Willingham, Mavs hit the Road in an Attempt to Dismount Upper Iowa Peacocks
Daniel McElroy ® Sports Editor |
Photo by Mansoor Ahmad ® Media Director |
The Minnesota State men’s basketball team will travel to Upper Iowa to start their two week road trip.
The Mavericks will play their last two series on the road after closing out their home games last weekend with a series split against the Winona State University Warriors.
MSU is 8-4 overall with a conference record of 7-3, while the Peacocks is 7-5 overall with a 5-3 conference record. Upper Iowa is staying hot right now with a five game win streak, the longest current streak in the NSIC, and most recently sweeping Concordia-St. Paul.
Since 2002, the Mavs hold a record of 22-7 against the Peacocks, although they have lost their last two matches, failing to find a win since the 2018-19 season.
As of now, the Mavs sit in first place in the NSIC south standings with a win percentage of .700, tied with Wayne State College, a team they split their series with earlier this season.
Sophomore Quincy Anderson is coming off a career-high game scoring 31 points in Saturday’s win against the Warriors. Anderson leads the team in points with 218 through 12 games, averaging 18.2 points per game. Anderson’s 218 is the third most by any NSIC player, and is averaging the fourth most in the conference. He also leads the team in total 3-pointers made and total field goals made with 29 and 75, respectively. Lastly, Anderson leads the team in rebounds with 70 total, eight offensive and 62 defensive, averaging 5.8 rebounds per game.
Junior Devonte Thedford holds the number two spot in scoring for the Mavericks with 150 points, averaging 12.5 points. Thedford is shooting a .441 field goal percentage and .353 from three-point range.
Malik Willingham is right behind Thedford in scoring with 139 points on the season, averaging 11.6 points per game. Willingham is coming off a 17 point game against the Warriors after scoring single digits for three straight games, hoping to continue to stay as a top scorer for the Mavs.
The two teams are very close to each other in shooting field goals, as UIU sit at the number two spot in the NSIC averaging 10.9 field goals per game, while the Mavs are in third, averaging 9.6 field goals per game.