Red Wing at Mankato East
7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 10

Seven teams had been in contention for the Big 9 Conference title for much of the regular season, but it's turned into a three-team race between Red Wing, Rochester John Marshall and Mankato West entering the finals weeks.

Red Wing (19-3, 16-2) has a one game lead on Rochester John Marshall, and the championship could be decided in the regular-season finale between the Wingers and the Rockets on Feb. 20. Red Wing, however, must defeat Mankato East (13-9, 12-6) on Feb. 10 to set up the showdown.

The Cougars recorded a 61-57 victory over the No. 3-3A Wingers on Dec. 18 and could be looking to play spoiler in the matchup. Mankato East has shown it's capable of competing against the top teams in the Big 9 with wins over Mankato West and Northfield.

Red Wing is riding an eight-game winning streak. The Wingers are led by senior forward Ty Buck, who averages 16.6 points per game and scored 22 points in the first meeting with the Cougars. Junior guard Travis Toivonen is the Wingers second-leading scorer at 15.7 ppg.

If Mankato East hopes to pull the upset again, it needs senior guard Gorg Alhag, one of the Cougars' top scorers, to bounce back from a four-point performance in the last meeting with Red Wing.