Photo by Samantha Davis: Southwest Minnesota State University senior guard Dunwa Omot goes up for a slam dunk attempt during the first half of a men’s basketball game against Augustana University on Jan. 31 at the R/A Facility in Marshall.

MARSHALL — Since its eight-game win streak from Dec. 21 through Jan. 25, the Southwest Minnesota State University mens basketball team has lost four of its last five games and each of its last three. Despite dropping out of the national rankings and down to second place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, the Mustangs have the opportunity to start righting the ship on Saturday when they host Minnesota Crookston for senior night.

While the last few weeks haven’t gone SMSU’s way, they still hold a solid 18-7 overall record and their 13-6 record in NSIC play leaves them just a half-game back of first-place Concordia-St. Paul. Still, Minot State, Minnesota Duluth, Winona State, Minnesota State and St. Cloud State all sit at 12-6, just a half-game back of the second-place Mustangs.

Below the fray, Minnesota Crookston is 13th in the 15-team NSIC at 4-14 in the conference and 5-19 overall. Like the Mustangs, the Golden Eagles have also dropped three straight games. Crookston has also lost 10 of its last 12 games, including a 70-44 loss to SMSU when the teams met on Jan. 3. 

Mason Lund, Aeron Stevens, Jakob Braaten and Steven Kramer each scored in double figures for the Mustangs in their last win over UMC while Dunwa Omot also finished just shy with 9 points in the team’s balanced effort. For the Eagles, on the other hand, no players scored in double figures and the team as a whole shot 30.5% from the field while SMSU shot 51.9%.

SMSU has consistently had Crookston’s number over the last 21 years. The Mustangs have claimed 25 of the teams’ last 27 matchups dating back to Feb. 2004, including a 23-game win streak broken up by back-to-back Crookston victories in January of 2022 and 2023.

Even with its recent struggles, SMSU has been among the premier defensive units in the NSIC. The Mustangs’ 41.2% opponent field goal percentage is the best in the conference, as is their 66.6 points per game allowed. Crookston, on the other hand, ranks 14th in points per game allowed at 79.5 and 13th in opponent field goal percentage at 46.4%.

Offensively, the Golden Eagles have found some solace in the play of Reid Grant, the 6-foot-3 guard transfer from the University of North Dakota. 

Grant averaged 14.1 points per game in his first season with Crookston last year and has taken things to the next level in his senior campaign. His 16.3 points per game rank sixth in the NSIC and his 52 3-pointers made rank ninth. He shoots 31.5% from beyond the arc and 38.5% from the field. His 4.3 assists per game are also fourth in the conference. 

While SMSU doesn’t have any players who match Reid in terms of volume, the Mustangs’ depth provides them with a variety of players who can go off on any given day. Braaten and Stevens rank 12th and 15th in the NSIC with 14.4 and 14.2 points per game respectively, while Omot and Kramer each average double figures at 11.9 and 10.3 points per game. 

Beyond the volume of depth, the Mustang roster has been efficient. Braaten has been shooting 52/35/80 splits on the season while Stevens has shot 46/38/75 splits. As a team, SMSU’s 47.5% field goal percentage is fourth in the conference, though its 35.6% 3-point clip is middle-of-the-pack in eighth. Still, Crookston ranks 14th in both categories at 42% from the field and 31.6% from 3. 

One of Crookston’s primary strong suits on the defensive end is the rim protection from Jordan Mitchell, who ranks second in the NSIC with 1.5 blocks per game. Mitchell is also 12th in the NSIC in rebounds per game, averaging 6.4, but the Golden Eagles’ minus-4.1 rebounding margin ranks 13th in the conference while SMSU’s plus-0.9 ranks ninth.

With just three games remaining in the regular season, any result could be the difference between earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II tournament or finishing on the outside looking in. SMSU will look to continue to build its resume with its home finale against Crookston on Saturday at 5 p.m. before finishing the season with a road trip to UMary and Northern State on Feb. 21 and 22.

Radio coverage of today’s games can be found on 105.1 FM KARL while live stats and video are available online at SMSU

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