THIS WEEKEND
After spending the last two weeks at home, the University of Mary men's basketball team returns to the road for the Marauders final regular season games against teams from the Northern Sun South Division. The Marauders first face the Minnesota State University, Mankato Mavericks on Friday, Feb. 6, at 8 p.m. in the Taylor Center. The weekend concludes against the Golden Bears of Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday, Feb. 7. Tip off is 6 p.m. at the Ganglehoff Center.  

RECORDS
U-Mary is 6-14 overall and 4-12 in the Northern Sun (t-6th NSIC North Division, t-12th overall)
MSU Mavericks are 16-5 overall and 11-4 in the NSIC (2nd NSIC South, 4th overall)
CSP Golden Bears are 14-7 overall and 10-5 in the NSIC (3rd NSIC South, 5th overall)

LAST TIME OUT
The Marauders lost two at home. 89-56 to #5 Augustana, and 77-75 on a buzzer-beater to Wayne State
Minnesota State lost twice on the road, 73-72 at Northern State and 76-72 at MSU Moorhead.
Concordia split a weekend road trip, losing 94-82 at MSU Moorhead before rebounding with a 66-65 overtime win at Northern State

WEEKEND HEADLINES
The Marauders games at MSU and CSP are the final contests of the season against teams from the NSIC South Division
U-Mary is 1-5 against the NSIC South
Two of the losses to NSIC South teams came on the final shot of the game, and both were at the MAC (vs. Sioux Falls, vs. Wayne State)
This is the second straight season U-Mary has visited MSU and CSP
The Marauders are 4-1 on Saturdays in 2015
U-Mary are still in the midst of playing 6-of-8 games at home
This weekend concludes a run of four straight contests against teams from the NSIC South division
Marauders are 35th nationally in fewest turnovers/game (11.8)
Marquealis Edwards ranks in the Northern Sun top 21 in points, rebounds, steals, assists and assist/turnover ratio

HOMECOMING
U-Mary head basketball coach Jevin Budde returns to his alma mater this weekend when the Marauders play at Minnesota State. He led the Mavericks in assists both of his seasons at MSU (2001-02 and 2002-03).

HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. MAVERICKS
The Marauders trail 1-7 all-time in their series with the Mavericks
The two teams first met Dec. 12, 2008, in Bismarck with the Mavericks winning 83-61.
U-Mary snapped its four-game losing streak against MSU with an 84-69 home win on 1.15.11 as All-American Anthony Moody hit eight treys and scored 31 points and Jordan Wilhelm added five three pointers and 17 points.
The Mavericks have won the last three meetings
Last Meeting
Despite a season-high 11 three-pointers, the Marauders were unable to overcome an early 19-4 deficit on the way to an 88-67 road loss to #22 Minnesota State on 1.31.14. Chris Mason led the Marauders with 11 points. Both Mason and Brandon Tyler connected for three triples. All five Mavericks starters reached double figures in points, headlined by 21 points for Assem Marei. Zach Monaghan added 17 points and eight assists.

HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. GOLDEN BEARS
Concordia-St. Paul has a 9-6 series lead over U-Mary.
The Golden Bears have won the last three meetings.
The Marauders won the first two meetings between the schools in the 1980s when both were members of the NAIA.
When U-Mary joined the NSIC in 2006-07, CSP won the next five meetings.
The Marauders broke their losing streak to the Golden Bears with an 83-74 win at the NSIC Holiday HoopsFest on 11.29.09, soon followed with a 75-68 win at the MAC on 1.23.10 behind 24 points by Eric Erdmann. It was the first NSIC win for U-Mary over CSP.
Last Meeting
A large halftime lead fizzled in a 66-60 Marauders loss at Concordia, St. Paul. U-Mary led 35-29 at intermission but the Marauders scored just 25 points in the second half by making only 8-of-24 field goal attempts and missing all six three-point attempts. Marc Musungayi led the Marauders with 17 points. Mike Johnson hit all three trey attempts and added 11 points. Germain Decoste added nine points and seven rebounds. Travon Mitchell scored 19 points off the bench for the Golden Bears. He was 3-of-5 behind the arc.

