Men's Basketball | 1/18/2018 8:14:00 AM

Aberdeen, S.D. – The No. 8 Northern State University men's basketball team is set to hit the road this weekend for two North Division contests against St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Friday versus the Huskies and 6 p.m. on Saturday against the Bulldogs.
 
Northern notched their 18th straight win on Monday evening tying the school record after a 111-73 victory over Presentation College. A 2-0 NSIC weekend against Wayne State and Augustana propelled the Wolves to move up one spot to No. 8 in the NABC Top-25 Poll. Ian Smith and DJ Pollard lead the team averaging 13.3 and 13.0 points per game, while Logan Doyle and Carter Evans are notching 11.2 and 10.0 points per game. Doyle and Evans are shooting a team leading 63.6 and 62.9 percent from the floor, while Cole Dahl and Pollard are shooting a team leading 47.8 and 45.2 percent from the arc. Smith has tallied 90 total assists, averaging 4.5 per game, and 26 total steals. He was named to the Bevo Francis Award watch list this past week and currently sits in the top-15 in the league in defensive rebounds, assists, steals, and assist/turnover ratio. Doyle leads the team averaging 6.6 rebounds per game, with over 130 this season.
 
As a team, NSU is shooting 50.4 percent from the floor, 40.5 percent from the 3-point line, and 72.9 percent from the foul line. They are averaging 79.4 points, 35.8 rebounds, 15.9 assists, 11.9 turnovers, 6.1 steals, and 4.2 blocks per game, while out-scoring their opponents by 14.7 points and out-rebounding their opponents by 6.3 boards per game.  The Wolves rank first in the NSIC in scoring defense (66.8), scoring margin (+14.3), field goal percentage (51.0), and rebounding margin (+6.4) against league opponents.
 
About the Huskies
                • St. Cloud State enters the weekend with an 11-6 record overall and 7-4 mark in the league.
                • Jon Averkamp leads the team averaging 20.5 points per game, followed by Gage Davis averaging 19.3 points per game.
                • Sean Smith is leading the team shooting 62.4 percent from the floor, followed by Averkamp shooting at a 60.3 clip. Smith is also in double figures averaging 11.4 points per game.
                • Smith and Davis sit atop the team averaging 8.9 and 7.3 rebounds per game, as Smith has tallied over 150 this season.
                • Averkamp leads the team from the 3-point line shooting a remarkable 60.5 percent, while Brindley Theirsen has tallied 39 made 3-pointers.
                • The Huskies are shooting 47.9 percent from the floor, 34.6 percent from the arc, and 70.3 percent from the foul line, while averaging 78.0 points, 36.1 rebounds, 16.6 assists, 10.8 turnovers, 6.4 steals, and 4.1 blocks per game this season.
                •SCSU is led by head coach Matt Reimer in his fourth season at the helm.
 
Last Match-Up
                • NSU went 2-0 against SCSU in 2016-17, winning 82-73 and 75-64.
                • Logan Doyle notched a then career high 23 points in the game one win, with nine rebounds.
                • Five Wolves scored in double figures on the road, as Northern shot 50.9 percent in the win.
                • Northern is 13-27 all-time against St. Cloud State.
 
About the Bulldogs
                • Duluth enters the weekend with an 8-9 record overall and 5-7 mark in conference play.
                • Myer Brandon and Logan Rohrscheib lead the team averaging 20.1 points and 13.0 points per game.
                • Brandon is shooting a team leading 50.8 percent from the floor, while Jake Wilson is shooting a team leading 37.3 percent from the 3-point line.
                • Trever Entwisle has a team leading 62 assists and 20 steals, while Brandon has notched over 120 rebounds, averaging 7.4 per game.
                • The Bulldogs are shooting 41.6 percent from the floor, 33.7 percent from the arc, and 77.0 percent from the foul line, while averaging 69.6 points, 33.1 rebounds, 11.2 assists, 9.3 turnovers, 4.5 steals, and 2.8 blocks per game this season.
                • Minnesota Duluth is led by head coach Matt Bowen in his sixth season with the program.
 
Last Match-Up
                • The Wolves defeated the Bulldogs twice a season ago, with game scores of 73-64 and 93-80.
                • Smith led the team in the home win with 19 points, shooting 66.7 percent from the floor.
                • Evans notched 18 points and ten rebounds off the bench for the Wolves on the road, shooting 77.8 percent from the floor.
                • Northern is 34-40 all-time against Minnesota Duluth, winning the last three contests.