Independent file photo SMSU’s Ryan Bruggeman looks to get past a group of St. Cloud State University defenders during their NSIC Tournament game on Feb. 26. The Mustangs will open the 2018-19 season on Friday against Fort Hays State.

MARSHALL – The Southwest Minnesota State University men’s basketball team has shown its consistently strong play in recent seasons thanks to a well-balanced attack on both sides of the court.

This season, the Mustangs will look to use that balance and depth to their advantage under coach Brad Bigler, who is heading into his 10th season leading the program.

The Mustangs recorded another strong season last year, posting an overall record of 25-9 and reaching the semifinals of the NCAA Central Region Tournament before falling to Minnesota State University, Mankato. This season, SMSU will look to make its third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Bigler said after a long fall that was full of community events and workouts, being able to get back in the gym is a chance for his players to get re-energized about the season.

“It’s good, it’s always a long fall; our guys do so much in the community and then the conditioning workouts, the basketball workouts, the fundraising, there’s just a lot involved,” Bigler said. “So when you get to here it’s a really nice breath of fresh air and it kind of re-energizes everybody.”

SMSU will have plenty of experience returning this season, led by senior point guard Ryan Bruggeman. The Pelican Rapids native led the team in scoring at 16.8 points per game and in steals at 64 while recording a single-season record in assists at 218 and free throws made (171). Bruggeman was also named as the NSIC South Division Co-Preseason Player of the Year.

Also returning for the Mustangs are seniors Taylor Schafer (8.3 ppg, 55 3-pointers), Michael Lee (8.7 ppg, 80 3-pointers) and Kolin Bartlett (2.4 ppg, 2.4 rebounds per game).

“We’ve got a great core of seniors; they’ve done a great job of being everyday leaders, they’ve served their teammates really well,” Bigler said. “When you have guys who have been in the trenches like Ryan, Michael and Taylor especially, they know the intensity they need to get to and they know the communication that needs to be taken place and the effort that needs to be had every day.”

The Mustangs will have the difficult task of replacing three key starters from a season ago, with guards KJ Davis and Turner Moen and center Carter Kirk all leaving the program.

Bigler said it’ll take time to find a steady replacement for those spots on the court, and will need his senior players to shoulder the workload more while the young players continue to develop.

“I think when you’re trying to replace three starting seniors from the previous year, a lot of times that just takes time,” Bigler said. “We’ll need guys like Ryan, Michael and Taylor as seniors to take on more responsibility and over time, we’ll need those new guys like Kenny Byers, Grant Kramer and Braedan Hanson to evolve, and that’ll just take time.”

With Kirk no longer anchoring the post in the frontcourt for the Mustangs, Bigler said they will have a center-by-committee approach between Bartlett, Steven McNease and Hanson and try different styles with their rotations.

“There’s no doubt when you lose an All-Conference player like Carter who was a three-year starter, Kollin and Steven have a lot of big shoes to fill,” Bigler said. “I think we’ll use those guys in different ways but I think that Braedan will get a chance at that spot and we’ll go a little bit different style and try to make some teams match up to us.”

SMSU will also have a few new faces this season, as Jacob Souther, Ryan Souther, Kaden Evans, Jake Phipps, Brian Dayman and McNease join the team.

“Our three freshmen we’ll see what happens, there’s a chance that they’ll redshirt, so it’ll be a lot more pressure on the returning guys like Kenny, Nick Dufault, Braedan and Grant,” Bigler said. “Those four really need to continue to make strides and in many ways, they’ll be the key to the season.”

Bigler said their expectations this season are to find the team’s niche and use a combination of what they’ve succeeded with as a team over the past couple of years.

“I think we’re going to have to find the way this team can be a championship-caliber team. What I mean by that is you’re going to have to find this team’s niche,” Bigler said. “I think two years ago it was rebounding and I thought last year it was our ability to take care of the basketball. This year, hopefully it’s a combination of those but also our ability to shoot the basketball is what makes this team special. We really can shoot the ball from range, so hopefully that can put a lot more pressure on defenses.”

The Mustangs opened their schedule with an 102-66 exhibition win against St. Olaf College last weekend, and will kick off their 2018-19 regular season with the first eight games on the schedule at the R/A Facility.

Bigler said it wasn’t much of a surprise to have so many home games to start the year, but added it’s a unique situation and they’ll try and look at the positive aspects of beginning the year at home.

“It was a little bit designed, it was our turn to have the MIAA Challenge here at SMSU and after that, things just kind of fell into place to play a lot more of the non-conference games at home,” Bigler said. “I think what you’re trying to do is build a sense of pride in taking care of your home court. I think with the fifth-year seniors in Ryan and Taylor, maybe it allows them to save a little bit on their legs so we’re not doing so much traveling early in the season. Right now, we’re just trying to spin it in positive ways, but definitely I think with our support and fanbase, this is a very unique situation with how many home games we have this year.”

Bigler said he’s looking forward to the new challenges of the season and is ready to begin the process once again.

“Just the new challenges. We’ve graduated a lot of guys over the last two years, and there’s some new challenges, which makes it fun. There’s a lot of unknown right now and we’re trying to figure out what that normal is and again, it’s about the process,” Bigler said. “It’s been a lot of fun watching film, breaking stuff down, trying to get better and trying to find a way to keep developing as a program and as a craft, and these guys have done a great job.”