THE OPPONENT: Minnesota State
One of the top teams in the nation, Minnesota State University dropped out the nation's top 25 after suffering two tough road losses at Northern State University and MSU Moorhead, two of only three teams ahead of the Mavericks in the Northern Sun standings. MSU has made 11 NCAA tournament appearances, including two straight and nine in the last ten years. Additionally MSU has hosted an NCAA regional in four of the last five seasons. In his 14th season at MSU, Head Coach Matt Margenthaler has a record of 316-125 and is the Mavericks all-time winningest head men's basketball coach. Senior center Assem Marei is leading the Mavericks with an average of 19.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Senior guard Zach Monaghan is averaging 14 points and 8.3 assists per contest as well. As a team, the Mavericks are shooting 49.4% from the field, including a 41.8% showing from behind the arc to go along with 35.4 rebounds per game. The Mavericks are outscoring their opponents by 11 points per game this season. MSU is also averaging 42.9 points in the second half.

THE OPPONENT: Concordia-St. Paul
One of the hottest teams in the Northern Sun, Concordia-St. Paul has won six out of their last seven games. The lone loss was to 7th ranked MSU Moorhead. In a dramatic improvement from last season, the Golden Bears are currently fifth in the overall NSIC standings and third in the South Division. Last season CSP tied for 12th overall and was tied for last in the South with an 8-19 record overall and 5-17 mark in conference play. New head coach Joey James leads the resurgence. Hired last summer, James was the interim head coach at NCAA Division I University of South Dakota last season after serving 11 years as an assistant for the Coyotes. Junior guard Cole Olstad leads a balanced Concordia scoring attack with 13.7 PPG. He also averages 5.4 RPG. R-Fr. wing Nuni Omot averages 11.0 PPG and 5.9 RPG. Terez VanPelt, a senior guard and second on the Golden Bears all-time scoring list with over 1,400 points, averages 10.9 PPG and 4.2 assists/game.  

REWIND
A closely contested contest changed late in the first half as 5th ranked and NSIC-leading Augustana raced past U-Mary 89-55. The Marauders challenged the Vikings early, pulling within 31-30. Augie would soon put the game out of reach with a 23-0 run that started late in the first half. Augie dominated behind the arc, hitting 13-of-26 3-pointers to a 1-of-17 effort by U-Mary. Damonta Henry led the Marauders with 14 points and Bryan Jefferson added 10. Alex Richter hit five treys and scored 24 points for Augie. Casey Schilling added 16 and Daniel Jansen 15 for the Vikings... Wayne State College defeated the Marauders 77-75 on a buzzer-beating shot. With a chance to put the Marauders in front with the clock winding down, Marquealis Edwards just missed on a game-winning layup attempt with about three seconds left. Jordan Cornelius grabbed the rebound for Wayne State and fired the ball downcourt. Trae Vandeberg caught the ball just over midcourt, took two dribbles and pulled up inside the top of the key. He released the ball just before the buzzer sounded and hit the winning shot with no time remaining. The Marauders seemed to have the game in-hand, leading 74-67 with 50 seconds to go following two made free throws by Chris Mason. U-Mary then hit 1-of-3 at the free throw line while Wayne State hit a layup and two treys before sinking the winning shot. Jaycob Velasco led U-Mary with 22 points. Germain Decoste added 14 and Edwards hit for 13 with four assists. Cornelius had 21 to lead Wayne State.
 
SATURDAY NIGHT'S ALRIGHT (FOR WINNING)
The Marauders have won four of their five Saturday games in 2015,  defeating Bemidji State 86-80, Northern State 80-76, Upper Iowa 69-56 and Minnesota Duluth 75-71 before dropping a 77-75 decision to Wayne State last weekend.   

