Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State University guard Mekhi Shaw (2) shoots a floater next to a UMary defender during a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference mens basketball team on Jan. 17 in Marshall. SMSU goes on the road to take on St. Cloud State and Minnesota State this weekend.

MARSHALL — The Southwest Minnesota State University mens basketball team’s winning streak came to an end last weekend with back-to-back Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference losses to Jamestown and Northern State. The Mustangs will look to bounce back this weekend when they go on another road trip to take on first-place St. Cloud State on Thursday and sixth-place Minnesota State.

Last time out

Heading into last weekend, the Mustangs had won six consecutive games and 12 of their last 13. A clutch 3 at the buzzer allowed the Mustangs to force overtime against Jamestown, where they ultimately fell 74-71, and Northern State charged past SMSU in the second half on Saturday to down the Mustangs 70-63.

Aeron Stevens and Landon Pokorski led the Mustangs against the Jimmies with 23 and 20 points, respectively, and Stevens’ 15 points against Northern State trailed only Jakob Braaten’s 16.

Braaten makes Hudgins watch list

Braaten was one of 25 players named to the Trevor Hudgins Award Watch List on Sunday. The award, established in the 2023-24 season, recognizes career accomplishments for the top senior among small colleges.

Braaten ranks fifth in SMSU history with 33 assists and has scored 1,068 points at the time of print. He was also named to the Bevo Francis Top 100 Watch List, which recognizes the best season by a small college player.

Slip in the standings

The Mustangs entered last weekend tied with St. Cloud State for first place in the NSIC. The Huskies took advantage of the Mustangs’ pair of losses to build some breathing room at the top of the NSIC, now leading the conference at 14-2 (17-5 overall).

SMSU remains tied with Augustana for second in the conference at 12-4 (both 14-7 overall), but a win over St. Cloud this weekend would cut the gap to a single game with four more regular season games remaining after this weekend.

Minnesota State, meanwhile, has continued to rise up the standings after winning eight straight games. The streak is the second-longest active win streak in the conference behind St. Cloud State’s 10 consecutive wins.

The recent surge has the Mavericks tied with Sioux Falls and Jamestown for sixth place in the NSIC at 9-7. The Mavericks are 15-9 overall on the season

‘Stangs shining lately

St. Cloud State leads its all-time series against SMSU with a record of 42-29 against the Mustangs, but SMSU has been the hot team as of late.

The Mustangs have won seven consecutive games against the Huskies, their last loss coming in 2019, and five of those wins have come by double digits. Most recently, SMSU defeated St. Cloud State 64-54 in Marshall behind 16 points from Braaten and another 14 each from Stevens and Shaw. Mason Lund also grabbed 10 rebounds in the win.

Minnesota State also has the all-time edge over SMSU, 51-25, but SMSU has won three straight games against the Mavericks and seven of the last 10. Each of SMSU’s last three wins over the Mavericks has come by 9 or more points, including a 78-66 win in December behind Micah Schlaak’s 16 points, six steals, three blocks and five rebounds. Shaw also scored a game-high 23 points on 10 of 14 shooting with three 3s.

Taking down the tempo

Both SMSU and St. Cloud are teams that like to slow down the game and lock in defensively. The two are tied for first in the NSIC with 66.9 points per game allowed, with Minnesota State right behind them in third at 72.6. The Huskies and Mustangs also lead the NSIC in opponent field goal percentage, with St. Cloud limiting its opponents to 40% shooting and SMSU coming in second at 42.5%.

The Mustangs have some long-range snipers on their roster this season, including Micah Schlaak who leads the conference with a 46% 3-point clip. Still, the Huskies’ perimeter defense presents significant challenges as they’ve held their opponents to 28.2% shooting from long range.

Top-tier scorers

While St. Cloud State isn’t among the league’s highest scoring teams, it isn’t without some high-octane offensive talents. Luke Winkel sits fourth in the NSIC with an average of 19.9 points per game.

The Huskies rely heavily on Winkel’s offensive production, but SMSU takes a more decentralized approach with one of several players having the ability to lead the team in scoring on any given night. Braaten has been SMSU’s primary scorer with an average of 14.4 points per game, but Stevens, Schlaak and Shaw each also average double figures with Lund just outside at 9.9 points per game.

The ability to get everyone involved has given SMSU top-tier efficiency, ranking third in the NSIC in field goal percentage at 48% and first in 3-point percentage at 41%. St. Cloud State ranks 14th out of 16 teams in field goal percentage at 42% and last in 3-point percentage at 28.5%, while Minnesota State ranks 11th at 45% and ninth at 33%.

The Mavericks’ offense has primarily run through Arhman Lewis this year. One of the conference’s premier facilitators, Lewis is second in the NSIC in assists per game at 5.3, as well as assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.0. Braaten ranks fourth in assists at 4.7 and sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.8.

Battle on the boards

What St. Cloud State lacks in efficiency, it makes up for on the glass. The Huskies’ average rebounding margin of plus-7.2 leads the NSIC, and their 13.5 offensive rebounds per game trail only Sioux Falls’ 14.

The aggressive effort on the boards is spearheaded by Wyatt Hawks’ league-best 8.5 rebounds per game, while Nate Dahl also slots in at eighth in the conference with 6.7. Hawks’ aggression down low also translates to the defensive end, where his 2.1 blocks per game rank second in the conference, one spot ahead of Schlaak’s 1.4.

Minnesota State also has a strong rebounding presence, ranking third in margin at plus-2.3 while SMSU ranks 11th at minus-0.1. Malcolm Jones also ranks third in the conference with 7.9 rebounds per game for the Mavericks.

Where to watch

A radio broadcast of this weekend’s games can be found on 105.1 FM KARL while live stats and video are available online at SMSUmustangs.com. Thursday’s game against St. Cloud in Halenbeck Hall is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. while Saturday’s at the Taylor Center in Mankato is slated for 3 p.m.