NORTHERN STATE WOLVES men’s basketball Northern State Athletic Communications • 1200 S. Jay St., Aberdeen, SD 57041 • NSUWOLVES.COM • Ashley Gauer (Media Contact) Assistant Athletic Director, Communications • [email protected] • 605.626.7748 • 612.875.1583 • 605.626.2238 (Fax) Twitter: @WolvesAthletics • MBB Twitter: @nsuwolves_mbb • Facebook: /nsuwolvesathletics • Instagram: @nsuwolves GAME COVERAGE Listen Live: http://www.hubcityradio.com/ksdnlistenlive/ • Live Video: http://www.themiaanetwork.com/nwmsubearcats/ Live Stats: https://bearcatsports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary PROBABLE STARTERS // Northern state PROBABLE STARTERS // southeastern okla. No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG 0 Ian Smith G 5-10 165 RSr. 13.6 1 Ziga Zatezic G 6-6 195 So. 4.7 3 Andrew Kallman G 6-4 175 So. 8.2 2 Adam Dworsky G 5-11 170 So. 9.8 15 Bo Fries G/F 6-4 195 Sr. 9.5 VS. 15 Jett Jobe G 6-3 185 Jr. 12.8 21 Gabe King G 6-5 185 Jr. 11.5 20 Kevin Buckingham F 6-6 220 Jr. 20.4 23 Justin Decker F 6-7 225 Sr. 11.1 45 Kellen Manek F 6-7 225 So. 13.6 2018-19 Schedule QUICK HITS ON THE #19 WOLVES of northern state university • The No. 19 Wolves make their second straight NCAA Regional appearance after a 72-68 Overall: 26-6 | NSIC: 18-4 | NSIC North: 11-3 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in the NSIC Tournament Championship. Home: 11-3 | Away: 9-2 | Neutral: 6-1 • Ian Smith earned tournament MVP honors, while Mason Stark and Gabe King were named on October the all-tournament team. • Paul Sather was named the NSIC Coach of the Year for the second straight season, after 23 WALDORF [ex] W 103-66 leading the Wolves to back-to-back NSIC Championships. November • In addition, Ian Smith, Justin Decker, and Gabe King were named to the NSIC All- 3 Northwest Missouri St. L 72-70 Conference first, second, and honorable mention teams. 4 Queens (NC) W 87-74 • Northern is shooting 49.7 percent from the floor, 40.8 percent from the 3-point line, and 74.8 percent from the foul line this season. 16 Black Hills State W 82-50 • They are averaging 78.8 points, 36.4 rebounds, 15.1 assists, 10.5 turnovers, 3.8 steals, and 3.4 17 South Dakota Mines W 75-67 blocks per game; out-scoring their opponents by 9.3 points and out-rebounding their opponents by 23 TRUMAN STATE L 61-59 5.9 boards as well. 24 CHADRON STATE W 66-62 • Smith leads four Wolves averaging double figures with a team high 13.6 points per game. The December senior is also leading the team averaging 5.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists per contest. • Gabe King and Justin Decker are the final starters in double figures, notching 11.6 and 11.1 1 MSU MOORHEAD* W 70-54 points per game respectively. King also leads NSU with 53 made 3-pointers this season. 7 Bemidji State* W 84-73 • Parker Fox leads the team off the bench averaging 10.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. The 8 Minnesota Crookston* W 88-75 redshirt freshman is also shooting a team high 58.0 percent from the floor with 45 blocks. 14 MINOT STATE* W 85-72 • Bo Fries will return to the line-up for NSU, after an injury in the quarterfinal round of the NSIC 15 UMARY* W 76-59 Tournament. The senior is shooting a team best 48.4 percent from the 3-point line, and is averaging 19 MSU Moorhead* L 71-69 9.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. January • In addition to Fox, Mason Stark and Cole Dahl have been key contributors off the bench, specifically from beyond the arc. The pair combined for 58 made 3-pointers and both are shooting 4 Upper Iowa* W 102-73 over 40.0 percent from the field. 5 Winona State* W 79-68 11 MINN. CROOKSTON* W 72-70 matching up with the Savage storm of southeastern oklahoma 12 BEMIDJI STATE* W 73-53 • Southeastern earned the No. 7 seed in the NCAA Central Region Tournament with a 22-7 18 AUGUSTANA* W 97-66 season record. 19 WAYNE STATE* L 84-81 • SE fell to Southern Nazarene 80-77 in the Great American Conference championship 25 St. Cloud State* W 77-73 game, and finished the regular season second in the league standings with 16-6 GAC record. 26 Minnesota Duluth* L 76-70 • The Savage Storm are shooting 47.8 percent from the floor, 37.5 percent from the 3-point line, and 76.5 percent from the foul line. February • They are averaging 80.8 points, 36.6 rebounds, 18.7 assists, 10.0 turnovers, 5.1 steals, and 1.8 1 Concordia-St. Paul* W 90-79 blocks per game; out-scoring their opponents by 10.7 points and out-rebounding their opponents by 2 Minnesota State* W 88-80 1.7 boards per game this season. 