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This week
No. 16 Augustana (5-1, 2-0 NSIC) continues Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play on the road this weekend, traveling to U-Mary (2-4, 1-1 NSIC) on Friday and Northern State (5-1, 1-1 NSIC) on Saturday. Both contests tip off at 8 p.m.
The series
Augustana and U-Mary will play for the 11th time on Friday in a series that dates back to the 1999-00 season. The programs have split their 10 meetings. Last season, the Vikings topped the Marauders 68-55 in Sioux Falls before falling 90-81 in Bismarck, N.D., in their second meeting of the season. Head coach
Tom Billeter is 4-5 against U-Mary. Augustana and Northern State have faced off 60 times, and each team has 30 wins in the series. The Vikings are riding a six-game winning streak in the series. The last time the two teams battled, Augustana earned a 78-73 overtime victory in Aberdeen, S.D. Billeter is 6-6 against NSU.
Last time out
Augustana opened the 2011-12 NSIC season last week with a pair of home wins against Southwest Minnesota State and Minnesota State. On Friday against SMSU, Augustana shot better than 50 percent for the second-consecutive game to roll to an 83-66 victory over the Mustangs.
Cameron McCaffrey, who netted a game-high 21 points, led a quartet of players in double figures.
Drae Murray (15),
Brennan Olson (12) and
Cody Schilling (11) also reached double figures.
Derrick De Zeeuw grabbed seven rebounds. Schilling and McCaffrey each scored 19 points to guide Augustana to a 69-51 win over MSU on Saturday evening.
Leif Nomeland added 10 points and 11 rebounds to notch his first career double-double.
Superb start
Augustana's 2-0 start to the NSIC slate is unmatched in the past 15 years. The Vikings haven't started with two wins to open conference play since they beat South?Dakota State, Northern Colorado and Nebraska Omaha to christen the 1994-95 North Central Conference campaign.
Looking for four
If Augustana were to earn two wins this weekend at U-Mary and Northern State, it would serve as its best start to the conference season since the 1977-78 season when the Vikings opened with five wins in the North Central Conference. 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). North Dakota ended the streak when it beat the Vikings 63-56. Augustana went on to win the league with an 11-3 conference mark. The Vikings also advanced to the NCAA tournament, where they opened with a win against Chapman before being eliminated by Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Winning streaks
The Vikings are winners of their last three games, but this program is not new to winning streaks. Last year, Augustana strung together eight mid-season wins in January. It started with a 75-65 home victory over Concordia University, St. Paul on Jan. 4, 2011, and ended when Minnesota State beat Augustana 92-79 on Feb. 4, 2011, in Sioux Falls. The longest win streak in program history was a 15-game tear during the 1974-75 season.
One and done
All
Cameron McCaffrey (Portland, Ore.) needs to do on?Friday to reach 1,000 career points is make one basket. The junior guard scored his 999th career point Saturday against Minnesota State. He will become the 29th player in Augustana history to reach the milestone and the second active Viking in this elite club. Fellow guard
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.) hit 1,000 points last season.
Double the fun
A 10-point, 11-rebound outing by
Leif Nomeland (Osakis, Minn.) against Minnesota State last Saturday night afforded the junior the first double-double of his career. Nomeland finished 5 of 8 from the field. His 11 rebounds included four offensive boards. In fact, it was the first double-double by a Viking this season.
Hot hands
Augustana has shot better than 50 percent from the floor three times this season. The Vikings' 39.3 percent performance against Minnesota State Saturday matched a season low. Augustana's best shooting outing in 2011-12 came against Dakota State (56.4 percent).
Coming on strong
Brennan Olson (Luck, Wis.) is finding his stride as a starter with the Vikings. The sophomore forward broke into the starting lineup against Dakota State on Nov. 22, and he has put together solid performances in each contest since. On Friday against Southwest Minnesota State, Olson scored a career-high 12 points, including a pair of crowd-stirring dunks. Olson is averaging 4.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.
Chairmen of the boards
Augustana's rebounding was tenacious last weekend. The Vikings outrebounded Southwest Minnesota State by 11 on Friday and Minnesota State by 14 on Saturday. The latter performance marked a season high and was the highest margin in the category in more than a season. The last time Augustana enjoyed such a positive disparity was on March 14, 2010, when the Vikings outrebounded Mesa State (now Colorado Mesa) 55-37 in the Central Region Tournament. Augustana beat the Mavericks 95-84. After two NSIC games, Augustana leads the conference in rebounding (42.0 per game) and rebounding margin (+12.5).
NSIC standings
After one weekend of play, Augustana is one of three teams in the NSIC with flawless conference records. MSU Moorhead beat Bemidji State and Minnesota Duluth, and St. Cloud State topped U-Mary and Northern State. MSUM and SCSU also boast perfect overall records at 5-0 and 6-0, respectively.
Scrappy defense
Augustana's defense has yet to allow 70 points in 2011-12. The best offensive performance by an opposing team this season was a 69-point push from Dakota State on Nov. 22. A year ago, Augustana allowed 70 points 13 times. Last Saturday against Minnesota State, Augustana held the Mavericks to just 51 points--the lowest by an opponent since Jan. 10, 2010, when Minnesota,?Crookston scored 50 points. The Viking defense has also forced at least 10 turnovers in each game.
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 climbed two spots to No. 16 in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches national poll released Tuesday. The Vikings received 74 points in the rankings voted on by members of the NABC Division II Congress. Augustana was also ranked No. 16 in the NABC's preseason poll. Missouri Southern, which totaled seven first-place votes and 199 points, is the nation's new No. 1 team. Conference-neighbor Winona State checked in at No. 17. 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 1,497 points. He needs 333 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. 1497
Cody Schilling 2008-12
10. 1381 Rich Chapman 1973-77
History lesson
Augustana enters its 90th season of men's basketball in 2011-12. The Vikings are 922-1033 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 Jeffy Fylling and Augustana head coaches as they discuss various topics surrounding Viking athletics. You can also stream the show live at www.ESPN991.com.