VELASCO ON FIRE
Jaycob Velasco continued his tremendous play of late with another strong performance against Wayne State College. The junior forward scored 22 points, posting over 20 for the second time in three games. He made 10-of-13 shots overall, including a 2-for-3 effort behind the arc. In his last four games, Velasco is averaging 16.3 PPG and is shooting 71.8 percent of his shots. The transfer from Cosumnes River CC has now reached double figures in five of his last seven games and 12 times overall this season. He is averaging 10.1 PPG and shooting 48%.

DIVERSIFICATION
Four Marauders are averaging double digits in points for the season with a fifth almost there. Marqualis Edwards leads the way at 13.1 PPG, followed by Bryan Jefferson (10.6 PPG), Damonta Hendry (10.4 PPG) and Jaycob Velasco (10.1 PPG). Chris Mason is on the cusp at 9.5 PPG.

MAC ATTACK
The Marauders are in the midst of playing four of six games at the MAC.

STAT STUFFER
Developing into one of the top all-around players in the Northern Sun, junior guard Marquealis Edwards is 20th in the NSIC in scoring (13.1 PPG), 21st in rebounding (5.3 RPG), 6th in assists (4.3 APG), 5th in steals (1.7 SPG) and 11th in assists to turnover ratio (1.6).

REJECTION COLLECTION
In just one-and-a-half seasons, Germain Decoste has cracked the Marauders career leader board in blocked shots (since 1989). The senior forward has 37 career blocks, moving him one past Kurt Schwamp (1998-2000) for ninth. For the season the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native is 10th in the NSIC with 0.9 blocks/game. He had 20 blocks last season in 20 games. Just ahead of Decoste in blocks with 38 are Mark Hill (1994-99) and Jordan Wilhelm (2007-11) The all-time school leader is Marc Hawley (1995-97) with 108... Decoste is also 4th in the NSIC in shooting percentage (59.5) and averages 7.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.

CHANGE UP
After rolling with the same starting lineup of Chris Mason, Damonta Henry and Marquealis Edwards on the perimeter and Germain Decoste and Bryan Jefferson on the front line for the first five games of 2015, the Marauders swapped Alex Anderson for Henry in the win at Upper Iowa. It was the first career start for the senior guard, who has now started five straight contests. Henry has responded by providing the Marauders instant offense off the bench, scoring 46 points in the five games.  

NEW ROLE
Sophomore forward Bryan Jefferson made his first career start at Minot State and has remained in the lineup ever since. The Aurora, Ill., native has posted double figures in points in 12 of the 17 games he has played. He has led the team in scoring four times and rebounding seven while posting two of the team's four double doubles. Jefferson leads the team in rebounding (5.8/game), is second in scoring (10.6 PPG) and second in field goal percentage (.561). In the NSIC Jefferson ranks 3rd in offensive rebounds (2.6/game), 11th in field goal percentage and 12th in rebounding.

UPCOMING
The final home weekend of the regular season is set for Feb. 13-14 when Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston visit. The Marauders have four seniors: Alex Anderson, Germain Decoste, Chadwick Newell and Chris Mason. All four will be honored at the final home game. Additionally one of the Marauders will receive the Kevin Olson Award,      

MY PRECIOUS
Treating the ball like Bilbo Baggins treats The Ring, the Marauders refuse to turn the precious over. U-Mary averages just 11.8 turnovers/game, the 45th-lowest figure in NCAA Division II and 7th fewest in the Northern Sun.

CHARITY DISPARITY
In Northern Sun contests, U-Mary opponents have made more free throws this season than the Marauders have attempted. The Marauders have taken 244 free throws while foes have made 247. U-Mary is 164-of-244 at the line (67.2 percent). Opponents are 247-of-336 at the line (73.5 percent).  

DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
The Marauders rank 10th in the NSIC in assist to turnover ratio with a mark of 1.1. U-Mary averages 12.5 assists/game and 11.8 turnovers.

LEGAL THEFT
U-Mary ranks sixth in the NSIC in steals per game with 6.3. Marquealis Edwards is the ringleader with 1.7 per game, fourth best in the NSIC.