Setting the Stage: With just two homestands left in the season, the Wolves are looking to finish out the month of January on a strong note, hosting Minnesota-Duluth tonight and Bemidji State tomorrow in a re-match weekend.  NSU fell to both squads back on Dec. 16-17, their final games before the Christmas break.  All of the Wolves' games from this weekend on will be re-matches, as NSU looks to make a push toward the NSIC tournament.

Last Time Out:  The Northern State Wolves got career-high efforts from sophomore Trent Zomer (19 points, 12 rebounds) and Geoffrey Firmin (15 points) and outscored the visiting University of Mary Marauders 41-31 in the second half, but were unable to overcome what was once a 14-point lead for the Marauders in a 69-70 loss last Saturday.

About Minnesota-Duluth: The Bulldogs stand at 11-6 overall and 8-5 in the loop and are tied with Southwest Minnesota State for fifth in the league standings heading into this weekend's action.  Led by senior sharpshooter Ryan Rasmussen's 19.2 points per game, the Bulldogs are 4-3 in the month of January with wins over Wayne State, Augustana, Concordia-St. Paul and SMSU.  Most recently, the Bulldogs suffered an 89-82 loss at home to Minnesota State, a team the Wolves handled with relative ease on the road.

Last Meeting with the Bulldogs: Minnesota-Duluth came into the game with one of the top 3-point shooting guards in the league in Ryan Rasmussen.  Northern State held him to just three first-half points, but couldn't find an answer for his counterpart Jake Hottenstine, who drilled three of the Bulldogs' seven first half treys and led UMD to a sprinting 93-82 win over the Wolves in the final game of the 2011 calendar year for both teams.

About the Beavers: BSU has won four straight and eight of their last ten heading into this weekend's action.  The lone losses have been a two-point set-back to a ranked St. Cloud State team and a double-overtime loss to Augustana, which was ranked 21st at the time.  The Beavers are led by the NSIC's leading scorer James Ellisor, who averages 22.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per contest.

Last meeting with the Beavers: Bemidji State handed the Wolves an 88-59 loss in a Dec. 16 between the two teams, outscoring NSU 50-24 in the second half.  The 29-point loss was the largest margin of defeat by an NSU squad since the 2007-08 season when the then top-ten Wolves fell by 33 to  eventual national champion Winona State.