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This week
No. 18 Augustana (3-1, 0-0 NSIC) opens Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play at home this weekend, hosting Southwest Minnesota State (1-2, 0-0 NSIC) Friday at 8 p.m. and Minnesota State (1-3, 0-0 NSIC) Saturday at 6:05 p.m.
The series
Augustana and Southwest Minnesota State will meet for the 20th time Friday. The Vikings are 11-8 against the Mustangs. The two teams split last season as SMSU beat Augustana 66-64 in Marshall, Minn., while the Vikings returned the favor with an 83-70 victory over the Mustangs in Sioux Falls. Head coach
Tom Billeter is 6-5 against SMSU. Saturday marks the 103rd meeting between Augustana and Minnesota State in a series that began during the 1932-33 season. The Mavericks swept the Vikings last season, winning 83-67 in Mankato, Minn., and 92-79 in Sioux Falls. Billeter is 5-13 against MSU.
Television
Midco Sports Network will carry Saturday's contest against Minnesota State live from the Elmen Center. Tom Nieman will handle play-by-play, while Brad Newitt will provide color commentary. MidcoSN can be found on channels 26 or 622 (HD) for Midcontinent Communications subscribers.
Last time out
Drae Murray and
Cody Schilling combined for 44 points and Augustana shot 56.4 percent from the field as the No. 16 Vikings rolled to a 83-69 non-conference victory over Dakota State last Tuesday evening in Sioux Falls. Murray and Schilling each scored 22 points and hit four 3-pointers to spark a thriving Viking offense. Murray also snagged six rebounds and dished out eight assists, while Schilling grabbed five rebounds.
Leif Nomeland added a season-high 12 points. The Vikings drilled 11 of 18 3-pointers (61.1 percent) on the evening--their best outing from behind the arc since Feb. 20, 2010, when they hit 11 of 17 (64.7 percent) at Northern State.
Way to play, Drae
Senior guard
Drae Murray (Huntsville, Texas) was selected to the Western Oregon/Phoenix Inn D2 Shootout All-Tournament team, the WOU sports information office announced last week. Murray helped the Vikings to a 1-1 record at the tournament. Augustana beat Saint Martin's 70-54 before falling to host WOU 60-58. Murray averaged 10.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists at the Shootout. He also had four steals in the Vikings' two games.
Conference openers
Conference-opening games have been tough ventures for the Vikings in the past 11 years. Since the 2000-01 season, Augustana has went 1-10 in conference openers. The?Vikings' lone win in that span was an 83-60 home victory over Nebraska Omaha to begin the 2007-08 North Central Conference campaign. Since joining the NSIC in 2008-09, Augustana has dropped three straight conference openers--two to U-Mary and another to Southwest Minnesota State. Head coach
Tom Billeter is 1-7 in conference-opening games since taking over at Augustana in 2003-04.
Dec. 8, 2000 at North Dakota State L 80-71
Dec. 7, 2001 North Dakota State L 101-80
Jan. 4, 2003 at Minnesota State L 61-60
Jan. 9, 2004 Nebraska Omaha L 74-67
Jan. 6, 2005 at Nebraska Omaha L 83-65
Jan. 5, 2006 Nebraska Omaha L 68-64
Jan. 4, 2007 Nebraska Omaha W 83-60
Jan. 10, 2008 at Nebraska Omaha L 98-97 (2OT)
Dec. 5, 2008 at U-Mary L 68-56
Dec. 4, 2009 U-Mary L 63-49
Dec. 3, 2010 at Southwest Minnesota State L 66-64
Three's company
Augustana has three of its starters averaging in double figures. The guard trio of
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.),
Drae Murray (Huntsville, Texas) and
Cameron McCaffrey (Portland, Ore.) is averaging 19.0, 13.8 and 11.5 points per game, respectively. The three are shooting a combined 48.2 percent from the floor and have accounted for more than 60 percent of the Vikings' points this season.
Little big man
At 5-foot-9,
Drae Murray (Huntsville, Texas) is often one of the smallest players on the court. His stature, however, hasn't stopped the senior from leading Augustana in rebounding in 2011-12. Murray is snagging 5.8 rebounds per contest in his first year as a Viking. His season high is eight--a mark he reached against Western Oregon on Nov. 19.
Sharp shooters
Augustana's shooting has been precise through four games in 2011-12. The Vikings are shooting 48.9 percent as a team and have twice shot better than 50 percent. Last week against Dakota State, the Vikings connected at a 56.4-percent clip, including an 11 of 18 (61.1 percent) effort from behind the arc.
Showing improvement
The Vikings cleaned up their game last Tuesday against Dakota State, committing a season-low eight turnovers in their win over the Trojans. Heading into the contest, Augustana's turnover totals in the previous three games were 17, 12 and 12. The efficient effort was complimented by a season-high 19 assists.
For starters
Brennan Olson (Luck, Wis.) made his first start of the season at a forward spot last Tuesday against Dakota State. Olson didn't score any points, but he did manage to hand out three assists and grab a pair of rebounds. The sophomore had come on strong the two games prior, scoring a combined 13 points, including a career-high eight at Western Oregon on Nov. 19. Olson also made three starts last season.
Keeping up appearances
Freshmen
Vaughn Thada (Owatonna, Minn.) and
Dajon Newell (Lakeville, Minn.) saw action for the first time in a Viking uniform last week against Dakota State. Thada, a true freshman, played one minute and registered an assist. Newell, a redshirt freshman who is the starting running back for the Augustana football team, also logged one minute.
What the coaches say
Augustana is the favorite to win the conference, according to the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll released Oct. 26 by the conference office. The Vikings received nine first-place votes and 164 points in the poll voted on by the conference's 14 head coaches.
1. Augustana (9) 164
2. Winona State (3) 158
3. Minnesota State (1) 140
4. Concordia-St. Paul (1) 135
5. MSU Moorhead 122
6. St. Cloud State 108
7. Bemidji State 82
8. Southwest Minnesota State 78
9 Minnesota Duluth 76
10. Northern State 67
11. Wayne State 54
12. University of Mary 46
13. Upper Iowa 31
14. Minnesota, Crookston 13
National news
Augustana fell two spots to No. 18 in the first regular-season National Association of Basketball Coaches poll of the season released Tuesday. The Vikings earned 48 points in the rankings conducted by the NABC Division II Congress. Augustana was ranked No. 16 in the preseason poll released Nov. 1. Bellarmine (Ky.) received all eight first-place votes and 200 points to retain its top spot. Augustana is the highest-ranked NSIC team. Winona State checked in at No. 20.To view the complete poll, turn to page 8.
Schilling closing in
It could be a record-breaking year for
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.). The senior is ninth on the career scoring list at Augustana with 1,467 points. He needs 363 points to tie Carl Gonder's career scoring mark of 1,830 points. He scored 572 points last season.
Rk Points Player Years
1. 1830 Carl Gonder 1980-84
2. 1795 Mark Smed 1979-83
3. 1764 Greg Nagel 1974-78
4. 1704 Jason Garrow 1988-92
5. 1681 Scott Beckstrand 1990-94
6. 1642 Arvid Kramer 1975-79
7. 1628 Bill Gross 1969-73
8. 1510 Brett Szabo 1987-91
9. 1467 Cody?Schilling 2008-12
10. 1381 Rich Chapman 1973-77
McCaffrey nearing a grand
Junior guard
Cameron McCaffrey (Portland, Ore.) will likely go past 1,000-career points early in the season. McCaffrey is at 959 points through four games in 2011-12. The 2009-10 NSIC Freshman of the year owns a career average of 15.5 points per game.
