GAME NOTES (PDF)
This week: Augustana (3-1) opens Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play with trips to Southwest Minnesota State (3-1) on Friday at 8 p.m. and Minnesota State (4-0) on Saturday at 6 p.m.
The series: Augustana and Southwest Minnesota State have played 17 times, and the Vikings are 10-7 against the Mustangs. Augustana won the last contest between the two programs, thumping SMSU 89-59 in Sioux Falls last season. The two teams have played just twice as conference opponents, splitting those tilts. Saturday will be the 101st game between Augustana and Minnesota State in a series that dates back to the 1932-33 season. The Vikings are 49-51 agains the Mavericks and have won the last three meetings. For more information on both series, turn to pages 9 and 10.
Last week: Augustana spent the Thanksgiving holiday in the Elmen Center, playing Valley City State last Wednesday and Dakota State last Friday.
Cody Schilling and
Cameron McCaffrey each had 19 points to lead Augustana to a 65-53 victory over VCSU. DSU's Jordan King spoiled Augustana's chance at the go-ahead bucket with a steal with two seconds remaining to keep his team's one-point lead and help the Trojans pull out a 52-51 victory over the Vikings.
Northern Sun opening weekend: All 14 of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference's programs open play this weekend. This year's conference season is getting started a little earlier in 2010-11 because of the NCAA's “Life in Balance” program, which mandates that student-athletes are given a full week off over the Christmas holiday.
Augustana in conference openers: Since the 2000-01 season, Augustana is 1-9 in conference openers. The Vikings' lone win in that spane came during the 2006-07 season when they knocked off North Central Conference neighbor Nebraska-Omaha 83-60 at home. In NSIC openers, Augustana is 0-2, having lost both of its conference-opening contests to U-Mary to start the 2008-09 and 2009-10 campaigns.
Tom Billeter is 6-1 in conference openers as Augustana's head coach.
Date Opponent Location W/L Score
Dec. 9, 2000 North Dakota State Fargo, N.D. L 71-80
Dec. 7, 2001 North Dakota State Sioux Falls L 80-101
Jan. 4, 2002 Minnesota State Mankato, Minn. L 60-61
Jan. 9, 2004 Nebraska-Omaha Sioux Falls L 67-74
Jan. 6, 2005 Nebraska-Omaha Omaha, Neb. L 65-83
Jan. 5, 2006 Nebraska-Omaha Sioux Falls L 64-68
Jan. 4, 2007 Nebraska-Omaha Sioux Falls W 83-60
Jan. 10, 2008 Nebraska-Omaha Omaha, Neb. L 97-98 (2OT)
Dec. 5, 2008 U-Mary Bismarck, N.D. L 56-68
Dec. 4, 2009 U-Mary Sioux Falls L 49-63
On the road: The weekend road trip for Augustana will be its first games in enemy waters this season. The Vikings have played three games at home and made the short trip to the Sioux Falls Arean to face off with cross-town rival the University of Sioux Falls. The Vikings, though, did make one long trek in exhibition action, boarding a plane to Tucson, Ariz., to face the University of Arizona. Last season, Augustana was 6-4 on the road.
Bench play: Redshirt freshman
Brennan Olson (Luck, Wis.) has been one of Augustana's most productive reserve players. The forward, who has made one start this season, is averaging 3.7 points when coming off the bench. As a unit, the Vikings' bench players average 17.5 points per game and allow 13.0 points for a +4.5 scoring margin.
Double the fun: Junior
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.) nearly put up his sixth career double-double against Dakota State, scoring 21 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Both totals were game highs. Schilling was a preseason All-America selection by the Sporting News.
Possible breakthrough: The 2010-11 Vikings were billed as a “possible breakthrough” team in the Sporting News NCAA Division II Preseason Top-10 poll. Findlay (Ohio) took the No. 1 spot in the poll. Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference-neighbor Winona State is ranked No. 9; the Warriors are the only NSIC team ahead of Augustana.
