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The Southwest Minnesota State University men's basketball team (16-11) opens first round play in the NSIC Tournament on Tuesday afternoon hosting Minot State University (10-16) with tip-off set for 3 p.m. inside the R/A Facility in Marshall.
SMSU is the No. 4 seed from the South Division, while MSU is the No. 5 seed from the North Division. This is the first time SMSU has hosted a home NSIC Tournament game since 2018.
The game was originally scheduled to be played on Wednesday night, but was moved a day earlier due to an expected snow storm in the region.
The winner of Tuesday's game will advance to the quarterfinals on Saturday to face No. 1N Northern State at 3:30 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. The semifinals will be held on Monday, Feb. 27, with the championship game on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m.
The complete 2023 NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament bracket can be found on page 19.
SMSU and MSU played earlier this season in Minot, with SMSU earning a 65-63 victory. The box score can be found on page 17.
It's the second straight season the two teams have played in the first round of the tournament with SMSU earning an 89-75 victory on Feb. 23, 2022.
SMSU NSIC Tournament History
Since the NSIC Tournament started in 2000, SMSU is 27-19 all-time with two championships (2012 & 2017).
SMSU has advanced to the semifinals 12 times and have played in eight championship games (2001, 2002, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2017, 2018, 2019).
The Mustangs are 10-2 at home, 3-9 on the road and 14-8 in neutral site tournament games.
Mustangs By The Numbers
SMSU finished the NSIC (league games only) season first in scoring defense (64.5), first in opponent field goal pct. (39.8) and first 3-point field goal pct. defense (30.6).
Dunwa Omot ranked fourth in the NSIC (league games only) in free throw pct. (87.5) and 15th in scoring (15.8); Jake Phipps finished ranked second in field goal pct. (57.1), eighth in rebounding (6.9) and second in blocked shots (1.4); Majok Majouk ranked tied for third in blocked shots (1.2); Cliff McCray was tied for third in steals (1.6).
For the season, SMSU has three players averaging double figures in scoring with sophomore Dunwa Omot leading the way at 16.1 ppg while connecting on a team-high 51 3-pointers and ranking second with 36 steals.
Junior Jake Phipps is scoring 13 ppg, while shooting 57 percent from the field and leading the team in rebounding at 6.9 per game.
Senior Anthony Costello is averaging 10.9 ppg and has made 35 3-pointers.
Junior Cliff McCray is scoring 8.0 ppg and has dished out a team-leading 85 assists.
SMSU is shooting 46 percent from the field, 35 percent from 3-point range, 76 percent from the free throw line and is plus-1.7 in rebound margin. The Mustangs are averaging 67 points per game, while opponents are averaging 64 ppg.
Mustang Tip-Off Tidbits
SMSU's 10 home victories is the program's highest since winning 12 in 2018-19.
Junior Cliff McCray ranks eighth in team history in assists (286) and seventh in steals (126). He is 10 assists away from tying Brad Bigler for seventh in program history with 286 assists and is five steals shy of tying Bigler for sixth in team history with 131.
Senior Anthony Costello reached an individual milestone at Bemidji State on Jan. 27, scoring his 1,000th career point. He scored 551 points in 52 games at Dakota State (2018-20) and has scored 520 points in 54 games at SMSU (2021-23). He has scored 1,071 career points in 106 career games.
SMSU is limiting opponents to 39.6 percent shooting from the field and 30.1 percent from 3-point range this season with both currently ranking first in team single-season history. SMSU is allowing 63.7 points per game which ranks as the third-lowest in team history. The 2006-07 team holds the single-season record at 61.4 ppg, while the 2008-09 team held teams to 62.2 ppg.
Redshirt freshman Majok Majouk set a program single-game record for 3-point field goal pct. (min. 6 made) in the win at Minnesota State on Feb. 3 making 6 of 6. Jordan Miller held the previous record making 8 of 9 in 2009.
In the Division II national statistics (Feb. 19), SMSU ranks seventh in field goal pct. defense (39.6), 11th in 3-point field goal pct. defense (30.1), 15th in fouls per game (13.6), 17th in scoring defense (63.7), and 43rd in free throw pct. (76.23. Sophomore Dunwa Omot ranks 38th in free throw pct. (87.2), while Jake Phipps is 39th with 37 blocked shots and is 39th in field goal pct. (56.9).
Omot ranks first in team history in free throw pct. (87.3, 117 of 134) and is second in 3-point field goal pct. (45.4, 108 of 238). Earlier this season he became the 19th player in program history to connect on 100 3-pointers. Omot's 56.6 3-point field goal pct. (56 of 99) last season set a program single-season record, while his 87.5 free throw pct. ranks seventh in team single-season history.
Phipps Reaches 1,000 and More
Junior Jake Phipps became the 26th member of the program's 1,000-point club on Feb. 11 and currently ranks 22nd in team history with 1,037 points. He also ranks 19th in field goals made (427), third in blocked shots (114) and fifth in field goal pct. (56.7, 427 of 753). He is three blocked shots shy of tying Jeremy VanKlompenburg (2003-07) for second all-time at 117. Current SMSU assistant coach, Nick Smith, holds the program record of 174.
Series History Versus Minot State
SMSU and MSU meet for the 16th time with SMSU holding a 13-2 advantage.
SMSU leads 5-1 in games played in Marshall, with MSU's lone victory coming on Jan. 9, 2021.
MSU's two victories in the series came during the opening two weekends of the shortened 2021 season when the teams split four games played in Minot and Marshall.
SMSU head coach Brad Bigler is 13-2 all-time versus MSU.
Game-by-game results of the series is located on page 18.
Scouting Minot State
The Beavers finished the regular season 10-16 overall, 7-15 NSIC, and enter the tournament on a four-game losing streak. The Beavers have suffered several close losses in the past few weeks with six of their last seven losses by six or less points.
Senior guard Cam'ron Dunfee is scoring 11.1 ppg with 46 3-pointers.
Junior guard Khari Broadway averages a team-high 14.2 ppg with a team-high 32 steals and team-leading 68 assists.
Sophomore guard Jaxon Gunville had made a team-high 63 3-pointers and is scoring 10.1 ppg.
MSU is shooting 44 percent from the field, 37 percent from 3-point range, 76 percent from the free throw line and is plus-2.0 in rebound margin.
MSU is averaging 75 points per game, while opponents are averaging 73 points per game.
Head coach Matt Murken is in his 11th season with a record of 139-155.