THE OPENING TIP: The University of Minnesota Duluth heads to the Sanford Pentagon, taking on the Winona State University Warriors on Feb. 29 at 8:00 PM in the Second round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/Sanford Heath Basketball Tournament.

SCOUTING REPORT ON WINONA STATE UNIVERSITY: The Warriors make it to the Sanford Pentagon after beating the University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles on their own home court by a decisive 88-57. WSU came into the tournament ranked as the Southern No. 3 seeded team, finishing out the regular season on a three game win streak and winning four of their final five games (beating the University of Mary (86-83), Southwest Minnesota State University (68-56), Concrodia-St. Paul (74-60) and Minnesota State University (79-72), falling to the University of Sioux Falls (51-49)). The Warriors would finish out the regular season with a 17-11 record while going 14-8 against NSIC opponents in conference play. Leading the Warriors in his fifth season with WSU (and his 22nd season as a head coach) is Todd Eisner. Eisner is 78-67 (.538) while with the Warriors (494-233 (.680) overall in his career).
Caleb Wagner has been leading for the Warriors i scoring so far this season. Wagner has dropped an average of 20.5 per game thus far, and Kavion Taylor has been a solid No. 2 for the team just behind Wagner with 19.4 per game. They both have played substantial minutes on the year, with Taylor edging out Wagner by .3 minutes (Taylor (35.7), Wagner (35.4)). Taylor is leading the way in boards on the squad with 7.3 per game. Andrea Lo Biondo has been right there in boards, grabbing 6.4 per game with Wagner sporting a 4.1 average as No. 3 on the team. Wagner is leading the way in dishing the ball as well, sitting with 109 assists on the season. Devin Whitelow has been keeping a tight race with Wagner, sitting with 100 exactly on the season. Wagner is leading the way in steals, snagging 40 on the year. Rosner is No. 2, and a tight one at that, with 39 on the year.

THE SERIES: The Bulldogs have had a rough go with Winona State over the past few years. UMD fell to the Warriors earlier this season 85-57, with WSU riding a 3-game win streak against the Bulldogs over the past two years. UMD has gone 3-7 dating back to Feb. 15, 2014. The Warriors finished UMD's season last year in the first round of the NSIC Playoffs, but the Bulldogs beat the Warriors two years ago in the first round of the NSIC Tournament.

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

SCHOOL	OVERALL	NSIC DIV.	NABC
UMD	21-8	2ND (N)	NR
WSU	18-11	3RD (S)	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

TOP NOTCH PLAYERS: The University of Minnesota Duluth Men's basketball program had three players being honored to the All Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Teams. In addition to being named to All-NSIC First Team, senior forward Brandon Myer was tabbed as the NSIC Player of the Year. Redshirt freshman guard Drew Blair was named to the All-NSIC Second team and senior forward Alex Illikainen was named as an All-NSIC Honorable Mention.
 
Myer had a fantastic regular season in his final go around as a Bulldog. Over the season, Myer lead the team in scoring (which put him second in the NSIC) with 24.7 points per game in NSIC contests as well as third in rebounds with 9.4 boards a game. He ranked fourth in the NSIC with a 54.4% from the floor and was T-14th in NSIC contests with 2.1 baskets a game from beyond the arc. He was T-21st in the NSIC for assists per game with 2.5 and ranked 11th n blocked shots per game (1.0) as well as tied for third in steals per game (1.6). He played in 32.8 minutes a night in conference contests. On the season overall, Myer ranked 17th in the D-II landscape in scoring with 23.5 points a night and was 21st in D-II with 9.6 rebounds a game and was 11th in total rebounds with 269. He ranked ninth with 163 free throws made on the season and eighth in total points with 657. Myer was named to the Bevo Francis Top-100, and has made it to the second listing of names that has been marked down to just 50. He became UMD's all-time scoring leader in the final regular season contest against Bemidji State University and now has 2,002 points in his career (The first Bulldog to eclispe 2,000). He ranks first in scoring average with the Bulldogs, ranks first in free throws made and fourth in rebounds all-time. Myer was named NSIC Player of the Week in the Northern Division five times and won the award in the final three weeks of the regular season. He finished the year with seven games totaling 30 or more points, with the final three games having 40 or more, including a career high 45 points against Minnesota State University Moorhead. He was also the first NSIC player to be named a US Basketball Writers Assosciation National Player of the Week.
 
Blair was named to the All-NSIC Second team. In NSIC contests, Blair was ranked 13th in scoring with 16.0 points per game. He was dangerous from the field as he was able to hit 51.8% of his shots, good for eighth in the NSIC, and was a threat from the free throw line, hitting 88.3%, sitting in third. Blair was able to hit on average 2.0 shots a game from beyond the arc, good for a tie for 22nd in the NSIC. He ranked 7th in the NSIC in steals per game with 1.3 a contest. In the season overall, Blair ranked 132 in field goal percentage with a 50.9%, and 131 in free throws made with 95. His 88.0% from the charity stripe was good for 23rd in the D-II landscape and he was ranked 192 in D-II in points per game with 16.5.
 
Illikainen was named as an All-NSIC Honorable Mention. In NSIC contests, Illikainen was able to grab 6.9 rebounds a game, good for a 10th spot. Overall on the year, he was able to score 13.5 points per game, as well as 6.4 rebounds per game (249th in D-II). Illikainen was able to hit 48.2% of shots from the floor, which was ranked 201 in D-II, as well as making 151 field goals on the year, 172nd in D-II. He also was tabbed as the NSIC Northern Division Player of the Week twice over the course of the regular season.

