Men’s Basketball On the Road To Minot State and Mary This Weekend

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The St. Cloud State men's basketball team (8-3, 4-1 NSIC) gets back in action this weekend with a trip to North Dakota. The program takes on Minot State (11-1, 5-1 NSIC) on Saturday, Dec. 30, at 6 p.m. and the University of Mary (2-8, 0-6 NSIC) on Sunday, Dec. 31, at 4 p.m.

Scouting Minot State

Minot State has started the season with 11 wins in the first 12 games after securing a 77-65 victory over the University of Mary on Dec. 19.
The Beavers have won four straight games with their lone loss of the season coming at the hands of a ranked Northern State team on Dec. 1.
The program has been led by Tyler Randolph, who is averaging 22.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.
He is shooting 62.3 percent from the field, 45 percent from three-point range and 85.7 percent from the free throw line.
David Akibo is also averaging in double figures at 11.9 points per game.
Akibo is pulling down 7.3 rebounds per contest.
Luis Maia Ricci leads the team with his 80 assists, his average of 6.7 assists per game and 17 steals.
He is also getting 9.3 points per contest.
Nathaniel Moore totals 10.1 points per game.
Russ Davis picks up 8.5 points per game.
Minot State is averaging 80.6 points per game and is shooting 48.7 percent from the field, 37.9 percent from three-point range and 76.4 percent from the free throw line.
The Beavers are coached by Matt Murken, who is in his sixth season with the program and eighth season as a collegiate head coach.

Scouting University of Mary

The University of Mary have won two of the team's first 10 games on the season after falling to Minot State by a 77-65 score on Dec. 19.
The team plays against Minnesota Duluth on Saturday, Dec. 30, before welcoming SCSU into Bismarck.
The University of Mary enters the weekend on a five-game losing skid.
The program has been led by Keith Hunter, who is averaging 15.0 points per game.
Trevor Zacher sports an average of 11.9 points per game.
Zacher is also shooting 51.3 percent from the field, 43.2 percent from three-point range and 77.8 percent from the free throw line.
He also leads the team with his 12 steals.
Tom Kubank is also averaging in double figures at 10.6 points per game.
Matthew Kreklow leads the team in rebounds with 56 and blocks with 15 plus averages 9.5 points per contest.
Jaylan Wite leads the team with his 36 assists (3.6 per game).
The Marauders are averaging 75.1 points per game, while shooting 45.5 percent from the field, 36.7 percent from three-point range and 69.7 percent from the free throw line.
The team is coached by Joe Kittell, who is in his third season with the program and fifth season as a collegiate head coach.

Prior Meetings

The team is 9-3 all-time against Minot State in a series that started in 1946-47.
The program won both games against the Beavers last season.
The team defeated Minot State, 82-71, at home last December (12/30/16).
Gage Davis had 38 points and 17 rebounds.
Scottie Stone chipped in with 22 points and five rebounds.
The program downed the Beavers, 96-91, on the road in Minot last February (2/11/17).
Davis had 35 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists.
Stone totaled 20 points in the second meeting
Jon Averkamp put up 23 points
The team is 12-9 all-time against the University of Mary since the first meeting in 2006-07 including a pair of games last season.
The team defeated the University of Mary on New Years Eve last season at home by an 88-73 score (12/31/16).
Davis had 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Stone scored 18 points.
Averkamp had eight points and 10 rebounds.
Trevon Marshall had a career-high 19 points.
The program fell to the Marauders by a 99-79 score on the road (2/10/17).
Davis had 36 points and 10 rebounds.
Averkamp scored a career-high 28 points in the loss.

Listen to The Game
The 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 KVSC Sports Stream

Live Stats/ Live Video Anyone?
Minot State is running live stats / live video on their website for the game this Saturday.

The University of Mary is running live stats / live video on their website for the game this Sunday

