Independent file photo SMSU’s Kenny Byers drives into the lane during their game against Concordia-St. Paul on Dec. 8, 2018. The Mustangs will face MSU Mankato and the Golden Bears this weekend.

MARSHALL — The Southwest Minnesota State University men’s basketball team (3-4, 0-1 NSIC) continues Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference road play this weekend with a pair of games.

•SMSU, which has played five of its seven games away from Marshall, will face Minnesota State University Mankato (2-4, 0-0 NSIC) on Friday, Dec. 6, with game time slated for 7:30 p.m. at the Taylor Center.

•SMSU concludes the weekend on Saturday, Dec. 7, with a 5:30 p.m. match-up at Concordia University, St. Paul (2-2, 0-0 NSIC) at the Gangelhoff Center.

•Friday will be the NSIC opener for MSU, while CSP will host Sioux Falls to open conference play on Friday night before facing SMSU.

Broadcast info

•Both games will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL with Ryan Rohlik providing play-by-play.

•Live stats, radio broadcast and video can be found at SMSUmustangs. com.

Series history vs. Minnesota State

•SMSU and MSU meet for the 62nd time with MSU leading 44-17 in a series that started during the 1969-70 season.

•MSU leads 23-8 in games played in Mankato, which includes a 101-72 MSU victory last season in Mankato.

•MSU has won six of the last seven played in Mankato with SMSU’s lone win coming on Feb. 17, 2017.

•MSU has won 12 of the last 16 games overall since the 2012-13 season, but SMSU’s four victories have come in the last nine games. MSU has won four of the last five games since Jan. 20, 2018.

•SMSU head coach Brad Bigler is 7-16 all-time versus MSU.

Series history vs.

Concordia-St. Paul

•SMSU and CSP meet for the 42nd time with SMSU leading 30-11 in a series that began during the 1980-81 season.

•CSP joined the NSIC prior to the 1999-2000 season.

•SMSU is 12-8 all-time in games played in St. Paul, but CSP snapped a five-game losing streak in the series with a 76-70 victory last season at the Gangelhoff Center.

•SMSU has won 13 of the last 17 games since Feb. 11, 2011, including victories in St. Paul during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.

•SMSU head coach Brad Bigler is 13-7 all-time versus CSP.

Mustang tip-off

tidbits

•Junior Kenny Byers leads the team in both scoring (13.6) and rebounding (7.9) and has recorded a team-high three double-doubles this season.

•SMSU has six players averaging seven points or more per game.

•Sophomore Grant Kramer has dished out a team-high 19 assists.

•Junior Nick Dufault, who scored a season-high 17 points, which included a career-high seven free throws made in the loss to Sioux Falls last Saturday, has connected on a team-high 12 3-pointers. He ranks fourth in team history in 3-point field goal pct. (42.7).

•SMSU made a season-low 19 field goals on a season-low 49 field goal attempts in the loss at Sioux Falls.

•Freshman Cliff McCray scored a career-high 14 points on 6 of 13 shooting in last Saturday’s loss at Sioux Falls. He has reached double figure scoring in three straight games and four times overall.

•SMSU set a team record last season shooting 81.3 percent from the free throw line, but is shooting just 59 percent following seven games this season.

•SMSU has outrebounded its opponents three times through seven games this season. Last season, SMSU outrebounded its opponent just twice in its last 21 games and finished last in the NSIC in rebound margin (-8.5). SMSU was outrebounded 41-19 in last Saturday’s loss at Sioux Falls.

•SMSU has held a plus-15 rebound advantage in two games this season (+17 at Central Missouri and +19 versus Minnesota Morris).

Scouting

Minnesota State

•MSU opens NSIC play on Friday night with an overall record of 2-4. The Mavericks lost two games last weekend, 97-89 at Regis (Colo.) on Friday and 75-72 at MSU Denver on Saturday.

•Senior forward Cameron Kirksey is averaging 17.5 ppg and 4.3 rpg, while shooting 63 percent from the field.

•Freshman forward Ryland Holt is scoring 13.8 ppg and is shooting 63 percent from the field.

•Redshirt freshman guard Corvon Seales has a team-high 14 3-pointers and is averaging 11.5 ppg.

•Head coach Matt Margenthaler is in his 19th season at MSU with a record of 395-169. He has led the Mavericks to 13 NCAA Tournaments.

•MSU is shooting 46 percent from the field, 35 percent from 3-point range, 67 percent from the free throw line and is plus-6.5 in rebound margin.

•MSU is averaging 82 points per game, while opponents average 74 points per game.

Scouting

Concordia-St. Paul

•CSP is 2-2 on the season and opens NSIC play on Friday night hosting Sioux Falls.

•Junior guard Jordan Coblin is averaging 16.3 ppg and 5.3 rpg, while shooting 53 percent from the field. He has made a team-high eight 3-pointers.

•Sophomore guard Noah Kannegiesser is scoring 14.3 ppg and is shooting 55 percent from the field.

•Junior forward Jacob Shields is averaging a team-high 7.5 rpg and scoring 9.5 ppg.

•Interim head coach Eric Johnson was named to his current position on Nov. 14, 2019. He served as an assistant coach at CSP since the 2014-15 season.

•CSP is shooting 46 percent from the field, 35 percent from 3-point range, 64 percent from the free throw line and is plus-9.3 in rebound margin.

•CSP is averaging 74 points per game, while opponents average 68 points per game.

— Content courtesy

of SMSU Athletic

Communications