According to the coaches: Augustana was selected fourth in the 2010-11 NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Vikings received 138 points from the conference's 14 head coaches. Winona State received 10 first-place votes and 165 points to take the No. 1 position. St. Cloud State was second (four first-place votes, 157 points), and Minnesota State was third (143 points).
1. Winona State (10) 165
2. St. Cloud State (4) 157
3. Minnesota State 143
4. Augustana 138
5. U-Mary 119
6. Southwest Minnesota State 98
7. Concordia-St. Paul 89
8. Northern State 84
9. Wayne State 71
10. Bemidji State 64
11. MSU Moorhead 51
12. Minnesota Duluth 42
13. Upper Iowa 40
14. Minnesota, Crookston 13
( ) First Place Votes
Roster breakdown: The Vikings return three starters and 10 letterwinners from last year's NCAA Tournament squad that set a school record for wins with 24. Augustana features eight guards and eight forwards on its 2010-11 roster. There are also two seniors, three juniors, five sophomores, one redshirt freshman and five freshmen.
NCAA Tournament time: The Vikings advanced to the NCAA?Tournament for the third consecutive season in 2009-10 and also made it to the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row. The Augustana men's basketball program has nine NCAA?Tournament appearances under its belt. As of late, the Vikings have been consistent enough to qualify for the “dance” three times every decade. Head coach
Tom Billeter has led the Vikings to three of those appearances in his eight-year tenure.
Exhibitions to open: Augustana used two exhibitions to tune up for the 2010-11 season, facing Division III Gustavus and Division I?Arizona.
Cody Schilling,
Cameron McCaffrey and
Trevor Hass combined for 64 points to lead Augustana to a 101-74 victory over GAC in its first exhibition on Nov. 1. Arizona shot 45.8 percent from the field to hand Augustana a 70-59 exhibition loss on Nov. 7 in front of nearly 12,000 fans in Tucson, Ariz. McCaffrey scored a game-high 20 points for the Vikings, hitting four 3-pointers and finishing 7 of 11 from the floor. Schilling was also in double figures with 12 points. The Wildcats got 19 points and a game-high six rebounds from Derrick Williams in the win.
Coaches' corner: Now in his eighth season at Augustana, Billeter has steadily solidified the men's program. His Vikings have made three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and advanced to the Central Region championship game in 2009 and 2010. Over the last three seasons Augustana has compiled a 67-26 record, and each of the last three campaigns have resulted in 20 wins or more. Billeter owns a career record of 209-146. He is assisted by Jeff Trumbauer,
Collin Authier and Luke Wiersma.
Vikings add one for 2011-12: Head coach
Tom Billeter announced Nov. 9 that Appleton, Wis., native Ben Reker has signed a letter of intent to continue his academic and athletic career at Augustana beginning in 2011-12. Reker is a 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward who is currently a senior at Appleton West High School. As a junior a year ago, Reker averaged 7.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. He was named all-conference second team and guided his team to a 17-8 record. Reker also shot 56 percent from the field as a junior.
Follow live: There are several ways to get up-to-the-second updates from Augustana basketball games--both home and away. Jeff Fylling calls all the games live on KIKN-FM 100.5; that broadcast can also be picked up at www.kikn.com/stream. All of the Vikings' home games are video webcasted at www.GoAugie.com/webcast. Each conference road contest is also webcast by the host institution. A link for broadcasts on the road can be found on the “schedule” page on the men's basketball home page. Live statistics for all of Augustana's home games can be viewed by logging onto www.GoAugie.com/livestats. For live stats of each road game, check out www.GoAugie.com/livecentral or go the “schedule” page on the men's basketball home page.
The Augustana Coaches' Show: Live from the Gateway Lounge in Sioux Falls, The Augustana Coaches' Show airs each Monday at 5 p.m. Join Jeff Fylling and Augustana head coaches as they discuss various topics surrounding Viking athletics.
Stay connected: Follow Augustana all season long on its official online home, www.GoAugie.com. You can also get the latest news and updates on the Vikings on Facebook (www.facebook.com/GoAugie) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/GoAugie). To view video highlights and the latest episode of the Augustana Sportscene, log onto the Vikings' official YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/GoAugie).
