Photo by Jake McNeill Southwest Minnesota State guard Dunwa Omot shoots a 3-pointer during the overtime period of a mens basketball game against Minnesota State Moorhead at the R/A Facility in Marshall on Saturday night. The Dragons defeated the Mustangs to knock SMSU out of contention for a first-round bye in the NSIC tournament. The fifth-seeded Mustangs will host No. 12 St. Cloud State to start their tournament run tonight.

After a loss to Minnesota State Moorhead left the Southwest Minnesota State mens basketball team one spot shy of a bye in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, the Mustangs are looking to bounce back when they host St. Cloud State in the first round of the tournament tonight.

Prior to fouling out in Saturday’s 79-77 overtime loss to the Dragons, Jake Phipps was on fire for the Mustangs. The senior big man had 25 points on 10 of 13 shooting from the field and 2 of 3 shooting from 3-point range. On the opposite end of the experience spectrum, true freshman Aeron Stevens added another 22 points and tied Phipps with seven rebounds. Despite the frontcourt duo’s excellent outings, some clutch plays down the stretch from Moorhead’s JaMir Price and Ja’Kair Sanchez left the Mustangs with their third overtime loss to the Dragons in their last three head-to-head matchups.

Saturday’s performance wasn’t an outlier. Phipps has shown a phenomenal eye for shot selection all season long, shooting a 61.2% effective field goal percentage.

While a win on Saturday would have all but cemented SMSU’s place in the NCAA tournament, the Mustangs now have some work to do to build their resume. It’ll start with tonight’s game against St. Cloud State.

The Mustangs finished the regular season with a 17-11 overall record and a 14-8 conference record, making them the highest seed that has to play the first round of the tournament. While the extra game isn’t ideal, they do earn the privilege of home-court advantage and get an extra game to stay in rhythm ahead of the quarterfinals in Sioux Falls.

St. Cloud State, meanwhile, enters the tournament as the No. 12 seed with a 12-16 overall record and an 8-14 conference record. The Mustangs sprinted through the finish line at the end of the regular season, having won four straight prior to the loss to MSUM, while St. Cloud has stumbled with losses in three of its last four games.

Among those losses was a head-to-head loss to SMSU. The Mustangs defeated St. Cloud State 65-52 in Halenbeck Hall to complete the season sweep. Cliff Cofield led the team in the win with 14 points and seven rebounds while Mason Lund and Jake Phipps each added in another 12 points. Matt Willert was the Huskies’ only scorer in double figures with 16 points.

The Mustangs also defeated St. Cloud in Marshall by a final score of 86-75 earlier in the season behind 24 points from Phipps, 20 from Dunwa Omot and another 17 from Stevens. Cofield also had 15 points and five assists in the win.

The injury status of Cofield remains one of the big question marks ahead of tonight’s tip-off. Cofield averaged double figures as a true freshman and has only developed as a scorer and a passer since then. He’s led SMSU in assists in each of the last three seasons and leads the NSIC in steals per game this year. Yet, he suffered a lower-body injury in practice on Thursday, forcing him to miss this past weekend’s games. The Mustangs showed an ability to overcome the adversity, taking down then-No. 24 Minot State (N.D.) and nearly defeating No. 9 Minnesota State Moorhead without their primary facilitator. Still, whether or not he can play tonight — and to what extent he can play up to his capabilities — could prove to be a major factor in both this game and the rest of the postseason.

If Cofield is unable to play or isn’t at 100%, St. Cloud State’s ability to force turnovers could become a factor in the outcome of the game. Cofield ranks ninth in the NSIC with a 1.8 assist-to-turnover ratio. St. Cloud State, meanwhile, ranks fifth in the conference as a team by forcing 11.2 opponent turnovers per game. While they’ve been effective at poking the ball loose, they’ve also coughed it up their fair share as well, with their plus-0.32 turnover margin putting them seventh in the NSIC, one spot ahead of SMSU’s plus-0.14 mark.

Still, SMSU’s defense gives them a stark advantage over the Huskies, regardless of other circumstances. The Mustangs have held their opponents to a league-best 40.6% field goal percentage. St. Cloud, on the other hand, has shot 42.3% from the field. Only UMary’s 41% mark is worse in the NSIC. The Huskies still play uptempo enough that they average more points per game than the Mustangs (73.6 vs. 73.3), but it will be an uphill battle if they can’t control the tempo.

Win or lose, SMSU’s .623 strength of schedule ranks second-hardest in Division II, giving them a high likelihood of making the tournament no matter what at this point. Still, a loss to a No. 12 seed would hurt their resume. If they are able to pick up their fifth consecutive win against St. Cloud, SMSU will move on to play No. 4 Minot State in the NSIC quarterfinals at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. on Sunday at 11 a.m.

The Mustangs’ game tonight against the Huskies will tip off at 5:30 p.m. A radio broadcast is available on 105.1 FM KARL while live stats and video broadcasts of the game can be found online at SMSUmustangs.com.