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The Northern State men's basketball team returns home to Wachs Arena for the first time in nearly three weeks as the Wolves host 25^th-ranked Winona State Friday night at 8:00 and Upper Iowa Saturday in a 7 p.m. contest.

Northern currently sits in a tie for third place in the North Division along with St. Cloud State at 9-5. The Wolves are coming off a 1-1 weekend last week as they lost at St. Cloud 79-71 and defeated Minnesota Duluth 80-78 the next evening.

About the Warriors
WSU is currently ranked 25th in the latest NABC top-25 poll. The Warriors have won their last two contests after a two-game skid ended their 11-game winning streak. Winona has a stifling defense as the Warriors are first in the NSIC allowing just 68.5 points per game. WSU is also tops in the league in field goal percentage defense at 38 percent and allows just 31.9 percent shooting from three-point range. The Warriors are also numbe one in blocked shots per game at 5.07. Winona is second in the league in rebounding (38.6) and assists (14.86) per game.

Riley Bambenek (14.9) and Taylor Cameron (13.6) rank 13th and 17th, respectively in the league in scoring per game for the Warriors. Kellen Taylor is fourth in the NSIC averaging 8.7 boards a game. While Cameron ranks fourth in assists per game with 4.43. Skyler O'Laughlin is the conference's leader in rejections as he averages 2.14 blocks per game. Taylor is 10th in the league in blocks with 1.07.

About the Peacocks
Upper Iowa is led by first-year Head Coach Brooks McKowen. The Peacocks have a strong offense as they entered the weekend fourth in the NSIC averaging 81.5 points per game. UIU is second-to-last however in the league allowing 83.4 a contest. The Peacocks are pests in the passing lanes as they lead the league with 9.43 steals per game and are second in turnover margin at 5.14. UIU is also fifth in the conference with a 1.12 assist-to-turnover ratio. Upper Iowa is third in the league making 8.3 three-pointers a contest.

The Peacocks are led by Joey Woods' 16.2 points per game in league play which ranks ninth in the NSIC. Woods is also second in the league averaging 5.07 assists per game and is fourth in steals per with two. Grant Lang (1.5) and Jordan Hay (1.43) join Woods in the top-10 in the NSIC in steals at eighth and 10th, respectively. Lang is third in the conference making 2.21 three-pointers a game and Josh Weeber is eighth making 1.93.

Northern Notes
Tydan Storrusten leads the Wolves in NSIC play averaging 12.5 points per contest. Storrusten is also sixth in the league with four assists per game. Seth Bachand is second in the conference shooting 61.5 percent from the field, Bachand is also eighth in blocked shots per game at 1.29. Trent Zomer is fourth in the league with 1.64 blocks per game and is 11th averaging 6.2 rebounds per game. Skye Warwick leads the league by making 2.86 three-pointers per game and is seventh in three-point percentage (46 percent).

Heading into the weekend, the Wolves are 8-1 inside Wachs Arena this season, with their lone loss coming to then-ranked No. 12 Minnesota State. Northern is 40-16 (.714) at home under Head Coach Paul Sather. The Wolves are 1-2 against Winona State and 2-1 against UIU under coach Sather.