Men’s Basketball Starts League Play With Weekend Road Games Against Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State

Friday, December 1

Crookston, MN

8 p.m.

St. Cloud State

University of Minnesota Crookston

Huskies Command Paint in 77-70 Win Over Jamestown

Friday, January 23

St. Cloud State Men’s Basketball Round Out Four-Game Homestand With North Division Opponents

Wednesday, January 21

Huskies Rally From 13-Point Deficit to Down Bulldogs 92-87 in OT Thriller

Saturday, January 17

Winkel Scores 27 as Huskies Stay Unbeaten at Halenbeck Hall

Friday, January 16

Next Event

University of Minnesota Crookston

W, 69-57

Dec 1 (Fri)

8 p.m.

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Full Schedule

Brindley Theisen

/ Men's Basketball

Jace Kitchen

Photo by: Paul Middlestaedt

Men’s Basketball Starts League Play With Weekend Road Games Against Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State

11/30/2017 12:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The St. Cloud State men's basketball team (3-2) opens up Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play with a pair of road games against Minnesota Crookston (3-3, 1-0 NSIC) and Bemidji State (3-3, 0-1 NSIC) this weekend. The program takes on the Golden Eagles at 8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 1, at Lysaker Gymnasium and the Beavers at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2, at the Physical Educational Complex.

Scouting Minnesota Crookston

Minnesota Crookston is off to a 3-3 start this season after beating Bemidji State in the conference opener for both teams on Nov. 25 by an 83-57 score.
The Golden Eagles have already scored more than 100 points in a pair of games plus defeated NSIC league rival Sioux Falls in a non-conference matchup 79-74.
The program has won three of the last four games overall and three straight at home.
Dan Weiss is in his fourth season as head coach of the program and is 21-68 in his head coaching career.
Minnesota Crookston has been led by Harrison Cleary, who is averaging 25.3 points per game.
Cleary is tied for the league lead in scoring.
He is also averaging five rebounds and 4.7 assists per game.
Cleary is also a marksman and is shooting 49.1 percent from the field, 42.3 percent from three-point range and 93.5 percent from the foul line.
Alan Hodge is second on the squad at 18.7 points per game, while shooting 48.2 percent from the field and 44.7 percent from three-point range.
Chase Knickerbocker is also averaging in double figures at 13.3 points per game.
He is shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from three-point range.
Ben Juhl is picking up 9.8 points per game.
Gable Smith leads the team in both rebounds (44) and blocked shots (17) plus is averaging 7.5 points per game.
His 17 blocked shots and average of 2.83 blocks per game led the league.
Minnesota Crookston is averaging 86.6 points per game this season, while shooting 49.6 percent as a team from the floor.
The program is also shooting 40.8 percent from three-point range and are picking up 36.3 rebounds per game.

Scouting Bemidji State

Bemidji State is also 3-3 on the season and have won three of the team's last four games.
The program lost to Minnesota Crookston over the weekend, Nov. 25, by a 83-57 score.
The Beavers are an impressive 3-1 at home this season.
Bemidji State has four players that are averaging in double figures led by Jai'Vionne Green's average of 15.5 points per game.
Green is also shooting 49.3 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from three-point range.
Lucas Wendt sports an average of 13.7 points per game while shooting 59.6 percent from the field.
Sharif Black has averages of 11.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
Black is second on the team with his seven steals.
Logan Bader is getting 11.3 points per game.
Christian Pekarek leads the team with his 32 assists and eight steals.
BSU, as a team, is averaging 78.7 points per game while shooting 48.1 percent from the field, 38 percent from three-point range and 74 percent from the free throw line.
Bemidji State has scored 80 or more points in all three of the team's wins including 115 against Oak Hills Christian College

Prior Meetings

St. Cloud State is 27-3 all-time against Minnesota Crookston in a series that started in 1995-96.
The programs split the two games last season with a 98-78 home win (12/2/16) and a 92-89 road loss (1/7/17) to the Golden Eagles.
Gage Davis had 27 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists against Minnesota Crookston last season in the first game of the series.
Davis led the way in the road game against UMC last season with 28 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
SCSU is 100-41 all-time against Bemidji State since the first game of the series in 1923-24.
The team swept Bemidji State last season by scores of 98-95 at home (12/3/16) and 101-86 on the road (1/6/17).
Davis put up 27 points and 18 rebounds in the home win against BSU last season.
He had a double-double of 28 points, 10 rebounds and five assists against the Beavers in the road contest.

Listen to The Game
Both games will be aired live on Granite City Sports (1390 AM) with J.W. Cox on the call. All SCSU games can also be heard online at www.1390granitecitysports.com

The majority of the SCSU games can also be heard on the SCSU Sports Stream

Listen To/Attend The Above the Rim Basketball Coaches Show
The Above the Rim Basketball Coaches Show with weekly guests head men's basketball coach Matt Reimer and head women's basketball coach Lori Fish is held at 7 p.m. every Monday during the basketball season at the Green Mill in downtown St. Cloud. Fans are invited to come out and listen to the show live at the Green Mill and enjoy some great menu discounts available during the show every Monday. The show is hosted by J.W. Cox and airs on Granite City Sports 1390 AM. The show can be heard online at this link

Live Stats Anyone?

