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Golden Eagle men's basketball will return home this weekend to close out the month of January. Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State will head north to Crookston as two of the top teams in the NSIC South, both lobbying for position in the tournament. Minnesota Crookston will look to play spoiler this weekend against the Cougars and Mustangs. Minnesota Crookston knocked off SMSU last season for the first time since 2004 and will look for their first winning streak in the series this Saturday.

·   DEJA VU? One thing the Golden Eagles have struggled with this season has been the ability to shoot the three-ball. The Golden Eagles have made double-digit three's just one time this season, coincidentally, a win over Presentation College right after Thanksgiving. In last season's win over SMSU, the Golden Eagles buried 11 shots from deep, three more than the Mustangs. Minnesota Crookston will look to carry over that success from 2022 into 2023 at home this weekend.

• BUILDING BLOCK. Blaize Sagna has been every bit fantastic this season for the Golden Eagles. The sophomore from London, England has been a tough matchup for every single opponent the Golden Eagles have played this season. Sagna leads his team in minutes played, points per game and field goals made and is second in total assists with 45. The sophomore's lowest point output this season was seven against Northwest Missouri State and has scored 10 or more points in every game dating back to Nov. 26. Sagna is an outstanding building block for first-year Head Coach Bryan Beamish and the Golden Eagles will look to build around the sophomore in the near future.

·     EFFICIENT NIGHT FOR ZAY. As a team, Minnesota Crookston struggled to generate anything against Wayne State College, but junior Xzavier Jones was one of the bright spots offensively for the maroon and gold. Jones finished with 18 points on 7-14 shooting from the field, just two shy of his career-high for field goals made. Jones also added three assists and three rebounds. Jones has been outstanding all season long and he will look for that same success this weekend against two outstanding defensive teams.

·   PERFECT AT THE STRIPE.  Chandler Meeks has taken some growing pains this season, something that is custom to most freshmen playing in one of the toughest conferences in Division II. However, Meeks has been solid as of late, averaging seven points per game last weekend and he hasn't missed a free throw attempt in three games on eight attempts. Along with Jones and Sagna, Meeks is the part of a bright future for the maroon and gold.

·    MORE MITCHELL. In last Saturday's game against Wayne State College, Jordan Mitchell was really good. The redshirt sophomore from Columbus, Ohio finished with seven points; his most since a career-high eight in the win over Presentation College. Mitchell also pulled down a career-high nine rebounds and played 20 minutes, the most he played in two weeks. Mitchell is an athletic freak who gives the Golden Eagles good minutes. If he can stay healthy, he could be another nice piece for the Golden Eagles down the stretch.

·   SOMEWHAT OF A CHANGE. For the fans that are coming out to Lysaker Gymnasium this weekend for the annual "It's a Slam Dunk, Don't Drive Drunk" games this weekend, be aware that the Golden Eagle men will kick-off the doubleheaders against the Cougars and Mustangs on Friday and Saturday. It was a change that started last weekend and this will be the first time this season that Golden Eagle fans will see it at home.

• NSIC INITIATIVE. As mentioned above, this weekend will be an important initiative for the NSIC and schools in the conference: It's a Slam Dunk, Don't Drive Drunk. This season will be the 11th season that schools have participated in the initiative during the basketball season to honor SMSU Head Coach Brad Bigler's son, Drake, who passed away in a car accident due to drunk driving. The Minnesota Crookston Student Athlete Advisory Committee will be spearheading the initiative this weekend to help stop drunk driving.


Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Bryan Beamish
Record at UMC: 1-19 Season at UMC: Eighth Season (First as Head Coach)


University of Sioux Falls Cougars
Head Coach: Chris Johnson
Record at USF: 239-163 Season at USF: 16th Season


Southwest Minnesota State University Mustangs
Head Coach: Brad Bigler
Record at SMSU: 218-171 Season at SMSU: 14th Season


University of Sioux Falls @ Minnesota Crookston
It's a Slam Dunk, Don't Drive Drunk
Date: Friday, Jan. 27
Time: 5:30 P.M.
Place: Crookston, Minn. / Lysaker Gymnasium
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/goldeneaglesports/
Live Stats: https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: 8-3 in favor of Sioux Falls
Last Meeting: 73-47 in favor of the Cougars last January
Officials: Mark Riggs, Chad Bjornson and Reid Flaagan


Southwest Minnesota State @ Minnesota Crookston
It's a Slam Dunk, Don't Drive Drunk
Date: Sat. Jan. 28
Time: 3:30 P.M.
Place: Crookston, Minn. / Lysaker Gymnasium
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/goldeneaglesports/
Live Stats: https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: 30-2 in favor of SMSU
Last Meeting: 3 point win for the Golden Eagles last season
Officials: Brad Sylliaasen, Mike Gullingsrud and Aaron Lenes


Weekly Snapshot

Minnesota Crookston
Projected Starters
Jr. G 4 Xzavier Jones (6-4, Milwaukee, Wis.) 12.6 PPG, 5.1 RPG
So. G 1 Blaize Sagna (6-3, London, England) 16.2 PPG, 4.5 RPG
Fr. G 5 Chandler Meeks (6-1, Omaha, Neb.) 7.2 PPG, 2.3 RPG
R-Jr. F 2 De'Antray Hughes (6-7 New Orleans, La.) 3.9 PPG, 3.8 RPG
R-So. F 10 Jordan Mitchell (6-8, Columbus, Ohio) 3.0 PPG, 3.8 RPG
Top Bench Players
R-Jr. G/F 11 Matthew Allman (6-6, London, England) 6.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG
So. F 14 Pedro Rossi (6-8, Bahia Blanca, Argentina) 3.2 PPG, 1.9 RPG
Sr. G 20 Rambo Badyal (6-3, Kelowna, British Columbia) 7.1 PPG, 1.5 RPG
Sioux Falls
Projected Starters
Jr. G 2 Jack Thompson (6-2, Eagan, Minn.) 10.0 PPG, 5.3 RPG
R-So. G/F 4 Noah Puetz (6-6, Marshall, Minn.) 8.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG
Fr. G 5 Kenji Scales (6-1, Richfield, Minn.) 5.9 PPG, 1.2 RPG
R-Fr. F 15 Zane Alm (6-10, Mitchell, S.D.) 4.2 PPG, 4.2 RPG
R-Sr. G 23 Matt Cartwright (6-5, Sioux Falls, S.D.) 22.7 PPG, 4.5 RPG
Top Bench Players
R-So. G/F 12 Jake Kettner (6-4, New Ulm, Minn.) 5.5 PPG, 2.3 RPG
R-Sr. F 14 Chase Grinde (6-4, Spring Grove, Minn.) 5.2 PPG, 5.5 RPG
Jr. G 3 Conner Jackson (6-3, Dublin, Calif.) 4.4 PPG, 2.0 RPG
R-So. G 1 Jack Cartwight (6-3, Sioux Falls, S.D.) 3.5 PPG, 1.0 RPG
Southwest Minnesota State
Projected Starters
R-Fr. F 0 Majok Majouk (6-10, Sergeant Bluff, Iowa) 5.5 PPG, 4.9 RPG
R-Fr. G 1 Jakob Braaten (6-0, Byron, Minn.) 6.2 PPG, 5.4 RPG
Jr. G 2 Cliff McCray (6-2, Sioux City, Iowa) 7.9 PPG, 4.1 RPG
So. G 10 Dunwa Omot (6-3, Mankato, Minn.) 16.2 PPG, 2.9 RPG
Jr. C 42 Jake Phipps (6-9, Anoka, Minn.) 11.9 PPG, 7.2 RPG
Top Bench Players
Sr. F 20 Anthony Costello (6-7, Waukee, Iowa) 11.1 PPG, 3.2 RPG
Fr. G 13 Mason Lund (6-7, Rice, Minn.) 7.7 PPG, 3.7 RPG
So. G 11 Sam Schwartz (6-4, White Bear Lake, Minn.) 2.8 PPG, 1.4 RPG
So. F 15 Noah Chamberlain (6-7, West St. Paul, Minn.) 2.0 PPG, 3.8 RPG


