THIS WEEKEND
After four straight road games, the longest stretch away from home this season, the University of Mary Marauders return to the McDowell Activity Center to host the Minnesota State University Mavericks and the Golden Bears of Concordia-St. Paul on Friday and Saturday, February 5-6. On Friday, the 5th place Marauders take on the 4th place Mavericks at 8 p.m. On Saturday, the Marauders battle the Golden Bears at 6 p.m.

SAMARITAN'S FEET
To raise awareness for those who may not have shoes, Marauders head coach Joe Kittell will coach barefoot for Samaritan's Feet Night on Friday, February 5, when Minnesota State University visits. Fans are encouraged to donate a pair of new youth-sized athletic-style tennis shoes at Friday or Saturday's games. Anyone donating a new pair of youth-sized athletic-style tennis shoes will be admitted free of charge to either night's games. Cash donations will also be accepted both nights for Samaritan's Feet. All shoes donated will stay in the Bismarck area. Last October, Samaritan's Feet distributed shoes to 400 children in the Bismarck area at Carries Kids. Several coaches and student-athletes from U-Mary took part in the shoe distribution, including the men's basketball team. Samaritan's Feet (www.SamaritansFeet.org) shares a message of hope and love through washing the feet of impoverished children around the world and adorning them with new shoes. Since its founding by Manny Ohonme in 2003, Samaritan's Feet and its team of ambassadors and partners have blessed more than 6.5 million children in more than 75 nations.

IT'S A SLAM DUNK, DON'T DRIVE DRUNK
This weekend Marauders Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) members will be collecting signatures from fans pledging not to drive drunk. This is the fourth year the Northern Sun has supported the fourth annual "It's A Slam Dunk, Don't Drive Drunk" campaign. Started in 2013, the campaign commemorates Drake Bigler, the five month old son of Southwest Minnesota State University's Men's Basketball Coach Brad Bigler, who was killed by a drunk driver. Pledge stickers, pens, tattoos and bag tags will be handed out to fans that pledge to join in this initiative. Over the past three years, NSIC SAAC members have collected over 30,000 signatures from fans pledging not to drive drunk. The NSIC encourages fans to support this effort and to always drive responsibly.
BEK SPORTS TO BROADCAST MARAUDERS BASKETBALL FEB. 5-6
For the first time, BEK Sports will broadcast University of Mary basketball games this weekend when the Marauders host Minnesota State University and Concordia-St. Paul on Feb. 5-6. The pair of Northern Sun men's and women's basketball doubleheaders can be viewed in Western North Dakota on BEK PRIME, available on KNDB Bismarck over-the-air Ch-26 and KNDM Minot over-the-air Ch-24. In Eastern North Dakota BEK PRIME is available on KRDK Fargo/Grand Forks over-the-air Ch-4. Select you cable/satellite provider for channel assignment or visit www.bektel.com for channel listings.

RECORDS
U-Mary is 14-8 overall and 9-7 in the Northern Sun (5th overall, 3rd North)
Minnesota State is 15-7 overall and 10-6 in the NSIC (4th overall, 2nd South)
Concordia-St. Paul is 8-14 and 5-11SIC (15th overall, 8th South)

LAST TIME OUT
U-Mary split a pair of road games, losing 87-80 at #1 Augustana before defeating Wayne State College 99-80 to snap a six-game losing streak.  
Minnesota State split a pair of home overtime games, defeating Northern State 119-115 in two overtimes before losing to MSU Moorhead 94-89 in one extra session.
Concordia-St. Paul swept a pair of home games, defeating #3 MSU Moorhead 98-97 in overtime and Northern State 84-76.  



HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. MAVERICKS
The Marauders trail 1-8 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 four meetings
Last Meeting
Bryan Jefferson scored a game-high 21 points for the Marauders in an 82-71 U-Mary road loss at Minnesota State. Jefferson made 9-of-12 shots as the Marauders stayed within five points of the Mavericks until less than four minutes remained in the game. U-Mary led 55-54 after a three-point play by Marquealis Edwards but a 10-2 run by MSU followed and game control of the game to the Mavericks. Edwards scored 15 points, Jaycob Velasco 13 and Chris Mason 11 for U-Mary. Zach Monaghan led MSU with 20 points and nine assists. Assem Marei added 15 points and ten rebounds.

HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. GOLDEN BEARS
Concordia-St. Paul has a 11-6 series lead over U-Mary.
The Golden Bears have won the last five 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.
CSP is 5-1 at U-Mary and 6-5 at home
The last U-Mary home win was January 23, 2010
Last Meeting
In the opening round of the 2015 Northern Sun tournament, homestanding Concordia-St. Paul used a 14-2 run to pull away from U-Mary in a 78-65 Golden Bears win. Bryan Jefferson led the Marauders with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Germain Decoste had 14 points, Damonta Henry 11 and Jaycob Velasco 10 for the Marauders. Terez VanPelt led the Golden Bears with 16 points.  

LAST WEEK REWIND
U-Mary out-scored the nation's top-ranked team by a dozen points in the second half but the Marauders upset bid fell short 87-80 at #1 Augustana. Down 21, the Marauders closed the gap to 73-71 but the Vikings held on for the win. Damonta Henry led the Marauders with 14 points off the bench. Rickey Suggs added 13 in a reserve roll. Bryan Jefferson also had 13 points and Marquealis Edwards 12 for U-Mary. Casey Schilling led Augie with 27 points and 13 rebounds and Dan Jansen added 25 and 11... The Marauders snapped their six-game losing streak with a 99-80 win at Wayne State College. Bryan Jefferson scored 26 points and U-Mary had its best offensive performance in a Northern Sun game this season. Six different Marauders reached double figures in scoring. The squad shot 58.5 percent from the floor, including 75 percent in the second half. Devan Douglas, Brandon Tyler and Isaac Lindquist each scored 14 points for U-Mary. Damonta Henry had 13 and Rickey Suggs 10 off the bench. Adam Moon led WSC with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

FAMILIARITY
University of Mary head coach Joe Kittell and Concordia-St. Paul junior guard Diallo Powell will be reunited on Saturday. Powell was an all-region guard the last two seasons at Lake Region State College, where Kittell was the head coach. The pair combined for a record of 42-20. Both have found success in the Northern Sun. U-Mary already has exceeded last year's win total and Powell is averaging 9.9 points and 4.9 rebounds/game.

STANDINGS STABILITY
Despite one win in the past seven games, the Marauders have lost little ground in the overall Northern Sun standings. Four weeks ago U-Mary was third in the NSIC North Division and fourth in the overall Northern Sun standings. After last weekend, the Marauders are still third in the NSIC North with Northern State and tied for fifth in the overall Northern Sun standings. While the Marauders slot in the standings hasn't change much, U-Mary has fallen farther behind the league leaders. Augie is 16-0 in league play and MSU Moorhead is 14-2. Minnesota Duluth checks in at 11-5 and Minnesota State is 10-6, followed by U-Mary and Winona State at 9-7. The top four teams in the divisional standings will host a first-round game in the Northern Sun tournament.

TOP DOG
When U-Mary played at Augustana last weekend, it was the third time in school history that the Marauders had played the top ranked NCAA Division II team in the country. It was the first time U-Mary had played a top-ranked team since facing Winona State on January 28, 2007.  

CRUNCH TIME
The Marauders are down to six games in the regular season, with four games at home. U-Mary is in the running for a home berth in the opening round of the NSIC tournament. The top four of eight teams in the NSIC North will host the bottom four teams of the NSIC South on February 24. U-Mary (9-7) is currently third, one game up on Northern State and St. Cloud State (8-8) and two on Bemidji State (7-9). U-Mary split its two games this season against NSU, is 0-1 against SCSU and 1-0 against BSU. U-Mary visits Bemidji State next weekend and hosts SCSU the final weekend of the regular season. The only time U-Mary has hosted an NSIC playoff game was in 2011.

THE BORTKE COURT MAC ATTACK
After struggling at home the last few seasons, U-Mary is once again finding success at the McDowell Activity Center (MAC). The playing floor was christened Bortke Court in honor of long-time U-Mary men's basketball coach and athletic director Al Bortke in July 2009. Here is the Marauders NCAA Division II home record:
2006-07:   5-  7
2007-08:   4-  7
2008-09:   7-  5
2009-10: 11-  2
2010-11: 12-  1
2011-12:   3-10
2012-13:   3-  9
2013-14:   6-  7
2014-15:   4-  8
2015-16:   6-  4
The Marauders once won 27 straight home games for Coach Bortke
at the MAC (February 19, 1976 thru November 11, 1978).

BENCH PLAY
Damonta Henry and Rickey Suggs both had a big weekend in a reserve roll for the Marauders as the two juniors both scored in double digits in both games. Henry had two treys in each game and posted 14 points against Augustana and 13 against Wayne State. Suggs made 11-of-14 shots in the two games. He scored 13 points with four steals and three assists at Augie. Against Wayne State, Suggs had 10 points, six rebounds and two assists.

