Independent file photo: Southwest Minnesota State University guard Jake Phipps (42) goes up for a layup during a men’s basketball game against Winona State University on Feb. 11, 2023, in Marshall. The annual “Tropical Night” game will be played on Saturday night, as SMSU will host Northern State University.

The Southwest Minnesota State mens basketball team bounced back from a pair of consecutive losses with a 77-67 win over Minnesota Crookston on Saturday. The Mustangs will now look to keep that momentum rolling into this weekend when they’ll host UMary and Northern State.

SMSU suffered an 88-87 overtime loss to then-No. 1 Minnesota State Moorhead and a 72-60 loss to Minot State the weekend before last. After dropping games against two of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference’s top three teams, a big win against Minnesota Crookston was just what SMSU needed. Dunwa Omot led the Mustangs with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and three 3-pointers in the win while Jake Phipps added another 13 points. Mason Lund added another 10 while anchoring the defense with three blocked shots.

The win lifted SMSU to 12-7 overall and 7-5 in conference play, good for fifth place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Northern State ranks 10th out of 15 teams at 5-8 in conference play while UMary is last at 1-11 on the season.

The Marauders have lost six consecutive games since they beat Valley City State (N.D.) on Dec. 18 and haven’t won a conference game since they beat Minnesota Crookston 70-65 on Dec. 7. SMSU is 10-5 against UMary under head coach Brad Bigler and is 11-1 against the Marauders in Marshall, with UMary’s last road win coming in 2015.

Most recently, UMary lost to Winona State 68-62 and Minnesota State 87-71 last weekend. Gerald Gittens led the Marauders with 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting and seven rebounds against Winona State. A day later, he scored 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting with six assists against the Mavericks. Gittens has led UMary with 14.6 points per game on the season, good for 20th in the NSIC, on 46% from the field.

Jake Phipps leads a group of four Mustangs in double figures. The senior center’s 15.4 points per game rank him 12th in the NSIC and his 55% shooting from the field puts him behind only Northern State’s Josh Dilling at 56.6% and Bemidji State’s John Sutherland at 59%.

As a team, UMary ranks 14th in the conference in points scored per game at 68.3 and 13th in points allowed at 75.7. In a corresponding trend, their 42% shooting as a team and 47% field goal percentage allowed are both last in the NSIC. Meanwhile, SMSU shoots 47% as a team while holding opponents to 43% shooting, good for fourth and sixth in the NSIC.

The Marauders’ main edge in the game is their rebounding ability. UMary’s plus-2.0 rebounding margin puts them eighth in the NSIC while SMSU’s minus-0.6 mark ranks them 12th. Xavier Lewis leads the Marauders with 6.8 boards per game while Phipps leads SMSU with 6.5.

When the teams met in Bismarck, N.D. last year, UMary walked away with a 62-57 win after closing out the game on an 11-0 run over the final five minutes. Gertautas Urbonavicius led the Marauders with 16 points in the game while Zyon Smith and Treyton Mattern each added another 11. Smith is the only one of those players on this year’s roster. For the Mustangs, Phipps logged 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting with six rebounds while Omot was the only other Mustang in double figures with 10 points.

While the Mustangs couldn’t hang on against UMary last season, they did pull away for a 67-58 win over Northern State. Senior Anthony Costello scored 20 points off the bench in the win while Phipps finished with a 14-point, 13-rebound double-double. Moni Jacksen and Jordan Belka led the Wolves with 19 and 16 points respectively.

Jacksen is tied with his teammate Dilling for third in the NSIC with 20.3 points per game. Dilling is also shooting 48.9% from 3-point range on 94 attempts while Jacksen has shot 113 3-pointers at a 35.4% clip.

Northern State leads the NSIC with 175 3-pointers made while SMSU is 10th with 136. The script flips when taking a look at efficiency, however; SMSU shoots 36.1% as a team from behind the arc, good for third in the conference, while Northern State’s 33.6% mark places them 11th. What is a bit more troubling for the Mustangs against a volume-shooting team, however, is that they’ve allowed their opponents to shoot 36.5% from the perimeter, the second-highest mark in the NSIC. Northern State has held opponents to 34.9%, the fifth-highest rate.

While SMSU is, on paper, at a slight disadvantage on the glass against UMary, they hold the advantage over Northern State. The Wolves have put together an average rebounding margin of minus-2.3, ranking second-to-last in the conference ahead of just Minnesota Crookston at minus-3.5. Still, Jacksen ranks third in the conference with 8.2 rebounds per game while Michael Nhial is also in the top 20 at 6.0.

The Wolves are consistent in their ability to protect the ball, averaging just 9.4 turnovers per game, fourth-fewest in the NSIC. Yet, they don’t take the ball away often either, sitting eighth in the conference at a plus-0.39 margin. SMSU sits one spot behind them at minus-0.17.

Cliff Cofield and Jacob Braten are going to be difference-makers in the turnover battle. Cofield leads the conference with 1.8 steals per game while Braaten is eighth at 1.3. Dunwa Omot also ranks 15th in the conference while no Wolves qualify for the top 25.

In addition to his abilities on the defensive end, Cofield’s 3.9 assists per game put him fifth in the NSIC. Dilling ranks third at 4.1 per game while Jacksen comes in at No. 7 with 3.6 per game.

The Mustangs are slated to tip off against UMary at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and game time against Northern State is scheduled for 7 p.m.

A radio broadcast of the game can be found at 105.1 FM KARL while live video and stats are available online at SMSUmustangs.com