BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings men's basketball program will be on the road to face the Beavers of Minot State University as there last road trip before their home opener at Alterowitz Gymnasium on November 21.
 
MSUB (1-1) is fresh off a trip to San Diego where they competed in a West-Region Crossover Tournament. The Yellowjackets split games to open the season with an intense over-time victory against Fresno Pacific University 77-73, followed by a game against Point Loma University where MSUB struggled to make shots in route to a 78-43 loss.  
 
Minot State (3-0) opened their season by defeating Harding University 78-65 and Ouachita Baptist University 66-62 on the road last week. In their home opener, Minot defeated Dickinson State University 74-63 on Nov. 13.
 
LAST TIME OUT: In the season opener for the 'Jackets, the team would need overtime to secure the victory. MSUB was down most of the game including trailing by four in the opening minutes of overtime. MSUB closed out the game on a 6-2 run to steal victory away from the jaws of defeat 77-73.
 
Brendan Howard led MSBU with 22 points. Tyler Green finished with 16 points and six assists. Psalm Maduakor recorded a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Against Point Loma, the Yellowjackets simply could not make enough shots to stay in the game. Only trailing by eight at the half, MSUB could not get shots to fall to keep pace with the Sea lions and ultimately fell 78-43.
 
Howard had 13 points and eight rebounds while Freshman Chrishon Dixon tallied 10 points.
 
BY THE NUMBERS: In the infancy of the season, MSUB is averaging 60.0 points per game and surrendering 75.5.
 
Individually, Howard is leading the team averaging 17.5 points and 6.5 rebounds. Green has scored an average of 10.5 points with seven assists and Freshman Clarence Daniels II is averaging 10.0.

Maduakor leads the squad with 9.0 rebounds per game and has a team high four blocks while leading the team in minutes played.
 
Scouting Minot State University
Game Day: Saturday, November 16 – 6 p.m. MST
2019 Record: 3-0, 0-0 NSIC, 0-0 home, 1-0 away, 1-0 neutral
2018 Record: 14-18, 9-13 NSIC, 7-7 home, 5-9 away, 2-2 neutral
Head Coach: Matt Murken (8^th season)
 
Two games in, the Beavers are averaging 72.7 points per game and holding opponents to 63.3.
 
The Beavers are being paced by two upperclassmen guards who have started the year out well. Senior guard Kyle Beishc leads the team averaging 18.3 points per game to go with 4.3 rebounds. Junior guard Max Cody is averaging 15.3 points per game and has 16 assists.
 
Trevor Rothstien has 22 rebounds on the season for a 7.3/game average and has contributed 5.3 points per game. Adding to the intrigue, former MSUB forward Melvin Newbern is currently a Minto State Beaver but has yet to play a game.

"I like how Minot is playing," said head coach Mick Durham. "They won both there crossover games last weekend, are receiving excellent guard leadership and seems they all have already accepted their roles this early in the season. We'll need to continue to learn and grow from last weekend if we expect a road win. Looking forward to the weekend game."
 
Live stats and video can be found at msubsports.com.  
 
The Yellowjackets will host Northwest University in their first home game of the season on Thursday, November 21 at 7:00pm.