Mavs Basketball releases 2023-24 schedules

Welcome back! Although it is August, it’s never too early to begin looking ahead to Mavs Basketball.

Earlier this month, the official season schedules were released for the Mavs men’s and women’s basketball teams.

Beginning with the men, the season is headlined by 14 home games in the Taylor Center. They will begin their season at the Central Region Challenge, as they have in previous years. The Challenge consists of two games in Kansas City against Southern Arkansas and Arkansas-Missouri, each tipping off at 5 p.m. Nov. 10 and 11.

After returning home, the Mavs will head to St. Cloud to take on the Huskies in their first game in Minnesota Nov. 18. Luckily for the Mavs, immediately following that game, they have a five-game home stretch against Dakota State Nov. 21, Waldorf Nov. 24, Bethany Lutheran Nov. 25, Sioux Falls Dec. 1 and Southwest Minnesota State University Dec. 2.

In their first road trip of the year, the Mavs will play three consecutive road games against Augustana Dec. 8, Wayne State Dec. 9 and Winona State Dec. 14.

To close out the 2023 calendar year, the Mavs will play host to Concordia St. Paul Dec. 16 and Minnesota Duluth Dec. 19, at which point they will be 13 games into their season.

Coming back into 2024, the Mavs get to start out at home. Northern State comes to town Jan. 5 before the Mavs are back on the road again for another four games against Bemidji State Dec. 12, Minnesota Crookston Dec. 13, Minot State Dec. 19 and UMary Dec. 20.

The next five games have the Mavs hosting St. Cloud State and MSU Moorhead Jan. 26 and 27 before heading out to Minnesota Duluth Jan. 30 and SMSU and Sioux Falls Feb. 2 and 3.

Their last five regular season games have them playing Feb. 9 and 10 at home against Wayne State and Augustana, a brief trip to Northern State Feb. 17, and then at home again on Feb. 23 and 24 to close out the regular season.

The NSIC tournament first round is set to take place Feb. 28, with the final three rounds following March 2-5. The NCAA Regional Tournament proceeds from March 16-19, and the NCAA Elite Eight begins March 26-30.

For the women, they begin their season with an exhibition game against Northwestern Oct. 28 at home, before participating in the Montana State Billings Tournament and the Regional Crossover Challenge.

The Montana State Billings Tournament has the Mavs playing one game each day from Nov. 3-5 against Florida Tech, Texas Woman’s University and Texas A&M – Kingsville. For the Regional Crossover Challenge, two games against Southern Nazarene and Fort Hays State will take place in St. Joseph, Missouri Nov. 10 and 11.

Back in Minnesota, the Mavs will start off with four straight home games against Minnesota Duluth Nov. 21, UW-Parkside Nov. 25, Sioux Falls Dec. 1, and SMSU Dec. 2.

Their first road stretch of games is a three-game road trip that takes them to Augustana Dec. 8, Wayne State Dec. 9 and Winona State Dec. 14. The next two games will be at home against Concordia St. Paul Dec. 19, closing out 2023, before opening up 2024 against Northern State Jan. 5.

After the home game to open the year, the Mavs will hit the road for four straight away games against Bemidji State Jan. 12, Minnesota Crookston Jan. 13, Minot State Jan. 19, and UMary Jan. 20.

They will then return home briefly to play St. Cloud State on Jan. 26 and MSU Moorhead on Jan. 27, before getting back on the road to take on Minnesota Duluth Jan. 30, SMSU Feb. 2, and Sioux Falls Feb. 3. 

For their last five games, the Mavs will play two home games on Feb. 9 and 10 against Wayne State and Augustana with a Feb. 17 road game at Northern State wedged in the middle of another home weekend against Feb. 23 and 24 against Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State. 

The NSIC Tournament first round begins Feb. 28, with the final three rounds taking place on March 2-5. The NCAA Central Region Tournament will begin on March 15 and end March 18, before the Elite Eight March 25-29.

A lot of games, a lot of chances for each Mavs team to cement themselves as true contenders in the NSIC and potentially even the NCAA.

Write to Hayden Lee at hayden.lee@my.smsu.edu