St. Cloud State
Bemidji State University
Men's basketball hosts Bemidji State to open February
2/3/2021 12:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
ST. CLOUD, MINN. - It is hard to believe, but it's February. The groundhog apparently saw his shadow, and St. Cloud, Minnesota is set to endure six more weeks of winter. The St. Cloud State University men's basketball team hopes this is the case, as the Huskies start their push for the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) tournament this weekend with a two-game series against Bemidji State University.
The NSIC announced its official plans for the postseason, and the Sanford Health / NSIC Tournament is, in fact, happening. It will look different than past seasons, though. Unlike past years, all three rounds will take place at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The top four teams in both the North and South Divisions will compete in the eight-team tournament, which will take place Thursday, February 25 through Saturday, February 28.
St. Cloud State can cement itself as one of the top four teams in the NSIC North Division this weekend with two wins over Bemidji State. The Beavers, though, had the upper hand in 2019-20, as they swept the Huskies in two meetings, winning game one 91-82 before taking game two 86-65.
Friday's tip off is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Halenbeck Hall, while Saturday's game is slated to start at 2 p.m. At this time, St. Cloud State is allowing only family members of both the home and visiting teams to attend the games. Attendance will be capped at 150 fans, per Minnesota Department of Health guidelines, and all communications and protocols will be sent from the University to attending family members at least 24 hours prior to competition.
Fans who cannot attend games in person can follow along via live stats, video and two different radio broadcasts. Score updates will also be available on the team's official twitter page (@scsuhuskies_mbb).
Here are the five things to know before this weekend's series:
61 - There were at least 61 reasons (definitely more) sophomore forward Anthony Roberts (Chicago, Ill. / Oak Park) was named the NSIC North Player of the Week on Monday after his outstanding performances against Concordia- St. Paul. In total, the sophomore scored 61 points against the Golden Bears and averaged 30.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.5 blocks while leading the Huskies to their first NSIC road sweep of the 2020-21 season. It comes as no surprise then that Roberts now ranks atop the NSIC in scoring, as his 217 points scored and 21.7 points per game average is the best in the conference through 10 games.
10 - Junior point guard Ryan Bagley (Pocatello, Idaho / Burley) has two different 10 assist games this season, becoming the first St. Cloud State student-athlete to record 10+ assists in multiple games in five plus seasons (according to available records). Bagley most recently accomplished the feat in Sunday's 77-73 win over Concordia-St. Paul and recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists in a loss to Northern State earlier this season.
-13.3 - Let's talk Beaver, shall we? On any given Friday and Saturday (or the occasional Sunday in 2020-21), Bemidji State will score 13.3 points less than its opponents, which is, statistically speaking, not good. The Beavers offense averages just 65.0 points a game this season, and their defense is not much better, as they give up an average of 78.3 points a game.
5 - An opponent who gives up a lot of points is good for St. Cloud State, since the Huskies really like to score in 2020-21. In fact, St. Cloud State has made 30+ field goals in a single game five times this season, and ranks second, fifth and tenth in single-game field goals made in the NSIC. In fact, the Huskies led the conference in single-game field goals made for the majority of the season after making 38 against Upper Iowa the first weekend of 2020-21. Since then, they've been bumped to second on the list courtesy of Augustana.
15.0 / 24.7 - A key player for Bemidji State this season is none other than Derek Thompson, and he very much enjoyed playing St. Cloud State. Throughout his career, the forward has averaged 15.0 points per game against the Huskies, and he's been outstanding in the last three meetings. In the last three games, Thompson has averaged 24.7 points per game against St. Cloud State, making him the Beavers best weapon as they look for wins this weekend.
