Men’s Basketball begins five-game road trip with Central Region Challenge
Following an electric night in the Taylor Center Nov. 3, the Minnesota State Men’s Basketball team will start their season with five road games, beginning with a matchup at Missouri Southern.
The Mavs began their season with an exhibition game against Gustavus-Adolphus, which they won 100-58. This dominant performance marks the beginning of a new season with new goals from the Mavericks.
“Getting back on the court felt like Christmas all over again,” said junior guard Malik Willingham.
Willingham scored 23 of the Mavericks’ 100 points Thursday and will be featured a lot more this year. Those 23 points tied his career-high, and Willingham credits a lot of his success to his teammates.
“I like to pass the ball, so them passing me the ball and telling me to shoot it gave me the confidence to just be myself and let the shots keep falling,” said Willingham.
The Mavericks open their season this weekend at the Central Region Challenge in Kansas City, Mo. as they take on Missouri Southern Lions and Henderson State Reddies. Both the Lions and Reddies are relatively unfamiliar opponents to the Mavericks.
Starting with the Lions, Friday’s matchup will be just the sixth time these teams have gone head to head, with the Lions holding a 3-2 series lead all time. After a 14-15 2021 season in which they lost in the first round of the MIAA Tournament, the Lions are led by a duo of sharpshooters. Sophomore Avery Taggart is coming off of a year in which he put up 11 points and 3 assists a night, while shooting over 40% from beyond the arc. Leading the team in total three-pointers last year was junior Winston Dessesow, with 71.
The Reddies and Mavericks have met only once before, in the 1977-78 season, where the Mavericks won their only meeting 75-70. The Reddies finished their 2021-2022 campaign with a 17-12 record and a first round exit in the GAC Tournament. Junior Alvin Riddle [10.2 points per game] and graduate student Malik Riddle [9.6 ppg] were the leading scorers on that team, and they return this year to lead the Reddies offense yet again.
Willingham and the Mavs look to keep the good times rolling this weekend, but with both the Lions and Reddies averaging over 70 points per game last year, they will have their hands full. As we have seen, the Mavericks have proven capable of putting up points in bunches themselves. The Central Region Challenge is appropriately titled, as this weekend will be a great challenge for the Mavericks as they look to stay hot.
“We all have to be there mentally, it feels almost like an NBA schedule to start the year, but we just have to go out and execute the gameplan as a team,” said Willingham.
Before they return to the Taylor Center on Nov. 22, the Mavericks will come back to Minnesota to play the St. Cloud State Huskies on Nov. 15 and head to California for the Sonoma State Tournament three days later.
Header Photo: The Minnesota State Men’s Basketball team plays their first match of the Central Region Challenge against Missouri Southern on Friday at 1 p.m. in Kansas City, Mo. Brady Williams (above) from last season’s game on Nov. 26, 2021. (File Photo)
Write to Hayden Lee at Hayden.Lee@mnsu.edu