KNOW THE OPPONENTS

Sioux Falls. Sioux Falls has somewhat exceeded expectations this season through 20 games. The Cougars, led by 15th-year head coach Chris Johnson, were tabbed to finish ninth overall in the NSIC and sixth in the NSIC South. So far, the Cougars are 14-6 overall, 9-5 in the conference and in a four-way tie for first place in the NSIC South. Sioux Falls might have the best player in the conference, Matt Cartwright, who transferred in from cross-town rival Augustana.

DON'T FORGET THE CART. Matt Cartwright is an absolute phenomenal player. The graduate student from Sioux Falls, is representing his hometown squad in a huge way. Cartwright is averaging 22.7 points per game, which leads the NSIC and 4.5 rebounds per game. The senior has 10 games with 20 or more points, three with more than 30 and one with more than 40 points this season. That's well over half of his team's games that he has scored 20 or more. Just two weekends ago, he put up a statline for the ages: 45 points in 44 minutes played on 15-37 shooting from the field and 9-23 from deep in an overtime loss to MSU Moorhead. Can the Golden Eagles stop him this weekend? Maybe not, but then again, not a lot of teams have this season.

FOLLOW THE LEADER. When you have a scorer like Cartwright, you need some consistent players around him for your team to be successful. Turns out, they have just that in junior Jack Thompson. The fourth-year junior from Eagan, Minn., is second behind Cartwright in scoring at 10 points per game, but he's been held under double-figures in four straight games. In early 2020, Thompson had a breakout game against Minnesota Crookston, finishing with 23 points on 10-16 from the field, which at the time were all career-high.

WIN BEHIND THE LINE.  One thing that makes USF so good is their ability to outscore the opponents from behind the arc. As a team, Sioux Falls shoots about 37 percent from deep, compared to just 31 percent for their opponents and they make three more shots from deep than their opponents. USF is third in the conference in 3-point field goals made and sixth in overall team percentage from beyond the arc. That will be something to watch for this Friday night in Crookston.

Southwest Minnesota State. SMSU is another team coming into Crookston that has been playing really well. The Mustangs have won three in a row, with wins over Northern State, St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth and lost by two to MSU Moorhead two Fridays ago. Another home weekend, another really good team in store for the Golden Eagles.

DUNWA IS DYNAMITE. Dunwa Omot has had a breakout sophomore year for SMSU and head coach Brad Bigler. The sophomore from Mankato is averaging 16.2 points per game, which leads his team and scored a career-high 27 points against St. Cloud State last Friday night. That career night lasted all of 24 hours, as Omot finished with 28 points against Minnesota Duluth the next night. That two game performance earned him his first ever NSIC South Player of the Week honor.

FITS FROM PHIPPS. Junior Jake Phipps has been a Mustang for a long time. The native of Anoka, Minn., stepped foot on campus in 2018, redshirting that season and he has improved every step of the way throughout his career. This season, Phipps is second on the Mustangs in scoring and first in rebounding with 7.9 rebounds per game. A season ago, Phipps collected a double-double against the Golden Eagles, one of three for him last season.

CLIMB THE CLIFF FOR ASSISTS.  To go along with one of the best scorers in the NSIC in Omot, the Mustangs have one of the best do-it-all point guards in the conference in junior Cliff McCray. The Sioux City, Iowa native has started in all 19 games this season and is averaging just under eight points per game on the season, but is top-10 in assists per game and has a total of 63 on the season. McCray can also rebound it, collecting 4.1 rebounds per game, as well.