St. Cloud State Men’s Basketball Opens 2023-24 Campaign in Kansas City at Central Region Challenge

Friday, November 10

Kansas City, Mo.

3:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Pittsburg State

St. Cloud State Men’s Basketball Opens 2023-24 Campaign in Kansas City at Central Region Challenge

11/9/2023 11:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

2023 Central Region Challenge Page

Huskies take on Pittsburg State Friday, Henderson State Saturday

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Men's Basketball opens its 2023-24 season at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. this weekend with a pair of games at the Central Region Tipoff Challenge. The Huskies play Pittsburg State on Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. CT and Henderson State on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. CT.

FOLLOW THE HUSKIES
Live stats will be covered by the tournament, and you can click here to follow along during both games. Links to coverage options can be found on the St. Cloud State Men's Basketball schedule page.

SERIES HISTORY
Friday's matchup with Pitt State will be the fifth time the two teams have met. The two teams first met in 1966-67. Following the first matchup, they didn't play each other for nearly 50 years. The teams last met in 2017-18 in Pittsburg, Kansas. St. Cloud State holds a 2-2 all-time record against the Gorillas.

Saturday's tilt with Henderson State will mark the first time that the programs will face off.

SCOUTING PITTSBURG STATE
The Gorillas, led by second-year head coach, Jeff Boschee, are coming off an 8-20 (5-17 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association) season in 2022-23. Boschee took over for Kim Anderson who served as the team's head coach for the previous five seasons. The Gorillas have not won more than 12 games since the 2018-2019 season when they put together a 17-13 (9-10 MIAA) season. Pittsburg States' -7.9 scoring margin was the program's worst margin since its -8.2 margin in the 2016-2017 season. Friday will also serve as PSU's season opener. The Gorillas return three players that started at least 11 games last year including senior guard/forward Deshaun English II who was the leading scorer from last year's squad. English II averaged 14.7 points per game, 9.5 rebounds per game, and 1.7 assists per game for Pitt State and earned honorable mention All-MIAA honors. Like the Huskies, Pittsburg State's team will look different as they brought in eight newcomers (five freshman and three transfers). PSU was selected to finish 11th in the 2023-24 MIAA Preseason Coaches' Poll and the MIAA Preseason Media Poll.

SCOUTING HENDERSON STATE
The Reddies, led by ninth-year head coach, Jimmy Elgas, are coming off an 15-15 (11-11 Great American Conference) season in 2022-23. Elgas has posted a 124-101 record at the helm of Henderson State and was named one of the 15 up and coming coaches in all of NCAA Division II and NAIA basketball in 2020. Henderson State opens its season against Bemidji State on Friday. The Reddies lost most of their production from a year ago and only return their fourth and fifth leading scorers. 6-11 fifth-year forward Tomislav Miholjcic and 6-7 senior guard Zyon Patterson averaged 10.6 and 8.0 points per game respectively last season. Miholjcic was the team leader in rebounds a year ago (6.7 per game) and led the GAC in field goal percentage. Patterson ended last season very strong, scoring at least 15 points in five of the last six games. The Reddies have five newcomers in 2023-24 including three transfers and two freshmen. Henderson State was picked fourth in the GAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

HUSKIES HOOPS PREVIEW
Head coach Quincy Henderson enters his second season at the helm of the SCSU Men's Basketball Program. The Huskies finished Henderson's first season with a 10-18 (7-15 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) record finishing fifth in the North Division and tied for 12th overall. The Huskies were picked to finish 14th in the 2023-24 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Preseason Coaches' Poll and graduate student guard Luke Taylor (Germantown, Wis.) was named the preseason player to watch by the NSIC.

"I am excited about the growth potential of this young group," said Henderson, "We likely have the youngest team in Division 2 this year, and so development will be key. The NSIC is an incredibly competitive league, and our resiliency will be tested. I am optimistic about the future of this group and the direction we are headed."

Taylor returns to SCSU for his graduate year after starting every game last season. He played 24.0 minutes per game while averaging 12.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game shooting 45.2% from the field, 31.3% from three and 77.5% from the charity stripe. He ranked first on the team in field goals made (137), field goals attempted (303), offensive rebounds (32) and total rebounds (130) and second in free throws made (62), free throws attempted (80), total points (357).

"Luke had a tremendous finish to the 2023 season," said Henderson, "His on-court progression has been fun to watch, and his work ethic has been impeccable. He received the Myles Brand award for academic excellence a season ago. He is an exemplary student and citizen. We are fortunate to have him back in his grad year and look forward to his continued contributions to the program."

SCSU returns one graduate student - Taylor, two seniors - Matt Willert (Buffalo, Minn.) and Joe Mutimer (Melbourne, Australia), one junior - Dom Aguilar (Fergus Falls, Minn.) and two sophomores - Andre Renta (Hudson, Wis.) and redshirt sophomore Tony Dahl (Buffalo, Minn.) from last year's team. Mutimer, Taylor and Willert were starters. The Huskies brought in one grad transfer – Craig Steele (Portage, Wis.) and eight freshmen – Jamiir Allen (Milwuakee, Wis.), Nathan Bunkosky (Ponte Verda Beach, Fla.), Nate Dahl (Buffalo, Minn.), Wyatt Hawks (White Bear Lake, Minn.), Lucas Morgan (Sydney, Australia), Izaac Neal (Oak Creek, Wis.), Vance Peiffer (Waukee, Iowa) and Anish Ramlall (Rosemount, Minn.) over the offseason.

St. Cloud State Men's Basketball season tickets for the 2023-24 season are available. Fans can purchase season tickets by visiting scsuickets.com or by calling 1-877-SCSUTIX / 320-308-2137. The season ticket package includes tickets to 16 regular season home games played in Halenbeck Hall. Single game tickets are also available.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Men's Basketball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.