Regular season concludes at home for no. 4 ranked men’s basketball
Ahead of their final two regular season games, the Minnesota State men’s basketball team was promoted to the fourth spot in the most recent edition of the National Association of Basketball Coaches Poll.
The Mavericks jumped up one spot compared to their previous ranking after defeating Northern State 85-83 Saturday night. As it has been for most of the year, the Mavericks are ranked the highest of four other Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference teams.
The others from the NSIC that join the Mavericks in the top 25 are MSU Moorhead, Minot State and UMD. However, UMC has seen a dramatic rise in recent weeks, as they now sit at no. 12, one spot ahead of Moorhead and 12 spots above Minot State.
The Mavericks are in a good spot heading into the weekend, as their 24-2 record overall will likely carry them to the top spot in the conference. However, this Mavericks team would not be satisfied with just phoning in the next two games. There is still work to be done, and two more teams to take on before the NSIC Tournament rolls around.
This weekend, the Mavs will take on Minnesota-Crookston and Bemidji State as their final opponents of the regular season. First up will be Minnesota-Crookston Friday night.
The Golden Eagles are currently owners of a 6-20 record, including a 3-17 conference record, which has them ranked as second-to-last in the NSIC, above only UMary. They are coming off of a weekend in which they lost to Augustana and Wayne State at home. Those two losses contributed to their current six-game losing streak that the Golden Eagles hope to snap this weekend.
Minnesota-Crookston’s offense averages 65.1 points per game, and nearly one-third of those points have been scored by Blaize Sagna, who averages 21.3 ppg. Reid Grant serves as the second option in the offense, scoring just over 14 points per game and dishes out 3.3 assists per game on the season.
After they take on the Golden Eagles, they will host the Beavers in their last regular season game of the 2023-24 year. The Beavers are in the middle of the pack when it comes to the NSIC Standings, with a 13-13 overall record, and a 9-11 conference record. It is fitting that a .500 team also went 1-1 in their games from a week ago, defeating Sioux Falls before falling to Southwest Minnesota State at home.
Just like Minnesota-Crookston, Bemidji State also boasts a 20+ points per game scorer in John Sutherland, who averages 21 points per game , along with 7.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game on the season. Dalton Albrect also poses a threat on the offensive and defensive glass, averaging a near 17 point double-double with 10.3 rebounds per game. BJ Davis also makes his presence known as a sharpshooter, with 44 made threes on the season.
As the regular season concludes, the Mavericks have already locked up a first-round bye in the NSIC Tournament. Looking forward to this weekend, Friday’s clash with the Golden Eagles will begin at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday’s regular season finale will start at 5:30 p.m.
Header Photo: The Minnesota State men’s basketball team moved up to the fourth spot in the most recent edition of the NABC Poll. (Dylan Long/The Reporter)
Write to Hayden Lee at hayden.lee@mnsu.com