Minnesota Crookston is running live stats on their website for the game on Friday.
Bemidji State is running live stats on their website for the game on Saturday

Watch The Games
Fans around the world can watch the games online through Stretch Internet's SCSU Portal.

Read This Week's Game Notes
A complete collection of interesting game notes, stats, rosters and records is available weekly in SCSU Basketball Notes Package.

Notables

The Huskies snapped a seven-game losing streak to Minnesota State and beat the Mavericks for the first time since the 2011-12 season by a 72-64 margin last week.
Senior Jon Averkamp led the team with his 19 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the field.
He also had five rebounds and three steals.
Junior Sean Smith earned a double-double with 15 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
Junior Brindley Theisen totaled 11 points while playing 38 minutes
Sophomore Trevon Marshall was 5-for-5 from the field in scoring 13 points.
Marshall and Smith tied for the team lead with three assists each.
Junior Jace Kitchen scored four points in four minutes off the bench.
Freshman Tristen Hull recorded four points and four rebounds.
The program trailed at the half to the Mavericks, 32-31, but rallied by tying their season high with 41 second-half points.
The win despite trailing at the break was a first for the program this season.
SCSU is 2-0 this season when scoring 70 or more points and 1-2 when allowing 70 or more points in a contest.
St. Cloud State ranks in the top half of the conference in blocked shots (2.8 – 7th), fewest turnovers (56 – 5th), offensive rebounds per game (11.0 – 4th), scoring defense (66.0 – 3rd), steals per game (6.4 – 8th), total blocks (14 – 8th), turnover margin (4.8 – 4th), turnovers forced per game (16.0 – 2nd), lowest turnovers per game (11.2 – 7th) and win loss percentage (60.0 – 8th).
Averkamp has led the team in scoring in all five games this season and has scored 25 or more points in three of the five contests.
He is fourth in the NSIC in scoring at 21.4 points per game.
Averkamp is also third in the league at 60.3 percent shooting from the field (44-for-73).
He is second in the NSIC in offensive rebounding (3.40) and ninth overall in rebounding (7.6).
Averkamp has added the three-point shot to his game this season and has seven threes in 11 attempts.
His 66.7 percent shooting from three-point range would lead the conference if he had enough attempts.
Averkamp is also fourth in the league in field goals made (44) and 11thh in the conference in total points (107).
Smith leads the conference in rebounds per game (11.2), offensive rebounds per game (4.60) and is second is blocked shots per game (2.20).
He had reached double figures in rebounds in four games this season including double-doubles against Mayville State (11/17) and Minnesota State (11/25).
Smith is also fourth in the NSIC in total blocks (11) and in defensive rebounds per game (6.60) plus fifth in total rebounds (56).
He is also averaging a double-double with 11.6 points per game.
Smith has 78.5 percent of the team's blocked shots this season (11 of 14).
Theisen is second on the team with his average of 14.2 points per game and leads the team with nine made threes.
He has scored in double figures in four of the five games.
Theisen is also fifth in the league in minutes played per game (35:00) and 11thh in three-point attempts (34).
Theisen has 19 rebounds on the season and all have come on the defensive glass.
Junior Adam Heede-Andersen leads the team in assists per game (3.00), total assists (15) and steals (7).
Eight players on the team have played in all five games this season with four (Averkamp, senior Andy Foley, Theisen and Smith) starting all of them.

Up Next

The Huskies return home to host a pair of NSIC rivals next weekend.
The program takes on Sioux Falls on Friday, Dec. 8, at 8 p.m. at Halenbeck Hall.
SCSU then hosts Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday, Dec. 9, at 6 p.m.
The two games next weekend are the first of four straight home games for the program from Dec. 8-19.
The four-game home stretch is the longest for the program since Jan. 22-30, 2016 when the program also had four consecutive home contests.
The program is 1-1 at Halenbeck Hall this season and went 13-4 in home games in 2016-17.
St. Cloud State is 34-15 at Halenbeck Hall since the start of the 2014-15 season.
SCSU is 10-2 all-time against Sioux Falls since the teams first started meeting in 1986-87.
St. Cloud State was able to defeat USF on the road last season by a 90-74 score (12/9/16).
The 90 points scored was one of 11 times last season that the program scored 90 or more points.
Scottie Stone had 28 points against the Cougars.
Gage Davis put up 17 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Jon Averkamp totaled 16 points and eight rebounds.
St. Cloud State is 40-20 all-time against Southwest Minnesota State since the first meeting in 1969-70.
The program fell to the Mustangs by an 84-82 score on the road last season (12/10/16).
Davis had 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Andy Foley totaled 16 points and eight rebounds.
Averkamp recorded 17 points.
Trevon Marshall picked up 10 points and five assists.
Stone had 11 points against SMSU.

Located in Central Minnesota along the oak-crowned west bank of the Mississippi River in the city of St. Cloud, Minn., St. Cloud State University sponsors 19 varsity intercollegiate athletic programs. The Huskies compete at the NCAA Division I level in men's hockey (National Collegiate Hockey Conference) and women's hockey (Western Collegiate Hockey Association), while its NCAA Division II programs hold membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and the University's nordic ski team competes in the Central Collegiate Ski Association.

To learn more about the academic opportunities available at St. Cloud State University, please visit stcloudstate.edu