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This week
No. 22 Augustana (8-2, 5-1 NSIC) opens the new year in Minnesota, traveling to St. Cloud State (8-1, 4-1 NSIC) Monday and Concordia University, St. Paul (4-5, 1-4 NSIC) Tuesday. Both games are 8 p.m. tip offs.
The series
Augustana and St. Cloud State will meet for the 81st time on Monday. The Huskies own a 44-36 advantage in the series that first saw action during the 1947-48 season. The two teams played three times last season, and SCSU earned two wins. The last meeting was in the opening round of the NSIC Tournament on March 2, 2011, when the Huskies eliminated the Vikings 79-73 in Sioux Falls. The game would end up being the final contest of the season for Augustana. Head coach
Tom Billeter is 7-12 against SCSU. Augustana is 7-4 against Concordia University, St. Paul. The series is relatively is new and commenced in 2000-01. The Vikings won both meetings last season, topping CU 75-65 at home and 83-69 on the road. Billeter is 5-4 against the Golden?Bears. For more on both series, turn to pages 10 and 11.
Last time out
Augustana split its final games of 2011, beating Minnesota,Crookston on Dec. 17 and falling to MSU Moorhead the following evening at home. Augustana rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to earn a 66-60 victory over UMC. The Vikings orchestrated a 12-0 run with 10 minutes left to take a 51-50 advantage--a lead it wouldn't relinquish. The surge was part of a larger 21-2 late run by Augustana.
Cody Schilling scored a game-high 23 points for Augustana;
Drae Murray added 17. Viking post man
Derrick De Zeeuw pulled down a team-high six boards. MSUM received double-digit scoring performances from five different players en route to an 81-76 victory over Augustana.
Leif Nomeland's game-high 19 points led Augustana. Schilling scored 15,
Brennan Olson registered 12 and Murray logged 11. Olson also added a game-high eight rebounds.
Oh snap
Augustana's 81-76 loss to MSU Moorhead on Dec. 18 snapped a six-game winning streak by the Vikings. The string began on Nov. 22 with an 83-69, non-conference win over Dakota State. It also included conference wins over Southwest Minnesota State, Minnesota State, U-Mary, Northern State and Minnesota, Crookston. The loss also marked the first time this season the Vikings did not sweep a conference weekend.
Holiday hiatus
Per NCAA guidelines, all Division II programs were granted a one-week break for the Christmas holiday. The Vikings were not allowed to practice last week but returned to the grind Tuesday in preparation for Monday and Tuesday's games. Augustana hasn't played a game since Dec. 18 and will have had a full two weeks between games by next week.
Happy new year
Commencing the new year in the past 11 seasons has been hit and miss for the Vikings. Since the 2000-01 season, Augustana has went 5-6 in games to open a new year. Of those six losses, four have come by four points or less. Head coach
Tom Billeter is 4-4 in such a scenario while at Augustana.
Jan. 5, 2001 at Minnesota State L 75-58
Jan. 4, 2002 Minnesota State W 82-69
Jan. 4, 2003 at Minnesota State L 61-60
Jan. 3, 2004 Dakota Wesleyan W 81-78
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
Jan. 2, 2009 Bemidji State W 82-74
Jan. 2, 2010 at Bemidji State W 80-73
Jan. 3, 2011 St. Cloud State L 76-74
NSIC standings
Augustana's 5-1 mark in the conference has the Vikings at third in the NSIC standings, just a half of a game ahead of Monday's opponent St. Cloud State, which sports a 4-1 record in conference play. The Vikings and Huskies are one of two teams in the NSIC with just one conference loss. Two undefeated teams remain in MSU Moorhead and Winona State, which are both 5-0 in NSIC action.
For starters
While the?Vikings are no longer perfect in league play, Augustana did put together the finest conference-opening push in more than three decades. The?Vikings' 5-0 start to the NSIC season matched an identical effort by the 1977-78 squad to open the North Central Conference slate. That conference season started with wins over South Dakota State (65-57), Nebraska Omaha (87-61), Northern Iowa (69-64), Morningside (77-58) and South Dakota (79-78, overtime). Augustana would go on to win the NCC and advance to the NCAA tournament.
The NSIC's best
Lightning-quick speed and tenacious defense has allowed
Drae Murray?(Huntsville, Texas) to lead the NSIC in steals through Augustana's six conference games. The 5-foot-9 point guard is averaging 2.67 swipes per conference game. He is also 32nd in the nation in the category at 2.5 steals per contest. As a team, the Vikings are third in the conference with 6.67 steals per conference game.
Minnesota bound
Monday and Tuesday's tilts at St. Cloud State and Concordia University, St. Paul will be Augustana's first regular-season contests in Minnesota. The Vikings played an exhibition game at the University of Minnesota on Nov. 7, giving the Gophers a run for their money before falling 72-60. Last season, Augustana went 5-3 while playing in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Livin' the Leif
Junior utility man
Leif Nomeland (Osakis, Minn.) poured in a season and game-high 19 points against MSU?Moorhead on Dec. 18. Nomeland finished 7 of 9 from the field. His only two misses came on 3-point attempts. It was Nomeland's fourth double-figure scoring game this season and 15th of his career. It was also the first time this season he has led the Vikings in the scoring column. Nomeland is averaging 6.6 points per game and shooting 51.9 percent from the floor in 2011-12.
Viking debut
Junior transfer
Nick Bennett (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) saw the floor for the first time this season against Minnesota, Crookston on Dec. 17. Bennett, who spent two years at Antelope Valley College in?Lancaster, Calif., has battled an injury all season. He logged six minutes and had a steal and rebound against UMC. Bennett followed with another minute of action against MSU Moorhead the following night.
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.
National news
Augustana fell eight spots to No. 22 in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches national poll released Dec. 21. The Vikings received 27 points in the rankings voted on by members of the NABC Division II Congress. Metro State (Colo.) retained its top position, garnering 197 points and five first-place votes. Other NSIC schools ranked included Winona State (No. 11) and MSU Moorhead (No. 21), which knocked off the Vikings on Dec. 18. 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 eighth on the career scoring list at Augustana with 1,557 points. He needs 273 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. 1557
Cody Schilling 2008-12
9. 1510 Brett Szabo 1987-91
10. 1381 Rich Chapman 1973-77
History lesson
Augustana enters its 90th season of men's basketball in 2011-12. The Vikings are 925-1034 all-time and have racked up 37 winning seasons, including the past five seasons under
Tom Billeter.
On the radio
Veteran radio man Jeff Fylling is back as the “Voice of the Vikings” for 2011-12. Join Fylling for each broadcast on KIKN-FM 100.5. You can also stream the broadcast at kikn.com/stream.
Augustana Sportscene
Augustana Sportscene is a 30-minute weekly television show highlighting Augustana athletics and is hosted by Director of Athletics Bill Gross. The show includes Viking highlights, interviews with various coaches and student-athletes and promotion of upcoming Augustana athletic events. Augustana Sportscene airs Monday's at 10:30 p.m. and Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. on Midco Sports Network and at various times on Mediacom's MC22.
Augustana Coaches' Show
Live from Rookies in Sioux Falls, The Augustana Coaches' Show airs On ESPN 99.1 each Monday at 5 p.m. Join Jeff Fylling and Augustana head coaches as they discuss various topics surrounding Viking athletics. You can also stream the show live at www.ESPN991.com.