BEVO FRANCIS TOP 50: Senior forward Brandon Myer was named to the Bevo Francis Top 50 list on Sat. Feb 15.  This list consists of some of the top players from NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA Division I, NAIA Division II, USCAA and NCCAA. The Clarence "Bevo" Francis Award is presented annually to the player who has had the finest overall season within Small College Basketball. Considerations will be season statistics and individual achievements, awards, personal character and team achievements. This is an incredibly prestigious award, as this award will only be given to one player within Small College Basketball per season.
Myer currently averages 23.5 points a night (second in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, 16th in DII), 1.00 blocked shots a night (ninth in the NSIC), has 13 double-doubles (ninth in the NSIC, 14th in DII), shoots 54.1% from the floor (fifth in the NSIC), grabs 9.6 rebounds per game (second in the NSIC, 20th in DII), has 657 points on the year (second in the NSIC, eighth in DII) and 269 rebounds (third in the NSIC, 10th in DII). Myer has made it to the second list, the first consisting of 100 names. The list will cut down from 50 to 25 on March 15. The finalists for the award will be named on April 4th with the winner being crowned on April 6.

NO. 7 IN THE CENTRAL REGIONAL: The Bulldogs were tabbed as the No. 6 rated team in the Central Regional of the first NCAA DII Men's Basketball Regional Ranking. Northwest Missouri State was tabbed as No. 1 followed by Southeastern Oklahoma State. Two other NSIC teams, Northern State (No. 5) and the University of Sioux Falls (No. 8), both made the top-10 in the Central Regional as well.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior forward Brandon Myer snagged his third Northern Division Player of the Week in a row with it being his fifth on the season. Myer had a monster weekend, becoming UMD's all-time leading scorer against Bemidji State University. Over the weekend, Myer averaged 42.0 points a night while grabbing 15.0 rebounds per game. He shot 65.2% (30-46) on the weekend, going 47.2% (8-17) from beyond the arc and was 88.9% (16-16) from the charity stripe. He added three assists and three steals in 39.5 minutes a night. He also grabbed his second and third double-double's in a row on the weekend.  This is the Bulldogs seventh nomination this season. 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 passed Jay Guidinger as UMD's all-time leading scorer in the final regular season contest with Bemidji State University (Feb. 22), where he would take over as the leading scorer halfway through the game. He currently has 2,002 points in his career with at least one game remaining on the slate. Myer also sits fourth all time in rebounds at UMD (856) and is looking to move into third over Jason Schneeweis (879). Myer is also first all-time as a Bulldog in free throws made and is on pace to be first in scoring average for a career. Myer has made 501 in his career and is averaging 19.4 over his four year span.
Senior guard Logan Rohrscheib has also made a name for himself in the Bulldog record books. Rohrscheib currently sits fourth all-time at UMD in 3-point field goals (226) and third in 3-point field goal attempts (564). He looks to move into third for 3PT FG's (Ryan Rasmussen, 236) and second for 3PT FGA's (Chris Stanley, 615).

LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs survived a double overtime thriller in the first round of the NSIC Tournament. UMD host Concordia-St. Paul in Romano Gymnasium (Duluth, Minn.), where the Bulldogs fought off the attack of the Golden Bears, topping CSP 92-87 after 50 minutes of game time. UMD moves on to the Sanford Pentagon to continue the tournament into the quarterfinals with Winona State University.

POINTS GALORE: UMD ranks first in the NSIC and 39th in DII* in points per game, averaging 83.4 per game on the year. Brandon Myer leads the way with 23.9 per game, second in the NSIC (16th in DII*). Drew Blair is sitting in 13th with 16.2 per game and Alex Illikainen is sitting in 22nd in the NSIC with 13.4.

3'S FOR DAYS: The Bulldogs sit in the top-3 for 3-point FG percentage (third, 38.6), 3-point FG defense (third, 34.6) and 3-point FG's made (second, 290 (avg. of 10.0 per game)). Logan Rohrscheib has been hitting an average of 2.2 3's per game (seventh in the NSIC), with Drew Blair hitting 2.0 per game (16th in the NSIC) and Brandon Myer hitting 1.9 per game (21st in the NSIC).

WHAT'S A MISSED SHOT: The Bulldogs are sitting sixth in the NSIC for field goal percentage, hitting 47.0 percent of their shots (832-1769). Three of the Bulldogs, Myer, Illikainen and Blair, are all in the top-15 for field goal percentage. Myer has shot 53.9 percent (fifth), Blair has hit 50.7 percent (10th) of his shots and Illikainen has hit 48.0 percent (14th) of his shots.
 
PASS ME THE ROCK: Minnesota Duluth ranks in second in the NSIC in assists, averaging 14.72 per game. Two Bulldogs sit in the top-25 in the NSIC. Trevor Entwisle sits in fifth (4.3 per game) and Brandon Myer sits in 22nd (2.4 per game). UMD ranks third in the NSIC in assist-turnover ratio with an average of 1.36, Entwisle ranks in the top-10 in assist-turnover ratio with an average of 1.6, good for eighth.

DOUBLE UP: So far this season, Brandon Myer has managed to put up 14 double-doubles, which sits second in the NSIC  (behind Wayne State College's Jordan Janssen (17)) and 10th in DII.

ON TAP: The rest of the NSIC Tournament takes place in Sioux Falls, SD at the Sanford Pentagon. If the Bulldogs win, they will take on the winner of the University of Sioux Falls and Minnesota State University.