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

Notables

The Huskies hosted and defeated non-conference opponent Iowa Wesleyan 111-68 on Dec. 19.
Senior Jon Averkamp led the team with his 24 points and 13 rebounds.
It was his second double-double of the season and the third of his career.
Averkamp shot 12-for-13 from the field (92.3 percent) and had 10 offensive rebounds on the evening.
Junior Jace Kitchen scored a career-high 16 points.
Junior Gage Davis totaled 15 points, four rebounds and five assists.
Freshman Drew Lewis reached double figures for the first time in his career with 13 points.
Junior Sean Smith had 12 points, six rebounds, four assists, six blocks and two steals.
His six blocks were the most for the program since James Fort also had six blocks against Concordia-St. Paul during the 2014-15 season (1/3/15).
Junior Adam Heede-Andersen recorded seven assists and two steals.
Junior Ryan Wynn scored the first basket of his career in the victory.
Senior Andy Foley had four rebounds and three steals.
Eleven of the team's 12 players in the game scored at least a field goal.
Ten of the tea's 12 players were able to record at least an assist.
The Huskies shot 55.6 percent from the field (46-for-83), 36.7 percent from three-point range (11-for-30) and 57.1 percent from the free throw line (8-for-14).
The 55.6 percent shooting tied the season-high for the team (Bemidji State – 12/2/17).
The shooting in both games for the program this season is the highest since the team shot 57.4 percent against Upper Iowa last season (1/13/17).
The team also collected 33 assists in the victory, which tied the school record set against Bemidji State during the 1999-00 season (12/29/99)
The 30 plus assists was the third time the program has achieved the mark since 2008 (32 assists – Dakota State – 12/20/08 & 30 assists – Crown College – 12/30/15).
The program held a 53-25 advantage in rebounding in the contest against IW and are 7-0 this season when they win the battle of the boards and 1-3 when they trail in rebounding.
St. Cloud State is 7-0 this season when scoring 69 or more points and 2-3 when allowing 69 or more points.
The game was the fourth for the program this season with 80 or more points and the fourth time in the last five games that the mark had been hit.
The program never trailed in the game for the sixth time this season.
The 111 points scored by the team with the most since putting up 120 against Dakota State in 2008-09 (W, 120-68).
It was the first time the program has scored 100 or more points since getting 101 against Bemidji State last season (1/6/17).
The game marked the seventh time that SCSU has topped 100 points since Coach Reimer took over as head coach prior to the start of the 2014-15 season.
The 43-point win over Iowa Wesleyan was the largest for the program since getting a 57-point victory over Crown College during the 2015-16 season (12/30/15)
St. Cloud State ranks in the top half of the conference in assist-turnover ratio (1.49 – 3rd), assists per game (16.3 – 2nd), blocked shots (4.0 – 2nd), defensive rebounds per game (26.91 – 3rd), fewest turnovers (120 – 6th), field goal percentage defense (43.1 – 4th), offensive rebounds per game (10.82 – 4th), rebounding margin (4.5 – 4th), scoring defense (68.1 – 4th), scoring margin (8.9 – 7th), steals per game (7.3 – 1st), total blocks (44 – 4th), total steals (80 – 3rd), turnover margin (3.6– 2nd), turnovers forced per game (14.55 – 2nd) and win-loss percentage (72.7 -5th)
Averkamp is fifth in the NSIC in scoring at 20.1 points per game.
He is also third in field goal percentage (59.1) shooting (91-154), which is even more impressive since he has taken the ninth-most shots in the league through the first six weeks of the season.
Averkamp leads the conference in offensive rebounding (3.45) and is fourth overall in rebounding (7.6).
He ranks second in the league in three-point percentage (55.0).
Smith leads the conference in rebounds (9.2), is second in blocked shots (2.64) and defensive rebounds per game (6.64) plus is third in offensive rebounds (2.55).
Smith is also third in the league in steals (1.64).
He has reached double figures in rebounds in five games including three double-doubles.
Smith is also averaging in double figures on the season at 12.0 points per game.
His 29 blocks represent 65.9 percent of the team's blocked shots this season (29-of-44).
Junior Brindley Theisen is third on the team with his average of 13.7 points per game.
He has scored in double figures in nine of the 11 games
Theisen is sixth in the league in three-point field goals per game (2.64), fourth in three-point attempts (74) plus sixth in three-point percentage (39.2) and total three-pointers made (29).
Heede-Andersen is sixth in the league in assists per game (4.2), eighth in total assists (46) plus 11th in assists to turnover ratio (2.00).
He is also second on the team in steals (13).
Seven players on the have played in all 11 games this season with four (Averkamp, Foley, Theisen and Smith) starting all of them.

Up Next

The Huskies next return home to Halenbeck Hall to host Bemidji State on Friday, Jan. 5, at 8 p.m. and Minnesota Crookston on Saturday, Jan. 6, at 6 p.m.
The program is 4-2 at Halenbeck Hall this season and went 13-4 last season.
St. Cloud State is 37-16 at home since the start of the 2014-15 season
SCSU is 101-41 all-time against Bemidji State since the first game of the series in 1923-24.
The program ran away from the Beavers earlier this season in winning by a 96-62 margin (12/2/17).
Jon Averkamp and Gage Davis both scored 25 points for SCSU in the victory.
Davis also had nine rebounds.
Brindley Theisen scored 11 points
Drew Lewis had eight points and three rebounds.
The program shot 55.6 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from three-point range in the victory
The Huskies are 28-3 all-time against Minnesota Crookston.
The team defeated the Golden Eagles 69-57 earlier this season (12/1/17).
Theisen led the team with 19 points
Trevon Marshall put up 13 points and three assists.
Smith had 15 points and nine rebounds
Averkamp had nine points and six rebounds
Tristen Hull totaled six points and five rebounds
Andy Foley had five points and seven rebounds