Minnesota Crookston Men's Basketball Closes Season on the Road at No. 2/4 Minnesota State and Winona State


#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle men's basketball will lace up the shoes one final time this weekend on the road at the Taylor Center to take on top-five Minnesota State and then will close out the regular season in Winona looking to sweep the Winona State Warriors. The last four games have seen the Golden Eagles play a solid 20 minutes of a game, but have been unable to put a full 40 together. They will look to reverse that trend this weekend against two perennial powers in the Northern Sun.

·   IMPACTS ON AND OFF THE FLOOR. This weekend will be the last time that a trio of seniors will wear the maroon and gold. Blaize Sagna, De'Antray Hughes and Xzavier Jones were all celebrated last weekend on senior weekend. The trio was a part of second year head coach Bryan Beamish's first recruiting class in the summer of 2022 and have been able to impact the program in more ways than just on the floor. The Golden Eagles will hope that they can send their seniors out on a high note this weekend on the road.

• FULL 40. This past weekend, Minnesota Crookston played a really, really good first half in the losses to Augustana and Wayne State. On Friday night against the Vikings, it was a deadlock at 45 and then on Saturday the Golden Eagles had a two point lead heading into the break. After the first 20 however, it was a different story, as the maroon and gold was outscored by more than 15 points in both of those games in the second half. The Golden Eagles are right there and they will look to put together all 40 minutes this weekend as they wrap-up the 2023-24 season on the road.

·  ON THE DENG RECORD BOOKS. Using his elite length and athleticism, Aguek Deng has helped the Golden Eagles improve on the defensive side of the ball and those numbers are proving that. Deng heads into the weekend with 197 rebounds on the season, just 12 shy of surpassing Justin Henry for the single season rebounding record of 208, set back in 2004-2005. Deng has already broken the defensive rebounding record with 154 on the season and is top-five in rebounds per game in a season with 7.6 rebounds per game on the year. Deng has been outstanding all year long and will soon have his name etched in the record books for his great season defensively.

·   GRANT IS GOLD.  Speaking of record books and single season records, Reid Grant will be a part of them after his outstanding first season as a Golden Eagle. One record Grant will be in the top-three in is minutes per game. Grant is on pace to play 37.2 minutes per game on the season, which would lead the NSIC and it would be second in a season in Golden Eagle history, right behind Harrison Cleary. Grant has played in 30 minutes or less in just one game this season and it came in a game in which Grant fouled out, which he has also done just once this season. Grant has played big minutes and has been a valuable player in those minutes as well.

·   SECOND HALF MAGIC. The last time the Golden Eagles and Warriors met, it was a dominant second half that led to the win for the Golden Eagles. Minnesota Crookston was tied with Winona State at 30, but then outscored the Warriors by eight and scored 47 points in the half, their most in a half this season. The Golden Eagles made play after play down the stretch in the last meeting and they will look to do the same this weekend looking for the season sweep of Winona State.

·   LEAD THE WAY, ONE. Speaking of the last time these two teams met, it was the Blaize Sagna show for the Golden Eagles. The London native finished with 36 points, tying a career-high. Sagna has gone over the 30 point mark seven times this season and Sagna was also efficient in that game, going 11-17 from the field. Sagna heads into this weekend 66 points shy of becoming the fourth Golden Eagle to join the exclusive club, which includes: Harrison Cleary, Joe Hasz and Akeem Cubie. Sagna will hope for a big weekend this weekend in two tough places to play.

• WEAPON OFF THE BENCH. Peter Fuchs, Jr., has been really good and important for the Golden Eagles this season. Fuchs, Jr., has played in 20 games on the season, all but four have been as the sixth man for the Golden Eagles. In his last seven games, the Wausua, Wis., native is averaging nine points per game and was outstanding off the bench last Saturday against Wayne State College, scoring a career-high 16 points in 27 minutes played. The redshirt freshman has grown with every game played and should play a big part in future seasons for the Golden Eagles.


Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Bryan Beamish
Record at UMC: 8-44 Season at UMC: Eighth Season (Second as Head Coach)


Minnesota State Mavericks
Head Coach: Matt Margenthaler
Record at MSU: 467-209  Season at MSU: 23rd Season


Winona State Warriors
Head Coach: Todd Eisner
Record at WSU: 124-97  Season at WSU: 9th Season


Minnesota Crookston @ Minnesota State
Date: Friday, Feb. 23
Time: 7:30 P.M.
Place: Mankato, Minn. / Taylor Center
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/
Live Stats: https://msumavericks.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: MSU leads 20-1
Last Meeting: 101-64 win for the Mavericks in Crookston
Officials: Christopher Koopman, Travis Garnder and Phil Ayeni


Minnesota Crookston @ Winona State
Date: Saturday, Feb. 24
Time: 5:30 P.M.
Place: Winona, Minn. / McCown Gymnasium
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/winonastatewarriors/
Live Stats: https://winonastatewarriors.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: WSU leads all-time series 33-5
Last Meeting: 77-69 win for the Golden Eagles in Crookston in mid January
Officials: Nate Meissner, Joshua Schoaf and Cole Fasching


