What Lies Ahead: The Minnesota State men's basketball teams hosts the 20th annual Pepsi Tip-Off this weekend. The two-day, four-team field includes Maryville, Nebraska-Kearney and fellow Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference member, Minnesota Duluth. The Maverick men play Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.
What's in a Win: A win Friday would mark the 1,128th win in program history...It would mark the first-ever win between Minnesota State and Maryville...It would improve MSU's record to 37-2 in the Pepsi Tip-Off...It would also mark MSU's 15th straight win in the event...A win would be the 116th by the Mavericks in the Taylor Center and their fourth consecutive home victory.
Maryville Minute: Maryville is located in St. Louis, Mo., and is currently reclassifying from NCAA Division III to NCAA Division II. The Saints are members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference and own a 0-1 record this season as they fell to Harris Stowe, 86-71, Tuesday night. Senior guard Eric Gruenewald led the team with 24 points and nine rebounds to go with five assists while freshman center Steven Gallian had 18 points and three rebounds in 20 minutes of action. The Saints are coached by Matt Rogers who is in his first year with the program.
MSU-Maryville Notables: Friday's game mark the first-ever game between the two schools.
Nebraska-Kearney Knowledge: Nebraska-Kearney opened its 2009-10 season Monday night with a 87-84 victory over Hastings College. The Lopers shot 49.3 percent for the game in the win and were led in scoring by junior forward Chris Deans who was 8-of-10 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the three-point line for a game-high 23 points. Senior center Josiah Parker added 21 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
Tom Kropp is in his 20th year with the program and owns a 401-163 record.
MSU-Nebraska-Kearney Notables: MSU is 2-2 all-time against Nebraska-Kearney...Under head coach Matt Margenthaler the Mavericks own a 1-0 record against the Lopers, with that victory coming on March 11, 2006 in the NCAA Division II Regional Tournament held in Winona, Minn...The Mavericks won that game 82-70...The last time MSU and Nebraska-Kearney played a regular season game against each other came in 1968 when then Kearney State beat MSU, 105-74.
Bulldog Bites: Minnesota Duluth is the only team in the even that Minnesota State will not play. The Bulldogs enter the weekend 1-0 after defeating Michigan Tech, 70-68, last weekend. The Bulldogs were led by sophomore guard Ryan Rasmussen who scored 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting. The Bulldogs are coached by Gary Holquist.
What Lies Ahead: Minnesota State travels to the NSIC HoopsFest in Sioux Falls...The Mavericks play Northern State Saturday at 3 p.m. in the Sioux Falls Arena and face Winona State Sunday at 3 p.m. in the Elmen Center. Neither game will count against MSU's NSIC record, however they will have regional implications.
To view the complete release, click
HERE