to move into 3rd over Jason Schneeweis (879). Myer is also 1st all-time as a Bulldog in free throws made. Myer has made 452 in his career.
Senior guard Logan Rohrscheib has also made a name for himself in the Bulldog record books. Rohrscheib currently sits 4th all-time at UMD in 3-point field goals (219) and 3rd in 3-point field goal attempts (538). He looks to move into 3rd for 3PT FG's (Ryan Rasmussen, 236) and 2nd for 3PT FGA's (Chris Stanley, 615).

LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs got back to their winning ways they've come to know over the year, beating both Augustana University (73-67) and Wayne State College (91-70). The Bulldogs now sit 2nd in the Northern Division of the NSIC and sit 3rd in the NSIC overall standings.

POINTS GALORE: UMD ranks 1st in the NSIC and 48th in DII in points per game, averaging 82.9 per game on the year. Brandon Myer leads the way with 20.5 per game, 3rd in the NSIC (39th in DII). Drew Blair is sitting in 13th with 16.5 per game and Alex Illikainen is sitting in 22nd in the NSIC with 13.7.

3'S FOR DAYS: The Bulldogs sit in the top-3 for 3-point FG percentage (2nd, 39.9), 3-point FG defense (2nd, 33.2) and 3-point FG's made (3rd, 242 (avg. of 10.1 per game)). Logan Rohrscheib has been hitting an average of 2.0 3's per game (7th in the NSIC), with Drew Blair hitting 1.8 per game (15th in the NSIC).

WHAT'S A MISSED SHOT: The Bulldogs are sitting 5th in the NSIC for field goal percentage, hitting 47.7 percent of their shots (687-1441). Three of the Bulldogs, Myer, Illikainen and Blair, are all in the top-15 for field goal percentage. Myer has shot 52.4 percent (8th), Blair has hit 51.8 percent (9th) of his shots and Illikainen has hit 49.1 percent (14th) of his shots.
 
PASS ME THE ROCK: Minnesota Duluth ranks in 2nd in the NSIC in assists, averaging 14.71 per game. Two Bulldogs sit in the top-25 in the NSIC. Trevor Entwisle sits in 5th (4.5 per game) and Brandon Myer sits in 21st (2.5 per game). UMD ranks 3rd in the NSIC in assist-turnover ratio with an average of 1.34, Entwisle ranks in the top-10 in assist-turnover ratio with an average of 1.7, good for 8th.

DOUBLE UP: So far this season, Brandon Myer has managed to put up 10 double-doubles, which sits T-2nd in the NSIC with Northern State's Parker Fox and Augustana's Tyler Riemersma (behind Wayne State College's Jordan Janssen (13)) a and 18th in DII.

ON TAP: The Bulldogs close out regular season play on the road, first traveling to Crookston, Minn to take on the University of Minnesota Crookston (Feb. 21) before traveling to Bemidji State Unviersity to take on the Beavers (Feb. 22).