Weekly Snapshot

Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles (6-20)
Projected Starters
Jr. G 3 Reid Grant (6-3, Johnston, Iowa) 14.2 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 3.5 APG
Jr. G 1 Blaize Sagna (6-3, London, England) 21.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG
R-Jr. F 13 Aguek Deng (6-9, Des Moines, Iowa) 6.1 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 2.0 BPG
Jr. F 33 Ben Hoverson (6-6, Grand Forks, N.D.) 5.8 PPG, 1.9 RPG
R-Jr. F 10 Jordan Mitchell (6-8, Columbus, Ohio) 5.2 PPG, 6.0 RPG
Top Bench Players
R-Sr. F 2 De'Antray Hughes (6-7 New Orleans, La.) 4.8 PPG, 5.2 RPG
R-Fr. G 12 Peter Fuchs, Jr. (6-4, Wausau, Wis.) 7.0 PPG, 1.9 RPG
Fr. G 11 Myles Adams (6-6, Rosemount, Minn.) 1.9 PPG, 1.0 RPG
Fr. G 24 Mario Adams (6-6, Rosemount, Minn.) 2.6 PPG, 1.6 RPG
No. 2/4 Minnesota State Mavericks (24-2)
Projected Starters
Jr. G 1 Kyreese Willingham (6-5, Waseca, Minn.) 14.2 PPG, 5.0 RPG
Sr. G 2 Malik Willingham (6-3, Waseca, Minn.) 18.7 PPG, 3.2 RPG
Gr. F 4 Dylan Peeters (6-8, Eldridge, Iowa) 10.7 PPG, 6.9 RPG
Gr. G 12 Elijah Hazekamp (6-5, Sioux City, Iowa) 10.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG
Jr. G 23 Justin Eagins (6-3, Downers Grove, Ill.) 12.3 PPG, 3.3 RPG
Top Bench Players
Jr. G 5 Harrison Braudis (6-2, Overland Park, Kan.) 6.2 PPG, 2.0 RPG
So. F 14 Malcolm Jones (6-8, Prior Lake, Minn.) 5.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG
Jr. F 21 Brady Williams (6-7, Eyota, Minn.) 6.6 PPG, 4.2 RPG
Winona State Warriors (17-9)
Projected Starters
Jr. G 2 Connor Dillon (6-2, Peoria, Ill.) 21.5 PPG, 4.0 RPG
Jr. G 3 Declan Dillon (6-1, Peoria, Ill.) 6.7 PPG, 5.2 RPG
So. G 5 Devon Fielding (6-2, La Crosse, Wis.) 5.7 PPG, 2.2 RPG
Sr. F 13 Carson Arenz (6-5, Onalaska, Wis.) 4.2 PPG, 4.1 RPG
Jr. F 30 Connor Drew (6-7, Huxley, Iowa) 10.8 PPG, 4.5 RPG
Top Bench Players
Jr. G 0 Olumide Adelodun (6-5, Calgary, Alberta) 11.5 PPG, 6.4 RPG
Sr. G 22 Jordan Wilkins (6-1, West Chicago, Ill.) 2.8 PPG, .8 RPG
Gr. C 25 Brock Voigt (6-6, Sun Prairie, Wis.) 10.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG


KNOW THE OPPONENTS

Minnesota State. The Mavericks are having one of the best years in program history and the talent that they have offensively was evident in mid-January when the Mavericks put up over 100 against the Golden Eagles in a win. Minnesota State is 24-2 on the year with their only blemishes coming on the road at Minot State and Minnesota Duluth. They are undefeated at the Taylor Center this season.

MORE TO PLAY FOR. The Mavericks still have a ton to play for this season. Minnesota State is currently in first place in the NSIC with an 18-2 record, but they have programs like Minnesota Duluth and MSU Moorhead in the rearview mirror. The Mavericks could win the regular season title with a pair of wins this weekend. Additionally, the Mavericks are fighting to host the NCAA Central Region Tournament, as they are first in the region. As is evident in their record at home, the Mavs would love to have three games at home when the calendar flips to March.

DANGEROUS OFFENSE. An indication of the outstanding offense the Mavericks have is that all five of their starters average double-figures on the season, led by the Willingham brothers, Kyreese and Malik. The Mavericks average over 87 points per game, which is 14th in the nation and they are top-10 in turnovers per game. MSU has the fourth best scoring margin in the nation, beating teams by an average of 15.5 points per game. The Mavericks are going to be a tough out for any team come the postseason.

EAGER TO SCORE. Wayne State College transfer Justin Eagins has been a great addition to the Mavericks this season. Eagins is third on MSU in scoring at 12.7 points per game and has been held scoreless just once this year against Bethany Lutheran. Eagins has 59 makes from deep on the season, which is second on his team. The last time these two teams met, the Golden Eagles did a great job on Eagins, as the junior from Illinois finished with just seven points on 3-5 shooting from the field.

Winona State. This weekend, the Warriors will look to avenge their earlier season loss to the Golden Eagles. Winona State is currently in sixth place in the Northern Sun with a 12-8 record. The Warriors have won seven of their last eight games with their only hiccup coming on the road at Southwest Minnesota State.

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS. When you look at the box score from the last time the Golden Eagles and Warriors met, it looked on paper to be a good game, which is exactly what it was. The Golden Eagles won by eight and got stops down the stretch. The Warriors did a ton of good things in that game, out rebounding the Golden Eagles and having four scorers in double-figures. If the Warriors can close out down the stretch, they have to like their chances on Saturday.

TWO ELITE SCORERS. Saturday's game will feature two outstanding scorers, as both Connor Dillon of the Warriors and Blaize Sagna of Minnesota Crookston are in the top-five in the NSIC in scoring, each averaging over 21 points per game. The last time these two teams met, Sagna won the battle of the elite scorers, finishing with 36 compared to 16 for Dillon. What does this Saturday have in store?

DESIGNATED FOR DECLAN. Another pair of brothers the Golden Eagles will see this weekend is Connor and Declan Dillon. As noted above, Connor is elite at putting the ball in the bucket, while Declan is an elite facilitator. The junior from Peoria, Ill., is sixth in the NSIC with 3.7 assists per game and has 23 assists to just six turnovers in his last four games. The last time these two teams met, Dillon finished with four points, five assists and four rebounds.