BALANCE
The Marauders found their balance again last weekend. U-Mary had four players reach double figures at Augustana and six posted 10 or more points at Wayne State.

BOARD GAMES
The Marauders have been tremendous on the boards this season. U-Mary is third in the NSIC in rebounding margin at +5.0 rebounds/game. Additionally the Marauders are adept at halting second chance point opportunities. U-Mary is hauling down .735 percent of the defensive rebounds available in each game, sixth in the NSIC.

14
The 14 wins this season is already the third best total for U-Mary in ten seasons of NCAA competition. The Marauders won 23 games in 2010-11 and 15 in 2009-10, the only other two double-digit win seasons. U-Mary won just nine games last year.

9
With nine Northern Sun wins this season, the Marauders have their third highest single-season total in ten years playing in the NSIC. U-Mary won 18 league games in 2011 and 11 in 2010.

90
Seven times the Marauders have scored 90 or more points in a game. That EXCEEDS the U-Mary total of six from the previous NINE YEARS COMBINED! In only two other seasons during the NCAA era has U-Mary reached at least 90 points in a game twice (2009-10 and 2010-11).

80
In 18 games this season U-Mary has scored at least 80 points nine different times. Out of the school's ten NCAA era seasons (beginning with 2006-07), the previous high for 80 points in a season was seven in 2009-10.

BEST START
It took only 16 games for the Marauders to win 13 games this season, the fewest games needed to reach that level in U-Mary's NCAA era, which began with the 2006-07 season.

LEGAL THEFT
With 20 steals last weekend, including 12 against #1 Augie, the Marauders lead the NSIC in steals with 6.9/game.

JEFFERSON STEPS FORWARD
Junior forward Bryan Jefferson continues to develop into one of the top players in the Northern Sun. The Aurora, Ill., native has led the Marauders in scoring nine times this season and rebounding seven times. He has posted double digit point totals in 19 of 22 contests. Averaging 15.3 points per game, he is 12th in the NSIC in scoring. Additionally Jefferson is 10th in rebounding (6.5/game) and fifth in field goal shooting (.592). He is second on the squad in assists (2.1/game) and fourth in steals (17).

CLUTCH
Marquealis Edwards has shined in the closing minutes of close games this season for U-Mary. Twice he has scored the winning points in the closing seconds and twice he has key free throws to cement wins. His latest starring role came in the 77-73 win over #3 MSU Moorhead. The senior guard scored the last four points of the game, hitting the winning layup with 15 seconds remaining and adding two free throws with 1.2 seconds left. The Minneapolis, Minn., native the winning layup with three seconds left in a 77-76 win over Southern Arkansas. In a 60-58 win over Northern State Edwards scored the last two U-Mary points with two seconds left. He also hit two free throws in the closing seconds of a 69-65 win at USF.

STAT STUFFER
It's no surprise that Marquealis Edwards would post the Marauders first triple double of the NCAA era when he recorded 10 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in a win over Presentation. The senior guard from Minneapolis, Minn., ranks among Northern Sun leaders in five categories: 3rd in steals (1.8/game), 11th in rebounds (6.4/game), 9th in assists (3.5/game), 20th in scoring (13.5/game) and 5th in free throw percentage (.845).

TRIPLE PLAY
Three Marauders are averaging over 10 points per game and a fourth is close behind. Bryan Jefferson averages a team-high 15.3 PPG and Marquealis Edwards is right behind at 13.5 PPG. Brandon Tyler is a consistent third in scoring at 10.4 PPG. Not far off is Isaac Lindquist at 9.8 PPG.

DEPTH
Ten Marauders have played in at least 16 of 22 games this season. All ten average at least 11 minutes per game.

MAKING SHOTS
U-Mary is connecting on 48.7 percent of its field goal attempts, ranking 33rd in NCAA Division II and third in the Northern Sun.

SHARING THE LOAD
Eight different Marauders are averaging at least 5.0 points per game this season.

POINTS POINTS POINTS
U-Mary is averaging 81.8 points per game, 7th in the NSIC.

DOUBLING DOWN
Bryan Jefferson owns four of the Marauders seven double doubles and four of the team's five 20 point outbursts this season. For his career Jefferson has seven double doubles and has scored 20 or more points six times.

DOWNTOWN
After playing limited minutes the last two seasons, SR G Brandon Tyler is averaging 10.4 points per game and leads U-Mary with 44 treys. He is 9th in the NSIC with 2.1 treys/game and makes 41.5 percent of hits shots beyond the arc.