No. 1 seed Mavs in Elite Eight

In its 102nd campaign as a varsity sport at Minnesota State, the men’s basketball team has reached the NCAA Division II Elite Eight for the second time in school history.

The Mavs earned the No. 1 seed at the Elite Eight in Evansville, Ind. and will take on the No. 8 seeded Ferris State Bulldogs Tuesday.

The Mavericks are riding a scorching hot wave into the final stage of the season, and have not lost since January. They are on a 13-game win streak, which includes winning the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season championship Feb. 23, the NSIC Tournament championship March 5, then advancing to the Elite Eight on March 19 on their home court.

The most recent development for the team has been the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District Teams, which had Malik Willingham on the All-Central District First Team and saw head coach Matt Margenthaler take home NABC Central District Coach of the Year. 

However, all of these accolades and awards will not mean as much if the team doesn’t achieve its ultimate goal: winning it all.

If they are to take home the DII Championship, the Mavericks will have three games left in their season. First up is Ferris State, who they have only faced once in school history. Back in the 1992-93, MSU narrowly defeated FSU 74-73 at home. 

In the present day, the Bulldogs have been hot as of late, winning nine straight including an NCAA Midwest Region Championship. Their 28-7 record this season comes off the back of an explosive offense that averages 85.3 points, 37.4 rebounds and 20.1 assists per game on 49.7% from the field and 38.5% from three point range. Ethan Erickson leads the team with 15 ppg and has made the most three-pointers on the team with 115. Oddly enough, the Bulldogs did not have a player or coach representative on the All-Midwest District Team.

The winner of Tuesday night’s showdown will move to the Final Four of DII Men’s basketball, where they will take on the winner of West Texas A&M vs. North Georgia. Dates and times are still to be determined. The Mavericks and Bulldogs will take the court at 6 p.m. for the third game of the Division II Elite Eight at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.

Header Photo: Minnesota State has advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight for the second time in program history and will take on Ferris State on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. (Dylan Long/The Reporter)

Write to Hayden Lee at hayden.lee@mnsu.edu