Men’s basketball to face UMC, BSU in NSIC action

ST. CLOUD, MINN. - The St. Cloud State University men's basketball team has put together a jammed packed schedule to open the 2021-22 season. After a weekend road trip to Michigan, the Huskies return to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play this week, as they are set to face Minnesota-Crookston and Bemidji State this upcoming weekend.

St. Cloud State will face the Golden Eagles in Crookston, Minnesota at 5:30 p.m. CT Thursday, December 2 before returning to Halenbeck Hall to face Bemidji State at 2:00 p.m .CT on Saturday, December 4. It marks the first of five consecutive weeks the men's basketball team will play before the women, a change from past NSIC seasons. It's also the first split weekend in NSIC play; as St. Cloud State would normally face Minnesota-Crookston and Bemidji State back-to-back nights in the same location.

Live stats and video will be available for fans who cannot watch either game in person, and the games will also be live streamed on the Varsity App. Score updates will be made to the team's Twitter page (@SCSUHUSKIES_MBB) when possible.

Here are the five things to know before this weekend's NSIC games:

2-2 - The Huskies split their series with the Beavers and Golden Eagles in 2020-21, dropping two games to Bemidji State in early February before rallying for two wins at Minnesota-Crookston. Anthony Roberts (Chicago, Ill. / Oak Park) scored in double-digits in all four games, while Caleb Donaldson (Bloomington, Ill. / Bloomington) was a double-digit scorer in three of the four games.

.525 - St. Cloud State shot over 50% for just the third time this season in its 89-73 win over Northern MIchigan last Saturday, closing the game with a .525 shooting percentage from the floor and a .444 mark from three-point range. So far this season, the Huskies are 2-1 when shooting over. 500 from the floor in a single game and are 2-0 when going .400+ from three-point range.

4 - Four different student-athletes have led St. Cloud State in single-game scoring this season. In addition to Roberts, who was the leading scorer against Ouachita Baptist, Clarke and Northern Michigan, Donaldson, Ryan Bagley (Pocatello, Idaho / Burley) and Matthew Willert (Buffalo, Minn. / Buffalo) have all led the Huskies in scoring at least once this season. Donaldson led the Huskies in scoring against Michigan Tech and Minnesota State, while Willert and Bagley were the top scorers against Harding and Minnesota-Duluth, respectively.

.241 - St. Cloud State is currently 0-1 in NSIC play after opening the season last week against the Bulldogs. The Huskies shot .460 from the field in the Tuesday nightcap against Minnesota-Duluth but were just 7-29 from three-point range. In fact, Bagley was the lone St. Cloud State student-athlete to shoot over .500 from beyond the arc against the Bulldogs, as he led the team with 20 points in the 86-69 loss.

187 - The Huskies have a rich and storied history against both Bemidji State and Minnesota-Crookston, playing a combined 187 games against the teams since the 1923-24 season. In 149 games, St. Cloud State is 104-45 all-time against the Beavers, though the Huskies have dropped four straight games to their North Division foes. On the flip side, St. Cloud State is riding a five-game win streak against the Golden Eagles and are 34-4 all-time against Minnesota-Crookston.