8 SIOUX FALLS*% W 90-84 • Kevin Buckingham leads three players in double figures, notching 20.4 points and 9.6 rebounds 9 SOUTHWEST MN ST*% W 91-81 per game this season. He is also shooting a team leading 59.3 percent from the field with 23 blocks. 15 MINNESOTA DULUTH* W 72-70 • Kellen Manek and Jett Jobe follow averaging 13.6 and 12.8 points per game respectively. 16 ST. CLOUD STATE*^ L 65-62 Manek is second on the team averaging 5.8 rebounds per game, while Jobe has dished out a team 22 UMary* W 69-64 high 164 total assists, averaging 5.7 per contest. 23 Minot State* W 80-63 • Jobe has also knocked down a team leading 71 made 3-pointers, while Adam Dworsky leads 27 CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL W 88-65 SE with a 50.0 3-point field goal percentage. Dworsky has dished out his fair share of assists as well with 136 total on the year. MARCH • Three of the team’s five starters play 30-plus minutes per game, while DJ Henderson leads the 3 Sioux Falls W 79-76 team off the bench averaging 18.1 minutes and 5.5 points per game this season. 4 Winona State W 77-76 • Southeastern Oklahoma is led by head coach Kelly Green in his eighth season at the helm. 5 Southwest Minnesota State W 72-68 16 Southeastern Oklahoma 2:30 pm Last Match-Up • The Wolves and the Savage Storm have not faced each other in the history of either program. All-Time NSIC Opponents paul sather • head coach • 9th season • Record: 282-149 Paul Sather enters his ninth year at the helm for the Wolves in 2018-19. Sather, who is the Augustana ..........................................37-37 22nd head men’s basketball coach at Northern State, is a 1996 graduate of NSU. Sather Bemidji State ......................................66-26 has compiled a 162-82 record while at Northern. Concordia-St. Paul ...............................31-7 Sather brought the program to new heights in 2017-18 with the Wolves finishing at the U-Mary ................................................28-13 NCAA National Finalist after just the second trip to the NCAA Elite Eight in school history. Minnesota Crookston ...........................38-2 The runner-up finish is the highest for any NSU team to date at the NCAA Division II level. Northern broke the single season school record for wins going 36-6 on the year, while tying Minnesota Duluth ...............................28-41 the school record with 18 consecutive victories in the opening months of the season. He Minnesota State .................................12-15 was named both the NSIC and NABC Central Region Coach of the year. Four Wolves were MSU Moorhead ..................................66-38 named to the NSIC All-Conference teams (Smith, Pollard, Peterka, Doyle), while Ian Smith Minot State .........................................49-18 was named to the NABC and D2CCA All-Region teams. Sioux Falls ..........................................73-23 Sather recorded the first conference championship of his coaching career, and the first for Northern State since St. Cloud State ...................................16-29 the 2002-03 season. Northern then went on to win the NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament, notching the Southwest Minnesota State ................68-26 first championship for the program since 2005. The Wolves finished the regular season leading the NSIC in scoring defense (66.8), scoring margin (+14.6), field goal percentage defense (43.5), and rebounding margin (+9.3). Northern Upper Iowa ...........................................18-3 ranks nationally sitting top-20 in scoring defense (66.1) and rebounding margin (+7.8), top-10 in scoring margin Wayne State .......................................35-23 (+14.1), and top-5 in field goal percentage (51.2). Winona State ......................................46-38 In 2016-17 the Wolves finished tied for second in the overall league standings with Southwest Minnesota State, finishing 22-8 overall and 17-5 in the NSIC. Three Wolves garnered All-NSIC honors as Logan Doyle was named the All-time opponents NSIC Newcomer of the year and to the NSIC first team, and Ian Smith and Mack Arvidson were named to the NSIC in the sather era second team. Northern State junior DJ Pollard was named the NSIC Elite 18 recipient holding the top GPA from the NSIC Championships with a 3.96 mark. Arkansas Tech Univerity ..............................0-1 Augustana* .................................................4-10 In his sixth season at the helm Sather landed two on the All-NSIC second team in senior Skye Warwick and junior Bemidji State* .............................................13-5 Darin Peterka. The Wolves also tallied an upset victory over then No.