St. Cloud State Men's Basketball Hits the Road to Take on NSU & No. 19 MSU Moorhead

Friday, February 3

Aberdeen, S.D.

5:30 PM

St. Cloud State

Northern State

Photo by: Kaitlyn Zuehl

St. Cloud State Men's Basketball Hits the Road to Take on NSU & No. 19 MSU Moorhead

2/1/2023 2:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes NSIC Network Varsity Network App Live Stats - Northern State Live Stats - MSU Moorhead

Huskies start second half of NSIC North Division matchups

ST. CLOUD, Minn. - The St. Cloud State men's basketball team will hit the road to kick off the second half of NSIC North Division matchups. The Huskies on the road to take on Northern State Feb. 3 and No. 19 MSU Moorhead Feb. 4.

Friday's game will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. at the Wachs Arena in Aberdeen, SD while Saturday's game is set for 3:30 p.m. at the Nemzek Fieldhouse in Moorhead, MN. The NSIC Network will provide the game streams while Steve Linzmeier, the Voice of Huskies Basketball, will provide live audio coverage on the Varsity Network App. Live stats will be available on the home institutions men's basketball schedule page.

A Look Back
Last weekend, the Huskies dropped their weekend matchups with Augustana and Wayne State. Against Augustana, the Huskies took an early 6-4 lead just two minutes into the game until the momentum shifted to Augustana. The Vikings would go up by eight until a layup by Kevin Cook brought it back to just four point, 19-15, lead by Augustana at the 7:35 mark. From there, the Huskies were unable to slow down the Vikings as they went up by 20 to end the half 42-22 in favor of the Vikings. During the second half, the Huskies doubled their first half score putting up 44 points shooting .586 from the field. Despite St. Cloud having better shooting in the second half, it was not enough as they struggled on defense to slow down Augustana. The point deficit became too much for the Huskies to come back from as they fell 90-66 to Augustana.

Against Wayne State, The Huskies opened up the game holding the lead for the first seven minutes until Wayne State took a three-point lead, 15-12, at the 12:53 mark. The Wildcats would hold the lead for the rest of the first period but never reached a double-digit lead. Ryan Bagley hit a three-pointer to bring it back within one at the 9:48 mark. From there St. Cloud would try to take over the lead but just couldn't get ahead and went into the locker down 34-30 at half. The Huskies shot .249 from the field. Back on the court for the second, the Huskies struggled to get any offense going. At the 17:48 mark, Wayne State would break into a double-digit lead going up 44-32 over St. Cloud. From there, the Huskies just couldn't close the gap as WSC would go up by 22 with just over a minute left. St. Cloud would drop 78-61 to Wayne State.

St. Cloud State Huskies
The Huskies sit 7-14 overall and 4-12 in conference play. In the North Division St. Cloud sits seventh and 14th overall in the conference standings. Going into the weekend, the Huskies are looking to snap a five-game losing streak.
Matthew Willert leads the Huskies in scoring averaging 14.3 points per game shooting a .450 and 4.2 rebounds per game. Luke Taylor averages 13.9 points per game and 5.2 rebounds. Ryan Bagley is leading with assists at 102 which places him third in the NSIC averaging 4.9 per game.

Northern State Wolves
Northern State enters the weekend 17-5 overall, 13-3 in conference play. The Wolves sit second in the north division and second overall in conference standings. NSU is on a four-game win streak after sweeping their matchups last weekend against Winona State and Upper Iowa.

Northern State has the second-best scoring offense in the NSIC averaging 80.3 points per game. The Wolves are led by senior guard Sam Masten who averages 17.6 points per game, 6.6 rebounds per game, has 148 assists, 20 steals on the season. Masten ranks fourth in the NSIC for field goal percentage, ninth for rebounds, and tenth for scoring. Additionally, Masten has been named NSIC player of the week four times this season. Earlier this season when Masten faced off against the Huskies, the guard put up a triple double of 14 assists, 13 points, and 11 rebounds. Additionally, sophomore forward Jacksen Moni averages 15.3 points per game while graduate forward Jordan Belka averages 6.5 rebounds per game.

No. 19 MSU Moorhead Dragons
No. 19 MSU Moorhead enters the weekend 18-4 overall, 13-3 in conference play. MSU sits atop of the north division and overall conference standings. Last weekend, the Dragons split their weekend matchups falling to Upper Iowa while taking down Winona State.

MSU Moorhead comes in with the number two scoring defense surrendering 67.6 points to opponents and the number three scoring offense averaging 80.3 points per game in the NSIC. The Dragons are led by sophomore guard Jacob Beeninga who averages 17.9 points per game and 4.4 rebounds and has 33 steals. Junior forward Dane Zimmer leads in rebounding with 8.2 per game while senior guard Gavin Baumgartner has 88 assists. Additionally, Zimmer is fourth in the NSIC for rebounding, Beeninga is fourth for steals and eighth for scoring while Baumgartner is fifth for assists.

Single game tickets for the season are now on sale at scsutickets.com. For all the latest on St. Cloud State men's basketball, stay tuned on scsuhuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.