Minnesota Crookston Looks to Rebound This Weekend With Away Games at SMSU, Sioux Falls


            • The Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team will look to get that elusive first road win in conference play this weekend when they travel to Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls for a weekend series with the Mustangs and Cougars. The Golden Eagles trip to North Dakota is one they would like to forget. In the loss on Friday, Minnesota Crookston turned the ball over 17 times and had just 50 shot attempts. In the loss on Saturday the Golden Eagles scored just 61 points, their second lowest total of the season. The Golden Eagles averaged just 64 PPG on the weekend, down from their 78 PPG on the season. The Golden Eagles will look to rebound this weekend in a huge series in the NSIC.

            • UNCHARACTERISTIC. The Golden Eagles went into last weekend as one of the best teams in the NSIC in terms of not turning the ball over. Before the weekend series with UMary and Minot State, Minnesota Crookston turned the ball over just 11.5 times per game. Before the weekend, the Golden Eagles were top-three in turnover margin in all of the NSIC, forcing just under four more turnovers than the Golden Eagles turned the ball over. Against UMary, the Golden Eagles turned the ball over 17 times, which led to 25 Marauder points. In comparison, the Golden Eagles had just 11 points off of the Marauders nine turnovers. The eight turnover margin is the largest margin this year for the Golden Eagles and it was just the seventh time all season that Minnesota Crookston has lost the turnover battle.

            • HE'S NOT JOSHING AROUND. Senior forward Josh Collins has been playing great basketball as of late for Minnesota Crookston. Collins scored a team high 17 points in the loss to Minot State last Saturday evening. Collins is second on the team in rebounds (4.9 RPG) and is fourth in the team in scoring at 8.5 PPG. When Collins gets the chance to shoot, there is a good chance that the ball is going through the help. Collins is shooting 61.1 pct., from the field this season, which puts him in first place in the NSIC. The transfer from the University of North Dakota has provided a big spark offensively and has been huge on the defensive end as well. Collins will look to provide his team with the same spark this weekend.

            • NICOWOW! Javier Nicolau, the 6-10 junior center from Castellon, Spain has seen his minutes increase in conference play as of late. As his minutes have elevated, so has Nicolau's play. The lanky spaniard had arguably his best game of his career on Friday night in the nine-point loss to UMary. Nicolau scored a season high eight points, including making his first three-point make of the season. Nicolau played 33 minutes over the two games this weekend, including a season-high 22 minutes against Minot State. Nicolau's previous high of minutes was 22 in a win over St. Cloud State on Jan. 4th.

           • LOCAL TALENT. Senior guard Darin Viken is doing a lot of things that might not show up in the stat sheet during a game. Viken, the native of Fosston, Minn., is shooting the three ball at a high rate, (51 pct.) and has provided defense when he is in the game. Viken will look to continue to do the little things for the Golden Eagles this weekend and look to get his team back on the winning track.

          • CLEAR(Y) EYES, FULL HEARTS, CAN'T LOSE. When it is all said and done, Harrison Cleary might go down as one of the best scorers in conference history. With his seventh point last Friday night, Cleary passed former St. Cloud State great Scottie Stone for 8th all-time in conference scoring. Cleary needs just two this weekend to surpass Casey Schilling for seventh all-time. Cleary comes into the weekend sitting at 1,346 points in conference play and 1,842 in his Golden Eagle career. Cleary is much more than a scorer, evident by his 3.3 RPG and his 4 APG, Cleary is a do-it-all player for the Golden Eagles and he will look to be that type of player this weekend.

          • IT'S RAINING THREES. Minnesota Crookston has been the best team in the NSIC this season when it comes to making the three point shot. The Golden Eagles currently sit in first place in three point shooting percentage. Paced by Harrison Cleary, Chase Knickerbocker, Ben Juhl and Darin Viken, who all shoot better than 38 percent, Minnesota Crookston uses the three for a lot of their offense. When the Golden Eagles make 10 or more three point shots, the Golden Eagles are 7-2 this season. Their only losses in those games came at the hands of UMary and Augustana, when they made 11 and 10, respectively. 


          •   LEFTY SUCCESS. It's pretty rare for a team to have one left-handed shooter on their roster. It's very rare for a team to have three left-handed shooters on their roster and make an impact like Ben Juhl, Malcolm Cohen and Chase Johnson have this season for the Golden Eagles. The underclassmen have been huge in the record breaking campaign for the Golden Eagles, including Juhl, who is averaging 10.2 PPG while shooting 49 pct., from the three point line. Cohen has also been huge in his redshirt-junior year for the Maroon and Gold. The native of Detroit, Ill., is averaging 8.4 PPG, including a career high 24 points in a win over MSU Moorhead in December.

Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Dan Weisse
Record at UMC: 41-94 Season at UMC: Fifth Season

Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs
Head Coach: Brad Bigler
Record at SMSU: 172-119 Season at SMSU: Tenth Season

Sioux Falls Cougars
Head Coach: Chris Johnson
Record at USF:190-138 Season at USF: Eleventh Season

Minnesota Crookston at Southwest Minnesota State
Date: Fri., Feb. 1
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/smsu/
Live Stats: https://smsumustangs.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: SMSU leads the all-time series 32-3
Last Meeting: The Mustangs won 82-75 last season in Marshall, Minn., on Jan. 12, 2018. 
Trends: SMSU has won the past 21 games in the series.
Refs: Josh Klem, Jason Nickleby, Lucas Pearson

Minnesota Crookston at Sioux Falls
Date: Sat., Feb. 2
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/siouxfalls/
Live Stats:https://usfcougars.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: Sioux Falls leads the all-time series 6-2
Last Meeting: Sioux Falls won the last meeting in the NSIC first round game last season, 98-68 in Sioux Falls on Feb. 21, 2018.
Trends: Sioux Falls won two out of three meetings last season in the meeting between these two programs
Refs: Tom Mauer, Chad Bjornson, Matthew Roesner

Minnesota Crookston
Projected Starters
Jr. PG 0 Harrison Cleary (6-1 180, Oak Creek, Wis.)  21.7 PPG 3.3 RPG 4.0 APG
R-Fr. SG 14 Brian Sitzmann (5-4 192, Savage, Minn.) 6.9 PPG 2.3 RPG
Sr. SF 25 Chase Knickerbocker (6-7 210, Annandale, Minn.) 12.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG
Sr. PF 30 Josh Collins (6-6 230, Minneapolis, Minn.)  8.5 PPG, 4.9 RPG
R-Sr. C 24 Gable Smith (6-7 225, Lodi, Wis.)  4.7 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 2.2 BPG
Top Bench Players
So. G 2 Ben Juhl (6-1 186, Clive, Iowa) 10.2 PPG 2.1 RPG 1.5 APG
R-Jr. G/F 12 Malcolm Cohen (6-6 210, Detroit, Mich.)  8.4 PPG, 2.8 RPG
Sr. G 13 Darin Viken (6-1 200, Fosston, Minn.)  3.2 PPG, 1.9 RPG
Jr. F/C 44 Javier Nicolau (6-10 220, Castellon, Spain)  2.1 PPG, 2.2 RPG
R-So. F 21 Chase Johnson (6-8 240, La Crosse, Wis.)  4.0 PPG, 4.3 RPG

SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE
Projected Starters
So. F 1 Braeden Hanson (6-7 217, Grand Forks, N.D.) 7.3 PPG 4.2 RPG
So. G 2 Kenny Byers (6-4 187, Olathe, Kan.)  10.5 PPG 4.3 RPG
Sr. G 3 Ryan Bruggeman (6-0 185, Pelican Rapids, Minn.)  24.6 PPG 4.5 RPG 5.7 APG
Sr. G 20 Taylor Schafer (6-3 184, Bismarck, N.D.) 12.4 PPG 2.2 RPG
Sr. F 22 Michael Lee (6-6 225, Dawson, Minn.)   8.9 PPG 4.6 RPG
Top Bench Players
R-Fr. G 5 Grant Kramer (6-7 197, Johnston, Iowa) 2.1 PPG 2.5 RPG
So. G 12 Nick Dufault (5-11 200, Waseca, Minn.)         8.6 PPG
Sr. F 50 Kolin Bartlett (6-6 230, St. Peter, Minn.) 1.5 PPG 1.5 RPG

Sioux FALLS 
Projected Starters
Jr. G 3 Milan Surlic (6-2 175, Nis, Serbia) 8.1 PPG 2.9 RPG
Sr. G 4 Trevon Evans (6-0 175, Wichita, Kan.) 23.0 PPG 4.5 RPG 2.7 APG
R-Fr. G/F 14 Chase Grinde (6-4 200, Spring Grove, Minn.)7.2 PPG 4.7 RPG
Sr. F 23 Drew Guebert (6-9 210, Apple Valley, Minn.) 19.8 PPG 6.2 RPG
R-So. F/C 44 Austin Slater (6-9 220, Andover, Minn.) 2.9 PPG 4.8 RPG
Top Bench Players
R-So. F 5 Teathloach Pal (6-8 200, Fridley, Minn.) 4.2 PPG 5.8 RPG
Sr. G/F 22 Justin Taylor (6-5 215, Chicago, Ill.) 7.1 PPG 5.8 RPG
Sr. G 33 Aaron Rothermund (6-2 200, Papillion, Neb.) 3.7 PPG 3.2 RPG
Fr. G 34 Troy Houghton (6-4 190, Council Bluffs, Iowa) 1.6 PPG 1.2 RPG

SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE MUSTANGS.  The Mustangs are one of the marquee men's basketball programs in all of the NSIC. The Mustangs are coming off a 25-9 season a year ago and a trip to the NSIC title game, where they fell to Northern State and eventually made it to the NCAA tournament, where they fell to MSU Mankato in the second round of the Central region. This year the Mustangs already have as many losses as they did all of last year, at 9. The 11-9 Mustangs have won three out of four, with their only hiccup coming at the hands of Winona State last season. The Mustangs are top five in scoring and three point percentage in the conference.


RYAN IS THE BRUGGEMAN. Senior guard Ryan Bruggeman is having an excellent year in his last year in Marshall. Bruggeman, the native of Pelican Rapids, Minn., is averaging 24.6 PPG this season, while averaging 4.5 RPG and 5.7 APG. Bruggeman is a do-it-all type of player for SMSU and he will look to continue to his dominance this weekend.

DAWSON'S CREEK. SMSU forward Michael Lee has been solid for the Mustangs in his final season. The pride of Dawson, Minn., is averaging 8.9 PPG while shooting 42 percent from beyond the three point line. Lee has scored in double-figures eight times this season, including a season high 25 points in a November win over Fort Hays State.

BYE, BYE, BYE(RS).  Kenny Byers is huge to the Mustangs' success. Byers is averaging 10.5 PPG and 4.3 RPG, while also shooting over 50 pct., from beyond the three point line. Byers scored 20 points in a game against Concordia-St. Paul this season.

INSPIRATION STORY. SMSU head coach Brad Bigler has been through a lot during his lifetime. The longtime Mustang coach lost his five month old son, Drake to a car accident on July 28, 2012 when a drunk driver hit his family. Bigler also lost his mom to a kayak accident 13 months before that tragic July night. Bigler was featured on ESPN's feature show E60, which talked about the tragedy in Bigler's life. 

SIOUX FALLS COUGARS. Sioux Falls comes into this weekend right in the mix in the NSIC South division. Sioux Falls comes into this weekend at 14-6 and 9-5 in the NSIC, which is good for third in the division. The Cougars split last weekend, falling to Winona State and beating Upper Iowa. Sioux Falls is 5-3 at home.

FAMILIAR FOE. The Golden Eagles and the Cougars are familiar foes. These two programs on the rise met three times last season. In the regular season, these two teams split, with both teams winning on their home floor. The Cougars ended Minnesota Crookston's season in the first round of the NSIC tournament last season in Sioux Falls.

EVERYTHING EVANS. Senior guard Trevon Evans is one of the best guards in the conference. The native of Wichita, Kan., is averaging 23.0 PPG and 4.5 RPG for the Cougars. Evans is a 38 pct., shooter from behind the three point line, making 60-155 from downtown. Evans does an outstanding job getting to the free throw line as well. Evans has gotten to the charity stripe 131 times, making 97 of those attempts. Evans averaged 13.3 PPG in three games against the Golden Eagles last season.


ALL IN THE FAMILY. Drew Guebert has some fantastic basketball genes. His dad played basketball at Augustana University, as did his sister who at one-time was the all-time leading scorer at Augustana University. Guebert's twin sister, Macy, will go down as one of the best women's basketball players at South Dakota State when her career is over. On the floor, Guebert is avaraging 19.8 PPG on the season, while grabbing 6.2 RPG. The senior from Apple Valley was named All-NSIC second team a year ago. Guebert scored 33 points in the season opener against Fort Hays State.

WIDE MARGIN. The Cougars have 14 wins on the season and when the Cougars win, they win by a wide margin. The Cougars win by an average of 8.9 points throughout this season. Sioux Falls have seven wins by double figures, including a 33 point victory over Emporia State in November and a 31 point win over Concordia-St. Paul in January.

#5StoryLines
1. Can Minnesota Crookston get a win on the road?

2. Can Minnesota Crookston bounce back after two losses on the road?

3. Will Brian Sitzmann continue to be aggressive offensively?

4. Can Chase Johnson continue to knock down the mid-range jumpshot effectively?

5. Who will step up off the bench for 
Minnesota Crookston?