GAME NOTES (PDF)
This week: Augustana (16-7, 13-6 NSIC) opens a three-game homestand on Saturday, hosting Wayne State (11-12, 7-12 NSIC) in a 6 p.m. Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference contest.
Hooping for a cure: Augustana hosts its WBCA Pink Zone game on Saturday in an effort create breast cancer awareness within the community and raise money towards research and finding a cure. To support the Vikings, purchase a $10 'Hooping for a Cure' t-shirt at the game.
The series: Saturday will be the 30th meeting between Augustana and Wayne State in a series that first saw action during the 1938-39 season. The Vikings are 17-12 against the Wildcats, while Augustana head coach
Tom Billeter is 9-3 against WSC. Augustana beat the Wildcats 79-76 in double overtime earlier this season in Wayne, Neb.
Yuriy Malashenko hit a 3-pointer with three seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime.
Last time out: The Vikings split their last conference weekend on the road, topping Northern State in overtime on Friday but falling to U-Mary on Saturday.
Cameron McCaffrey's layup with three seconds left sent the game to overtime where Augustana outscored Northern State 8-3 en route to picking up a 78-73 victory over NSU. McCaffrey and
Cody Schilling each netted 26 points on the night.
Leif Nomeland added 10 points, and
Derrick De Zeeuw grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. On Saturday against U-Mary, Anthony Moody scored 32 points to key a 90-81 Marauder victory. The Vikings got a game-high 34 points from Schilling, who finished 10 of 17 from the field and 11 of 11 from the free-throw line. He also added seven rebounds. McCaffrey netted 19 points for Augustana, and De Zeeuw also reached double figures with 10 points.
Overtime success: Augustana's overtime contest with Northern State last Saturday was its third extended game of the season. The Vikings are 3-0 in that situation, also having beat Wayne State and Winona State. Since the 2000-01 season, Augustana is 9-7 in overtime games.
Dirty 30s: With his 34-point outburst against U-Mary last Saturday,
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.) recorded his third 30-point game of the season. For the weekend, the junior averaged 30.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He also shot 54.1 percent (20 of 37) from the floor and connected at a 54.5 percent (6 of 11) clip from behind the arc. Schilling also scored 26 points against Northern State on Friday. He was also 14 of 15 (93.3 percent) from the free-throw line in the two games. Other weekend totals included four assists and one block. Schilling is currently leading the NSIC in scoring at 22.1 points per game.
Movin' on up: Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.) is inching closer to a spot on the list of Augustana's top-10 scorers. He's just 30 points away from moving into a tie for the 10th spot with John Eggers, who played for the Vikings from 1965 to 1968 and accumulated 1,329 points.
1. 1,830 Carl Gonder (109 games) 1980-84
2. 1,795 Mark Smed (108 games) 1979-83
3. 1,764 Greg Nagel (111 games) 1974-78
4. 1,704 Jason Garrow (113 games) 1988-92
5. 1,681 Scott Beckstrand (107 games) 1990-94
6. 1,642 Arvid Kramer (101 games) 1975-79
7. 1,628 Bill Gross (99 games) 1969-73
8. 1,510 Brett Szabo (116 games) 1987-91
9. 1,381 Rich Chapman (107 games) 1973-77
10. 1,329 John Eggers (70 games) 1965-68
11. 1,299
Cody Schilling (85 games) 2008-11
Nice to see you again: Augustana is 4-2 this season when facing teams for the second time. The Vikings have beat St. Cloud State, Concordia, Southwest Minnesota State and Northern State in second meetings. They have lost to Minnesota State and U-Mary in second meetings.
Terrific tandem: Cameron McCaffrey (Portland, Ore.) and
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.) are one of the NSIC's best scoring duos. Combined, the two average more than 40 points per game in conference contests. McCaffrey (18.3 ppg) and Schilling (22.1 ppg) make up the only combination in the league that are in the top six in scoring.
Stretch run: The Vikings have just three conference games--all home--remaining on the 2010-11 slate before the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament begins on March 2. The top four seeds will host the first round games, while semifinal and championship games will be played in St. Paul, Minn., on March 5 and 6.
Regionally speaking: Augustana fell two spots and is ranked No. 6 in the latest Central Region rankings released last Wednesday by the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Committee. The top eight teams from each region advance to the NCAA Tournament.
Rank School DII In-Region
1. Minnesota State 18-2 16-2
2. Fort Lewis 15-5 15-5
3. Colorado School of Mines 15-3 15-3
4. Metro State 15-4 15-4
5. Mary 16-4 15-4
6. Augustana 13-5 13-5
7. New Mexico Highlands 13-5 12-5
8. Winona State 12-6 11-6
9. Mesa State 13-7 13-7
10. Concordia-St. Paul 12-7 11-7
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
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.
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. Billeter owns a career record of 222-152. He is assisted by Jeff Trumbauer,
Collin Authier and Luke Wiersma.
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).
